79 Midget Coil Wiring

[bpartz]

Would appreciate some help in installing correct ignition coil wires on stock 79 Midget. A description of what color wire goes where would be great !!

 

[Trevor Jessie]

OK, never owned a '79, but here is my guess.

White with black tracer to neg terminal.
White with Light Green tracer to the positive side.

So how'd I do?

 

[Trevor Jessie]

By the Way, Welcome

Hopefully a spit-get owner will be along before long to give a better answer. I think the wire to the positive side sould pass through a ballast resistor and the other should go to the starter selenoid.

 

[tony barnhill]

There's an interesting sister thread over on the MG Forum...https://www.britishcarforum.com/ubbthread...9089#Post199147

 

[bpartz]

Thanks Tony .... I read that thread. I have the white wires and the white and black wires sorted. There are a couple of others that I am just not sure of .... Checked my '80 B with essentially the same ignition, but wiring is different ...........

 

[Trevor Jessie]

 

[Trevor Jessie]

ooops,

that made for a wide page!

 

[tony barnhill]

happens from time to time....

 

[bpartz]

Wow ! Thanks, Trevor ........... now if'n I can only print this out !!!

 

[bpartz]

Oooops ! Just checked against the wiring diagram and it is not the same ! There are a couple of additional white wires and a white with blue wire that come out of the harness, but don't show on the diagram ??? Evidently the later 79's were wired differently ???

 

[Trevor Jessie]

If you look in the diagram there is a White with Blue (WU) on the other side of the resistor. This resistor may just look like a fat spot in the wire. Or... a DPO may have done some rewiring that is going to make this difficult. I don't have a 1500 manual to check for additional diagrams. I really thought a 1500 owner would have joined in by now. Maybe tomorrow.

What type distibutor do you have?

 

[bpartz]

I haven't checked the number of the dizzy .... This is the electronic ignition with the coil mounted directly atop of the black amplifier box. Two wires in a plug-in harness go directly to the distributor (same as on my 80 B. There is no other outside or separate resistor so the resistor is in one of the wires.

 

[Morris]

Man, I would love to help you, but I don't have anything close to a stock set-up. Mine was modified beyond recogonition long before it entered my posession.

How many lose wires are you trying to locate homes for? What are their colors? What connections are available to receive wires?

 

[sparkydave]

You must have the CEI ignition. Wish I could help, but I have the OPUS system, which died on me. The one thing I can contribute is that the #42 resistor on the schematic is called the "drive" resistor, and is not the ballast resistor. The ballast resistor is actually a resistor wire built into the harness, so it doesn't even look like a bulge. Apparently the CEI got rid of the drive resistor, which would have been a metal resistor mounted to the pedal box next to the coil. My dizzy actually has 3 wires going to it, but internally I replaced the guts with a Pertronix. I kept the unused wires on the harness side in the off chance I came across a working dizzy.

About the only other thing I could contribute is the white and blue wire is what would have come from the drive resistor, and the white wires are +12 volts switched by the ignition. The OPUS box used +12 (white), the drive resistor (white with blue), and the one from the negative side of the coil (white with black).

 

[startech47]

Try this. Phil

 

[startech47]

The 100 ohm resistor is in the harness wiring. The connector under the ballast resistor is the connector that went to the original distributor. Phil

 

[bpartz]

Thanks, guys ! I think I have it figured out (?) Apparently, the wiring harness is the same as previous years, even keeping the wires and multi-plug for the previous type of distributor. The CEI rig does not employ those wires and they just lie there to confuse people like me !!!

 

[capitalcitycars]

I'm using the Mallory dual point distributor and the engine purrs like a kitten.

 

[Matthew E. Herd]

I've got a unilite. Though extremely expensive, it does run well, with no real problems thus far (except I burned out the LED unit once). This was due to the fact that I accidentally grounded the unit (something it doesn't say NOT to do in the instructions, but DON'T do it). They replaced it under warranty, and it's been fine ever since. Once it's installed, it works fine. ... It'd better for 500 bucks!