Increased Starting Efficiency | MG Midget 1500 Starter Motor Upgrade

[@btinsley1]

I love my 76...bought it over 40 years ago. I solved all starting issues by ditching the Lucas starter and replacing with a gear reduction starter. Foolproof!

[@rustenuts]

they do turn over so much better with them.

[@penguinpeter6912]

Hi, is that a new steering wheel or can you recommend what to use on the spokes as they gleam ,and mine have a bit of oxidation on it.

[@rustenuts]

Metal polish works really well but i have to say its a new steering wheel. I had a wooden one on it which looked lovely but on a run my hands were struggling with the cold. so I bought a new leather one from a company that makes them in the UK.

[@andygreen1613]

I've just had the same issue! How much of that mount did you have to shave off and how did you shave it off?

[@rustenuts]

Quite a bit, it was maybe half an inch of it. It would have been an easy job with a finger sander but i didn't have one at the time.

[@andygreen1613]

I spoke to Powerlite in the end and they supplied a slightly different unit (RAC80) for me to trial. Brilliant service. Fitted it this morning, straight swap and bo modifications; sounds great.

[@pir869]

You car you say is a pig to start,i have a 1500 spitfire body off resto,door shells still empty not fitted glass,engine and o/d box still on bench.Something i realised to my shame being an electronics technician,my spit was a total arse hole to start,needed choke for ages to get warmed up or it stalled lacked power,the engine was rebuilt and had no issues ,kent TK2 kit fitted twin HS4 vacuumless dizzy was still fitted from when it had webbers. However,i had a lucas 12v igntn coil fitted and pirahna electronic ingition,i'm sure from the spit wiring diagram the coil power feed pink/white wire was used,it's a ballast wire,so at crank the coil was getting around 8v and at run it would be getting around 6v,not good. I've seen 1500 spits fire up from cold with no issues and choke was not used for very long,at least not like mine having to be fully warmed before the choke could be pushed back in fully. I've since bought a 6v coil with ballast resistor,so at start up when the power comes from the starter solenoid ,the 6v coil will get around 8v to give a nice hot spark and when running it will have the proper voltage source level and not be under voltage at crank or run,just in case the 1500 midget has a 12v coil fitted but with a ballast wire being used. If not great. One point to note is the midget has a lower ratio gearbox than the spitfire and to get the same road speed the 1500 engine has to run faster ,kicking its arse basically,beware used 1500 midget engines.

[@rustenuts]

Thank you for the advice i will take a look at the coil its a very good point. Once started its perfect but cold starts are a pain.

[@mundanestuff]

Mine has the weak original starter motor. But sure as hell doesn't sound like your midget! Going to have to check out your other videos to see why yours sounds throatier.

[@rustenuts]

She's been going through alot of work lately and is pretty much finished so we will have a full review/unveiling on the channel soon. Thanks for watching!