midget upgrade

spinybif_2

Having a mid-life crisis and bought myself an MG Midget. Would like to upgrade to halogen headlights and electronic ignition. Not sure at this early stage want to tackle it myself. Would appreciate recommendations and an idea of costs - should I find local MG specialist (Warrington) or buy parts and get an auto-electrician to fit ?

Many thanks

AdrianC

Swapping from sealed beams to halogens is incredibly straightforward - just remove the old light, and put the new one in. A handful of screws. There's various people selling upgrades on eBay, Amazon etc. Your Midget has separate sidelights, so you need the (slightly more expensive) sets without the sidelights. I've just done the same on my old Landy - £35, delivered, for branded lights including bulbs.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/370474346157 were the ones I got - they're common across all sealed-beams, because sealed-beams themselves are common.

Electronic ignition is a slightly more involved fit, but still no more than basic servicing. Any half-competent garage can do it.

Strider590

Assuming they're 7" units, i'd go for the Wipac crystal lamps, they're about £45-£50. They're just brilliant, it's like having modern lights on an old car.

Electronic ignition.... Do you mean converting points to electronic OR a full conversion?

The former is incredibly simple.

spinybif_2

Not sure on electronic ignition, which is the better way to go ?

forgotmyname

Dont forget to get the headlights adjusted after fitting.

Depending on which electronic kit you go for keep the old bits in the car in case it ever fails.

AdrianC

forgotmyname wrote: »

Dont forget to get the headlights adjusted after fitting.

Swapping sealed-beams for halogens, you shouldn't need to. The adjustment's in the bucket behind the actual light unit. They're designed, after all, to have the complete reflector replaced regularly.

reeac

In early 2003 I fitted my 1958 MGA with Newtronic optoelectronic ignition and it,s been fine. Fitting instructions were good. They were based in Blackburn. The reason that I changed was that I had difficulty in finding good quality, durable conventional points ..... Presumably because there was so little demand for them by then.

Mankysteve

When it comes to ignition upgrades up grades it all depends on your skill/knowing a decent mechanic and budget but also if you'd like the option to upgrade to fuel injection.

I suspect a look at the midget owners forum might give your better idea.

facade

When I had an MG the MGOC recommended upgrade was a new distributor with electronic ignition made by 123ignition, but they were stupidly expensive, and the points worked well enough.

If you are not handy with the spanners and are paying someone to maintain it, an old MG will cost a fortune to run compared to an MX5.

epninety

Pertronix / Aldon Ignitor module replaces the points directly for electronic ignition. Simple to install if you can set timing, looks standard, and in the event of a problem you can swap the points back in.

For the headlamps, I like the Hella units myself, good beam pattern, tough, fairly waterproof. Downside is the price.

Wipac crystals are tough and well regarded, but might look a bit odd on a midget (plain lens, with pattern in the reflector) You can use the ones with sidelights in if they are cheaper, just don't wire up the sidelight - or wire them in parallel with your sidelights (that's what I do on the Hellas)

Joe_Horner

I ran one of the SimonBB Powerspark electronic kits on my old Triumph 1300 for a couple of years. Before I fitted it I was sceptical that I'd notice any real difference but liked the idea of doing away with points cleaning. There was an immediate improvement in starting and smoothness - almost the first time in years playing with cars that I had to admit I was wrong!

The car's been dormant for about 2 1/2 years then, about 6 weeks ago, tried to start it and (with fresh battery and some fuel in the carb) it started instantly and ran smoothly from the start - as if it had been used yesterday!

At the time he only did them for the Lucas 25D distributor, but seems to have expanded the range considerably since then:

http://www.simonbbc.com/electronic-ignition-kits?zenid=72c437a4b36b570c7e9dc24d734babda