Ken G's Journal

This weekend I continued to trace and try to sort out some issues with my wiring harness on the 1977. I found that both my start and ignition relay have wires going to them that are grounded. I'm not sure why and maybe I just don't understand the relays. The ignition relay was not original to the car and at some time the white write from the ignition switch was tapped into a white with brown trace. I have no idea why this was done of the effect. I posted my question to the main board but haven't received any hits yet.

Barring any new information I plan on connecting the white wire back to the ignition relay and leave off the white with brown trace, and for the starter relay I'll just attach the white with red trace that runs to the ignition switch and leave the other one disconnected, then try to jump the car from the relay bypassing the ignition switch.

P.S. So an update, I opened up the loom to follow the white with brown trace on the ignition relay and found it went in, and then was terminated with a couple of other lose wires. So I have no idea why the PO went out of their way to connect a terminated wire, but at least that mystery is solved.

I continued to make some more progress. I connected up the battery and tried to get it started and had no luck. The starter was turning over but not starting.
I checked the plugs and coil and was not getting any spark.

Traced the wires from the positive side of the coil, one goes to the starter the other into the loom never to be seen again.

That is when I figured out what was happening and what that random wire connected to the ignition relay was doing.

I followed the white, green wire into the loom and it connected to a bunch of wires and then to a pink and white wire. I could not find this in ANY of the diagrams I looked at, but on a whim I checked the continuity between the brown and white wire that had been connected to the ignition relay and the positive side of the coil. Ah HA, the pink wire was the Ballast wire. I reconnected that back to the ignition relay and tried to start the car.

Well it didn't start, but it tried, coughed and back fired So I'm on the right track. Looks like the timing is messed up, I'll work on sorting that out and see the next hurdle.

Side note in my testing the horn, headlights and wipers are working, I'll sort out the rest after I get the engine running

Spent that last week or so sorting out issues with the yellow MGB. The timing was messed up and so I tried to fix it and well made it worse. I got a ton of loud backfire and no starting.
I changed the plugs, reset the static timing and still no luck.
New day started from the beginning double checking every step, adjusting the distributor, adjusted the plug wires, gaps etc and after a few trials I finally got it running roughly again tonight.

This weekend I'll get the timing light on it and see if I can get it a little better.

With the wiring and ignition timing sorted out it was back to the brakes. Last week and a bit on this weekend I replaced the rear brake cylinders and pads, the front pads and bled the lines.

Sunday I was able to get out and do a test drive, the engine started up on the first turn of the key and the brakes were solid.
The only thing left to sort out is the emergency brake.

I've officially stopped work on the yellow 1977 MGB., There are still many things that need to be done with it, but it is running decent, all lights work and the brakes and emergency brakes are solid so it is time to move it out and move on to the next project.

Not that it is a huge change as it is a red 1976 MGB. I found this car via this forum, it has 2 minor rust issue, and a repair on the rear but overall the body is in great shape, but this car is in parts. I'm the third person to work on the rebuild and I want to get it across the finish line by next summer.
I swapped the front and rear axels that I had refurbished on the 77 to the 76 so those are done but that is it. The The wiring harness out, as are the brake and fuel lines, heater box and pretty much everything else. It is a bit over whelming knowing what to start with, so I did put up a post asking for suggestions, We'll see what people suggest.
I was not planning on painting the car at this point, just leaving it the original red. The paint is in decent shape and I just don't think I have the budget for a repaint right now. If everything goes well and I get it running by next summer maybe I'll strip it down and get it painted next winter.
Tonight I did a bit of clean up, I pulled the dash and the steering wheel turn signal stalk. Tomorrow I'll remove the ignition switch and if the weather is decent I'm going to power wash. There is a ton of dust, dirt and grime from 15+ years of storage that I'd like to clean up.

Does it make sense to pull the engine before starting to work on lines, hoses and heater box? These are a couple of suggestions I've gotten so far.

So the yellow MG has been regulated to the driveway and work has begun on the 1976 MGB. Last night I did a wash of the stripped interior and started making a list of all the things I need, and hmmm it is a long list.

I'm still on the fence regarding pulling the engine, but I have decided to not install the heater at this time. I'll be buying or making a blank for the tray, firewall and heater valve. I have the heater in my mess of parts and I may circle back to that in the future but at this time I'm skipping that project.

I've decided to move forward with the existing wiring harness, I inspected it last night and it seems serviceable, I may regret this choice in the future, but the cost for a new one isn't really in the budget right now.

My first tasks are going to be installing new fuel and brake lines, and getting the dash sorted.