Safety Fast January 2017

I have just been looking at the newly revamped MGB Register website. It will be live by the time you are perusing these notes.
However, let us thrust eagerly into a brave new year and contemplate some of the delights to come which you could attend with your MGB. So, grabbing the new kitchen calendar, perhaps you would care to note down the following dates:

February 25, 10.30am Kimber House, MGB AGM.

April 2 Brooklands MG Day.

April 9 MGB Register Spring Run.

June 17-18 MGLive!, Silverstone.

June 24-25 Flywheel (note new date). Bicester Heritage,

September 15-18 MGB Register weekend, Lincolnshire.

October 28 October Technical Day.

November 10-12, NEC Classic Car Show.

Graham sent this technical question over to me for entry in the notes.

I have just looked at the technical area of the MGB Register website, but found no reference to electronic ignition. Surprising, since I am sure many MGB owners have converted to electronic ignition. Hence my question to you about what information you may have on the subject. I have seen some advertisements in Safety Fast! but I would be interested to know
which is the best alternative, with particular reference to:

1. Ease of installation (my technical knowledge is limited) and whether there are good instructions to describe the installation.

2. Best value for money.

3. Reliability.

Do you have personal experience or information on experiences of other MGB owners on this topic? My car is a 1968 Roadster and is fitted with a 25D type distributor.

I do not have any first-hand experience of electronic ignition units so cannot really recommend any. I have always relied on points and condensers and much prefer originality. That said, electronic ignition units are very popular. The cheapest and least noticeable under the bonnet are the Hall Type systems which merely fi t inside your existing distributor and replace the points and condenser. These are cheap and easy to install. These work even if your distributor is worn and if I were buying electronic ignition then this is the type I would use.

The other type is a complete replacement of the distributor with an electronic one, such as the ‘123’. They look very modern and you can tune the timing via a laptop. Great for racing and fast road use but quite expensive. All units are quite reliable but I have heard lots of stories of people reverting back to points.

Why not ask the question about which is best to fit on our forum: www.mgbforum.mgbregister.org/index.php. Alternatively, feel free to place the question on our Facebook group page – free to join, but you will need to send a join request first.

As a footnote to this, I have an Aldon Hall effect system in my MK1 MGB with an Aldon Flamethrower Coil. They have been completely reliable over several years. The ignition drifted half a degree over five years which I put down to distributor wear.

DAVID BROADHURST
newsletter-editor@mgb-register.org