Full circle into a Marina again. My 73 Morris Marina Coupe
Discussion
Many years ago, about 14 years or so, I bought a car off a friend so I could learn to drive and get myself to work. It cost me $400 with reg and wof, and was awesome.
That car was a https://tasteslikepetrol.net/cars/marina/1976 Morris Marina 1.8 SUPER. It was green ("Spanish Olive"), and it was damn near immaculate at the time. The only issue was that it drank about as much oil as it did petrol and the second gear synchro was slow.
I thrashed that for a while, but eventually the Japanese bug bit and I sold it when I picked up a dirt cheap N/A BFMR Familia. I sold it to a young kid who wanted it to learn in like I did, but it was soon sold again and as far as I know its been sitting in a barn since. Rego on hold, but probably a pile of dust.
Being the complete sicko that I am, despite owning many cars, and bringing a few other classic Brits back from the dead, I've always pined for another Marina. Hell, my Wife tried to buy my old Marina back a few years ago, but that fell on its face for various reasons.
I figured if I can't get the old green machine back, the next best thing would be to keep an eye out for the ultimate version, the coupe.
Coupes are rare. Well, Marinas, in general, are rare thanks to the (misguided) unpopularity of them, but coupes are just something you never see. Before I went and looked at a wrecked Twin Carb (TC) coupe in a field over Xmas, I hadn't seen one in person.
The coupe in the field I ended up passing on because of its location (middle of nowhere; expensive to get a truck to pick it up), and the fact someone had pinched the plates and tags from it (probably to rebirth another Marina that had a dead rego) and it couldn't legally be put on the road again. If it's still available I might end up buying it for parts, we'll see.
Anyway, back to the story at hand. The other day I had a PM from a fellow Old School forum member that knew I was looking for a coupe, letting me know there was one just listed on Facebook Marketplace. Sure enough, there it was.
That's the one and only photo on the listing (and it's not a TC), but that didn't matter to me. I got in touch with the seller and within an hour of being listed, we had agreed to a sale and it was mine.
The next day seller sent me more photos showing the current condition.
The worst bit (that the seller knows of), the rust in the sill
And the AUS spec OHC 1750cc E-Series single carb power house.
As the story goes, the sellers dad has had the car for years, and the father and son started to restore the car to former glory. Unfortunately, the father passed away and the car has been in limbo since.
The seller was happy to hear that I intend on returning the car to the road and undertaking a restoration of sorts. It may not go back to completely original, but I'm not going to chop it up and hot rod it.
I have no doubt the car will be a hell of a lot of work and a lot of money. The first job is to even get it here, as it's currently across the Cook Strait in Blenheim and I'm in Wellington. Not far as the crow flies, but a large body of water that can only be crossed by plane or boat blocks it. A truck is arranged to pick it up at the end of next week, and then I'll get to see what the heck I've got myself into.
This particular car is a little interesting just in the fact that's its an NZ Built, Aus spec car, meaning it gets the E-Series Over Head Cam engine, instead of the A or B series pushrod engines the UK cars have, but also has various bits of local content such as brakes, suspension and interior. Decoding the VIN it appears to be a Deluxe spec, with the 4 speed manual.
The plan is to sell the TVR to make space and money, get the Marina going and stopping, and then cut out the rust. New sill panels are available off Trademe, so will replace the whole sill, and cut out any other rust I find. Once its solid, going and stopping, then its just a case of taking it for a WOF inspection to see where I'm at. What happens after that depends if I can get hold of the TC in the field.
Oh, did I mention the rego is on hold? Well, it is, and its been off the road for almost 25 years. This will be the oldest save of any I've had before.
The cool thing is that the rego is super optimistic...
Yeah, its a "Sports Car", just like the TVR. I dont think anyone has called a Marina that before.
I've started collecting things that might be important, such as an original BLMC workshop manual, in original Marina branded binder
Ideally, I'd love to get this on the road, tidy up the interior, repaint the exterior (original paint, which I think is Bold As Brass yellow, or a different colour...?) and then rebuild and fit the twin carb engine from the field car to it.
I need to have the car in my hot little hands first and see what it needs and what it's missing. I could be over my head in rust issues yet, who knows. We'll see soon enough.
That car was a https://tasteslikepetrol.net/cars/marina/1976 Morris Marina 1.8 SUPER. It was green ("Spanish Olive"), and it was damn near immaculate at the time. The only issue was that it drank about as much oil as it did petrol and the second gear synchro was slow.
I thrashed that for a while, but eventually the Japanese bug bit and I sold it when I picked up a dirt cheap N/A BFMR Familia. I sold it to a young kid who wanted it to learn in like I did, but it was soon sold again and as far as I know its been sitting in a barn since. Rego on hold, but probably a pile of dust.
Being the complete sicko that I am, despite owning many cars, and bringing a few other classic Brits back from the dead, I've always pined for another Marina. Hell, my Wife tried to buy my old Marina back a few years ago, but that fell on its face for various reasons.
I figured if I can't get the old green machine back, the next best thing would be to keep an eye out for the ultimate version, the coupe.
Coupes are rare. Well, Marinas, in general, are rare thanks to the (misguided) unpopularity of them, but coupes are just something you never see. Before I went and looked at a wrecked Twin Carb (TC) coupe in a field over Xmas, I hadn't seen one in person.
The coupe in the field I ended up passing on because of its location (middle of nowhere; expensive to get a truck to pick it up), and the fact someone had pinched the plates and tags from it (probably to rebirth another Marina that had a dead rego) and it couldn't legally be put on the road again. If it's still available I might end up buying it for parts, we'll see.
Anyway, back to the story at hand. The other day I had a PM from a fellow Old School forum member that knew I was looking for a coupe, letting me know there was one just listed on Facebook Marketplace. Sure enough, there it was.
That's the one and only photo on the listing (and it's not a TC), but that didn't matter to me. I got in touch with the seller and within an hour of being listed, we had agreed to a sale and it was mine.
The next day seller sent me more photos showing the current condition.
The worst bit (that the seller knows of), the rust in the sill
And the AUS spec OHC 1750cc E-Series single carb power house.
