Hi All,
 
Can anyone shed some light on what appears to be a Ford factory fitted sunroof to an RS2000?
I am sure they were not regarded as normal dealer option for new vehicles.
The sunroof is spot welded in place with the turret very neatly pressed and folded as per production expectations.
The roof lining appears to be original Ford however sits lower than the standard roof lining to allow the sunroof to slide back.
In all a very professional job.
I have only seen similar factory sunroofs on 1970's model Falcons however they had a winding mechanism to move the sunroof.
I am about to remove the sunroof and hope to find some brand etc to identify it.


 

 

 
 
 

Ford factory offered sunroofs were Golde brand from Europe and had the crank handle to slide.  Your Escort has a locally fitted type often seen on 70's Holdens that use a spring loaded lever for manual sliding.  I'm thinking Hollandia brand but may stand corrected.  Your best point of enquiry is Woods Sunroof centre in Melbourne or the Melbourne Sunroof Centre Noble Park.  They have been around since the 80's here and are very helpful.  Also try the HQ-HX clubs as I recall several cars of this model series fitted with this exact roof

You may not find any manufacturer markings on the sunroof or components. I've got a MK2 RS2000 with the same factory sunroof which is out of the car and I haven't seen any manufacturer markings.  If you do pull the sunroof out I'm very interested to know what the original rubber seals look like and how they are fitted.

I've got one in mine which is the same as what you have there. I'm at the end of the journey for mine given I've pulled the car apart and rebuilt it. 
 
During my rebuilt I contacted a Qld based sunroof specialist who has been in the industry for a long time (I thing he was transitioning to retirement). His only words were he hasn't seen one of these in 20 years or more.
 
I'm happy to answer any questions you may have - but there are more experienced Escort Afficianados around    

Thanks for the info gtv6capri. I will chase them up.
 
2mk2: I will happily share any info I can find on the parts. I spyed the replacement seal as being a potential problem, however not a big deal to remanufacture the seal if no replacement/alternative can be found. I will remove the sunroof asap to treat the surface rust and get a better idea of what is required. Pease keep in touch.
 
David W: Looks like the same as your sunroof. I was not aware that these were fitted to Escorts and that there are still several survivors.
 
I removed the roof lining yesterday and am not entirely convinced that Ford fitted the sunroof as OEM. The centre turret strut between the B pillars has been removed to permit installation of the sunroof AFTER the car was painted by Ford. This can be seen in the following photograph were the overspray was blocked by the turret strut brace. So the options are that Ford reworked the car prior customer delivery to fulfil a special order, or was fitted aftermarket at  later date. Dark long lost memories (I am getting old) are that there was a company in the 70's that would fit the expensive sunroofs and repaint the turret. I will chase up an old vehicle report from Ford which should shed some light.
 

 
 
 
 
 

Nice, should be intrested to see what ford says about this, as Dave's car looks nice with it fitted, but he has done a lovely job restoring the car( and he's not scared to drive it, all the way down to MCM,Cheers Dave) Where did you pick the car up from Peter???

Looks like exactly what I have. Look forward to what you can find out about these cars. With yours there are four that I now know of. There is mine, yours, David's and I've heard of a midnight blue RS here in Melbourne with a factory sun roof although I've never seen this car.
 

V4capmad: The car has been is storage owned by a friend for several years, slowly withering (the car that is!).
 
2Mk2: I will give an arm and a leg to copy the surround piece. (mine does not have this).
 
The sunroof appears to be factory fitted. We have removed the sunroof to find the message on the underside. Typical production line antics.
The message is not abusive. I have checked with Polish friends, and also googled. 
 

 

Hello 2Mk2,
 
Regarding your earlier message; the seals in my sunroof are in excellent condition and can be used for referencing if you wish.
 
 

Looks like I was wrong about there being no markings on the components. I removed the lever surround and discovered what I would guess is the manufacturer markings which are on the underside of the surround and the lever itself. Its just a "K" and "W" with the K nestled on top of the W. 
 
PeterM: happy to chat about your request to copy the surround. Might work out some other arrangement though rather than an arm and a leg from you 
 
Any chance you could post some pics of the rubber seals? I'm lost as to how a rubber seal would fit to the rear of the sunroof panel.