This is also available for solid state assemblies, One of my early bikes was a 1953 BSA 500 twin. This product wasn't compatible with it, The "53 did not produce enough electricity to hurt ant kind of harness or wiring. If I remember right, in'53 they did not know what a wire harness was yet.
The Sports Car Thread
- Thread starter dduelin
- Start date
6 Volts can barely run a flashlight
jfheilman
Site Supporter
My first sports car (and my second car of my own) was a 1959 MGA. I got it, used, in 1967 from a local dealer (not an MGA Dealer) in Columbia, SC.
The picture below is not "my" car but an almost exact copy/image of what it looked like.
It was a "new" thing for me. Notice the "hole" in the front bumper.... It was for a hand crank to start the engine if the batteries failed. I say batteries because, if I remember correctly, there were two batteries under the "seat" like thing just behind two front seats. They were, if I remember correctly, two six volt batteries wired in series.
Notice the "knock off hubs" on the wheels. They are what held the wheels on the car, no lug nuts. I was in the US Navy at ET School in Great Lakes when I was at my current girl friends house, getting ready to head back to the base when I noticed the left front knock "thing" was missing. I did not know what to do so, I decided to take a chance and I drove it back to the base. No issues. Don't remember where I got the 'new' to me knock off hub but I did and got it fixed.
Another event occurred in the summer of 1968 when the pulley on the generator failed. I was on a rural road somewhere in NC going to see my current girlfriend. It was late afternoon and I pulled to the side of the road and opened the hood to see what happened. The generator pulley failed. I was really worried and just stood there by my car. A gentlemen came by in his pickup truck, stopped and asked what my issue was. After our conversation, he tied something to my front fender and pulled me a few miles down the road to his house. It was a farm and he had a barn like building out front that he let me stay in for the night.
Next morning, he towed me, once more, to a local station/repair place and the fixed the issue. Not with a stock 1959 MGA generator pulley but with a pulley arrangement welded to the pulley mount. It worked until I sometime in the early 70's. I stopped using the MGA when I got married in 1969 (December ) and the wife and I purchased a new 1970 Ford Maverick. Oh, total coast for the generator pulley repair was $35.
Oh, just for the record, I drove my MGA from that date in 1967 until January of 1969. I made at least two round trips (maybe three, I forget) from GA to the Great Lakes Training Center and drove my MGA all over Illinois and Wisconsin while I was in training there.
The picture below is not "my" car but an almost exact copy/image of what it looked like.
It was a "new" thing for me. Notice the "hole" in the front bumper.... It was for a hand crank to start the engine if the batteries failed. I say batteries because, if I remember correctly, there were two batteries under the "seat" like thing just behind two front seats. They were, if I remember correctly, two six volt batteries wired in series.
Notice the "knock off hubs" on the wheels. They are what held the wheels on the car, no lug nuts. I was in the US Navy at ET School in Great Lakes when I was at my current girl friends house, getting ready to head back to the base when I noticed the left front knock "thing" was missing. I did not know what to do so, I decided to take a chance and I drove it back to the base. No issues. Don't remember where I got the 'new' to me knock off hub but I did and got it fixed.
Another event occurred in the summer of 1968 when the pulley on the generator failed. I was on a rural road somewhere in NC going to see my current girlfriend. It was late afternoon and I pulled to the side of the road and opened the hood to see what happened. The generator pulley failed. I was really worried and just stood there by my car. A gentlemen came by in his pickup truck, stopped and asked what my issue was. After our conversation, he tied something to my front fender and pulled me a few miles down the road to his house. It was a farm and he had a barn like building out front that he let me stay in for the night.
Next morning, he towed me, once more, to a local station/repair place and the fixed the issue. Not with a stock 1959 MGA generator pulley but with a pulley arrangement welded to the pulley mount. It worked until I sometime in the early 70's. I stopped using the MGA when I got married in 1969 (December ) and the wife and I purchased a new 1970 Ford Maverick. Oh, total coast for the generator pulley repair was $35.
Oh, just for the record, I drove my MGA from that date in 1967 until January of 1969. I made at least two round trips (maybe three, I forget) from GA to the Great Lakes Training Center and drove my MGA all over Illinois and Wisconsin while I was in training there.
diferg
Dan & Ingrid
OH NO! I am now confused... do I need to buy both of them? ...Is yours the 12V negative ground version?
OP
OP
My first car was a 1968 MGC roadster like this one and mine was blue as well.My first sports car (and my second car of my own) was a 1959 MGA. I got it, used, in 1967 from a local dealer (not an MGA Dealer) in Columbia, SC.
The picture below is not "my" car but an almost exact copy/image of what it looked like.
It was a "new" thing for me. Notice the "hole" in the front bumper.... It was for a hand crank to start the engine if the batteries failed. I say batteries because, if I remember correctly, there were two batteries under the "seat" like thing just behind two front seats. They were, if I remember correctly, two six volt batteries wired in series.
Notice the "knock off hubs" on the wheels. They are what held the wheels on the car, no lug nuts. I was in the US Navy at ET School in Great Lakes when I was at my current girl friends house, getting ready to head back to the base when I noticed the left front knock "thing" was missing. I did not know what to do so, I decided to take a chance and I drove it back to the base. No issues. Don't remember where I got the 'new' to me knock off hub but I did and got it fixed.
