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1974 MGB GT - The Mustard (Mit) Mobility Scooter - 6yrs ownership & the end is potentially nigh!


SiC

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2 minutes ago, dozeydustman said:

Bit of plumber's ptfe tape around the thread on the gearstick will sort you knob falling off.

There is a lock nut on the bottom. I think I was being a big too vigorous on my knob while I was changing gear. 

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Just now, 320touring said:

Good work getting some miles on the thing - sounds like you and it got along ok:)

Yeah definitely enjoying it now. Was having great fun around the twisty roads.

Motorways really aren't it's thing though. I think I need to put some ear defenders in the car for next time. Does cruise happily at 70mph. 80mph (on a private test track) there is a wheel shake going on suddenly. No pleasant. I believe 90mph in an MGB you get the front end starting to lift too. 

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Being too vigorous with your knob can indeed result in it working loose or coming off in your hand.

It's good to see you out and about in the B for more than a round the block shakedown and proving pretty much trouble free. Probably think that your sloped driveway is the main reason it appeared to use the oil today but also a good day's worth of driving for the first time in yonks may have pushed it to circulate further round the engine than previously before as it got right up to a good temperature. Monitor the oil level, old engines do leak and/or burn it through both wear and design. To be honest I don't think you'll have much to worry about until it leaves plumes of blue smoke all the time.

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To be honest I don't think you'll have much to worry about until it leaves plumes of blue smoke all the time.

 

I noticed tonight that you get some impressive clouds of smoke when accelerating hard in the Traffic Light GP. Did wonder that the back road driving this morning of overtaking/stop+start/etc may have led to a higher consumption. Especially not helped by me giving it plenty of beans on every good occasion I could!

 

 

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If it's black or white smoke it's the mixture, if blue then it's definitely oil. Wouldn't harm you next time you need to take the head off swapping the valve stem seals. As you say it's done bugger all over the last 20 years or so, they may have dried out a little

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Just enquired to the distributor doctor on having the original distributor rebuilt. For a rebuild, recalibration and repair of the mounting collar - £264

Ouch! Same price as a brand new 123 ignition distributor. Or I could send that CSI one off to be changed to a non immobiliser version. 

I have a spare distributor casing, so possibly could send that as a replacement maybe?
Collar is pretty buggered and probably get worse if clamped even just a little too tight.
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Probably this thread is going to end up even more boring now this car mostly seems to work*. One irritating thing is that the foot well is wet again.
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Looks to be coming through the pedal box area as the pedals are wet at the top. No idea how?
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Passenger footwell seems to be getting wet from up top area. You can see water droplets on the washer pipe.
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I'm wondering if the rock hard bonnet seal is allowing water in. But then no idea how it can be when the car is stationary.

Mechanically everything seems reasonable. Engine is lumpier at the moment and I'm 100% not sure why. Cheap Chinese distributor won't be helping here and the plugs aren't reading a perfect colour. So possibly a tad on the rich side and timing probably isn't great either. Gearbox is definitely easier to select gears now. Not sure if it's the clutch master change or just being used. Reverse, for example, is very easy to get into and no longer a two hand job.

In better news, I went out to the shops tonight and for the first time ever I've had the rear demister on. It actually almost fully works - all bar the bottom bar!
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Could hear the alternator belt really working hard trying to transfer the energy to the alternator with the lights, demister, wipers and heater fan all on. Wouldn't be surprised if the battery didn't get fully recharged on that journey.

Cabin heater works too. It's as hot as a mosquito fart, but it demisted the windscreen ok. I could have done with it on Saturday night, but I had never previously turned the heater on. I didn't want to risk bad stuff happening on the M5 at 8:30pm, when I just wanted to get home. So I just put up with the cold.

I guess these heater matrixes have always been crap and even if I attempted to flush it through, it won't be much better?

Finally, the speedometer rolled over to a satisfying milage.
2402decd1bd2d328fef8dd56a9be888a.jpg
 

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Just finished another 140 odd mile round trip to the in-laws. Pretty much routine journeys in this now and have the confidence to go pretty much anywhere. Except maybe long motorway journeys - they aren't particularly pleasant in this. 

Today was also the longest trip that Mrs SiC has been in the car for. Certainly helped her confidence in it after knowing I have done a few long journeys in it. 

