The old AC Delco battery in Murphy reached the end of it’s life, so it was time for a replacement. Whilst testing the current flow to the battery, I also found that the alternator wasn’t performing anywhere near as well as it ought to be. Once again, time for replacement parts!

I also noticed that the cables going into the connector on the alternator had perished over time, so they were cut back and re-crimped.

Not a big job – one I was able to get out of the way on a Saturday morning – and not too costly either, so I can’t complain really!

It’s time for major works again, and this time it’s all about giving up the additives. By replacing the valve seats with hardened metal, Murphy can at last run on unleaded fuel without the need for additives. Whilst I still favour higher octane fuel, e.g. Shell VPower, as this seems to run not only smoother, but also more efficiently, it does bring me a saving on running costs too.

The local company commissioned by Church Garage did a sterling job on this for a very reasonable cost, and I was very happy indeed with the results.

Whilst at it, the engine internals had a thorough clean out, and also gave the opportunity to really inspect things, which once cleaned up, was in fine shape. I hope this engine will give me many more years of good running!

A harsh whining noise coming from the prop shaft require a replacement to be fitted, and whilst at it, an MOT advisory from a few months ago called out perished rack gaitors, so this seemed an opportune time to put this to bed too.

Having run Murphy for a couple of years as a daily drive through all seasons, electronic ignition, or in this case, electronic points substitution, was something I’d been considering as an upgrade, as it professed to be an improvement over standard points, especially on cold damp days.

The following forums gave a good insight into the pros & cons of upgrading to electronic ignition:

• http://www.mgexp.com/phorum/read.php?1,2548333
• http://www.mgexp.com/phorum/read.php?1,2178519
• http://www.mg-cars.net/mgb-technical-bbs/electronic-ignition-or-not-201206040935189898.htm

After completing my research, I decided to purchase the Powerspark kit, which in my case was for the 25D4 distributor, together with a new ignition coil, HT leads, distributor cap and spark plugs – all fitted on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

After tweaking the timing (distributor rotating) to take account of the new setup, I cannot sing the praises of this enough.  Not only does Murphy start beautifully first time on even the coldest and dampest of days, the general running/idling has also significantly improved, and is much smoother than before.

For a low cost, easy to implement upgrade that all bar a little bit of negligible wiring, that is quite out of sight, I highly recommend this kit to anyone looking to improve the performance of their MGB GT.

Distributor removed

Close up of removed distributor

The old front shock absorbers were not in a good way, with minor bumps causing knocking, and poor handling around corners, so, it was time for an upgrade, to a nice new pair of Gaz Shocks 🙂

So, on the way home tonight, Murphy’s offside headlamp failed. Full beams were OK, but the main beam was dead.

Assuming this was a failed headlamp bulb, (and I was not pleased given I’d only recently fitted the Osram Night Breakers), I got home, had dinner, and went outside around 20:30 to change the bulb.

Having changed the bulb, the main beam still did not work, so out came the multimeter…

Something was not right, not right at all!

I spent a while checking all connections, buzzing out cables and measuring voltages, and things seemed fine in the engine bay, but not at the headlamp connector itself. So, I eventually peered under the wheel arch where the rear of the headlamp is, and what did I find… a damaged bunch of cables and crimp connectors, one of which was burnt out.

Why are things never straightforward?!?!

It would appear that over the years, the original cables had been “modified”, with up to four crimp connector at various points along a run of less that half-a-metre. These went from the engine bay to the headlamp connector, which still had some of the original cabling for joining to. To problem was that the crimps to the original headlamp cables were under the wheel arch, exposed to the elements, and damaged/corroded over time. This had caused a short, and the wires for the main beam to burn and break.

Cables with multiple crimps

On my mission to find the perfect LED builds for Mupheay, and despite find some pretty good LED’s a few months ago, I’ve now discovered even better ones…

New dashboard LED’s purchased on eBay

These produce quite an improvement on the previous choice, as can be seen in the photos below:

It’s February, so a late Happy New Year y’all!

