General MG 77 MG no start

[Svcmangler]

I can see the 24, and I can see the 8, what do you think the other digit is? a letter or number?

 

[Mickey Richaud]

OK - Looks like that's a Canadian issue engine, non-overdrive. Range was from '76-80, numbers from 101-3559, which puts yours (2104) pretty much in the range for a '77. So, it could be original to the car.

Can you supply the VIN? Found on the door jamb or leading edge of the dash below the windshield.

 

[Mickey Richaud]

I can see the 24, and I can see the 8, what do you think the other digit is? a letter or number?

Could be a letter - hard to tell, but maybe D.

 

[DrEntropy]

Looks to be a letter "O" from here. My spare has an "R" there, 12th week of '66. Can't see the one in the car, too much other "stuff" in the way. These are both 18GB engines but ISTR the date scheme was carried out through entire production run.

Points that fit about every British car made before 1968 have a Stanpart ("Standard Ignition Parts") number starting with "LU-" Can't recall off the top what the three-digit number is, I ~think~ it's 716. If you've a 25D distributor, the same points fit all TR-3's, & TR-250's as reference.

 

[Svcmangler]

Vin is GHN5UJ465173G

 

[Svcmangler]

So what do the letters mean?

 

[JPSmit]

So what do the letters mean?

GHN5UJ465173G

1. Make	G	MG
2. Engine Type	H	BMC B-Series engine, 1.8L (MGB)
3. Body Type	N	2 seated Roadster
4. Series	5	Mk3 (1970-1979)
5. Market	U	USA (left-hand drive)
6. Model Year	J	1978
7+ Car Number	54321

 

[JPSmit]

Coming to points vs electronic - lots could happen to those cars in 40+ years to keep them going. Recently in a discussion pertaining to my Midget a poster on another forum spoke of the Lucas Opus distributer - this was an early electronic ignition and was used '75-'79 - it was also used in the MGB and was apparently quite unreliable so there is every chance it had one which was later replaced.

This from a quick google:

The '75 points 45D distirbutor was a transition piece. It was a stepping stone for electronic ignition.
The 45DE4 was the Opus electronic unit, used for 4 years until they got sick of dealer warranty complaints. They last up to 30K miles before failure. Much less if you have bad grounds, longer in rare cases.
The late 45DM4 CEI distributor is the best electronic system, and was used for many more years in other cars, succeeded only by fuel injection.

 

[Svcmangler]

Back to the engine date disc. What would the letter mean in the code? We know it is 24th week of 1978. So what does the "O" signify? Maybe it is a "C", so what would that mean?

 

[JPSmit]

Back to the engine date disc. What would the letter mean in the code? We know it is 24th week of 1978. So what does the "O" signify? Maybe it is a "C", so what would that mean?

Not sure it is anything more than a casting number

http://www.mgb-stuff.org.uk/blockdate.htm

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Back to the engine date disc. What would the letter mean in the code? We know it is 24th week of 1978. So what does the "O" signify? Maybe it is a "C", so what would that mean?

Not sure it is anything more than a casting number

http://www.mgb-stuff.org.uk/blockdate.htm

Most likely.

But back to the engine's originality. From both the VIN and the engine #, it may well be the original engine. I'm still curious about the gold (yellow?) paint...

 

[DrEntropy]

No telling how many hands have been into these things by now. The current MG here has evidence there was some other engine in it, no way to know what that may have been. Odd holes drilled in the chassis and "panel modifications" as indicators, ie: left side footwell hammer-bludgeoned inward, probably to accommodate an overly-wider tranny. Hole in the lower front panel, cut with a chisel (!), most likely. When we got it there had been a "resoration" back to MGB spec's, done by an outfit in Chicago called Sonehenge MG. The engine was a proper 1800 but the number tag was missing, probably boiled off in a rebuild. But it turned out to be a five-main block (that one now holds up my garage CAB fridge). Diff had been swapped out and it has a later, "three-quarter-floating" type now. And the body was painted "Refrigerator White". A real hodgepodge of a car!