As the story goes, the sellers dad has had the car for years, and the father and son started to restore the car to former glory. Unfortunately, the father passed away and the car has been in limbo since.
The seller was happy to hear that I intend on returning the car to the road and undertaking a restoration of sorts. It may not go back to completely original, but I'm not going to chop it up and hot rod it.
I have no doubt the car will be a hell of a lot of work and a lot of money. The first job is to even get it here, as it's currently across the Cook Strait in Blenheim and I'm in Wellington. Not far as the crow flies, but a large body of water that can only be crossed by plane or boat blocks it. A truck is arranged to pick it up at the end of next week, and then I'll get to see what the heck I've got myself into.
This particular car is a little interesting just in the fact that's its an NZ Built, Aus spec car, meaning it gets the E-Series Over Head Cam engine, instead of the A or B series pushrod engines the UK cars have, but also has various bits of local content such as brakes, suspension and interior. Decoding the VIN it appears to be a Deluxe spec, with the 4 speed manual.
The plan is to sell the TVR to make space and money, get the Marina going and stopping, and then cut out the rust. New sill panels are available off Trademe, so will replace the whole sill, and cut out any other rust I find. Once its solid, going and stopping, then its just a case of taking it for a WOF inspection to see where I'm at. What happens after that depends if I can get hold of the TC in the field.
Oh, did I mention the rego is on hold? Well, it is, and its been off the road for almost 25 years. This will be the oldest save of any I've had before.
The cool thing is that the rego is super optimistic...
Yeah, its a "Sports Car", just like the TVR. I dont think anyone has called a Marina that before.
I've started collecting things that might be important, such as an original BLMC workshop manual, in original Marina branded binder
Ideally, I'd love to get this on the road, tidy up the interior, repaint the exterior (original paint, which I think is Bold As Brass yellow, or a different colour...?) and then rebuild and fit the twin carb engine from the field car to it.
I need to have the car in my hot little hands first and see what it needs and what it's missing. I could be over my head in rust issues yet, who knows. We'll see soon enough.
Edited by KelvinatorNZ on Tuesday 16th February 03:22
Is that TC an E- Series as well, I've had a couple of UK ones and I liked them, apart from the time I locked the passengers door
by pressing the button down and leaving my finger between the door and the post, key was in the ignition and running, was out in the middle of nowhere, was the longest 45 minutes until someone walked by, at least it didn't overheat, not like me 😠
by pressing the button down and leaving my finger between the door and the post, key was in the ignition and running, was out in the middle of nowhere, was the longest 45 minutes until someone walked by, at least it didn't overheat, not like me 😠
alanuk400 said:
Is that TC an E- Series as well, I've had a couple of UK ones and I liked them, apart from the time I locked the passengers door
by pressing the button down and leaving my finger between the door and the post, key was in the ignition and running, was out in the middle of nowhere, was the longest 45 minutes until someone walked by, at least it didn't overheat, not like me ??
by pressing the button down and leaving my finger between the door and the post, key was in the ignition and running, was out in the middle of nowhere, was the longest 45 minutes until someone walked by, at least it didn't overheat, not like me ??
Jesus!StuntmanMike said:
alanuk400 said:
Is that TC an E- Series as well, I've had a couple of UK ones and I liked them, apart from the time I locked the passengers door
by pressing the button down and leaving my finger between the door and the post, key was in the ignition and running, was out in the middle of nowhere, was the longest 45 minutes until someone walked by, at least it didn't overheat, not like me ??
by pressing the button down and leaving my finger between the door and the post, key was in the ignition and running, was out in the middle of nowhere, was the longest 45 minutes until someone walked by, at least it didn't overheat, not like me ??
Jesus!I hope the finger survived.
Well, in a shock turn of events this arrived today. Didn't even know it had been picked up until Brent messaged me saying he was a couple hours away from delivery. Wasn't expecting it until the end of the week.
Once again Brent from Classic Towing is a legend. Laid the bed of the truck flat down my steep driveway and winched the car straight into the garage.
Its going to be a TON of work, but it seems like a decent solid base to start with. Found the re-rego documents from 1995 in the car, and its been owned by the family since at least then.
"Movers of fine automobiles" - Damn right
Once again Brent from Classic Towing is a legend. Laid the bed of the truck flat down my steep driveway and winched the car straight into the garage.
Its going to be a TON of work, but it seems like a decent solid base to start with. Found the re-rego documents from 1995 in the car, and its been owned by the family since at least then.
"Movers of fine automobiles" - Damn right
Edited by KelvinatorNZ on Monday 15th February 10:44
I admire your dedication. Sorry, madness! 
A school friend's Dad always had Marinas. Saloons and estates.
I wanted a TC in 1987 when I started driving, but my Dad wouldn't have any of it. He didn't like the brand, he said, despite him having owned several Oxfords and Cambridgeshire in my childhood!
A school friend's Dad always had Marinas. Saloons and estates.
I wanted a TC in 1987 when I started driving, but my Dad wouldn't have any of it. He didn't like the brand, he said, despite him having owned several Oxfords and Cambridgeshire in my childhood!
Here I was, Monday night, sitting watching a movie with my Wife when suddenly I get a text message... "I'll deliver the Morris off tonight about 9:30". A few days ahead of schedule, awesome!
I wasn't expecting the car to be picked up until late this week, but with the potential for chaos due to the latest Covid19 level change and risk of the Ferry being booked out or cancelled, my job was pushed forward and here we are.
Sure enough, a couple of hours of completely cool, calm and collected waiting...
I hear a truck pull up and calmly walk outside to greet Brent.
Of course it was pouring down with rain and pitch black, but that didn't matter. It was Marina time.
"Movers Of Fine Automobiles" - Yup, not wrong there!
One of the many good things about Brent is that he is very experienced and has the right gear. When I asked if he might be able to winch the car straight into the garage he barely flinched; of course he could. He backed the truck up to the drive
And then just laid the whole deck down my steep driveway, meaning the car only had to be winched off the deck and then down about two meters of the drive before it was in the garage. So easy. Better than pushing it with flat tyres and no brakes.
