Hey - did you know if you click on the title of a thread it will take you to the first unread post since you last visited that thread?
but were afraid to ask: 
STOP!! Never post your email address in open forums. Bots can "harvest" your email! If you must share your email use a Private Message or use the 
smilie in place of the real @
Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
I have a 67 Sprite that I am currently working on that is giving me trouble. I converted it to a negative ground about a month ago and it ran perfectly fine after that. Then I swapped the generator for a sbc alternator to give it some more juice to power the radio and amplifier. I also put on an Accel super blaster coil and did a typical tune up. (Plugs, wires) Every since the alternator and coil were put in, it runs like crap at anything but idle. It misses and wants to die constantly until it gets warm. Also, the battery is getting drained from somewhere and the coil stays hot even with the key off. It is almost too hot to touch. If anyone can shed some light on these problems that would be great...Gracias
-
Hi Guest!
If you appreciate British Car Forum and our 25 years of supporting British car enthusiasts with technical and anicdotal information, collected from our thousands of great members, please support us with a low-cost subscription. You can become a supporting member for less than the dues of most car clubs.
There are some perks with a member upgrade!**Upgrade Now**
(PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
67 Sprite Electrical Problems.... HELP
- Thread starter turns31
- Start date
Share this page
Online
Do you have an internal or external ballast resistor on the coil? If it is staying hot with key off, I suspect that is your problem - can you swap in the old coil and try? My car is negative ground so I forget the exact order of events, though just pulled this from another site
Look at the wiring on the ignition coil. One side is probably marked SW (SWitch and the other is probably marked CB (Contact Breaker). Your ignition coil may be marked with a + (plus) and a - (minus), instead of SW and CB, as it may have had the coil replaced at some time. Reverse these wire connections. You will test this arrangement at the conclusion of these swaps, to ensure that the coil is wired correctly. If you got it wrong, the car will still run... but not as well.
Now go back to the battery, and connect the ground cable connection to the negative side of the battery.
for sure you have a short somewhere but, let's start with the coil.
Look at the wiring on the ignition coil. One side is probably marked SW (SWitch and the other is probably marked CB (Contact Breaker). Your ignition coil may be marked with a + (plus) and a - (minus), instead of SW and CB, as it may have had the coil replaced at some time. Reverse these wire connections. You will test this arrangement at the conclusion of these swaps, to ensure that the coil is wired correctly. If you got it wrong, the car will still run... but not as well.
Now go back to the battery, and connect the ground cable connection to the negative side of the battery.
for sure you have a short somewhere but, let's start with the coil.
It doesnt have an external ballast. I bought an oem coil and put that on and am now waiting for the battery to recharge. I used this site to assist me with my install of the alt which on second thought might not have been the best way to do it. I used the original wiring.
https://davidkmccomb.blogspot.com/2009/06/mg-midget-alternator.html
Any suggestions?
https://davidkmccomb.blogspot.com/2009/06/mg-midget-alternator.html
Any suggestions?
regularman
Yoda
Offline
Check the point gap. It might have closed up.
Online
Points is a good idea. Coil wired wrong could also cause poor running. I don't think the '67 had any ballast though. In fact if you have a ballast type coil and are hitting it with the full 12 volts then it will run hot. But if it stays hot with the key off (and a reasonable time to cool down) then you must have something wired wrong. That seems unlikely if the engine stops when you turn it off.
Offline
Yeah, that's pretty certain.
If you're following the instructions at that link, it's not a great surprise that something is wired wrong. I can't figure out what the guy is trying to say.
Generally, in any alternator installation you need to (1) connect the output directly to the main +12V circuit (battery + terminal) and (2) connect the ignition idiot-light circuit to the alternator. Occasionally, there will be a "sense" terminal that has to be connected to the point where you want to sense the system voltage. Occasionally, you'll encounter something else, but 95% of the time, that's all there is to it.
Take a look in the Wiki, where there is an article, or do a search for some of the other stuff on the internet. There's a lot of info available on making this mod.
If you're following the instructions at that link, it's not a great surprise that something is wired wrong. I can't figure out what the guy is trying to say.
Generally, in any alternator installation you need to (1) connect the output directly to the main +12V circuit (battery + terminal) and (2) connect the ignition idiot-light circuit to the alternator. Occasionally, there will be a "sense" terminal that has to be connected to the point where you want to sense the system voltage. Occasionally, you'll encounter something else, but 95% of the time, that's all there is to it.
Take a look in the Wiki, where there is an article, or do a search for some of the other stuff on the internet. There's a lot of info available on making this mod.