locost_bryan
-
Posts
20129 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
65
Posts posted by locost_bryan
-
-
I guess it's the modern day "ugly duckling" just like the 2cv so who knows, I reckon some jokers will find them collectible and even cool some day even though they're disgusting.
The Multipla should be a classic, even if only for it's clever packaging and for FIAT having the balls
to build something with "distinctive" styling, instead of another bland Toyota Enema clone . -
I've seen them around before. Cant remember if it was NZ though.
Saw a couple in Auckland last week.
-
For brake and diff options, go visit palmside.co.nz, and have a look at their rally stuff. Should give you some ideas how the factory did things.
-
sweet van, good colour and wheel choice
i must of owned its cousin, my first road car was an eskie van, my reg was kd8747. had 1 half window in the back on the lh side- wierd
My brother had one in yellow with blackouts on the bonnet. Nice wee van.
-
Looking good!
Any particular reason for going with 14" wheels?
-
I dont think jag and rover are the same jag 120ish rover 130ish pcd ? the style of wheel in the picture looks familiar , just not sure what
4.75" (120.65mm) Jaguar
5" (127mm) Rover
5" Chevy Blazer, van, 2wd pickup post-71
http://www.superformance.com.au/uploads/order%20forms/Wheel%20PCD%20Guide.pdf
-
1
-
-
Is the ID tag missing from the diff?
Only way to be sure is to take the back cover off, measure the diameter of the crownwheel, count the number of teeth, and count the number of splines on the halfshafts.
-
1
-
-
maybe we're looking at this the wrong way? what old cars are not considered classics? Marina's? Sunbirds? VW Type 4's, etc? and why not?
Despite what JC and the TG gang say, cars don't have to be "cool" to be classic, or even good, for that matter. Was the Edsel really worse than the alternatives from the Big 3? I'm the first to admit my Marina is probably a "classic" for all the wrong reasons - BL at it's nadir with bad management and militant unions. But some other desirable classics weren't much better - check out this 1971 CAR magazine Capri 1600/Marina TC comparison http://www.flickriver.com/photos/triggerscarstuff/sets/72157645111184335/ or this 1971 MOTOR magazine Capri/Firenza/Manta/Celica/Marina test http://www.flickriver.com/photos/triggerscarstuff/sets/72157627348634962/
Lots of other cool test reports from the '60s thought '80s here http://www.flickriver.com/photos/triggerscarstuff/sets/
-
V8 Falcon should have a 28-spline 4-pinion BW78. According to this chart 4.11 VK/VL Commodore was 25-spline 2-pinion BW75 (VL Turbo and V8 got BW78).
http://www.difflappingqld.com.au/uploads/web/gear-diff-ratios.pdf
-
1
-
-
The BW model number is the diameter of the crownwheel in (tenths of) inches - 68 = 6.8", 75 = 7.5", 78 = 7.8"
2.77:1 some Falcons (possibly Fairlanes), I have heard that these may require a different housing
2.92:1 also Ford stuff
3.08:1 standard on VN-VS V6 and V8
3.23:1 VK 1/2 injected six
3.45:1 VL
3.7:1 R31 Skyline manual
3.89:1 R31 Skyline auto - dodgy according to most people, noisy and possibly failure prone
3.91:1 R31 Skyline auto supersedes above
4.11:1 R31 Pintara -
I expect this question has probably been answered on one the previous 148 pages (but I didn't find it)...
How wide can I go with wheels and tyres before having to get certed? I read the LVVTA fact sheet, which I interpreted as any width that fits under the guards without rubbing on the body or suspension, as long as the track doesn't increase by more than 25mm.
If I've done my calculations right, replacing my skinny 4.5" ET13 wheels with 7" ET0 wheels increases the track by 26mm...
-
Rover have never made a road vehicle with more than six wires in it that has ever appreciated in value
US Land Rover Defender 90/110 93-97 has appreciated (not sure of wire count, though
)Rover 3500 Vitesse
http://classics.honestjohn.co.uk/reviews/rover/sd1/
Without doubt, it is a future classic, and although the V8s and Vitesse models are the favoured versions right now, all SD1s will follow in time. Definitely a “useable classic”, but one worth ferreting away for the future.
-
In all honesty I can't imagine anything fwd becoming valuable classic.
The flying brick was probably the first valuable fwd classic - a genuine Mini Cooper S will set you back a pretty penny.
-
4
-
-
Pics of detasmo pantera thing please
-
Spotted this Alfa Spider while out and about today. The wheels don't do it for me at all, look like early 90's Ferrari replicas.
That style of wheel (without the rim bolts) were standard on Ferraris from the '70s on. Remember seeing them on Daytonas and Magnum's 308.
The Globe Bathurst mags fitted to Falcon GTHOs were an Aussie knockoff.
-
That tacho looks like the one I had in my Mini in the early '80s. Definitely period for the 1300.
-
2
-
-
Here's what needs doing to the interior. The seats and door cards need a little work, as would be expected after 40 years in our sunlight.
The vinyl on the door cards has got stained, and the clear plastic coating on the "chrome" trim is peeling off. Have to decide whether to stay with the original "parchment" beige trim, or change it to black to better match the yellow paint. Also have to decide whether to stick with vinyl on the seats, or upgrade to cloth. Vinyl was standard in '72, but the "posh" models were upgraded to cloth from '73. Have an image from the brochure that shows the later cloth seats, should be able to get something to match the pattern/texture. Will then get a set of moulded carpets from the Auckland crowd who advertise on TradeMe, in a colour to suit the seats.
