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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGA - Starter Switch

This old chestnut has come up before I know, but I thought it might be worth a mention again.
My original starter switch, probably the one that left the factory with the car, was working OK but the rubber insulators on the terminals were decomposing and allowing the terminals to move about a bit. I was worried that they might move enough to short out on the casing and cause a fire, so I decided to change the switch. I went for one of the starter switches that turn up on eBay for about 19, see image. The first one I received started the car three times before it packed up altogether! The vendor sent me a replacement without any fuss, but although it worked, it wan't very convincing in the way it worked, if you get what I mean. It took a good hard pull to get the starter to turn with enough oomph to start the engine. Although the thing has worked for a year it has got steadily worse, and it has been a real struggle to get the car to start at all on the colder days. So I have replaced the stater switch again, this time for one that looks more like the original. It has the same rubber insulators as the original switch, seems much more robust and starts the car in a very business-like fashion. At around 25 inc. vat. it cost a bit more than the nylon based version, but well worth it. The cheapest one I was able to find came from these people. http://www.vintagecarparts.co.uk Part No. ET6-11450-B


Lindsay Sampford

Good call Lindsay! There are far too many cheap and nasty imitations and too few good parts available, particularly on the electrical side. It's well worth flagging up these findings on the forum!
Neil McGurk

Interesting that Lindsay - I did the same last year - but fortunately my ebay item has remained working so far. I have never used "Vintage car parts" before, but their starter swith does look better than than the ebay item. Will add them to my suppliers list - cheers Cam
Cam Cunningham

I think my starter switch is still the original judging by the date stamp on it!

I have used that supplier quite a lot in the past. I have always been very happy with his quality. I referred to his site a while back. He does new Lucas L494 reversing lights.

Steve
Steve Gyles

This thread was discussed between 26/03/2010 and 28/03/2010

MG MGA index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.