And then I got a first look at what I had. Brent scared me a little when he asked if there was no engine in it! Of course there was! it's just, small.
Meet Alex, the 73 Morris Marina Coupe.
We had a good chat about cars, and he had a look over the TVR we pushed off the truck 18 months ago, which attended its second British Car Day just the day before.
After bidding Brent farewell, I had a poke around.
The interior was full of bits that had been removed from the car, and the seats aren't bolted down. Unfortunately between the leaking windscreen seal and the window partly down, the interior was a bit wet and stinks of old wet stuff.
The boot was tied down (as requested) as the boot lock is missing
Overall it doesn't seem that bad. There is rust, and its a shame there is so much s
tty primer over the existing paint, but it looks fixable.
Of course, having the two Brits in the garage I had to take a photo. I'm aiming for the most "interesting" two-car garage in the neighbourhood. I think I win.
I was going to leave it until the next day but curiosity got the better of me. What was in the boot?
Goodies. That's what. More parts that had been removed from the car, the spare wheel, and a bunch of old spares like a carb, inlet/exhaust manifold, starter, and alternator.
I then tucked the cars away for the night and dreamt of bashing Marinas around the back roads, like the good old days.
The next day I got stuck into pulling the parts out and seeing what was in it, and what I'm missing. I also needed to get the parts in the footwell out of the water that was sitting in there.
The good news is that most of the big stuff is there. All the wheel trims appear in good shape, and the air box, RH outer door handle and window winder can be reused. There were also a couple of strange items in there too, like this Lucas Electronic Ignition box of magic. I'd love to know more about it but nothing comes up on google. It has three wires on one side, and a toggle switch and led on the other.
There was also this "HOT SPOT engine water heater" that plugs into mains. Obviously, its to preheat the coolant, but I haven't come across one of these in NZ before. It's generally not cold enough here for them, but they are common in the likes of Europe.
I did find a curious pair of paving slabs under the driver's seat though. They aren't high enough to touch the seat, so they aren't "support", but now I'm concerned about what's under them. My wife thinks its a big spider.
The boot has a whole bunch of treasure in it. Icecream containers of... stuff. Some of it has come off this car, like the badges, which all seem to be present and correct (too many if anything), but also a whole lot of random screws, bits of metal, plastic etc. I'm sure some of it will make sense.
The big box in the boot was made of wood and had been carefully built to fit around the wheel arch.
It's full of all the heavy stuff. Most of it is quite rusty, so probably useless, but I might be able to refurb some bits if needed.
One thing I didn't expect to find was the two exterior mirrors. The reflective coating on one has failed, but the other doesn't seem too bad. Both need a good clean, but it would be awesome to refurbish and retain these mirrors.
I'd love to know more about these mirrors if anyone has come across them before. The only marking is this on the back; DR.
Having cleaned some of the muck out, and knowing that I wasn't going to be eaten by spiders, I jumped aboard, onto the wobbly unbolted seat, and plonked myself behind the wheel for the first time.
The driving position is... interesting. As mentioned in the HubNut review of a MK1 Marina, the steering wheel isn't flat. It's centered in front of the driver, but the LH side is closer to the driver than the RH side. It's subtle, but noticeable.
https://youtu.be/kSInTTUF2gE?t=512
Just part of its charm. The clutch is seized solid, and the brake pedal goes to the floor, so there is some work to do there. The throttle is actuating the carb, but the pedal seems to sit low and has little travel.
Once I was done with sitting and making brum brum noises I assessed what else was going on with the dash.
The gear knob is in good condition, and the gearbox although a bit vague goes into all gears OK. No doubt there will be a bush I can replace.
The cluster is partly disconnected and the center dash speaker is currently hiding behind it. The old gutter mount antenna is sitting on the dash.
Like most, the dash plastics have aged and cracked. Other than the missing corners on the ash tray it's quite minor though. No factory fit radio here.
The driver's door card is awol, so I'll need to source, or make, a new one. The passenger's side is a custom fibreboard job. The linkages have been bent from people trying to open the door, since the exterior handle has been removed. The RH door has quite a bit of play in the top hinge, so I'll need to weld in a tube to address that wear.
Both little vent windows open and latch though, which is awesome. Can't wait to drive with these open. The top hinge on the RH side has a bit of play in it but seems secure. It'll probably vibrate in the wind or something.
They need a damn good clean, but the gauges look good. 91,137 original KM. Note it is a KM speedo too, being NZ New and Aus spec.
Unfortunately the longer I poked around, the worse it got. The front floors have had some creative patching with plates and rivets, and there are some holes showing in the driver's side, so both floors will have chunks cut out and new metal welded in.
In the big scheme of things, thats easy to do.
The harder to fix rust will be this little section in the B-Pillar on the LH side, which will require the window to be removed
There is also rust under the bottom of the rear window, so that will need to be removed too (and the front windscreen needs a new seal, so I'll probably remove all the glass)
The boot has its fair share of rust too, thanks to various leaks and traps. The bottom of both rear quarters are showing bubbling, as is the rear valance panel. Those will be a pain to fix, but the lip for the boot seal is probably the worst, I don't think there will be a lip once I remove the seal.
The obvious rust is really the LH sill. Its the whole way along, so definitely a whole sill panel, but shouldn't be too bad to do, hopefully.
I haven't had a poke around under the car yet, but from what I could see kneeling on the ground, it looks vaguely ok. Its got to be done, so wherever the rust is, it will be fixed. At the end of the day though, for a 48 year old car that's been off the road for almost half that, it's doing pretty well. Much better than it would be had it lived in the UK, no doubt.
The last thing I did before packing up for the day and letting the car dry out, was to trial fit some of the badges and check I had them all. It appears I do, even if a couple of the holes have been filled.
There should be another MARINA badge on the Lh side of the boot lid, but currently there is a just a large dent filled with cracking off bog, so I'll need to bash that back out first.
