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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Hardtop to fit 1500?

Hi all, Just joined the Group as am collecting a 1979 midget in a couple of days so hunting information up where I can find it!.
Just one question for you folks - I would like a Hardtop for it, and have found that early Sprites would be correct, but do 'most' hardtops fit the later model MG like mine please?
By the way, if anyone knows of one I would be interested!,
Richard (West Norfolk)
RK Bartholomew

Most hard tops will fit. The same soft top as you have on your 1500 was introduced in about 1967 IIRC so any from that date onwards will fit. Not sure about the earlier ones pre 1967.

Rob
MG Moneypit

the production date change of body style was October '66 so as Rob says, you need anything 1967 onwards.
David Smith

Many thanks for the replies - much appreciated.
Now folks, have another question for you!!! - what do you think might be the 'best' Electronic Ignition' to buy for a 1500 please, and is it worth the effort to switch to an Electric fuel pump?
Am slightly confused by the various Pro's and Con's I've read about doing so!
Richard
RK Bartholomew

One of the problems with mechanical pumps is they only pump when the engine is running. When the engine is cranked the pump will pump and after a few seconds the engine will fire.

With an electric pump as soon as you switch the ignition on it starts pumping so by the time you crank the engine petrol is already in the carbs. potentially, you get quicker starting with an electric pump.

However, there are many many variables involved. In my experience as your mechanical pump gets tired it takes longer to pump petrol to the carbs.

With a 1500 you don't want to crank your engine for a long time before it fires. Most crank wear occurs during the cranking period.

Rob
MG Moneypit

As has been mentioned, hard tops from mk3 Midget or Mk4 Sprites will fit, but nothing earlier - despite what eBay sellers might tell you.
Dave O'Neill 2

Hi Richard and welcome,
igniter heads that fit under the dissy cap are only dealing with half the problem as it leaves the rest of the old dissy below, even when new dissys were in need of service within a few years of leaving the factory. so imagine what they're like after decades of use, abuse and neglect.

The best is to have a full electronic dissy such as 123 or CSI. Ican vouch for 123 as I've had one fitted to 1275 Midget for the last 8 years.

Having put that I'd advise you not to upgrade any components or parts (unless they need changing anyway) until you've regularly driven the car on reasonable length journeys for 12 months (year round) as you may need to use the money on other more pressing needs on the car.




Nigel Atkins

Welcome Richard
I hope you enjoy your time with us here
William Revit

To add to nigels comment

The 1-2-3 ignition system is the cream, they have 2 models reg and 1-2-3 tune which is tunable with a laptop computer while the basic is more hands on

Check with Peter Burgess in kent... he sells and sets them up and has the experisnce and the advanced toys to do it to perfection

The 2nd best option is the Simon (bbc?) It's a ball set up and is well made but your current sissy needs to be in reasonable good shape

AVOID, AVOID, AVOID like herpes anything from pertronix ... it's a USA brand... and it used to be the cats cream but intodays world your better off using a pile of dog crap, ... I think they moved all there production to Viet jam several years back to save a dime

Just remember if you go with a new dissy it needs to be what is called recurve... which means setting it up to match your current engine and most of the time is beyond the realm of the everyday man

If you screw it up, you will get a 2nd chance to correct the inadjustment... but you have to do a complete engine rebuild to get that 2nd chance

Proo
1 Paper

http://www.simonbbc.com

Here is the Simon chip it's a hall effect electric ignition system and only if the sissy is in decent condition

This chip uses magnets in the dissy shaft so if there is some wobble in the shaft this will compensate for it... and it's easy to insta
ll and inexpensive

Also get a (red) rotor... the others are almost always bad right out of the box...nigel can fill you in


Make sure you use a timming gun to adjust and set the timming... you can NOT hear a proper timed engine... a timing gun is cheap less then $15 for a no frills

We see this ALL THE TIME... SO tell us in advance if your not going to use a timing gun instead of 125 comments later when we have all pulled our hair out trying to figure out why the engine runs like crap... so a timing gun is the 2nd most important tool you need... magnet on a stick is still #1

Haha... keep us posted

Thanks

Prop
1 Paper

Richard,
there was a recent thread on here about going electric with the fuel pump on the 1500s (unless that's what confused you).

'79 is a late 1500 so there will be quite a few (mainly very minor) changes from the earliest 1500s.

Peter Burgess advertises on here, highly recommended, but he no longer sells 123.

You only need the 123-tune version if your car is well off standard.
Nigel Atkins

Oh, and Peter Burgess is in Alfreton, Derbyshire.
Dave O'Neill 2

Richard

Enjoy your new purchase.

Good quality distributor service and upgrade parts available from the Distributor Doctor. Also this forum used to mention 'Simon BBC' for electronic ignition upgrade bits. But as Nigel says, get it running with standard bits first, including doing a big service on it.

The later hardtop come up often on Gumtree and bay of the e. You can also buy new ones from various MG parts suppliers or direct for grp manufacturers such as Honeybourne Mouldings and another I cannot remember the name of

Any 1500 owners got sage advice on using Triumph parts suppliers such as Rimmer Brothers, T D Fitchett or Canley Classics for those bits common (which are?) with Spitfire 1500 (MkIV) and other Triumph models?

Cheers
Mike
M Wood

I think all the big suppliers are as good/bad as each other Mike. Rimmers tend to be a little more expensive in my experience, although I find the exploded diagrams on their site a lot better as they break things down a lot more.

Malc.

Malcolm Le Chevalier

Another GRP manufacturer - possibly the one Mike was referring to - is Smith & Deakin.
Dave O'Neill 2

Do bear in mind that the Midget cabin is small so easy to heat and that the roof and seals should be pretty water tight.

A hardtop will spoil many opportunities to drop the roof, even in winter there are many chances for dry and even sunny runs. Other than racing or vandalism I can't see a need for a hardtop.

My mate bought his wife a Honda S2000 with a hardtop about 14 years ago, the hardtop's never been used but he's had to find room to store it and its storage frame. He paid to have an access made to the roof of his garage so it could be stored out of the way and then moved about 18 months later. It's in the corner of their present garage now covered over with an old blanket I think as I can't remember seeing it in the last decade. Over the last 5 or so years the car has been used regularly and its always been used all year round but never needed the hardtop.
Nigel Atkins

Until I replaced all my hardtop seals it let in more water than the soft top.

Also, I found condensation a problem. On frosty mornings there would be a thin coating of ice all over inside of the hardtop. When the cabin had warmed up I would get dripped on until it had all melted and evaporated. I cured this by glueing a layer of leathercloth all over the inside which acted as insulation stopping the ice formation.

Rob
MG Moneypit

The hardtop seals plus the hardtop squashing out under its own weight are why the S2000 hardtop had a storage frame. I've never really seen it but I'guess it'd be a bit plusher than a lightweight racing style hardtop for a Midget.

I assumed road going Midget hardtops would have been lined but I supposed it depends on manufacturer or perhaps none have linings but I've never really took enough notice.
Nigel Atkins

The original 'works' hardtops were double-skinned and had glass windows, so were well insulated against the elements. They also fitted much better than many aftermarket versions.
Dave O'Neill 2

This thread was discussed between 11/12/2017 and 14/12/2017

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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