It’s been a quiet winter so far as working on Murphy goes. Due to my deep hate of cold weather, (tropical DNA, you see!), I’ve not really had the inclination to get outside and do stuff, other than the regular checks, (fluids, tyres, etc), and the weekly visit to the local car wash, (yes, I’m that lazy in the winter).

Murphy, however, has handled the cold weather incredibly well, as has done me proud as a daily runner with no issues whatsoever. We’ve ventured up and down to Buckinghamshire a few times for work, and all has been well. Best of all, even on the coldest, iciest and slightly snowy days, Murphy has still started first time!

I’m so glad I upgraded the heater earlier in the year, as this made the all the difference. In a very short time of starting off, the interior warmed up nicely, head to feet stayed nice and warm, and windows have been clear all the way – unlike last year when I had to wipe the windscreen every 10 seconds. It may have been a pain to change the heater, but I highly recommend it to anyone – it is well worth the pain!

So what have done lately… well, only one thing so far…

Last year, I upgraded headlights from old filament to H4 halogens, and what a difference that made. I did feel, however, that in those dark mornings and evenings, especially down dark country lanes, Murphy’s headlights could be better.

Without wanting to go down the HID route, I looked for better headlight bulbs, and decided to give Osram Night Breaker Plus a go. These are still similar current ratings to H4’s, but not white like HID’s. Here’s the spec from Osram’s website:

Up to 110 % more light on the road (compared to standard halogen lamps)
Up to 40 m longer beam of light (compared to standard halogen lamps)
Up to 20 % whiter light (compared to standard halogen lamps)
Drivers spot obstacles and dangerous situations much sooner
Optimum light for more time to react
Patented blue ring coating for less reflected glare
More efficient light production thanks to optimized inert filling gas formula
Higher resilience due to robust coil design

Good news, the rear springs and exhaust I recently purchased were fitted today, and all is looking well 🙂

The rear of the car is sitting a tad higher than before, and there is a really noticeable difference in road handling when driving. Going over bumps is smoother and around bends is far steadier… I should have done this sooner!

The new exhaust has also made quite a difference, especially getting rid of excessive noise and rattle compared to the old one – I’ll bet my neighbours notice the difference! I’m very pleased that Murphy has maintained that nice sound you’d expect from a sports car of that era.

Whilst up on the lift to do the springs, a quick check was made of Murphy’s gearbox oil levels, which was fine, and a quick work round to grease nipples was also done, (as per the MGB Lubrication Chart UK), as some places aren’t that easy to reach unless lifted up.

I have a bit of a drive to do tomorrow, so this should put the new parts to the test properly.

I’ve, at last, ordered the new rear suspension springs and stainless steel exhaust that I’ve been planning to change for some time

I’ve noticed, since the weather has become wetter, that the handling of the old suspension wasn’t what it should be, so I couldn’t really put this off any longer.

Also, Murphy’s been sitting low due the worn suspension, and the occasional speedbump has scraped the already worn out exhaust. I’ve been holding out to do both these jobs at the same time, as there was no point risking a new exhaust if the suspension was too low.

Given the exhaust isn’t sounding great at all right now, and the change was long overdue, I’m looking forward to bringing the noise levels down a bit – as no doubt, will my neighbours!

I was tempted to go for the louder centre bomb box over the quieter standard type, thinking I’d benefit from better clearance. After a few calls to various suppliers, it seems there’s really not much in it clearance-wise, so, I went for the standard type after all, as I also felt I’d prefer less noise in the long-term.

As a quick job, I did also, this week, fit new lights to the dashboard dials, but instead of the regular 2.2W bulbs, I went for LED’s – green ones – to match Murphy’s exterior. These were easily available on eBay with the standard E10 screw-in fitting. Although part of me wasn’t sure if this was the best idea, it actually looks quite good in the dark, and uses only 240mW, so I’ll go with it – for now anyway. I may also look into LED’s for the interior lights too. (Note, I’ve since upgraded the bulbs to even brighter LED’s… see post in Feb 2015).