Looking at the primer all over the car, I suspect it's painted straight over the yellow. Its also had another respray at some point, because there is a ton of yellow overspray, and things like brake lines in the engine bay have been painted. I'll want to clean all that paint off the various bits it shouldn't be on.
Since the paint is a mess I suspect it will be going to bare metal at some point, or very close to it. I'm still in two minds if I paint it myself, or outsource it to someone with more skill than me (but also more cost). I'll see how I go once all the good metal has been glued in.
This will be a slow project, initially. All my money is tied up in the TVR and Corolla, so the only progress here will be things that don't cost money. I do want to get the engine started soon, just to see what condition that's in, but I need to source an oil filter first.
Oh, and if you're wondering about the name earlier, yes, the Marina is called Alex. We've been working on names for it since I bought it, but nothing really stuck. Alex comes from Alexandra, which according to the paperwork I found in the car, was the town the previous owner had the car re-registered in back in 1995.
Unfortunately, the paperwork doesn't mention why the car was re-registered, but what I can tell is that it has done 1400km since it was re-registered back in 1995, and hasn't had a warrant inspection since. I've reached out to the seller to see if he knows the back story of why his dad re-registered it, and then it never got used again.
Once again, a HUGE Thank You to Brent at Classic Towing. He never fails to impress. If you need a car moved anywhere in NZ, give him a bell.
I wasn't expecting the car to be picked up until late this week, but with the potential for chaos due to the latest Covid19 level change and risk of the Ferry being booked out or cancelled, my job was pushed forward and here we are.
Sure enough, a couple of hours of completely cool, calm and collected waiting...
I hear a truck pull up and calmly walk outside to greet Brent.
Of course it was pouring down with rain and pitch black, but that didn't matter. It was Marina time.
"Movers Of Fine Automobiles" - Yup, not wrong there!
One of the many good things about Brent is that he is very experienced and has the right gear. When I asked if he might be able to winch the car straight into the garage he barely flinched; of course he could. He backed the truck up to the drive
And then just laid the whole deck down my steep driveway, meaning the car only had to be winched off the deck and then down about two meters of the drive before it was in the garage. So easy. Better than pushing it with flat tyres and no brakes.
And then I got a first look at what I had. Brent scared me a little when he asked if there was no engine in it! Of course there was! it's just, small.
Meet Alex, the 73 Morris Marina Coupe.
We had a good chat about cars, and he had a look over the TVR we pushed off the truck 18 months ago, which attended its second British Car Day just the day before.
After bidding Brent farewell, I had a poke around.
The interior was full of bits that had been removed from the car, and the seats aren't bolted down. Unfortunately between the leaking windscreen seal and the window partly down, the interior was a bit wet and stinks of old wet stuff.
The boot was tied down (as requested) as the boot lock is missing
Overall it doesn't seem that bad. There is rust, and its a shame there is so much s
tty primer over the existing paint, but it looks fixable.Of course, having the two Brits in the garage I had to take a photo. I'm aiming for the most "interesting" two-car garage in the neighbourhood. I think I win.
I was going to leave it until the next day but curiosity got the better of me. What was in the boot?
Goodies. That's what. More parts that had been removed from the car, the spare wheel, and a bunch of old spares like a carb, inlet/exhaust manifold, starter, and alternator.
I then tucked the cars away for the night and dreamt of bashing Marinas around the back roads, like the good old days.
The next day I got stuck into pulling the parts out and seeing what was in it, and what I'm missing. I also needed to get the parts in the footwell out of the water that was sitting in there.
The good news is that most of the big stuff is there. All the wheel trims appear in good shape, and the air box, RH outer door handle and window winder can be reused. There were also a couple of strange items in there too, like this Lucas Electronic Ignition box of magic. I'd love to know more about it but nothing comes up on google. It has three wires on one side, and a toggle switch and led on the other.
There was also this "HOT SPOT engine water heater" that plugs into mains. Obviously, its to preheat the coolant, but I haven't come across one of these in NZ before. It's generally not cold enough here for them, but they are common in the likes of Europe.
I did find a curious pair of paving slabs under the driver's seat though. They aren't high enough to touch the seat, so they aren't "support", but now I'm concerned about what's under them. My wife thinks its a big spider.
The boot has a whole bunch of treasure in it. Icecream containers of... stuff. Some of it has come off this car, like the badges, which all seem to be present and correct (too many if anything), but also a whole lot of random screws, bits of metal, plastic etc. I'm sure some of it will make sense.
The big box in the boot was made of wood and had been carefully built to fit around the wheel arch.
It's full of all the heavy stuff. Most of it is quite rusty, so probably useless, but I might be able to refurb some bits if needed.
One thing I didn't expect to find was the two exterior mirrors. The reflective coating on one has failed, but the other doesn't seem too bad. Both need a good clean, but it would be awesome to refurbish and retain these mirrors.
I'd love to know more about these mirrors if anyone has come across them before. The only marking is this on the back; DR.
Having cleaned some of the muck out, and knowing that I wasn't going to be eaten by spiders, I jumped aboard, onto the wobbly unbolted seat, and plonked myself behind the wheel for the first time.
The driving position is... interesting. As mentioned in the HubNut review of a MK1 Marina, the steering wheel isn't flat. It's centered in front of the driver, but the LH side is closer to the driver than the RH side. It's subtle, but noticeable.
https://youtu.be/kSInTTUF2gE?t=512
Just part of its charm. The clutch is seized solid, and the brake pedal goes to the floor, so there is some work to do there. The throttle is actuating the carb, but the pedal seems to sit low and has little travel.
Once I was done with sitting and making brum brum noises I assessed what else was going on with the dash.
The gear knob is in good condition, and the gearbox although a bit vague goes into all gears OK. No doubt there will be a bush I can replace.
The cluster is partly disconnected and the center dash speaker is currently hiding behind it. The old gutter mount antenna is sitting on the dash.
Like most, the dash plastics have aged and cracked. Other than the missing corners on the ash tray it's quite minor though. No factory fit radio here.
The driver's door card is awol, so I'll need to source, or make, a new one. The passenger's side is a custom fibreboard job. The linkages have been bent from people trying to open the door, since the exterior handle has been removed. The RH door has quite a bit of play in the top hinge, so I'll need to weld in a tube to address that wear.
