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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - Terminal stud - any problems?

Has any factory V8 owner experienced a problem with the terminal stud under the driver's footwell connecting the live lead from the battery to the starter. On my very recently acquired factory V8 the stud can be moved slightly and my concern is that the insulation can wear away and produce a devastating short circuit. There is very little information about the stud and its mounting in the Leyland Workshop manual MGB GT V8 Supplement and I have not found any reference to it in the V8 Register'2 Workshop Notes. Any comments welcome.

Laurie Webb
77 Flamenco MGB GT 1950cc
75 Teal Blue MGB GT V8
L Webb

To be safe I fitted a new cable from battery to starter and removed the stud.

Mark
Mark

Mark

Where did you reconnect the two small wires? I presume they are something to do with the starter solenoid and associated relay.

Laurie Webb
L Webb

Laurie
To be honest I cant remember. It was back in 96 when I restored my GT V8. Now the live wire goes straight to the Starter. If I remember new studs were not available so I had no option. Sorry I cant help further.

Mark
Mark

Mark,

New MG studs may not be available but Tri*mph Stag ones are - Part No C22257. I used one to provide a convenient power point under the bonnet/hood for auxillary wiring and 12v-powered tools, such as a timing light.

Simply took the output from the alternator to the stud and then on down to the starter motor. Works very well.

Regards

Peter
P L Hills

The two other wires on the stud are the brown wire from the alternator and the brown feeding the rest of the cars electrics. That from the starter relay goes direct to the solenoid. The fact that things are moving slightly is not in itself a problem, although if it becomes completely detached and live bits contact the floor pan it could be. I'm not sure why it was done this way unless heat from the manifold damaging the insulation of the brown wires showed up as a problem early on. But the solenoid and coil ballast wires go direct to the solenoid anyway and don't suffer major problems. These two wires originally had a two-pin connector meaning that the starter could be removed complete with short tails for all three wires (battery, solenoid and bypass) which indicates to me the concern was one of access to the connections on the solenoid. But as the starter can't be removed until the heat shield is removed, and once that is removed one can remove all the connections from the solenoid, it seems superfluous.
Paul Hunt

Paul H

Many thanks for the detailed explanation. I agree that it looks like a way of keeping the brown wires away from the manifold, but perhaps you can help me further. Once I have the cash from sale of my 1950cc BGT, I will buy an MGOC tubular manifold set to replace my rather corroded and slightly blowing cast iron manifolds! Once I have changed the manifolds I would guess that the brown wires will no longer be subjected to the same degree of heat and I can also remove the stud terminal and replace with a new lead from battery direct to starter. But what do I do with the brown wires? (The mechanical bits of cars are no problem to me, but when it comes to wires and things I am lost!). Any help/hints welcome!

Laurie Webb
77 BGT 1950cc Flamenco
75 BGT V8 Teal Blue
L Webb

Hi Laurie,

I only have experience of tubulars - 70k miles and 10 years - but the wires to the solenoid have suffered from hardening in that time even after replacement. The starter also suffers from the heat, despite the heat shield, I've had to replace that too. The brown wires would go on the same solenoid stud as the battery cable, but I'm not sure if they would reach as they are. If not they would have to be extended in some way, which means adding connections that can fail in the future and is messy. But if you did do that you could wrap heat-reflective cloth around the bundle and secure it with cable ties, and I've known someone do that to the starter as well.
Paul Hunt

Hi Paul

Thanks again. Very useful info as always.

I've printed the thread and filed it for when I get my tubular bells - sorry, I mean manifolds!

Laurie
L Webb

This thread was discussed between 10/10/2004 and 16/10/2004

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