Battery choices, the early MGB use two 6 volt batteries connected inline for a 12 volt system. The later 1975-1980 cars (Rubber Bumpers) uses a single 12 volt battery.
Battery Options for 1975-1980 MGB #
As these cars came with a single 12v battery, online systems can lookup and find your car and make suggestions. This is likely to result in two options:
- A group 24 battery
- A group 34 battery
The size/dimensions of the battery box are critical and you may need to check these against the specifications of your chosen battery. In the case of my 1977 I chose the group 34 option from Interstate batteries. This battery is not as tall and slightly smaller on length. It fits perfectly.
Battery Options for 1962 to 1974 MGB #
If you are looking for originality then you are going to have to try and source two 6 volt batteries. I am sure there is is source out there somewhere! The alternative is a single 12v battery, and in the USA, a group 26 battery. This should fit in the passenger side battery box if you don’t have a liner installed.
Depending on how the battery main wires are positioned, you may want a group 26R battery. The R simply means that the positive and negative terminal positions on the battery are flipped from their usual (non-R designation) positions. Certainly with my 1972 MGB a group 26R battery worked fine. For the USA the standard and reversed positions are defined when looking at the battery from the long side with the terminals (posts) closest to you.
- Normal: Positive Terminal Left, Negative Terminal Right
- Reversed (R): Positive Terminal Right, Negative Terminal Left
So, you are now aware of some of your battery choices.
Other Materials #
I’ve built this website and spent time on the knowledge base to bring together a lot of information I have collected from around the internet. The intent is making it easy to find rather than having to know about and have skills with search engine query terms to get what you were looking for. Please make use of the knowledge base.