Both little vent windows open and latch though, which is awesome. Can't wait to drive with these open. The top hinge on the RH side has a bit of play in it but seems secure. It'll probably vibrate in the wind or something.
They need a damn good clean, but the gauges look good. 91,137 original KM. Note it is a KM speedo too, being NZ New and Aus spec.
Unfortunately the longer I poked around, the worse it got. The front floors have had some creative patching with plates and rivets, and there are some holes showing in the driver's side, so both floors will have chunks cut out and new metal welded in.
In the big scheme of things, thats easy to do.
The harder to fix rust will be this little section in the B-Pillar on the LH side, which will require the window to be removed
There is also rust under the bottom of the rear window, so that will need to be removed too (and the front windscreen needs a new seal, so I'll probably remove all the glass)
The boot has its fair share of rust too, thanks to various leaks and traps. The bottom of both rear quarters are showing bubbling, as is the rear valance panel. Those will be a pain to fix, but the lip for the boot seal is probably the worst, I don't think there will be a lip once I remove the seal.
The obvious rust is really the LH sill. Its the whole way along, so definitely a whole sill panel, but shouldn't be too bad to do, hopefully.
I haven't had a poke around under the car yet, but from what I could see kneeling on the ground, it looks vaguely ok. Its got to be done, so wherever the rust is, it will be fixed. At the end of the day though, for a 48 year old car that's been off the road for almost half that, it's doing pretty well. Much better than it would be had it lived in the UK, no doubt.
The last thing I did before packing up for the day and letting the car dry out, was to trial fit some of the badges and check I had them all. It appears I do, even if a couple of the holes have been filled.
There should be another MARINA badge on the Lh side of the boot lid, but currently there is a just a large dent filled with cracking off bog, so I'll need to bash that back out first.
Looking at the primer all over the car, I suspect it's painted straight over the yellow. Its also had another respray at some point, because there is a ton of yellow overspray, and things like brake lines in the engine bay have been painted. I'll want to clean all that paint off the various bits it shouldn't be on.
Since the paint is a mess I suspect it will be going to bare metal at some point, or very close to it. I'm still in two minds if I paint it myself, or outsource it to someone with more skill than me (but also more cost). I'll see how I go once all the good metal has been glued in.
This will be a slow project, initially. All my money is tied up in the TVR and Corolla, so the only progress here will be things that don't cost money. I do want to get the engine started soon, just to see what condition that's in, but I need to source an oil filter first.
Oh, and if you're wondering about the name earlier, yes, the Marina is called Alex. We've been working on names for it since I bought it, but nothing really stuck. Alex comes from Alexandra, which according to the paperwork I found in the car, was the town the previous owner had the car re-registered in back in 1995.
Unfortunately, the paperwork doesn't mention why the car was re-registered, but what I can tell is that it has done 1400km since it was re-registered back in 1995, and hasn't had a warrant inspection since. I've reached out to the seller to see if he knows the back story of why his dad re-registered it, and then it never got used again.
Once again, a HUGE Thank You to Brent at Classic Towing. He never fails to impress. If you need a car moved anywhere in NZ, give him a bell.
Today has been the first real day of work on the Marina. I got some important prep work out of the way, and had a good look around under the car.
The first task on the list for today was to remove what was left of the interior and give it a vacuum out. I had to wait for the muck to dry first, and now that it was nice and dry I donned my gloves and mask and went to work.
The boot got completely stripped. The carpet was old house carpet and was rotting. Thankfully the metal under it is in good shape.
Cleaning the boot also showed where the rust is. The worst rust in the rear guard is where this little strip (to support the spare wheel?) is attached. It's basically rusted along that seam.
The other side is solid.
With all the seats removed the whole interior got a good vacuum. So much grot. Cleaning the floors shows the repair panels that have been riveted in and then sealed around.
There are about four patches on the passengers side alone, including one against the inner sill, which will need some work where it joins to the floor.
It's all pretty straight forward stuff to fix from what I can see. I'll need to work out how to press some strengthening ribs into the new panels, but I have a press and a welder, so I'll make something.
The RH side was no better, so that got a good clean too. I did find a lot of screws under the driver's seat, but no surprises under the paving slabs.
The rear wasn't missed. There was quite a bit of old mouse poo here too.
With most of my chances of catching Hantavirus sorted I got the car up on axle stands, which is where it will live for a while.
This gave me my first real look at the underside. The good news is that its extensively undersealed, which seems to have saved it from too much underside rust. The bad news is that its cobweb city.
Oh, and the rust that does exist. Like the LH half of the rear valance.
The RH side is almost perfect
The big Borg Warner diff. Need to source a LH bump stop, and probably shocks.
The exhaust has seen better days. Will patch it to get through the WOF and then look at the condition of the rest of the system and whether to just replace from the muffler back, or replace the whole thing.
One annoying thing is the driveshaft center bearing has collapsed, so I'll need to drop the shaft and replace that. Will also assess the Ujs and see if they need doing too.
Removing the driveshaft will give me the chance to replace the clearly leaking rear seal on the gearbox too
It's OK, the tyres are only flat on the bottom.
Cob webs. Everywhere. I took a broom to them, and they resisted my attacks.
Moving forward, we see the ancient Ryco Z83B filter. I ordered a replacement and picked up it this morning. There is a high probability this filter is from the 90s.
I think the moisture on the bellhousing is gearbox oil leaking forward from sitting. Its that, or the rear main is leaking, but since the car hasnt been driven anywhere it would be hard for the oil from the rear main to spread like that instead of just leaking straight down. It's amusing how HUGE the bellhousing is, and how small the gearbox is.
Around the front and I'm greeted by this thing. I worked out from the owners manual that its a "Hinged Kerb Guard". Well, it was seized solid in the sticky outty position.
It made a lot more sense once I freed it up and folded it back where it should be. I suspect it got caught at one point, maybe moving the car off a trailer or something, and overextended forward.