The whole journey was pretty uneventful, apart from getting fumey smell in the cabin through the fresh air vents. I think it's because I jammed the Tom's Knob open with a bit of pipe to try help rain drain out of the car - rather than inside the car. I guess fumes from burning oil are getting in. I believe it's why the thing exists on the end in the first place.

Oil consumption is now minimal to none. I think with the dipstick in the right place, that isn't loosing any. Even on a long and steep decline down a hill, I let the engine take the braking and booting at the bottom left no noticeable cloud. 

Also let my father-in-law have a good drive of it. Pretty much made his day. Once this season is up, I'll probably let him have it next season.

Something else of note is that I did a fill up yesterday. Going by the fuel gauge I didn't quite get it as full as last time, so the MPG calculation will be a bit higher than actual. 

I did 191.5 miles and used 7.57 Imperial Gallons. This makes 25.3mpg for the trip to and back from Shitefest. 

Seems quite low to me? Maybe I am running quite a bit richer than I thought.

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Quite a few things point to you running rich and your poor MPG is further proof(although your cheap Chinese distributor can also play into that).

I usually run 25-27 miles per US gallon, so take that for what it's worth. I can get into the high 20s on a sustained interstate run. Small things-including running a bit rich or the timing being a bit off-can have a big impact on that.

As for the heater-the matrix generally flows fine, and mine can burn me out even with sub-freezing ambients(top up of course). The heater valve is a known weakness, and if your heater is not getting hot there's a decent chance it's gummed up with coolant or whatever. Unfortunately, it's a bit of a bear to change with the head on the car, although I've gotten a bit better at it as it's almost become an annual maintenance task for me. Assuming I get my engine rebuild done before the end of the year, 2019 will be my 3rd year in a row with the head off the car, so I'll toss a new one on then :) .


Also, often times the dash control is adjusted in such a way that it will only open the valve part of the way. I actually don't even run with the dash control connected. Left to its own device, the valve has a natural "off" position that doesn't stress the diaphragm, and also a natural "on" position that flows a lot of water. I just slide it between these positions as necessary.

I know other guys who visit the plumbing aisle of the hardware store and end up with elaborate ball valve set-ups and the like that both last forever and get lots of coolant flowing through the heater matrix. I haven't gone that far.

BTW, unless you have a good reason to, don't suspect a problem with the matrix. In the words of John Twist-"The heater matrix is the single most overdiagnosed, over-replaced, and misunderstood part of the car. In 40 years, I replaced two that were truly bad. It's a real S-O-B to replace and I'd rather pull engines all day than replace heater cores."

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11 minutes ago, Nyphur said:

Having caught up with this thread over the last few days, thanks for all your input thus far. I do not own, nor ever will own, an MGB but your knowledge is clearly extensive.
Thanks for your contribution to the forum ?

Thanks, but honestly I know nothing, especially in comparison to the folks who I consider mentors.

Over here stateside, I put folks like John Twist and Dick Moritz, both of whom I consider friends, high on that list even though they're certainly the only ones. There's a lot of knowledge about these cars out there, and at least here in the US if one wants a classic British sports car I don't think there's a better car to own. TR6s are faster, E-types are sexier, and Spridgets are more nimble but I think the B is the perfect crossroads of all of those things :)

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19 hours ago, Nyphur said:
THINK  I saw you earlier today, without knowing it at the time. Going past the Starting Gate pub late evening? If not, there was another mustard MGB about town today.

 

Around 7ish and coming out of Old Bath Road (i.e. going away from Northcroft)? Yup, that would have been us! On our way home at that point - taking the A4 to Chippenham and then A420 to Bristol. A road that I know extremely well.

Getting around Newbury is very painful with that Chievley junction/roundabout closed. Not as bad as pre A34 bypass mind, but made worse by the many people meandering in the wrong lanes and lost.

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As for the heater-the matrix generally flows fine, and mine can burn me out even with sub-freezing ambients(top up of course). The heater valve is a known weakness, and if your heater is not getting hot there's a decent chance it's gummed up with coolant or whatever. Unfortunately, it's a bit of a bear to change with the head on the car, although I've gotten a bit better at it as it's almost become an annual maintenance task for me. Assuming I get my engine rebuild done before the end of the year, 2019 will be my 3rd year in a row with the head off the car, so I'll toss a new one on then .