Another event occurred in the summer of 1968 when the pulley on the generator failed. I was on a rural road somewhere in NC going to see my current girlfriend. It was late afternoon and I pulled to the side of the road and opened the hood to see what happened. The generator pulley failed. I was really worried and just stood there by my car. A gentlemen came by in his pickup truck, stopped and asked what my issue was. After our conversation, he tied something to my front fender and pulled me a few miles down the road to his house. It was a farm and he had a barn like building out front that he let me stay in for the night.
Next morning, he towed me, once more, to a local station/repair place and the fixed the issue. Not with a stock 1959 MGA generator pulley but with a pulley arrangement welded to the pulley mount. It worked until I sometime in the early 70's. I stopped using the MGA when I got married in 1969 (December ) and the wife and I purchased a new 1970 Ford Maverick. Oh, total coast for the generator pulley repair was $35.
Oh, just for the record, I drove my MGA from that date in 1967 until January of 1969. I made at least two round trips (maybe three, I forget) from GA to the Great Lakes Training Center and drove my MGA all over Illinois and Wisconsin while I was in training there.
That car was basically an MGB with an Austin 2.9 liter inline 6 instead of the 1.8 liter 4 cylinder that Bs had. 145 hp vs 95 hp. The C was fast as could be but the heavy six in the MGB body caused excessive understeer when getting frisky. I acquired it in 1973 after high school graduation. It also had wire wheels with knock-offs. I lost the right front wheel while driving through a downhill curve and that was an experience. That car gave me lots of "experiences" in the 1973-1981 years I drove it. Much of what I know about DIY wrenching I learned keeping that car on the road. My Dad was instrumental in that as he was an aircraft mechanic. In 1986 I bought a 1968 MGB for a song but I did not keep it very long as I had by then gotten used to a reliable car, '85 VW GTI, that did not leak all of it's fluids. In 2016 my late wife Brenda and I bought a 1999 Miata and had great fun with it until selling it in 2022. Miatas have all the top down driving fun of extinct lightweight British sports cars with pros of better handling and Japanese reliability.
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i had two '78 280's, one auto and the other was a 5spd
jfheilman
Site Supporter
Regarding the "Negative" vs "Positive" ground on my old MGA, I had forgotten about that.
I had the pleasure of driving a 1970 Austin 3 litre in 1973. I was attending an advanced driving course. Same engine as your MGC, but just a tad heavier!My first car was a 1968 MGC roadster like this one and mine was blue as well.
Attachments
OP
OP
Can you post or send me a picture of the rear body brace?
1994 M edition is mine. I’m third owner.
1999 with fresh rebuild is my son’s. He did 95% of the work. I did maybe 1%
1999 with fresh rebuild is my son’s. He did 95% of the work. I did maybe 1%
Nice thread, here is my 996. I bought it used in 2006, coming up to 20 years with me. Never gonna sell it.
Muchmore
Train killer
Not exactly "sporty" but still super fun to drive! 1991 Figaro, Figaro, FIG--AH--RO!
ChucksKLRST
Team Colorado
Had A 2002 Miata a while back that was stored in my neighbors garage, (my garage has too many motorcycles in it) until she sold her house. So I had to sell the MX-5. I replaced it with a Jeep Wrangler which is not really a sports car until you take the top off then it becomes a Back Country sports car. Now that the wife is retired her car stays outside and the wrangler and bikes get the garage.
ChucksKLRST
Team Colorado
O MY GOSH. The BLUES are starting to take over my garage.
I grew up n Montreal where huge amounts of salt were used to keep winter roads open
Very little galvanized steel was used and it was not uncommon to see perforation rust after 5 years on the road.
UK sportscars like Triumph, MG and Austin Healey had horrendous corrosion issues and were often total rust buckets after 4 or more winters on the road. Few of them survived and those that did lived with owners that drove them in summer months only. So, not a lot of older cars around.
Guy around the corner from us collected hemi engine cars and his daily ride in the mid seventies was a '68 or '69 Charger with a 426 engine. Tragically, it was already showing a bit on rust around the wheel wells and was probably rusted out and junked 40 years ago.
Very little galvanized steel was used and it was not uncommon to see perforation rust after 5 years on the road.
UK sportscars like Triumph, MG and Austin Healey had horrendous corrosion issues and were often total rust buckets after 4 or more winters on the road. Few of them survived and those that did lived with owners that drove them in summer months only. So, not a lot of older cars around.
Guy around the corner from us collected hemi engine cars and his daily ride in the mid seventies was a '68 or '69 Charger with a 426 engine. Tragically, it was already showing a bit on rust around the wheel wells and was probably rusted out and junked 40 years ago.
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LOL.. very nice.. haven't driven an ND version but I'm sure very fun.O MY GOSH. The BLUES are starting to take over my garage.
My first car was a convertible MGA that had been rebuilt just before I bought it. Everything was fixed except the technology....all stock and full of reliability surprises. The rebuilder DID prime the bottom side of the car during his rebuild. Apparently he was well versed in Brit cars/Rust. I noticed this work when I was laying under the car replacing the stock fuel pump with a Bendix unit plus filters and fittings. Lots of obvious weld-repaired rust holes, though well accomplished. Rust is the only feature I did not have to deal with during the two years I owned it.
ChucksKLRST
Team Colorado
2025 model with 5 miles. I don't get in the car , I put it on. Tight fit with my fat a$$. A little tighter than the MB that I use to have. Spending my kids inheritance to try something new..