What it does, is protect the sump, which hangs way down under the car. This is a tall engine.
This is directly behind the guard. Yes, that hose in the front is the fuel hose from the pump...
Once freed up and folded back it looks like this. It has pins on either side that stop it from going further back.
I'm not sure why they bothered to "hinge" it. The "hinge" is just that it can rotate on the two bolts that attach it. If it was to make servicing easier, it would've been just as easy to make it fixed in place and removable. I'll just tighten the bolts in the furthest back position.
Next, I drained the engine oil and removed the old filter. The old oil stank and was the darkest black oil I have never seen. It was like draining treacle.
While waiting for it to slowly drain, I removed all the old spark plugs. The 4th plug was damaged at some point and the top was stuck in the (also damaged) ignition lead.
Luckily the OE Champion plugs cross over with NGK BP6ES, which oh hey, I happened to have on the shelf. I gapped them down the specified 0.6mm gap, but before fitting I used my awesome Castrol oil can to put a little oil into the cylinders to help the dry cylinder walls out a bit.
And now the new plugs went in
The oil was still draining, so I fit the replacement filter in the meantime. Because the engine hasn't run for about 10 years, I prefilled the filter before spinning it on. I don't normally, but this made sense to me.
Next was to replace the old fuel hoses from the carb back to the tank. The hose that had been put on the car from the pump to filter was... odd. I don't even know if it was fuel hose. Looked like a small garden hose, and was "food quality".
I replaced all the hose with 1/4" ID Gates and Codan hoses (depending on what was on hand at the time). All R6 rated, so not rated for EFI or Ethanol, but not an issue for me as its carb and I won't be running E10 in it.
When I did the Mini fuel system I got a filter at the time but didn't have the space to fit it. I've had that filter on the shelf since, so its good to finally put it to use.
As per the above photo, I took the top off the fuel bowl to see what was in there. There was a little bit of old perished fuel in the bottom but otherwise looked OK. This was cleaned out with a rag and brake cleaner.
I removed the dashpot and piston to clean. The inside of the carb was filthy, so that got a good clean. The old oil was drained and new 20W60 poured in on refitting. I may play with this dashpot oil if it's too thick, which I think it might be.
It's not all nicely polished, but its clean inside, and that's what matters. I'll look into a rebuild kit later and redo the whole carb.
Now it was finally time to pour in 3 litres of Penrite's finest HPR30 mineral 20W60. This stuff is gold for old cars. Total capacity is 3.4L including filter.
With the level checked, and between the marks, I moved onto the cooling system. I knew there was water in the expansion tank but appeared to be nothing in the radiator. I sucked out the old rusty water from the tank and cut the old hose off. I fit some of my spare rubbish J30 R9 hose from the radiator to overflow (all that hose is good for since its no good for 40+ PSI EFI).
I removed the bottle and gave it a damn good cleaning with the garden hose. Lots of chunks came out, but the lower outlet was completely blocked. It took me shoving a screwdriver through the outlet to clear it.
Now that I had free flow between the radiator and expansion tank, all that was left to do was fill the system and see where it all comes out again. One of my recent tool purchases came in handy for this. I've been wanting a coolant funnel for ages, but they're usually so expensive, but I scored this off Trademe for cheap, near new. It increases the head height of the coolant, making it easier to bleed, and has a tap to stop me making a mess when the funnel is still half full but the system is full.
Almost immediately there was a leak as soon as the level reached the top radiator hose. This isn't an original hose; someone has cut and shut it with a steel pipe in the middle. It should be one big S-shaped hose. I turned the pipe over which revealed why it was leaking.
Mmm, crusty. It was damp down one end.
I decided to try the other recent tool purchase, a radiator pressure testing kit. Its second hand and a bit rugged, but it still works. This highlighted quite clearly where the pipe had rusted through
The rest of the system handled 15psi happily, once I applied duct tape to the pipe. Even the radiator, despite having a bunch of missing fins and generally looking haggard, held pressure fine. I need to work out a way to pressure test the heater core too, since it's been bypassed and removed, but that may just involve hooking it back up to the car cooling system and pressurising it all again.
With all that work done, there was nothing left to do but see if the engine actually turns over. I refitted the damaged/old leads just in case it wanted to fire. I have replacements on the way though.
I borrowed the battery from the TVR
Turned the key and got dash lights!
The indicators also kinda worked, although they are flashing super spastically, probably due to the missing/blown bulbs in the rear and not being used for 25 years. No horn or headlights though.
Next, I turned the key further, and sure enough, the engine reluctantly turned over. It was kinda like an old man (me) getting out of bed in the morning. Very slow and kinda "eh, do I have to?". Adding a jump pack made it turn a little faster but it quickly ran out of juice and even then "faster" was still slow.
https://youtu.be/RzVUKr1e0-I
I need to get the car its own battery, but I'm also wondering about the engine grounds now as that is apparently a common reason for stty slow cranking. I'll try again and see if we can get it fired up this weekend.
To celebrate its uh, not starting, I gave the car its face back. The center painted section still needs to be repainted and fitted, but otherwise, the difference with just the grille surround is quite large. Makes the car look proper. It'll come off again to see why the headlights don't work and to fix some minor rust in the panel, but it can hang there for now.
Damn, I've just noticed the bumper is on the piss too. Guess thats something else to fix.
The first task on the list for today was to remove what was left of the interior and give it a vacuum out. I had to wait for the muck to dry first, and now that it was nice and dry I donned my gloves and mask and went to work.
The boot got completely stripped. The carpet was old house carpet and was rotting. Thankfully the metal under it is in good shape.
Cleaning the boot also showed where the rust is. The worst rust in the rear guard is where this little strip (to support the spare wheel?) is attached. It's basically rusted along that seam.
The other side is solid.
With all the seats removed the whole interior got a good vacuum. So much grot. Cleaning the floors shows the repair panels that have been riveted in and then sealed around.
There are about four patches on the passengers side alone, including one against the inner sill, which will need some work where it joins to the floor.
It's all pretty straight forward stuff to fix from what I can see. I'll need to work out how to press some strengthening ribs into the new panels, but I have a press and a welder, so I'll make something.
