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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - New battery

No MoT yet.
Battery that was second hand 7 years ago off an escort has given up. I put it in the boot. I have a ford galaxy battery which is great but a bit big even for the boot.
Anyone recently looked for a battery?
The car will be my daily for over the winter, I quite like driving rear wheel drive in the weather. It will have the usual full lights, wipers, and heater running no doubt.
Any suggestions /suppliers?
Dave Squire

If you got the room id probably go with the bigger CCA BATTRY

IVE got the correct size but i find i cant crank on the starter for very long before it goes dead from a full charge


My pure guess is a bigger cca battry will crank longer then the correct size...it wont deliver any extra power but i THINK a bigger battry will give you longer run time with out any charging...so with a daily driver in winter if that is true ... then ++++

With the battry in the boot ... and a bigger heavier battry id think that would only aid in traction

what is your plan when the snow gets above 4 inch deep?

Prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Hey Prop, If we get 4" then probably skate over it. But getting 4" here is about as likely as finding hens teeth. They have real snow up north where Guy lives. We get the odd flurry that's slush in no time.

Dave Squire

Get yourself a battery from Tayna in North Wales. They're very helpful, very prompt and very competitively priced.
J Tickle

That's the site I am on. Good range of brands and prices.

Ta
Dave Squire

Dave,
another vote for Tayna, I got the midget battery from them at the start of this year and last year the battery for my wife's car, both times very speedy delivery.

Have a look at the options of makes and models and take the numbers as a guide of performance rather than strictly taking a higher performance number (CCA, Ah) as always better.

I bought an Enduroline for the Midget, which I guess is their own make, even though it wasn't the one they recommended (at the time) out of the group and it's been fine.

Also bear in mind you don't need the heater blower on when traveling at more than about 20mph - as long as the fresh air trunking is fully properly located to the rad grille panel and the fresh air flap before the heater box is fully open (and of course the heater water tap is open).

Nigel Atkins

Look at the Reserve Capacity rating rather than the CCA numbers. The A series engines don't need big numbers on the CCA rating.
J Bubela

It went for its MoT 10 mins ago.

Will be arriving back at 2.00 ish. ......... fingers crossed.
Dave Squire

Another vote for Tanya.

I went fora new DA45L Duracell Advanced Car Battery 12V 45Ah (049 - DA 45L) for £53 delivered from Tayna Batteries for my 1973 midget in January, my previous battery that I had bought locally 5 years previously for about the same price having reached the end of its useful life.

This 049 size fits perfectly in place of the old 038 and has a much improved specified performance - but time will tell.

Service and delivery were excellent <www.tayna.co.uk>
Peter Blockley

did it pass?
Malcolm Le Chevalier

It was a loverly drive! Burbly exhaust, good brakes and real feel for the road.

Did it pass? Of course it did. A clean sheet.


Phew! ....... ;-)

As always, thanks for the support yous guys. back to real daycar driving.
Dave Squire

Woot!
Malcolm Le Chevalier

Hey J Biblea

can you please provide some insight on (reserve capacity rating) electric is not my thing

thanks

hey peter... how is the 049 better performance wise ...i want to look into your idea further

i hate to think it... but i may need to get another new battery sooner then later...i just cant get the amount of time out of it id like just running lights and stereo off the battery before it goes flat


prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

Hi Prop

Its too early to say how the 049 Duracell is performing, but so far so good. This particular battery is just the right size for the midget battery tray (very similar to the old 038) and you can order the battery with +ve and -ve posts whichever way you prefer.

Winter will tell!

Peter
Peter Blockley

Peter... keep us pksted about the 049 battry

and congrats on passing mot... that quite an achivement. Esp for our cars

prop
Prop and the Blackhole Midget

On a slightly different note, are there any advantages to fitting the battery in the boot? Is it a faff to do or worth the effort and cost?
Thanks
J Tickle

Jeremy,
of course there many opinions and reasons for having the battery in boot but unless you need the space the battery normally occupies in the engine compartment then on a road Spridget I can't see the worth of the effort and cost.

The battery is heavy so is best set low and to centre in a car unless offset by another component of similar weight distribution (the MGB had two (6v)batteries either side of the propshaft forward of the rear axle) - but Spridget batteries are relatively small and light anyway (of course you can get smaller and lighter batteries if you want).

The starter motor is in the engine compartment and that's a main draw on the battery so better close by with shorter wire run, also the battery charging system, - on the other hand the engine compartment does get hot but would the boot sometimes be too cold(?).

You would lose boot space and unless you need the space for say an engine conversion what would you do with the space gained in the engine compartment(?).

I've had cars with batteries in the boot area but I can't see the gain with moving a Spridget battery to the boot (but perhaps I'm missing something, can't think what though).
Nigel Atkins

If you have a 1500 in warmer climes there is a good chance of cooking your battery if it's in the engine bay.
Jaguar actually had a fan cooled battery box for some models because of this issue.
cheers
R W Bowers

The one benefit I can think of for fitting the battery in the boot is ease of access, although this is less of an issue for maintenance-free batteries.

Although the MGB did originally have two 6v batteries, this was a carry over from the MGA which, having a separate chassis, had limited space in that area, so couldn't cope with a larger 12v battery.

When the rubber-bumpered 'B' was introduced, BL took the opportunity to enlarge the right-hand battery box and fit a single 12v battery.
Dave O'Neill 2

I'd agree with Nigel in that there's no real need for putting the battery in the boot for a UK based car. Mine's in the boot because there's engine in the way under the bonnet.

If I hadn't had a big wire from a mini lying around then I'd have built a battery box into the top of the passenger footwell.
Rob Armstrong

Thanks for the replies. It seems the consensus it's unnecessary unless you're going K series or have a 1500 in warmer climates so it'll stay where it is even though it's a pain to get to (not often though).
I had a B with twin 6 volt batteries, always seem to play up at the most inconvenient times. Ended up always carrying a 5p piece to undo the screws on the cover before giving the batteries a damn good shaking to get some life into them. Ah, the good old days!
J Tickle

I am just about to fit an Odyssey PC950 into my Lenham which will be located in a box behind the passenger seat.

I think it looks better aesthetically off the bulkhead and somewhat easier to get to.


Martyn Wilks

I found the galaxy battery was sound and with a bit of carpentry made it fit. So chucked the ex escort duffer and connected up the galaxy battery in its place in the boot.

Needed a new -ve strap (a fiver) and went with that. Its a big battery and after 75 miles is well charged and providing excellent service. It was free from the old boy (son) so even better.

The weight should keep rear wheels well behaved when the weather changes.
Dave Squire

This thread was discussed between 27/09/2016 and 05/10/2016

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

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