James,
First, what kind of ignition is in there now, what kind of carb do you
have and are all the emission pieces intact? Most listers seem to like
the Pertronix ignitor module. It is simple and can be installed on the
car in about 20 minutes. My 1978 MGB has an aftermarket (Piranha)
optical electronic ignition installed in the stock 45DE distributor.
That seems to be working for the moment.
My carburetor and emissions controls were a different story. After I
bought the car I rebuilt the ZS carb, replaced the catalytic converter
(empty), gulp valve, EGR valve, air rail (clogged), air pump (missing),
and air rail check valve (rusted/broken). NJ is very stringent with
their emissions inspection (I probably could have pointed to anything
and called it a 'whatever', but I prefer not to have to lie like
that...) and all the functioning bits were necessary for passing.
If your 1978 is so equipped, you will want to make sure the Zenith
Stromberg carb us not leaking and the automatic choke is functioning
correctly. Leaks drip on the fibrous heat shield which saturates and
ignites from the heat of the catalytic converter. If the choke sticks,
then the car runs really rich and you'll never pass for emissions.
Also, if the car runs too rich then the cat glows cherry red from the
un-burned gas which is another potential fire hazard.
Now, what kind of electrical problems are you having? The back of my
Moss catalog has an article about checking connections and making sure
anything done by someone else was done correctly. Always use solder
(not crimp) connectors and no cold solder joints! You probably have
some poor ground connections. Those plague most of my old cars. Check
the fuse block for corrosion and exercise the hazard switch to cure slow
turn signals. That's all my tips for now.
Good luck,
donny v
1978 MGB
>>> "James Nazarian" <jhn3@uakron.edu> 5/14/2004 1:42:22 PM >>>
In the next few weeks I am going to be putting a 78 B back on the road
for
my dad. The car has 33k miles on it but it hasn't run in more than 10
years
due to electrical problems. I don't have a whole lot of experience
with the
RBBs but I have heard that the stock electronic ignitions can be
problematic. Can someone provide me with some input and with the most
common solution. Right now it is just a contingency plan, but I would
like
to have a backup in mind because I have to finish it before I start
summer
school a month from now.
TIA
James Nazarian
71 MGBGT V8
71 MGB Tourer
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