Rover owners: MGF Rechargeable torch

Ok another option on the MGF was the rechargeable torch kit that sits in the glovebox.

This is charged when ignition is on and recharges itself automatically. Yes I know that you can get torches cheap now but this has its own home which I like!

As these kits are like hens teeth this is to help anyone who wants to retrofit a second hand unit from a BMW, R75, 400 45 etc etc which had the same or similar torch option. Loads of BMW ones on Ebay.

Here is kit

First up you need to remove the glovebox which is held on by 2 screws in the footwell and 2 screws by the hinges. This will allow you to lower the glovebox down so that you can disconnect the connectors to the glovebox light and the switch.

Now you need to remove glovebox from car. Looking down from the upper body of ther glovebox you need to concentrate on the right hand part to make your holes to fix the charger for the torch.

There are 2 holes required to fix the body at 8mm and 1 hole required for the wires to feed out of the glovebox at 6mm.

To make your fixing holes first up mark 105mm up and 70mm in. This diagram shows this best.

Once you have one hole you can position charger and mark up the other hole opposing so that it looks level. The instructions say use a pencil but that is impossible to fit through the holes so best to punch with drill bit as shown here

Next drill out with 2mm then 8mm drill. I had to use a wood drill bit which is why it looks raggy as I didn't have the right 8mm bit

Next you need to make the 3rd hole for the wires to drop out. This is 155mm long by 50mm to the edge. Again this diagram shows best.

Here is drilled the 6mm hole

Next up you are supposed to flip this all round and fit these threaded inserts so that the charger can be fixed by screws from the inside

And this is how they are suppose to look from the inside.

Then you are simply meant to screw down the charger. Problem is that the screws in the kit weren't long enough!! I had to reverse these inserts to get it to work as I didn't have any other screws. Anyway this is how it should look with the wires thread through that hole.

Here it is from behind and how I had to improvise!

Now you have done all this reattach the glovebox and it is time to get a live feed for the charger. This feed is from the interior fan switch which is located at the end of the central tunnel where it meets the bulkhead. You need to splice into the following cables:

Black on charger = Black

Brown on charger = Green/Purple

I chose to use locks which are of a decent quality as the stuff in the kit I felt was even worse. I may change this later but it locked well. You need to remove the fan plug from its housing and undo the plug for ease of installation

Here is pic. Imagine your head in the passenger footwell!

Next tidy up wires and reconnect plug for fan and put it back in its housing.

All done and it should look like this when done with the torch connected in the charger. There is a handy magnet on the side of the torch and the torch looks to be an LED.