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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 TD TF 1500 - TD Condenser

Tuned TD today 1st time ever always a bit leery of points & timing. Have a question about condenser. Before I start this is not intended to be a slight at the suppliers who keep our cars on the road, but an admission of my lack on knowledge. The condenser that was sent by AS doesn't,t look like the one in my car and in fact I can't see how It would attach. Question: "Did I gt he wrong one or is there something I'm not seeing? I did get the plugs,points,rotor,dist cap,wires and coil in and other then the "GD" clips on the distributor, everything works and runs well. Again did I get the right condenser ( attached image) if it is how does it mount. Again everything runs great, this question is for future reference I rally don't want have go through another hour of frustration re-attaching the distributor cap


Jon Levine

Jon, did your old condensor have a flange soldered onto it? See Fig. C.16 on page C.9 of the workshop manual for an image of this type.
Bud Krueger

Yup, that's exactly what it looks like fig 16 (page C-9),To my eye it loks lik th condenser is grounded via the bolt at 12:00 o'cock on the diagram. And do you pry up the flange holding the condenser to lossen it, Did I gt the rong moel of condenser
Jon Levine

Yup. Let me look in the garage tomorrow and see if I have one of that style. I'll give you a call. Bud
Bud Krueger

Jon
It definately looks like the wrong condensor.
Two pictures shown here show my Lucas 53 dizzy. The condensor has a bracket soldered to it and then that is screwed onto the plate holding the points etc onto the dizzy body. The small Phillips head screw is holding the condensor bracket onto the plate.
Hope this helps.
Les


Les Gardner

Here the second picture


Les Gardner

I don't believe the old long style condensers are available any longer. When Jeff Schlemmer rebuilt my distributor and found my condensor on its last legs, he replaced it with a new smaller one. See the image.

warmly,
dave


Dave Braun

Jon - The condenser you got,is basically for a MGB, but it can be used in the TD. Before you get carried away trying to figure out how to mount that condenser, look at the old points and see if there is any material transfer from on contact to the other. If there is none, leave the old condenser in. Condensers don't wear out and contrary to past wisdom, there is no good reason to replace a condenser if there is no (or very little) material transfer from one contact to the other. There is a far greater chance of a new condenser failing than there is of an old one failing - if a condenser fails it is usually within a few hours of being replaced.

Dave B. "When Jeff Schlemmer rebuilt my distributor and found my condensor on its last legs, he replaced it with a new smaller one."

Not trying to run Jeff down (I consider him the number one person to send a distributor), but I don't know how he determined that the old condenser was on its "last legs" , unless the lead on it was about to break off. Other than that, there is no external indication that a condenser is failing unless it is an electrolytic unit, which will sometimes start leaking. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

david, could jeff have based his opinion on the condition of the points when he was doing the rebuild? regards, tp
tom peterson

Tom - He could be.
David DuBois

"Condenser on it's last legs". Could he have measured the leakage (resistance) and determined that it was getting close to the end of it's life that way?
Cheers,

Bob
R. K. Jeffers

I was once told that they changed 'points and condenser', well, just because. Although the points should be changed, the condenser should well outlive the points.
gblawson(gordon)

Earlier cars used a condensor with a piece of the base plate wrapped around and soldered to it. The plate/condensor was replaced as one part. These have been NLS for 15 or more years, occasionally one shows up on ebay. The later condensor has a couple different versions- short/long, with the mounting tab in different locations but all seem to work. Just drill a hole in the base plate and use a sheet metal screw (or tap and thread, use nut/bolt or whatever) and attach it. Very easy to do. Better yet, throw that out and install Petronix- huge diffence in running. What was the deal with the clips? George
George Butz

Jon, I'm afraid that I don't have any of the long tab ones in my parts bin. You might try calling A/S and ask if they have any of them. Sorry -- Bud
Bud Krueger