The RH side was no better, so that got a good clean too. I did find a lot of screws under the driver's seat, but no surprises under the paving slabs.
The rear wasn't missed. There was quite a bit of old mouse poo here too.
With most of my chances of catching Hantavirus sorted I got the car up on axle stands, which is where it will live for a while.
This gave me my first real look at the underside. The good news is that its extensively undersealed, which seems to have saved it from too much underside rust. The bad news is that its cobweb city.
Oh, and the rust that does exist. Like the LH half of the rear valance.
The RH side is almost perfect
The big Borg Warner diff. Need to source a LH bump stop, and probably shocks.
The exhaust has seen better days. Will patch it to get through the WOF and then look at the condition of the rest of the system and whether to just replace from the muffler back, or replace the whole thing.
One annoying thing is the driveshaft center bearing has collapsed, so I'll need to drop the shaft and replace that. Will also assess the Ujs and see if they need doing too.
Removing the driveshaft will give me the chance to replace the clearly leaking rear seal on the gearbox too
It's OK, the tyres are only flat on the bottom.
Cob webs. Everywhere. I took a broom to them, and they resisted my attacks.
Moving forward, we see the ancient Ryco Z83B filter. I ordered a replacement and picked up it this morning. There is a high probability this filter is from the 90s.
I think the moisture on the bellhousing is gearbox oil leaking forward from sitting. Its that, or the rear main is leaking, but since the car hasnt been driven anywhere it would be hard for the oil from the rear main to spread like that instead of just leaking straight down. It's amusing how HUGE the bellhousing is, and how small the gearbox is.
Around the front and I'm greeted by this thing. I worked out from the owners manual that its a "Hinged Kerb Guard". Well, it was seized solid in the sticky outty position.
It made a lot more sense once I freed it up and folded it back where it should be. I suspect it got caught at one point, maybe moving the car off a trailer or something, and overextended forward.
What it does, is protect the sump, which hangs way down under the car. This is a tall engine.
This is directly behind the guard. Yes, that hose in the front is the fuel hose from the pump...
Once freed up and folded back it looks like this. It has pins on either side that stop it from going further back.
I'm not sure why they bothered to "hinge" it. The "hinge" is just that it can rotate on the two bolts that attach it. If it was to make servicing easier, it would've been just as easy to make it fixed in place and removable. I'll just tighten the bolts in the furthest back position.
Next, I drained the engine oil and removed the old filter. The old oil stank and was the darkest black oil I have never seen. It was like draining treacle.
While waiting for it to slowly drain, I removed all the old spark plugs. The 4th plug was damaged at some point and the top was stuck in the (also damaged) ignition lead.
Luckily the OE Champion plugs cross over with NGK BP6ES, which oh hey, I happened to have on the shelf. I gapped them down the specified 0.6mm gap, but before fitting I used my awesome Castrol oil can to put a little oil into the cylinders to help the dry cylinder walls out a bit.
And now the new plugs went in
The oil was still draining, so I fit the replacement filter in the meantime. Because the engine hasn't run for about 10 years, I prefilled the filter before spinning it on. I don't normally, but this made sense to me.
Next was to replace the old fuel hoses from the carb back to the tank. The hose that had been put on the car from the pump to filter was... odd. I don't even know if it was fuel hose. Looked like a small garden hose, and was "food quality".
I replaced all the hose with 1/4" ID Gates and Codan hoses (depending on what was on hand at the time). All R6 rated, so not rated for EFI or Ethanol, but not an issue for me as its carb and I won't be running E10 in it.
When I did the Mini fuel system I got a filter at the time but didn't have the space to fit it. I've had that filter on the shelf since, so its good to finally put it to use.
As per the above photo, I took the top off the fuel bowl to see what was in there. There was a little bit of old perished fuel in the bottom but otherwise looked OK. This was cleaned out with a rag and brake cleaner.
I removed the dashpot and piston to clean. The inside of the carb was filthy, so that got a good clean. The old oil was drained and new 20W60 poured in on refitting. I may play with this dashpot oil if it's too thick, which I think it might be.
It's not all nicely polished, but its clean inside, and that's what matters. I'll look into a rebuild kit later and redo the whole carb.
Now it was finally time to pour in 3 litres of Penrite's finest HPR30 mineral 20W60. This stuff is gold for old cars. Total capacity is 3.4L including filter.
With the level checked, and between the marks, I moved onto the cooling system. I knew there was water in the expansion tank but appeared to be nothing in the radiator. I sucked out the old rusty water from the tank and cut the old hose off. I fit some of my spare rubbish J30 R9 hose from the radiator to overflow (all that hose is good for since its no good for 40+ PSI EFI).
I removed the bottle and gave it a damn good cleaning with the garden hose. Lots of chunks came out, but the lower outlet was completely blocked. It took me shoving a screwdriver through the outlet to clear it.
Now that I had free flow between the radiator and expansion tank, all that was left to do was fill the system and see where it all comes out again. One of my recent tool purchases came in handy for this. I've been wanting a coolant funnel for ages, but they're usually so expensive, but I scored this off Trademe for cheap, near new. It increases the head height of the coolant, making it easier to bleed, and has a tap to stop me making a mess when the funnel is still half full but the system is full.
Almost immediately there was a leak as soon as the level reached the top radiator hose. This isn't an original hose; someone has cut and shut it with a steel pipe in the middle. It should be one big S-shaped hose. I turned the pipe over which revealed why it was leaking.
Mmm, crusty. It was damp down one end.
I decided to try the other recent tool purchase, a radiator pressure testing kit. Its second hand and a bit rugged, but it still works. This highlighted quite clearly where the pipe had rusted through
The rest of the system handled 15psi happily, once I applied duct tape to the pipe. Even the radiator, despite having a bunch of missing fins and generally looking haggard, held pressure fine. I need to work out a way to pressure test the heater core too, since it's been bypassed and removed, but that may just involve hooking it back up to the car cooling system and pressurising it all again.
