I have recently been trying to get my dads MG A up and running its been out of action for a year or so now... But I am still struggling with one small problem... So I thought I would ask u fellas!
Okay the coil I have on his 'A' doesn?t put out more than 8 volts on the positive side of the coil but this could be the reading straight from the ignition? I have installed a brand new battery...! I have tried the coil lead--> to head to earth it I couldn?t see any spark age... Would this mean I need another coil or am I missing an important step?
Another question is how much is a gt40 coil cost...? I want to know the price before I choose to go out and buy one, or would my best option to find a second handy...

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Maybe you should be asking your question here ...http://www.mgcc.com.au/

I spose it would depend on what type of GT40 you have and whether the car/coil is negative earth and/or whether the car required the ballast resitor type of coil....

I know one thing....the ordinary oil filled can type coils generally give a better wave form than the solid states like the GT40....why not try and get an original type

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"Show me the Mini!"

Genuine Bosch GT40 (red) is oil filled standard coil. Ballast version is GT40R. MG A would be too old to use a ballast type. If only getting 8 volts at the coil + terminal then you will have to look for serious voltage drops in your wiring, connectors and especially ignition switch. Points are attached to coil - terminal. Sneaky one to watch, make sure you have coil volts when actually cranking the engine. Its a different contact on the ignition switch an could go open circuit, so you have the engine cranking over BUT no volts to the coil.
Defeats the purpose
Dino.

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Over 1,000,000Km, but now my retirement restoration project

i bought a gt40-t for around $50 in the spark plug listings it said my car could use it. so i did. it already had one of the gt40 coild on it. but look really old. the new one made a fair bit of difference

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If only milk and orange juice is meant to come in 2 litres, only cheap wine comes in 5 litres...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13922833@N04/

I cleaned up all the wiring and the engine bay... I did/ well I have done a few tests lately and I came up with...

When I have the coil "not connected" to the negative (CB) it reads 12 volts plus + and negative side but then when I hook the negative up from the coil to the dizzy it drops down to 10 volts on the positive side and less than 1 volt on the negative side. I have replaced the condenser, points... do u think the condenser is faulty or is it an earthing problem? Or is it as simple as it?s my coil? I am not even getting a spark when I crank it over.

Thought I would ask you guys. Cheers.

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1V or less is normal on the negative side, if the points are closed. Negative terminal is then grounded.
Flick the points open with a small screwdriver, the neg terminal should then read the same as the + one.
If it doesn't you have a short circuit at points, check the wiring there.

BTW 10V at + terminal sounds a bit low.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

yeah it always drops down when i connect the neg terminal on.. is weird im so confused.. yeah im gathering it maybe an earthing problem, so ill have a look at that..

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