Here is a source of condensers very much like the original ones: http://www.vintagemotorspares.com/ Item 142. The only problem is that at £6.53 plus shipping from England, they are rather pricey. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Thanks Bud for looking, to Dave B the old points looked great even had the original center dimple and as I stated the car is running great. Les's picture is exactly what I have in the car now (??original) might have IDed the problem I was having th PO stripped the ignition wiry but didn't attach the wires to the small copper disks,I presume that when the contacts in he distributor heated up (from arcing from the poor connections) I lost conductivity and thus the poor performance .I'll check wit AS as to whether the originals are available maybe they sent the pictured one because of non availability again thanks o all. As to the problem with the clips for the life of me I couldn't get the clip to engage down below and stretch over the dist cap without hem flying all ove theplace. I guess my fat fingers were always nimble enough for cerebral and cardiac manipulations but not enough for sixty yar old Lucas
Jon Levine

Petronix = "pace-maker" for the "T" series!
David 55 TF1500 #7427
David Sheward

Gentlemen - I want to apologize for my remark about Jeff Schlemmer's comment about a condenser being on its last leg. Of course Jeff knows how to test a condenser. I was thinking of the young service station gas jockey of bygone years who would look at a distributor and say that is on it last legs. My remark was uncalled for and since I can't recall it, I apologize for it. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

With regard to replacing points (which I favor over pertronix right now) make sure the NEW rubbing block is perpendicular to the cam since any off angle condition will wear the rubbing block quickly and increase the dwell (closed) time of the points until the block stabilizes. Usually takes 300 miles or so. Also, I always set my points with the distributor out of the car using the go no-go method of feeler gauges and reinsert it afterwards, then I check with a dwell meter. I ususally find I'm right on when set following that process, and seem never to get it right bending over the engine trying to aim the feeler gauge into the tiny gap and feel anything.

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

Dave B.,
Just curious ...any particular reason why you favor points over pertronix? I still consider myself a "nuebee" and still learning from you guys that have been running these cars for years. My TF starts and runs so much better since I made the change...but I do still carry a "preset" assembly as a spare just because it's nice to know I have "old-school" with me should I become a victim of this "modern convenience"!
Kind of like when you go to the store and remind the check-out clerk, (after "swiping" my item 26 times and getting a "null & void" reading on their scanner), "you know you can manually enter the price printed on it using that handy key-board thingy!" LOL ;-)
David 55 TF1500 #7427
David Sheward

David,

I'm going to sound like a luddite here, but the Pertronix depends on three things. 1) that the magnets located in the cam housing are equal strength, 2) that the magnets are spaced properly, 3) the pickup coil is working. Since I can't test or see any of these things, I figure it doesn't need to be on my car, as I already own (modern) cars I can barely work on. The PO installed Pertronix on the 1970 MGB. Worked great until the Pertronix failed with a dead short that melted the ignition wires from the ingnition switch through the tachometer to the coil. I'll admit I helped the short along by washing the engine, but I've never had the single wire to the points go to a dead short. Finally, you can't (or at least I can't) statio time a car with a Pertronix.

I love the fact that if the TD is running poorly, it can only be: Engine condition (valves and compression easy to check or verify); Spark (easy to check or verify); or Fuel (ditto). Setting points is simple, straight-forward and can be done on the side of the road with a flashlight in the pouring rain if needed. If your distributor is up to snuff points are as perfect a solution to delivering the spark as Pertronix, and require no more attention than the spark plugs.

warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

"I'm going to sound like a luddite here"...
Not at all, and a very reasonable explanation! I can definitely relate to "I already own (modern) cars I can barely work on". When told they wanted $500.00 to put new plugs in my Mit's 3000 GT my reply was "no way am I going to pay $500 to install 6 spark plugs" ....after 14hrs of removing and replacing alternator, air-cond, and intake manifold to get to 3 rear plugs I was beginning to see the light.
I came away with a renewed respect for a machine designed to be worked on by normal humans with only 2 hands and 5 fingers on each! (TF) I'll take that any day over "bic-lighter" engineering....about sick of how everything else they just expect us to throw away and buy a new one! Was talking to a young mechanic the other day about the "days" when you could actually replace your $2.00 diodes instead of bringing your "core" back for your non-working $250.00 alternator. He did not have a clue that this is what happens to about 90% of those returned units!
David
David Sheward

This thread was discussed between 11/07/2009 and 13/07/2009

MG TD TF 1500 index

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