With all that work done, there was nothing left to do but see if the engine actually turns over. I refitted the damaged/old leads just in case it wanted to fire. I have replacements on the way though.
I borrowed the battery from the TVR
Turned the key and got dash lights!
The indicators also kinda worked, although they are flashing super spastically, probably due to the missing/blown bulbs in the rear and not being used for 25 years. No horn or headlights though.
Next, I turned the key further, and sure enough, the engine reluctantly turned over. It was kinda like an old man (me) getting out of bed in the morning. Very slow and kinda "eh, do I have to?". Adding a jump pack made it turn a little faster but it quickly ran out of juice and even then "faster" was still slow.
https://youtu.be/RzVUKr1e0-I
I need to get the car its own battery, but I'm also wondering about the engine grounds now as that is apparently a common reason for s
tty slow cranking. I'll try again and see if we can get it fired up this weekend.To celebrate its uh, not starting, I gave the car its face back. The center painted section still needs to be repainted and fitted, but otherwise, the difference with just the grille surround is quite large. Makes the car look proper. It'll come off again to see why the headlights don't work and to fix some minor rust in the panel, but it can hang there for now.
Damn, I've just noticed the bumper is on the piss too. Guess thats something else to fix.
You are very brave. I recall I had one of those (Coupe 1.8) from about 1986 -1988. Mechanicals were reliable (except for the gearbox), but rust was setting in. It was a miracle that the boot would still close, as the gutter holding the rubber seal was almost rusted right through! As for the gearbox, there was a C-clip on one of the shafts which was unobtainable. This clip would occasionally slip out of position, and (as I couldn't get a new one) I'd re-shape it and relocate it. A few months after, it would do the same. I could get the 'box off, 'fix' it and refit it in, all in 40 minutes.
Brave man there....!!
If it were mine.... I would source an MGB engine ( 1.8 IIRC) with the Twin Carbs ( I think that was the same BL engine they put in your Marina ?) just to give it a bit more grunt. I had a nice MGBGT ( 1973 in Harvest Gold) with Sundym tinted glass/HRW etc etc, and that engine sounded really nice with a stainless exhaust. Not a huge amount of BHP but I am sure it would enhance your car....!!
But then the TC Marina had disc brakes as well IIRC and a vinyl roof ....
If it were mine.... I would source an MGB engine ( 1.8 IIRC) with the Twin Carbs ( I think that was the same BL engine they put in your Marina ?) just to give it a bit more grunt. I had a nice MGBGT ( 1973 in Harvest Gold) with Sundym tinted glass/HRW etc etc, and that engine sounded really nice with a stainless exhaust. Not a huge amount of BHP but I am sure it would enhance your car....!!
But then the TC Marina had disc brakes as well IIRC and a vinyl roof ....
What more is there to say? It's not even the weekend yet and already the achievement is unlocked.
I popped down to the garage this morning not so much to work on the car, but to test the theory that adding a ground to the starter might help. It didn't, but having the battery in the car again also allowed me to check clearance for the battery and order the Marina its own one. NS60SMF, the same as the TVR but with the terminals swapped.
After cranking a few times the poor jump pack just couldn't keep up, so I resorted to hooking the Corolla up with jump leads and giving it a boost.
This did help it crank a bit faster, but it didn't matter, it still wouldn't kick into life.
I had the genius idea of checking the points in the distributor using a method I saw on Youtube at one point. Turn the ignition to ON, and then use a screwdriver to open and close the points. If they spark, it's good. If they don't, no good. Mine didn't spark.
A small file was used to clean both sides of the points and sure enough, now I had a big healthy spark between the points. That might do it.
The very first time I cranked it after cleaning the points, this happened.
It coughed. It didn't start, but it coughed. You can tell because the start disengaged (as it does when these old engines cough or start). It was close.
Some more Start Ya bd down its throat, and magic happened. It started.
Off the road for 25 years, last started about 10 years ago. After a few more coughs and splutters, it finally started and ran. Not very well, but it idled. The throttle is zip-tied half open and the choke was wide open. I think it was running off fresh fuel as there is fuel in the float bowl now, so the fuel pump is working (despite the fuel filter looking empty). I drained the tank yesterday of its 8L or so of super old varnish smelling dinosaur juice and topped up with some fresh new 98 octane.
It blew a whole bunch of junk out of the exhaust when it started. Big chunks of rust.
I'm happy with that. It needs new leads, and probably a whole carb rebuild, but I know it runs and the oil pressure light even went out. It's a win.
I popped down to the garage this morning not so much to work on the car, but to test the theory that adding a ground to the starter might help. It didn't, but having the battery in the car again also allowed me to check clearance for the battery and order the Marina its own one. NS60SMF, the same as the TVR but with the terminals swapped.
After cranking a few times the poor jump pack just couldn't keep up, so I resorted to hooking the Corolla up with jump leads and giving it a boost.
This did help it crank a bit faster, but it didn't matter, it still wouldn't kick into life.
I had the genius idea of checking the points in the distributor using a method I saw on Youtube at one point. Turn the ignition to ON, and then use a screwdriver to open and close the points. If they spark, it's good. If they don't, no good. Mine didn't spark.
A small file was used to clean both sides of the points and sure enough, now I had a big healthy spark between the points. That might do it.
The very first time I cranked it after cleaning the points, this happened.
It coughed. It didn't start, but it coughed. You can tell because the start disengaged (as it does when these old engines cough or start). It was close.
Some more Start Ya b
d down its throat, and magic happened. It started.Off the road for 25 years, last started about 10 years ago. After a few more coughs and splutters, it finally started and ran. Not very well, but it idled. The throttle is zip-tied half open and the choke was wide open. I think it was running off fresh fuel as there is fuel in the float bowl now, so the fuel pump is working (despite the fuel filter looking empty). I drained the tank yesterday of its 8L or so of super old varnish smelling dinosaur juice and topped up with some fresh new 98 octane.
It blew a whole bunch of junk out of the exhaust when it started. Big chunks of rust.
I'm happy with that. It needs new leads, and probably a whole carb rebuild, but I know it runs and the oil pressure light even went out. It's a win.
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