 

Also, often times the dash control is adjusted in such a way that it will only open the valve part of the way. I actually don't even run with the dash control connected. Left to its own device, the valve has a natural "off" position that doesn't stress the diaphragm, and also a natural "on" position that flows a lot of water. I just slide it between these positions as necessary.

I know other guys who visit the plumbing aisle of the hardware store and end up with elaborate ball valve set-ups and the like that both last forever and get lots of coolant flowing through the heater matrix. I haven't gone that far.

BTW, unless you have a good reason to, don't suspect a problem with the matrix. In the words of John Twist-"The heater matrix is the single most overdiagnosed, over-replaced, and misunderstood part of the car. In 40 years, I replaced two that were truly bad. It's a real S-O-B to replace and I'd rather pull engines all day than replace heater cores."

 

The heater is acceptable but not amazing. Sufficient to dry out the windscreen after the rain we've had but not quite enough puff that I'd want to be in the car during freezing weather. But then these never had class leading heaters anyway.

 

However as this is a summer/spring/autumn car, I'm not overly bothered too much right now. I'll just wear a coat when needed. Plus the engine bay/transmission lets a nice amount of heat out. I can always remove the asbestos insulation blanket over the tunnel and gain some more heat that way!

 

One thing I learnt recently from the other forum is that the matrix used on the MGB is actually of a lower rating than the Spridgets. All thanks to typical BL/BMC design.

 

Probably the biggest issue will be the foam gaskets disintegrating and it leaking hot air. Anything foam on this car has been falling apart, so I don't doubt that in a hot heater box, it'll be knackered.

 

For now I'm leaving it all as is. It works sufficiently and I need to crack on with the 1100.

 

At most I need to sort the distributor out and maybe lean off the carb a flat or two. Plan is to possibly buy a second hand genuine Lucas and then get that electronic CSI ignition sent off to have the immobiliser removed. ~£265 is too much to have the original dizzy refurb when there are other options out there.

 

Probs wouldn't hurt to give the system a flush and refill, especially with the amount of hot weather* we have been having recently (said no-one).

Is the washer pipework all totally ok?

 

Washer pipework is old but doesn't seem to be leaking. It squirts plentiful water out without it pumping air first, so it shouldn't be leaking.

 

Cooling system was flushed out two years ago from the last owner when he (started to) recommission it. He also put a new thermostat in. I have also flushed it out late last year too. Mostly clean coolant came out. I've checked the level a couple times too and it hasn't moved, so no leaks and the (newish) cap must be doing its job.

 

As tempting it is to put a winter stat in, again the car is working so I'm resisting fiddling. Also if we finally get some decent hot weather, idling in the city with a winter stat will eat up any cooling margin.

 

 

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Just saying that after getting a new valve on mine and making sure it was open all the way, I've never had issues with clearing frost or other issues off the windscreen, and yes I have driven mine in temperatures in the mid-teens farenheit.

A lot of the "common complaints" about poor heaters in these cars stems from gummed up valves(which admittedly are a terrible design) or valves not opening all the way.

When I first got mine, I actually had the somewhat uncommon problem of the valve being open all the way and flowing decently well, but stuck there. It was fine in October when I got the car, and through the winter that followed, but I started noticing an issue along about March or April. Let's just say that I'm glad I fixed it, as I don't have any kids, would like to one of these days, and sustained driving with the heater valve stuck all the way open might have prevented that :)

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There’s one of these down at my lockup getting some paint work done . It’s had a fuck ton of welding unfortunately he welded the quarters in without fitting the doors first so the shut goes from 1cm to nothing on one side and the door sticks out about 1cm on the other side .

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2 hours ago, SiC said:

~£265 is too much to have the original dizzy refurb when there are other options out there.

Just noticed this and wanted to comment on it.

As someone who has done both-having your original refurbed is a much, much better option.


If you don't like Distributor Doctor's prices, send it to Jeff Schlemmer here in the US...even with shipping it should be a whole lot less than that. Mine was under $200 USD.

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There’s one of these down at my lockup getting some paint work done . It’s had a fuck ton of welding unfortunately he welded the quarters in without fitting the doors first so the shut goes from 1cm to nothing on one side and the door sticks out about 1cm on the other side .

