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MG MGB Technical - driving light location

Because of what I did to my car at one time , it was a trial and error process to find the overheating problem. New radiator, new water pumo, radiator cowling, electric fan, overhauled heating system, much engine work, driving lights etc. After a very frustrating summer of trying to get the heat down I started the very less obvious things. to make a long story short it was the driving lights that were reducing the air flow. They are 7" round Cibie's and I had located them to the inside of the overriders as there was not enough room between the overriders and the headlights. Does anyone have any similar experence and assuming you kept the lights where did you locate them? I really want to keep these lights because of many night rides on back country roads, and they look good. Thanks for any help. ED
E kulick

Perhaps you can move them toward the outside to clear the grill better.
Steve Simmons

Thanks Steve but there is no room outside of the overriders. I would have to take them off or maybe try and drill new holel to allow space. I was wondering if anyone else had run into this problem and how they solved it.
E kulick

What year is the car? I have a 72 roadster that I put a set od Lucas driving lights on earlier this year and have had no cooling problems. They are mounted to the inside of the over riders toward the front of the bumper.
william fox

I was afraid I'd have the same problem with my Lucas FT-11's I put on my car earlier this year, but I drove it all summer with no problems.

What about your timing? If you've gone through all of what you've done and you're still overheating, I'd say your timing might be off (springs in your distributor might be weak, etc).

Robert
Robert Rushing

My B is a 64. The timing is the same as before I did engine work. I had some radical head work done and gained top end like you could'nt believe but had no torque. I ended up putting an adjustable timing gear on and retarded it 4 degrees. I can now go up and down the hills of NE Pa in 4 or 5 gear and have no need to downshift. The distributer is only 3 years old and I put it on when I went to Electronic Ignition. My problem was that it would get real hot pulling the Interstates at about 75. When I would start going up the long inclines up here the temp would climb along with the road. Removing the lights cooled it down by 25-30 degrees. I wonder if putting the lights at the leading edge of the bumper and not next to the grill might work. I do not know much about air flow patterns to know if this might work but I do not want to drill too many more holes in my bumper. Thanks ED
E kulick

Thought about removing overriders..?

A lot of people prefer the look of the B without them anyway (i am one of them).

or alternative buy one or the metal under bumper valences with the two rectangular holes cut in. Buy some vent tubing and route it to give flow to rad - keep spots where they are.

~PHIL
Phil

When wearing a rally plaque imediately above the number plate on a CB I have noticed a slight increase in running temps under some conditions - hardly surprising as they can be up to 13" x 6" i.e. about half the intake! But even in ambients around 30 this year it hasn't caused a problem.
Paul Hunt

I had a similar problem on another type of car but fortunately I was able to relocate the foglights out of the grill area. 7" lights are huge. I would suggest getting better headlights and dump the driving lights. Not all headlamps are created = Hella makes some great headlights but remember to get E code or euro spec headlights as the SAE stuff is junk. And if you look at Hella stuff don't get Vision Plus as tey're not great and the bulbs are proprietary.
Mike MaGee

FYI If you do get higher output lights be aware that the extra juice going through the wires will mess up your original switch. They weren't designed to have that much juice flowing through them . I wasted one new switch before I realized that with the uprated headlights a pair of relays (one for low beams and one for high beams) were definitely necessary.

I think Bob Munch's site has the diagrams for the conversion.
Luis

I do not use overriders. When putting on the new bumpers (without overrider shadow) I liked the look so much without them I left it that way.
Ken Knize

Thank you all for your thoughts. I will probably remove the overriders and move the lights. They of course had a relay circuit installed when the lights went in. My car is not what you would call original. It has a five speed, tube shocks, gear reduction starter, way different engine, alternator, etc. The car was built as a daily runner of some comfort. I live in an area which all the new car companies consider adverse driving conditions and even new cars don't quite last as well as one might like. My B has been in the family 14 years and has covered 117K in that time period , not lots but not a year round driver. These are amazing cars. Have Fun. ED
E kulick

This thread was discussed between 19/10/2003 and 22/10/2003

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