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MGB wiring an electronic distributor

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C

Coastalman

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Just to see if it works, I bought an inexpensive Chinese electronic distributor. It came without any paperwork of any kind. I have a 1977 MGB that has the awful factory distributor in it and I want to replace it. The new distributor has a red and a black wire coming out of it. In talking with a fellow LBC owner he said I should just wire the red to 12 volts and the black wire to the positive side of the coil and the negative side of the coil to ground. That makes a complete circuit, but just seems to simple. Have any of my fellow forum members wired such a distributor and if so, how did you wire it.
Thanks,
Charlie
 
I believe the red wire from the distributor goes to the positive side of the coil, and the black wire from the distributor goes to the negative side of the coil, that way when the ignition is turned on, it feeds power to the distributor.
 
I have seen a YouTube video on the '77 B that, with a ballasted coil, the electronic distributor will not get the full 12v after the initial start up and the red wire should be routed to the second connector from the bottom of the fuse block to get the full 12v at all times.. That is what is throwing me off. It said that the ballast reduces the voltage going to the coil by a few volts and, therefore, does not provide the electronic distributor with what it needs to operate it's best. I don't know if you have seen the '77 B distributor evaluations, but it was replace so many times under warranty that British Leyland had to redesign it for last two years of production. It is junk and I don't know how my car ran with it at all.
 
I would recommend that you use a sports coil without a ballast Connection with your new electronic ignition and avoid all the nonsense. wire it up as previously mentioned, we have been doing this for many years with no issues.
 
This may be a stupid question, but do I still need 12v to feed the positive post on the coil? It has to get voltage somewhere, right?
 
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