Thankfully my panel lines are pretty straight! Much straighter than the example at Beaulieu.

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Just noticed this and wanted to comment on it.

As someone who has done both-having your original refurbed is a much, much better option.

 

If you don't like Distributor Doctor's prices, send it to Jeff Schlemmer here in the US...even with shipping it should be a whole lot less than that. Mine was under $200 USD.

I would agree a rebuild is better than a second hand distributor or something Chinese, but I can't agree against a unit 123 Ignition. The 123 unit has much better quality caps and rotors than are available for their designs than the stuff around for the 25D. Distributor Doctor rotors aren't bad quality, but still not quite what Beru churn out for their caps + rotors that 123 use. Also the 123 ignition unit is much easier and less faff to alter timing on than a traditional mechanical advance distributor. Accuracy wise, providing the 25D is rebushed properly (which DD, et al should do) and using a quality electronic ignition unit, it will be similar. But then you are adding an extra 100+ quid for a decent quality electronic unit. Yes there are cheaper electronic units like the Powerspark, but these have appear to have plentiful reports of variable quality and longevity. Either way, it still really needs a properly rebuild distributor.

 

Finally the build quality of the 123 ignition units is extremely good. I bought a 6 cyl unit that I bought cheap on eBay a little while ago to strip down to have a look at its design & build. I'll try finding and dig it out and take pictures. The CSI is ok but still relies on a cheap Chinese repro cast core as it's base. While the 123 ignition is design and built from the ground up as a modern manufactured distributor.

 

By the time I've added shipping to and from the US plus import duties (or hope Customs and Excise honour not), it's still going to be very similar to a 123 unit.

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Bought this as a temporary stop gap until I figure what to do next with a better distributor solution.
c6f0830b1d9b1d3091fcde934a38409a.jpg
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F232638374453

Looks in reasonable condition from the single crappy photo. The advance curve looks reasonable on this model too. From the same 18V engine family as mine, just the pre ECE15 emission standards. Also has a curve close to the 40897 that everyone always goes on about.

All withstanding that the description is correct and it's not completely knackered inside...

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I know one guy who runs a 123, and his car still spends more time being tinkered with than driven.

The programability of the 123 is both a blessing and a curse-I think this guy's problem is he has spent too much time studying ignition theory and gets too caught up on the minutia.

The cars run beautifully on a 40897 curve in a Lucas distributor. A 123 may be able to shave a tiny bit of extra performance out under the right conditions, but I'd put mine rebuilt by Jeff Schlemmer up against a 123-equipped car set up by most anyone and at best you wouldn't be able to tell a difference.

Talk to the guys who do things like race MGBs and see what they're running. You probably have a few hold-outs running Mallory dual-points, but most of them have rebuilt Lucases both in their race cars and the cars they drive.

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5 hours ago, 1970mgb said:
I know one guy who runs a 123, and his car still spends more time being tinkered with than driven. 

The programability of the 123 is both a blessing and a curse-I think this guy's problem is he has spent too much time studying ignition theory and gets too caught up on the minutia.

 

You say that as if it is a negative. However that's exactly what I expect from someone with an engineering mindset. Constantly playing with and improving something as best as they can. Very much part of the car hobby as is driving the car. Some people have different balance and priorities to others. 

Even so, it doesn't mean that as soon as you buy a 123 you will be fiddling with it all the time. Many people out there pop one in and just get on with it. 

5 hours ago, 1970mgb said:
The cars run beautifully on a 40897 curve in a Lucas distributor. A 123 may be able to shave a tiny bit of extra performance out under the right conditions, but I'd put mine rebuilt by Jeff Schlemmer up against a 123-equipped car set up by most anyone and at best you wouldn't be able to tell a difference.

Exactly. A standard 123 ignition from the get go, setup with a 40887 curve will give you an identical result as a rebuilt Lucas. However if someone so wishes, they can continue to tweak the curve to get the best from their engine and modern fuels. Easily and without stripping down the top of the dizzy everytime. All for similar levels of initial outlay.

The bonus of the 123 is that there isn't mechanical springs, weights and vacuum advances to go out of spec as they wear. Far more repeatability and consistency on an electronic managed unit.

5 hours ago, 1970mgb said:
Talk to the guys who do things like race MGBs and see what they're running. You probably have a few hold-outs running Mallory dual-points, but most of them have rebuilt Lucases both in their race cars and the cars they drive.

