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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Starter motor equivalence

Is this the same starter motor as a-series Spridgets?

https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/rtx-starter-motor-402750612

I found it by trying different a-series engined cars and this was for a 1980 1.0 Mini. Do Minis use the same starter as our cars? I have a vague recollection of using a Metro starter in the past but am not sure.

Cheers

Jeremy
Jeremy Cogman

IIRC the mounting holes are 4½" between centres, as opposed to 5" for the Spridget.

Essentially the same starter, other than the end bracket. Easy enough to swap it over, if you have a bendix spring compressor.
Dave O'Neill 2

Thanks for the prompt reply. I don't!

Damn good price though (with the normal ECS discount code), shame it won't fit!
Jeremy Cogman

You just need suitable fasteners like the first one in the image. ;)

David Billington

Jeremey,
I bought one recently for my frogeye, from carparts4less, which I believe to be the same company. Their web pages and stock seems to be near identical. I paid £87 I think it was, but this included a refundable deposit on return of the old item so eventually cost worked out at £53. It wasnt the RTX version but was branded as Lucas. Fitted ok and seems fine.
GuyW

David,

I haven't seen that "catalog" in years. I believe that I may still have my copy buried somewhere "where I can lay my hands on it instantly".
Martin

Martin,

I still have my photocopy of that one to hand but the one I seem to have misplaced is a cartoon of a supplier reclining in his chair talking to a customer on the phone and the customer saying 'if I wanted it tomorrow I would order it tomorrow'.
David Billington

David,

Back in the late 60's and early 70's things like that were very popular. I remember one that showed a swing starting with what sales promised (lots of whistles and bells), what engineering came up with ( very intricate) , what accounting thought it should look like(very austere) and what the customer really wanted ( a board on two ropes).
Martin

Jeremy

Have a look in the archives as this topic has come up in the few last few years IIRC including how many teeth (10?). Some potentially useful info here: http://www.minispares.com/product/Classic/Electrics/Starters/GXE4404.aspx?0911&ReturnUrl=/shop/classic/Electrics/Starters.aspxBack%20to%20shop - but will need the wise heads to pop up to say whether it is accurate.

Unipart part numbers, such as GXS4404, can be a very useful key to help identify and cross check for multiple applications, particularly when the very useful Lucas part number books of old are not to hand which could have given all alternative numbers for parts manufacturers/suppliers and car manufacturers (e.g. Lucas, Rover Group/BL/BLMC/BMC [which covers Austin/Austin Healey and MG, but also Land Rover, Leyland Daf Sherpa etc; Ford, Motorcraft if used by them etc) as well as individual car/van makes and models.

Cheers
Mike
M Wood

Thanks for all you input folks. Car is all four wheels in the air for some sill repairs at the moment so I'm going to drop the existing starter motor and see what's up. I'll also check the wiring and also the resistance of the manual starter solenoid.

Car has been up in the air for a year now. I don't seem to have had that lockdown bonus of extra hobby time that many have. Could the 8yo and the 2yo account for that I wonder?

It's entered in the GRRC autosolo next Sunday though so I need to get it working.
Jeremy Cogman

Jeremy I don't remember exactly where in Hants you are, but I've a small mountain of starters here in Wokingham - happy to give you a working one so you can concentrate on the other stuff needed to meet the deadline. I'm around all week except Tuesday. Drop me a call or text - zeroseven 903 eight doublenine doublenine one.
David Smith

David, that's a very kind offer many thanks.

In the end it wasn't the starter, most likely culprit was the battery with a poor earth path as a highly possible accomplice.

It is so easy to drop the starter with all four wheels in the air. Mine must be a modern (ish) replacement as it didn't have the through bolts and has the disc shaped commutator rather than the cylindrical one. However commutator and brushes were good so I just popped some oil on the bushes and reassembled it.

In the past I've always had an earth lead direct from the starter to the battery earth. It must have got removed when I did the Datsun gearbox conversion so I took this opportunity to reinstate it.

The car is now turning over and starting really well, thanks for you support everyone, much appreciated.

Oh by the way, I had initially discounted the battery as my memory was telling me I'd only replaced it recently. When I finally checked the file it turned out 'recently' was 2015. Tempus Fugit!
Jeremy Cogman

This thread was discussed between 07/05/2021 and 13/05/2021

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