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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - New (to me) Midget, wet floors and blinker problem

Hello guys,

Great forum here, I've been reading it a lot over the past few weeks. I am going to hopefully pick up my first midget this coming weekend. It is a '73 RWA model and requires a few little issues fixed up so I can register it. Among these are a couple of issues that I thought it best to ask for advice and opinions on from people who have had more involvement with these cars. My father owns an MGA and a BGT so I am not new to British cars, but all the cars I have owned in the past have been v8s or rotaries.

Firstly, the owner has told me that the blinkers work in one direction, but don't flash in the other direction, just turn on and stay on. Reading through the archives I found one other person mention this problem and said that replacing the flasher unit fixed it. Are there any other likely causes?

Secondly, the floors of the car get wet when the car is washed. Reading through the archives it seems that this can be caused by a number of things, and that I need to check for rust holes in the sills but that it could just be from water getting in around the wipers. Is there anything else I should be looking for?

Thanks,

Andrew.
AD Fraser

Hey Andrew

Light - almost certainly an earth problem on the side of the car which the blinker stays illuminated on. Check any black wires for clean contacts,also clean the connections which meet the bodywork. To check this place a piece of wire between the light housing and a bare piece of metal if this resolves the problem it is definitely an earth issue.

As for the wet floors could be a few things, personally I found the little seals under the washer jets had disintergrated on mine which allowed water in, replaced these and all was fine.

Hope this helps

Dave
D Prince

Thanks Dave. Hopefully it will just be the seal around the washer/wipers that are causing the issue. If anyone has any other suggestions for things to check then I'll appreciate it.

I'll be sure to post pics when I pick it up, first things first, I need to tidy up of the bodywork and paint and a couple of other small issues for rego.
AndrewF

If the seals around your wipers are 'dry', trying smearing a little glycerol on them to soften them up and re-waterproof them!
Cheaper and easier than new seals if it works
Regards
Andy
A S Duff

The indicator problem does sound like a poor earth connection.

One possible cause of wet floors could be the tops of the B-posts. There are chrome finishers on top of the B-posts and the metal underneath sometimes corrodes away. Water can then get underneath the chrome finisher, enter the B-post and re-emerge at the bottom, leading to a wet carpet.
Dave O'Neill 2

This thread was discussed between 28/09/2009 and 29/09/2009

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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