If I was running a tuned B-Series that I operated at WOT most of the time, while conforming to originality requirements of period racing then this would be a different conversation. Where vacuum advance is commonly not used or needed, idling is not too much of a concern and throttle is regularly banged between end stops, a standard distributor is sufficient or even a requirement. However as a road going unit where tractability, smoothness and efficiency is concerned then comparisons to race engines is a moot point.

To be honest, on a race engine where there are not originality rules, it would make sense to go for a modern format solution like a MegaJolt. Removed vast majority of slack and timing errors out of the pickup. Good reason why the distributor format isn't used on almost all vehicles nowadays.

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Just to add, I don't have anything against the original and traditional Lucas distributors. If someone wanted/needed to keep their car original or really likes the quirks and fobiles of a traditional dizzy, then it makes complete sense to have it rebuilt. Indeed for some that is a very reasonable thing and part of the fun.

However for pretty much the same money, from the viewpoint of having a device that provides energy to your sparking plugs at the right time with consistent accuracy while being able to do that with minimal supervision or maintenance, the 123 wins over a Lucas 25d easily. 

For me, the thought of paying out £250-300 for a rebuilt distributor or even a 123 is an awfully hard pill to swallow. Right now I've got that second hand unit coming. Hopefully it's in good enough condition that I can just use it and not worry about it again for a while. 

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What is your ultimate goal in fitting a 123 distributor? Is it to have a running, reliable, driving car or is it to be able to tinker endlessly searching for perfection?

Ignition on a B series engine is always going to be somewhat less than perfect regardless of whether you're running points on a Lucas distributor or an electronic distributor "perfectly" tuned to the engine. Inherently, it's an ancient design with ineffecient intake and exhaust, and all of that is rather sloppy anyway. Aside from that, unless you've gone through and replaced the timing sprockets, timing chain, camshaft, and distributor drive there is going to be some degree of ignition scatter no matter how perfect the distributor is(one reason among many why modern cars use a crank position sensor).

By and large, the guys I know who run stock distributors or ones with simple electronic ignition(Pertronix, etc) just get out and drive their cars, often to the tune of thousands of miles a year. For as terrible as many claim the Lucas distributors are, there's really not as much of an epidemic of cars not running well as the folks I know who chase perfect ignition all the time in their cars. In fact. my observation is that there seems to be very much a negative correlation between level of distributor sophistication in an MGB and number of miles driven...but that's just one person's observation.

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31 minutes ago, 1970mgb said:
What is your ultimate goal in fitting a 123 distributor?

I'm not fitting a 123, I'm fitting this:

20 hours ago, SiC said:
Bought this as a temporary stop gap until I figure what to do next with a better distributor solution.
c6f0830b1d9b1d3091fcde934a38409a.jpg
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F232638374453

Still very TBD what I get in the future.

 

31 minutes ago, 1970mgb said:

Ignition on a B series engine is always going to be somewhat less than perfect

(one reason among many why modern cars use a crank position sensor).

Yes, I agree. That is why I said this:

1 hour ago, SiC said:
 
To be honest, on a race engine where there are not originality rules, it would make sense to go for a modern format solution like a MegaJolt. Removed vast majority of slack and timing errors out of the pickup. Good reason why the distributor format isn't used on almost all vehicles nowadays.

However for a road car, possibly verging on a pointless (hahaha geddit?) endeavour to move to a flywheel pickup based system, given a decent distributor system will initially be equivalent. Unless that engine is freshly rebuilt and needs to run tens of thousands of miles a year or absolute maximum peak performance is needed of course.

 

31 minutes ago, 1970mgb said:

By and large, the guys I know who run stock distributors or ones with simple electronic ignition(Pertronix, etc) just get out and drive their cars, often to the tune of thousands of miles a year. For as terrible as many claim the Lucas distributors are, there's really not as much of an epidemic of cars not running well as the folks I know who chase perfect ignition all the time in their cars. In fact. my observation is that there seems to be very much a negative correlation between level of distributor sophistication in an MGB and number of miles driven...but that's just one person's observation.

That's a bit unfair to tar everyone with some anecdata.

