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Parts

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 TD TF 1500 - SU Fuel Pump electronic

Is the electronic SU fuel pump sold by Moss part number 377-215 a good replacement?

Dave
david kirkpatrick

I just ordered 2 of these as they where on sale and asked Lawrie Alexander the same question. His answer, "Absolutely!"
W. A. Chasser Jr

Dave - The all electronic SU pump is definitely a good (and proper) replacement for the original pump in your MG. Another alternative is to send your original pump to me and I can restore it and convert it to solid state (using my own optical trigger) a bit cheaper than the all electronic SU pump. See the article, SU Fuel Pump Restoration in the SU Fuel Pump Articles section of my Homepage at: http://homepages.donobi.net/sufuelpumps/ Cheers - Dave
D W DuBois

Dave, my fuel pump ('53 TD 25009) works fine now that I've followed your advice and removed the inlet line filter and cleaned the internal filter. It has no markings that I can see.

1. How do I tell whether it has mechanical points (i.e., not electronic or optical)?

2. If it's from the mid-'70s restoration, which I suspect), am I running on borrowed time?

I hesitate to carry a $190 part around JIC. Thanks for your advice.

Jud


J K Chapin

Jud - The pump pictured is not an all electronic pump. If it were, there would be an aluminum tag with the word ELECTRONIC on it and the tag with AUA 25 would be in about the 4 o'clock position. Remove the end cover and look at the contacts on the pump. If they are not worn clear down to a nub, then you have some quality time left in them. Just clean them periodically in accordance with the information in the article, Cleaning Points in the SU Fuel Pump Articles section of my Homepage at: http://homepages.donobi.net/sufuelpumps/
Cheers - Dave
D W DuBois

Thanks. Looks like I've got a bit to occupy my time with. It's sunny and supposed to reach 58F today so I'll be out exercising the fuel pump but the weather gods are calling for snow and highs below 40F in a day or two so that sounds like a good time to inspect and clean points. I printed out your article and will follow it. Jud
J K Chapin

Dave, what is the approximate price to refurbish a pump?

Dave
david kirkpatrick

Dave K. (makes me feel like I am back at work - my boss was Dave K.) - My charge is $60 plus parts, with the average coming in at around $110 plus or minus. When I receive a pump, I do a complete inspection and work up a quote that is sent to the customer. I don't do any real work on the pump until I get authorization from the customer at the price quoted. At present I am working on a back log of about 4 weeks. Cheers - Dave D.
D W DuBois

I highly recommend Dave DuBois and his work on the S.U. Pumps in the strongest possible terms. You will not be disappointed- pumps are shipped with a test stand report as he tests all of his work before shipping. I have had several pumps completed by him over the years.

Brian W.
ZBMan

Anyone know if those $15 shipped eBay Airtex-clone pumps are any good? I'd rather do a backup pump installation, as in Dave's screed, than carry around a spare $190 (or even $110) pump.

Oh, has anyone ever come up with a DIY electronic conversion, for those of us who like to live dangerously?


kylemorley

See http://www.ttalk.info/LockePump.htm for another solution to the 'backup' problem, or
http://www.ttalk.info/EmergencyPumpII.htm . Bud
Bud Krueger

Kyle - The pump you are looking at should work fine as long as the output pressure doesn't exceed 4 PSI. Stuart Locke's emergency pump will work fine as long as your hand holds up to squeezing the ball repeatedly (probably not recommended for long journeys (of course anything is preferable to being stuck by the side of the road for long periods of time.

Either of the ideas above beats trying to replace a duff fuel pump by the side of the road, even on a TD (it is by far easier than doing it on a MGA or MGB). Regardless of how easy or hard it is to replace the pump on the side of the road is not just a pain in the backside, it is downright dangerous, particularly on the shoulder of a freeway or interstate.

"Oh, has anyone ever come up with a DIY electronic conversion, for those of us who like to live dangerously?"
Not to my knowledge, other than the all electronic conversion from Burlen Fuel Systems, which will cost you close to $100 for the pleasure of pitting your skills against a rather cheaply made circuit board (which is exceedingly difficult to solder on, even for those with 3M training). None of the all electronic conversions, my optical trigger or any of the others that I am aware of (most that have gone out of business) are really as straight forward as they seem. The all electronic conversion from Burlen Fuel Systems is about as free of careful adjustments as there can be and even then it can be quite frustrating. Cheers - Dave
D W DuBois

Even with all the good tools somebody was carrying in their trailer, this is no fun on the road. Both of my MG's now have an additional faucet pump plumbed in.


MG LaVerne

You can buy an brand new electronic SU lookalike pump made in Germany by Hardi for 91.20 Euro. The fittings are identical to the SU. I have one on my Morris Minor for the last seven years without any problems. Mounted on rubber mounts it becomes very quiet.
http://www.stevens-shop.de/shop/Morris-Minor/Fuel-System-Air-Filter/BENZINPUMPE-gute-Pumpe-aus-deutscher-Produktion::257.html

Regards
Declan


D Burns

Dave, I notice you seem to be drawing a distinction between "all electronic" conversions and your "optical trigger". If so, what is the difference?

kylemorley

Kyle - The all electronic SU fuel pumps use a Hall effect system (magnetic), which entails a fairly sophisticated circuit and a magnet carrier on the end of the diaphragm rod. My optical trigger is a far simpler circuit and uses the lower points trunnion with the contacts removed and a vane soldered on in place of the contacts that interrupts a beam of light to control a transistor that turns the current through the coil on and off. Both systems work well once set up properly.
Cheers,
D W DuBois

This thread was discussed between 13/02/2015 and 16/02/2015

MG TD TF 1500 index

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