www.fastmarinamagazine.com

WOW! I really thought this was another car that had disappeared forever. Made certain bits of me moist in the day and still does (to an extent).

Wow 8) I NEED that car 8)

Fantastic that this car survives, what a cracker
We just need to find out if Russ still exists now!

Guys,

Many years have passed since I had the brain wave to carry out the conversion (and I no longer have long curly hair, honest it wasn't a perm). What you see is the second conversion.

The first modification I made was a conversion of the car with a 2.0 Litre B Series engine. The engine block was supplied by a company called Minisport (I think somewhere up north) and the head ported etc by another company in London I cannot remember. The engine run on a side draught Weber 45.
At the time the gearbox was a standard 4 speed marina, the prop and rear axle were standard. After blowing a the differential, if my memory serves me right, I swapped it to one from a TR7. That meant the gear ratio was very low and I could manage 60mph in first gear.
The power didn’t really come through until about 3500rpm given the engine set up, but it did go once up in the revs.
The car was at the time sprayed Guards Red with white Revolution 4 spoke wheels (I do have pictures but not in an electronic format).
I still have most of those engine components if anyone is interested? They are just sitting in my garage...

After some time of running the car as described above I decided the set-up was not ‘refined’ enough. I researched the options extensively and concluded that an O Series Turbo engine (rebuilt) was the way to go. The engine mounts obviously aligned and I knew that the O Series mated with the Rover SDi gearbox. There was much messing with the engine bay to fit everything in including the plenum chamber, intercooler etc. the engine uses the standard Montego Turbo engine management system but without the Fuel Management system. The high pressure fuel pump etc remain standard from the Montego.
The SDi gearbox could obviously take the power. The prop shaft was custom made to mate to a TR7 5 Speed rear axle. I understand that to be a shortened version of the Rover SDi axle. That still uses brake drums but large enough to do the job.
The front suspension was converted to telescopic shocks (SPAX). The wheels were custom made by revolution in order to facilitate the different front/rear axle widths and to accommodate the 4 pot front callipers. The braking system is a dual system.
The bodywork and chassis had obviously suffered through the years. Much of this was replaced either by new panels or by a MkII donor car (hence the doors). I removed all the exterior interruptions such as bumpers and door handle to try and achieve the ‘Cal’ look. The remote operation of both passenger and drivers door worked very well, simply relying on the door seal rubber energy to spring the doors open. I even built a remote engine stop facility. Quite something to pull up at a pub, exit leaving the engine running and then turn it off as you enter the pub! Believe it or not I sprayed the car myself; I repaired cars as a bit of a side-line. The paint is a 2-pack British Racing Green. It has most certainly survived the test of time given the quality of the paint used.
The interior received as much attention, Keyless start via a control panel. All interior panels are leather, as are the seats (driver’s seat being electric). The pedal box etc is from a MKII and therefore has a ‘softer’ feel.

I guess I have forgotten more than I remember. The whole project was a headache but one I was, and still am proud off. This I guess is the reason it remains in my garage. Despite the requests to ‘dump the thing’ from my wife, it still remains. Perhaps one day her words will become true “Are you going to be buried in that thing?”.

Unfortunately my energy and inclination for messing around with cars has been dwindling over time. Having owned 911’s and now having a classic Ferrari that never gets used, the oldest car in my collection does not get the attention it deserves.....

The car certainly brought me a lot of fun and embarrassed quite a few Ford boys in its time. Granted it does not corner as well as a car might, and you have to be careful on the take-off given the axle tramp and chassis twist. Even with these draw backs, I can assure all it goes like stink (have hit 130mph) and stops nearly as good. The sound is something else when the turbo dumps and splutters on over boost.

I will keep my eye on any comments, questions, or even suggestions. I may be slow replying given all those mundane commitments but I will respond.

Finally the positive comments are very much appreciated, thank you.

Paul

I think the car is great and hope to see it some day, please don't ever dump it!
I am sure someone else on here could get it running and use it again some day if you can ever part with it

Great to see the car has has history and evolved through modification! I have sent you a pm ref the engine. If you could pm me some more details on the old engine etc you have that is going spare,it could be just what im looking for... 8)

Thanks for filling us in with the technical details and some of the history. It's absolutely ace 8)

All,

OK the time has come where XHK875L has to leave my garage because of the inevitable space issue.

I am slightly undecided as to how to go about this and hence I thought a post on here would be a best first step. The car has not been on the road for a very long time and has not be started for a number of years (I would say about 6 years). It will therefore require a level of work to get it back on the road and will have to be collected by trailer.

My thoughts were to put the car on Ebay and see what happens. I am obviously looking to sell the car rather than give it away but at the same time I am not going to be greedy, it is worth what it is worth. That said, I feel you guys have the right to know it will be on the market given the response this post had.

If anyone has any thoughts, or if anyone is interested please contact me.

All the best,

Paul

Paul.
Thank you on behalf of all Marina owners.
I am in New Zealand and shall thus play no part in what now takes place - but I just wanted to say that you achieved all that I wanted to - plus.
I seem to have spent much of my life modifying the vehicles that nobody else wanted.
I spent many years continually modifying a 1952 A40 Devon - and it was a car that put so many other more modern models to shame.



It seems now rather fitting that the next car I took great interest in was a Marina.
It appeared to enjoy a similar status - but I thought it looked great and figured I could play a similar game with it.
So I did.
For 16 years I used this car almost every day.
It cemented my belief that the Morris Marina was pretty much all the car I needed.



Thanks for playing the same game..

There are some people that get as much pleasure, if not more, with their heads under the bonnet than behind the wheel. It is those people that keep the classics going.....they deserve a lot of respect whatever the marque.

The Marina to me was always a way of proving that the underdog can have it's day. There was a sense of satisfaction as you pulled away from a 'cool' guy in an Escort with your fat friend waving at him from a Marina's back window..... Then the turbo dumps as you come off the accelerator and everyone looks round for the rally car.....Hmmm no...just a humble Marina.....

Don't follow...lead.....

I'll just leave this here:

https://youtu.be/AsaVAkcixSI

beniboyz wrote:I'll just leave this here:

https://youtu.be/AsaVAkcixSI

Does it only run for 3 seconds?

Can’t wait to see it at the nationals this year.

Battery died on the phone ;-)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

balmy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 13, 2018 12:42 pm

beniboyz wrote:I'll just leave this here:

https://youtu.be/AsaVAkcixSI

Does it only run for 3 seconds?

Can’t wait to see it at the nationals this year.

That's 3 seconds more than it did! Baby steps...

Next time I will do it with the roll control turned on...