Electronic ignition for an MGB.

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gt67
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Joined: Mon May 30, 2011 2:24 pm

Electronic ignition for an MGB.

#1 Post by gt67 » Fri Sep 25, 2015 4:43 pm

Considering changing my MGB to electronic ignition after my recent woes. Anyone got any recommendations for a good system OR would anyone recommend staying with points etc! Any advice is gratefully received. Thanks everyone.

kevin
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Re: Electronic ignition for an MGB.

#2 Post by kevin » Fri Sep 25, 2015 5:09 pm

I went with an Accuspark unit. Works really well but then again so does a well set up points system.
As with all things you have to weight the pros and cons and decide which is most important for you, on my singer the original 1970s Lucas electronic system was shot, in the absence of a decent points dizzy I paid £58 delivered for the Accuspark unit as a stop gap fix, it's still fitted today and is great, I do have a brand new old stock Lucas distributor on the shelf should it fail however

Kev

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Luxobarge
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Re: Electronic ignition for an MGB.

#3 Post by Luxobarge » Sat Sep 26, 2015 8:00 am

I fitted a Lumenition system to my Midget, that was about 12 years ago and it's been "fit and foget" since then, totally reliable and instant starting every time, even after leving the car untouched for 6 months.

I believe the accuspark systems are good too, so I'd say you have two high quality choices right there.

Cheers :D
Some people are like Slinkies - they serve no useful purpose, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them downstairs.

Richard Moss
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Re: Electronic ignition for an MGB.

#4 Post by Richard Moss » Mon Sep 28, 2015 12:00 pm

My MGC has a distributor bought from simonbbc on ebay - great value and it runs much more smoothly now :)

History
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Re: Electronic ignition for an MGB.

#5 Post by History » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:19 pm

I would first find out why the present set up is faulty.
This points systems was fitted to millions of cars and vans. Many big fleets had this system.
In other words it is reliable and will happily run for thousands of miles with a squirt of oil and a points file.

But of course the system doesn't last forever.

Both luminition and acraspark will make a worn distributor better but not perfect. The mechanical load of the points can cause a worn distributor to turn in wobble.

This distributor was made in the millions so should be cheap used. I would get a used one and convert. Keeping the original in the boot should the electronic one go wrong. The reliability of electronics follows a bath tub on a graph. Most failures are at the begining and the end of the life cycle. So once system has been used for say 3 months then it will be fine for say 20 years. Distributor based electronic ignition are not entirely maintenance free. They still need oiling. The oil will not damage the electronics.

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JPB
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Re: Electronic ignition for an MGB.

#6 Post by JPB » Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:55 pm

Please don't put oil anywhere near a Lumenition Optronic system! Magnetronic, fine, soak it in the stuff if that's your bag but not when the presence of oil in the path of the light in the better - and pretty well immune to scatter as it works in the horizontal plane - Optronic will cause random misfiring symptoms in much the same way as a dirty laser diode causes your CD player to misread a disc's TOC or even to refuse to play.

SimonBBC uses the exact same units that Britpart sell for £8 each and that can be bought direct from their Chinese maker at 6p per unit for order quantities greater than 100, buy one of these from MM 4x4 and fit it yourself, as Bob suggests carry a spare distributor (extreme) or a baseplate with its contacts and capacitor already fitted (takes up so much less space..)
I tested dozens of systems at work for R3W and kitten reg members a few years ago and found that, of the magnetic systems, the cheapies were only bettered by the expensive, programmable 123 for stability and absence of scatter.

Accuspark certainly seem to have responded to the various issues that their systems were causing a couple of years ago and although they lost the LEA [for which I worked at the time] as a trading partner as a result of that, I'm hearing many favourable reports about their improved customer service skills and product reliability so good for them, if this improvement is a sign that they're learning from past cockups then they deserve to succeed.
:thumbs:
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true.. :oops:

mr rusty
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Re: Electronic ignition for an MGB.

#7 Post by mr rusty » Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:28 pm

Stick with the points unless you have a pressing reason not to...I fitted in of those cheapo britpart units to the Metro, just to make servicing a bit easier- its either rad moved aside or distributor completely out to check/clean the points properly. The thing was rubbish, it worked on for a few months but then became unreliable, wiggling the leads would cause it to cut out.. I took it apart before chucking it, it appeared to be made of cheese with dreadfully soldered joints, they're probably made by slaves in a dark cellar somewhere. The points went back and have been perfectly reliable, if a pain to service.
I have a pertronix unit on the Vitesse, I fitted that getting on for 8 years ago when I couldn't get hold of decent quality replacement points, it's been very reliable and is well made, but cost a lot more than the britpart rubbish.
I wouldn't bother with optical type systems, they were state of the art 40 years ago, but are expensive and over-rlaborate now. If you want electronic, buy a pertronix unit, I got mine from retro rockets in the states, fit it, along with a decent rotor arm, and forget it.
1968 Triumph Vitesse Mk1 2 litre convertible, Junior Miss rusty has a 1989 998cc Mk2 Metro, Mrs Rusty has a modern common rail diesel thing.

History
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Re: Electronic ignition for an MGB.

#8 Post by History » Tue Sep 29, 2015 8:02 pm

The dizzy has a drain hole for water or oil. So a spot of oil won't damage the opitical types. Just don't go mad. If oil or dirt get on the opitical bits wipe it off.
Also keep oil away from rotor carbon brush.

Its important that the centrifugal advance and vacuum advance work smoothly and they must be oiled and greased.



Bob

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