MG T-ABC

Anybody have a link or info about relocating the battery to the rear below on the left rear chassis frame rail, under the inspection cover behind the seats? I recall reading something about this some time ago, but cant find it? Seems like it would be a worthwhile endevour? Not concours but better for weight distribution and access.
Brian

Thinking about it logically, I'm not sure it would make any real difference. Maybe if you're driving really hard or racing, but unless the tires are breaking loose then I'd say there would be no benefit. On the downside, you would have a much longer cable from battery to starter, control box, etc. That's possibly why the battery moved to where it is from the TA location.

I run a very small, lightweight battery in my TC which makes it even less of an advantage to move it. But if were going to put it under the rear deck, I'd probably build a box for it with a lid in the rear compartment floor.

Agreed. What battery are you using Steve? For just casual driving and touring it really wouldn't make much diff for the effort.
Brian

Since obviously you are not concerned about concours situations, the best use of the battery compartment is for a small battery, so that you can put spares and tools along side in the battery compartment.
One that comes in size 5-1/2" X 3-1/2" X 7" (for a 6 cylinder motorcycle) puts out more CCA than original, or most standard, batteries and is durable, reliable and also lightweight.

The only worse environment for the battery than the MGTA batteries in back, were the Jaguar XK1___ series under the front fender behind the front wheel.

Octagonally yours, BOXLEY (Robert and MGTC0820)

I use a Westco battery as found in early Miatas (MX-5 in UK) in several of my smaller cars including the TC. It has plenty of power for the car and takes up far less space than the original. Alongside the battery I keep two quarts of oil, a complete distributor with cap and wires, a small bottle of brake fluid, an upper radiator hose, some rags, an ignition coil, some fuel hose and a couple other small things.

This is the battery: https://www.gomiata.com/wessealbat.html

What type of CCA should one be looking for?

The CCA for the XPAG 1250 to 1500 does not need to be more than about 400, but think the original batteries were under that. Would be surprised if they were more than 300 CCA, but in the 1940's and 1950's the ratings were different.

Octagonally yours, BOXLEY (Robert and MGTC0820)

Thanks for the info..

The battery in my Birkin is 45Ah battery rated at SAE 400CCA so should do the trick.

Not usually that cold here in SA as it is rated for -18Deg. Is it more Amps at say 20Deg, and I am talking Celsius.

This battery is 210mm long and the hold down nuts in the battery box is about 300mm apart. Seems like a little longer battery will look more "in place".

The Westco is the smallest battery I've used on the TC, at 320 CCA. It cranks just as strong as the Optima it replaced, which had 910 CCA. That tells me that the car is not starving at all with 320. The only disadvantage of the Westco is that it won't hold as much of a charge, so if you have a charging issue, it won't last as long before running out of juice. Also, it's a glass mat battery which on one hand means no maintenance and no battery acid leeching out, but on the other hand they don't like to be run completely flat. If you leave your lights on and it goes to zero, you can damage the battery. Old fashioned wet cell batteries are much more forgiving in this respect. Gel cell batteries like Optima don't like to be run low either, and also seem to dislike overcharging more than the others. Just my experience anyway.