Piggyback coil on 67' MGB ?

[grantour]

Just got the 67' B started yesterday and I gotta' ask this "in the know" group; was the coil mounted atop the generator for that year? It looks realistically original, and there are no apparent holes coinciding with the coil bracket bolt holes. Just thought I would ask before drilling the fender, as the 64' is done. No pic to add this time, maybe later.

[Steve Simmons]

To the best of my knowledge... If you want 100% original, then it will go on a bracket which connects to the engine mount beside the generator. The "piggyback" mounting where the generator goes on top of the generator was used on MGA. Nearly all Bs these days have them mounted to the side of the engine compartment.

[grantour]

Something didn't seem right about this. Bet they simply swapped out an MGA generator and coil at some point. But the fender well area doesn' t have telltale holes where it could have been mounted. But as you say, perhaps it was on a bracket connected to the engine mount... which I can't quiet visualize at present. Not concerned with originality on this car - heavens - so may put er' on the fender well, opposite the Weber - strike me down now

[Steve Simmons]

MGA and MGB both use the same type of C40 generator. There is a date code stamped into the body if you're curious about the age of your particular unit. The bracket places the coil beside and below the generator. If I remember correctly it's just a L-shaped piece of metal with two holes in it so it can share two of the engine mount bolts. The coil mounts on the other face. I don't have a photo because my coils are mounted on the side of the engine bay!

The move away from generator mount was because the vibration of the engine can shorten the life of a coil. Placing it on the engine mount is probably nearly as good as on the side of the engine bay.

[tannyo]

I believe this is how it's supposed to be installed.

1967-MGB-engine-bay.jpg (108.94 KiB) Viewed 8114 times

Here are the brackets and coil from Moss.

[grantour]

Tannyo,
Very nice. Have never seen that installation before. Particularly like the routing of the temp sender wire; definately have to utilize that in my car's bay. The coil is very neatly positioned there and out of the way, which is a big plus. Will get a pic of the mount bracket on this car to see if someone can identify, as I am curious now as to its origin. Thank you for putting the info and picture up ! Super.
grantour

[malcolmr18zoy]

Actually, it's not a good idea to route the temp gauge capilliary tube over the cylinder head. being that close to another heat scource can give inaccurately high temp readings due to the fluid inside the tube being heated by the cylinder head. It's better to route it away from the engine, and along the inner fender.
Malcolm

[grantour]

Malcolm, well that makes sense too. So what is a good out of the way route? Mine sticks out in the thin air and is susceptible to getting manipulated and damaged as much as I bang around in there. Maybe down low and against the inner fender?
Think I will have a go at fabricating a home-made bracket to attach the coil with the engine mount. Appreciate all of your comments also.
grantour

[tannyo]

Think I will have a go at fabricating a home-made bracket to attach the coil with the engine mount. Appreciate all of your comments also.
grantour

Not sure why you want to do that when you can get a stock bracket for $35.30. If you don't care if it's stock, why not mount the coil on the inner fender?

Tanny

[grantour]

hey Tanny, can make it for about $5 and its fun to do, when you have the time that is;and I think I would like to have it down there a little farther out of the way. We make lots of stuff 'down on the farm'. Made two different metal pieces last week, one for the dump truck and one for the dozer.

[grantour]

posterity

and now running - whoopie