The steering wheel needs replacing, as the spokes are separating from the wooden rim. I have a good Nardi wooden wheel, but with the "wrong" spoke style and no boss kit. A three spoke leather wheel was an option, so a 15" Motolita or Mountney should be ok.
Unfortunately the headlining has been ripped where it is perforated over one of the air outlets on the "C" pillar. Will have to see what the auto-upholsterers can do about that.
-
4
-
-
Always liked the Niva, looks great with those stripes
. Nice clean styling, without the mini-Jeep look of the Samurai (not that there's anything wrong with them ).The FIAT Twincam was certainly a long-lived unit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Twin_Cam_engine - wonder how many were made over those 30+ years?
-
I have a soft spot for the Marina, we had one as a family car from 1980 until 2001. It was an Aussie assembled 6, and went like the clappers.
The 6 was seriously under-rated, lighter than a Torana, accellerated and stopped better. A mate raced one at Ruapuna, went pretty good as a club car. iirc OSCA champion John Osborne had an auto one after he broke his legs at Pukekohe.
Would love one myself - met a guy in Huntly a few years back who claimed he had a 6 Coupe in a shed in Auckland (Mt Albert iirc). Wish I'd bought it.
-
1
-
-
-
And after he came back from the panelbeaters...
-
6
-
-
Ozzy as he was :-
At the panelbeaters (anyone recognise the place?)
-
4
-
-
- Popular Post
- Popular Post
Discussion thread : //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/45304-locost-bryans-1972-morris-marina-tc-coupe/?p=1395483
Back in my "youth", I was an avid reader of UK magazine Cars and Car Conversions. One of their stories was to make a club rally car from the humble Morris Marina Coupe, as an antidote to the ubiquitous Ford Escort. They ran a series of articles documenting the build, using parts British Leyland's Special Tuning outfit had homologated for a class win on the 1971 RAC rally - 8-port Cooper S engine, LSD, turret kit, fibreglass body panels, minilite wheels, etc.
I did briefly own a Marina Coupe, a basic Super model, not the sporty TC, which did a few car club outings (Canterbury Car Club 1600-200cc motokhana champ one year), but it never got the minilites wheels or any performance mods. Priorities changed, and it got replaced with a Falcon ute...
Anyway, 30 years later and the obligatory "mid-life crisis" had me yearning for my lost youth, and a desire to own something that I lusted after in my younger years. Sadly, a Falcon Coupe or Charger E49 was too expensive for my budget...
But a Marina Coupe was in the right price range, if only I could find one... Being a bit unloved, there aren't too many left. A bit of waiting and finally the start aligned...
Here begins Ozzy's story...
Firstly, why Ozzy? Well, nothing is ever simple when it comes to British Leyland.
When the Marina was first conceived in 1968, the newly merged BL needed a Mk2 Cortina contender, and a reskinned and stretched Minor seemed the simple route. Er, not quite. Turns out the tooling was stuffed and spare space at the factory had been "borrowed" for other uses. Management had a sort through the BL parts bin, and found some useful Triumph parts to use - the diff and gearbox from the Herald. Initially choice for engine was the OHC Maxi, but the product planners decided the Maxi was going to use all the production (it never came close), so the venerable 1275 A-series and 1800 B-series got roped in. Ideal for a cheap as chips repmobile.
So in 1971 the British public got the Marina, in a huge range of trim and body styles, and bought enough to keep it in the Top 5 sellers for most of the decade.
At the same time, Leyland Australia were developing the P76 big saloon, and had the X6 Tasman & Kimberley, and the 1500 & Nomad variants of the Austin 1300. The fwd cars weren't selling well, and had high warranty claims, but a simple rwd car seemed just the ticket to increase market share and profits. But they couldn't just import the Marina from England, due to import tariffs, so they had to fettle it for Australia. First problem was they didn't have the B-series engine, as their tooling had worn out, and they'd geared up for the OHC Maxi E-series engine and it's 6-cylinder cousin. Simple solution, do what the Poms had originally planned, and fit the 1500 and 1750 OHC engines. Job done, and 20-50kg lighter to boot.
Interiors got a makeover, with locally made high-back seats and door trims. The rear axle was sourced from Borg Warner, the same Model 68 as fitted to the local Cortina, Escort, Corolla and Datsun 1200. The bonus for customising was that it used the Ford 4&1/2" (108mm)stud pattern, instead of the UK Marina's unusual Triumph 3&3/4" (95mm) PCD.So having shipped a crate of body panels halfway round the world and bolted in a truckload of Australian bits, on to Auckland came Ozzy...
When I bought him, a previous owner had had the rust repaired by a panelbeater, and he had been repainted in the original "Bold as Brass" yellow. The interior was still in it's worn state, dirty and water stained. The guy I bought him from had tracked down a number of new or good condition trim items, such as lights and dash. The original twin carb motor had been replaced with a single carb version, but the TC motor came with the car - will get that rebuilt, polish up the carbs and get some new Ramflow filters (the original ones are looking a bit tatty).
-
10
-
Wicked.
When I was a kid in the early '70s, my cousin had a V8 powered flatbed Transit, and scared the crap out of me going sideways up Don Buck Dr in Massey in the wet.
Have a soft spot for custom vans, having been a teen when "Chevy Van" was on the charts.
to build something with "distinctive" styling, instead of another bland Toyota Enema clone 
.
)
. Nice clean styling, without the mini-Jeep look of the Samurai (not that there's anything wrong with them 
).
Future Classics
in General Car Chat
Posted
Worked with a lass who's dad ran the Toyota factory in Chch. iirc body panels weren't properly prepped and got painted with traces of the Jap CKD "protector oil" still on them.
Stopped the paint bonding, but didn't stop the metal rusting. 