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I will also say that I'm deeply distrustful of the reliability of any mission-critical complex electronics running on the electrical system of a B(or pretty much any other old car). It's quite "dirty" even with modern voltage regulators and the like.

My point is that the cars really run about as well as you can expect(which is pretty darn well) with points and other "old" types of ignition. If you're not planning on basically bringing the engine back to new condition, I seriously doubt that you could see any real world benefits from a 123, and further to my point about the quality of power I know that I trust myself a lot more to a simple ignition system that's tolerant of less-than-perfect power

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Hi Simon

Great to hear that you are using it more. I enjoyed seeing it and you at SF19. It is a nice and together car ? that runs sweetly. Glad the oil loss is under control

Water in the footwells leak, check the wiper spindles where they come through the deck panel. remove wipers, nut and rubber seal. dop a blob of silicon between rubber seal and deck and reassemble. Don't go medieval on tightening the nut back down again or you just distort the seal.

Other thing I might do it get in the car with a torch while swmbo attacks the car with a hosepipe. you might just see where the water is coming in, sometimes it works its way down the door seal past the quarterlight and then drips down onto the floor.

I think I share your views on mappable ignition and similar "improvements" such as adjustable shocks and springs and stuff like that. You could spend a life time fiddling with it to get that sweet spot and find it is exactly the same as the out of the box oem solution. ? which is cheaper in the first place ?

Been there done that and have the 'kin t-shirt

leccy ignition modules that are dirt cheap category. me? wouldn't trust them any further than I could throw them. Again been there and done that. Many think its cheap, I can buy 2 for my "trouble free motoring". Yeah about that, ? in the pissing rain, on the hard shoulder of the m5, with the mrs standing behind the crash barrier with a footwell mat trying to protect her new hair do from the rain. See where I am going with it?

There is bugger all wrong with a quality condensor and set of points. I bought a couple of dwell meters, one was 50p and the other a snap on jobby from the 1970s was a little more. Setting points and dwell is simple, and easy to maintain. the points start to pit then the condensor isn't doing it's job. I run a pertronix system on the staaaag but have a baseplate set up with points and condensor in the glovebox. I am assured that the pertronix will never fail me! bold claim, if it does then I am straight back to old skool.

Re your lucas dizzys, if you want me to have a look at them drop me a PM, chances are that they just need a stripdown and clean. so long as the bushes in the shaft are good, the mechanical advance springs are correct and the top section of the shaft moves easily there is not that much more to do. Vacuum advance is the most likely thing to fail. suck on the vacuum pip and if you can draw breath through it is time for a new one. Set up baseplate with points and condensor and at your annual mileage check it once a year as part of your service schedule.

Cheers

Richard

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The original dizzy, to put it bluntly and like most British car parts of the era, is fucked. Enough to need serious work doing to it and borderline write off. Especially given the cheapness of second hand distributors. More chance to have some working bits in them to start!

What is wrong with it?

Vacuum advance leaks and doesn't work at all
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Mounting collar cracked/missing
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Cam has a defined grove worn into it from the points foot. This is uneven across the circumference of the cam.

I can't remember what state the bushes are in, but they're probably not in the best condition either. Given the rest of its condition, the springs are unlikely to be within spec either.

So new vacuum advance, case repair/replacement, new cam assembly and likely new bushes + springs.

Hopefully the second hand distributor coming will be a better starting point. Will be even better if it's in good enough condition to fit almost immediately.

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Hmm tempting. On offer at Moss this week with their 6 week's worth of different offers.

443-155pic1_1.jpg
https://www.moss-europe.co.uk/shop-by-model/mg/mgb-c-v8/clutch-gearbox-axle/gearboxes-components/gear-lever-quick-shift-cobalt-443-155.html

I wouldn't have considered it before but now the gearbox has loosened up with use, the throw shouldn't be much heavier. Just less of a reach to the stick, especially nicer thing to have when rifling through the box on twisty roads.

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3 hours ago, richardthestag said:

Water in the footwells leak, check the wiper spindles where they come through the deck panel. remove wipers, nut and rubber seal. dop a blob of silicon between rubber seal and deck and reassemble. Don't go medieval on tightening the nut back down again or you just distort the seal.

Arbomast BR, a butyl-based non-setting mastic, would be better than silicone sealant, also a lot easier to clean up after using and less of a pain when dismantling to work on it.

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