kilroy

Yo. Cool. That's what I would have said when I got my first one. I had a kinda warm fuzzy for the superlites then - so I grabbed a set of 13x7 drilled to suit the Marina squitty stud pattern. Don't bother nicking them for the Escort - they don't fit... Unfortunately, that didn't stop some pervert from doing just that. These cars have also been lowered by 2" - which says something about just how tall they were standard.. Anyway - that and the trend on RetroRides prompted me to go to widened steels.. .. but you can't beat the 'flash' that the superlites add.. Some colour schemes seem to suit them better than others.. But getting them closer to the deck is the trick.. Chiz.

Bing.! Jeez - Marinas eh.? Still got a few.. lol. Joe. Your car most certainly was a 262 originally. I know someone with a rebuilt 262 motor who might be persuaded to sell it... Current power is B series 1800 as mentioned by many - so its a bigger cousin of the A series - but does not share bits. I imagine your starter motor probably only needs brushes, and they should be readily available. Best source of carbs/manifolds would be from another Marina - the 1.8HL. Its a Mk2 with MGB carbs, manifolds, exhausts and camshaft. Only thing it didn't get was the crankshaft - but doesn't need it. There was one for sale on Trademe that would have donated all the bits. Had some body damage, and the guy was holdin out for too much. Keep your eyes open for something similar. Lots of go-faster bits available for MGBs. As your Marina is an Australian body, I'm not sure that it has provision for fitting the swaybar - although the aftermarket clamp-on types can be used. These things tend to understeer badly, so stiffening the suspension will help. To my knowledge, no Oz Marinas had the B series engine, so you probably have both engine and gearbox from a UK model. The gearbox is actually a Triumph unit, so that is another source of parts. Good luck with it, and PM me if I can help. Cheers all. Kilroy

They all torsion bar - but while cars are 19mm, the estates/vans/utes are 21mm. Don't be fooled by their appearance - they are strong as, and soooo easy to lower. In fact - the shock absorbers have trouble reining them in, so the addition of some outboard telescopics is apparently the go to curb their enthusiasm for pogo-like behaviour. Havn't bothered myself - the swaybars help to even things out - and so they should - nearly 1" thick... Cheap thrills...

Should be, yep. Most have the mounting points for the spots and the chin spoilers already drilled - but the grille has some cunning folds to house the spots - so its not easy to convert - easier to swap. Your utes probably have mounting points for swaybars too.

Nah - the spots are standard on the Mk3's. These are all between '79 and '81, and are UK models. There are vans and utes in Mk3 version too. Much of the trim is interchangeable - but with the earlier models, the indicators are not fitted in the bumpers - but are separate fittings.

Hey - thx for the offer Matt. Yep - got quite a few spares on hand, and I could probably buy a car locally to wreck cheaper than I could freight a major bit from the far north. Having said that - I'm always on the lookout for any Mk3's - they are recognisable by their plastic corners on the bumpers. Also, they often tote large areas of grummage... Cheers, Kilroy

TDS No worries Boe. I thought Marinas were a total joke when I got my first one. Swapped it for a used washing machine. Couldn't believe how badly it handled - but it still had a certain something... I refined the 'something'. I found that the Mk3 had a lot of improvements in the suspension dept - and you'll note that all your articles refer to the Australian models - built for rough roads and even rougher drivers... Hey - I thought they were naff-mobiles, and I only ever intended to own one of them... Strange how things can change. Now I take a perverse pleasure in blowing off much smarter motors who thought much the same as I did. Love this stuff. Mind you - I did start by doing this... probably before most of you guys had graduated from a pedal-car... http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~kilroy/Act1.htm Might explain a bit... Chiz all, Kil

Dang..! Just discovered this thread. Wondered why there were no replies in the projects thread.. doh..! So - sorry for the late response Dudes. All the Marinas I have are UK Mk3 models, so they were originally fitted with an O series 1700 sohc, except the vans which still have the old 1275 A series - like an inline mini. I did have some earlier models which were wrecked, and some of those had a twin carb version of the 1800 B series - like MGB. The blue estate - my everyday work hauler - has one of those bored to 1905 using Mk3 Zephyr pistons, and mated to a BW65 auto. Built it 12 years ago, has now done 320,000k and not dead. Yay for synthetic oil..! Gettin a bit ratty now, but I use it for everything.. No - I don't have all of them yet , but figured if I got enough with sound bodywork (sorta..), then I could keep them goin for another 12 years hahaha. My family are using them too now. Seemed too good to be true back when people were giving them to me for nothing - and I got to thinking - hey - only 1 set of spares needed...? I think the superlites suit them best - I'd really like some wide steels, but doubt that anyone bands them nowadays - can't be havin too much fun now, can we..? Got one set of hotwires, but they only 6" and don't have enough offset to fill the guards properly. These things have a tiny stud pattern, so are weird to most other cars. Except Triumph Heralds I think.. .. and they weird too. Most have been dropped 2" both ends, and have a monster swaybar up front, and a rear one on the cars - estates and vans have heavier rear springs. Front shocks beefed up - havn't done any other suspension mods yet - just carefully rebuild them. Handling pretty good considering they were never expected to... Biggest improvement in handling is defo the wheels - the 13x7 supers widen the track by 3"..! Ground clearance is a bit of a prob - ripped the sump outa the auto up a backroad on the Coast a year or so back - that was fun... Still messin with engine improvements, but ya gotta spend real money to get far, and the whole idea of these cars was not to spend money.. Cheers

Saw this on Trademe. Said it had only done 65000k. Wanted $1500. I emailed an offer of $900. They accepted. Dang..! Drove it home. It came with extras. This... Stripped bits off and engaged tame panel-type Dude. He did skill stuff and it came back good like anything. Its foe Red. She my Baby. Bunged a kewl steering thing on it for 'er. It wuz lookin quite straight really... So I slammed it a bit - and changed suspenders to heavier duty estate units - and fitted sum superlites.. Took it for a thrash - just to see what broke. I found out..! Auto. Dumped entire contents of fluid under car. Won't rust in a hurry. Crap job pullin auto by itself - so dropped the lot. Found it had non-original motor, so that meant all previous bets were off. Bored a spare block and fitted Princess crank and pistons. This takes plot from 1700 to 2000. Used Princess cam becos' its a bit grumpier. That got it much happier, so we took it up the sharp end for a coupla weeks and put 5000k on it. Cost us 1 heater hose. And lotsa bourbon... So there ya go mates. Oh yeah. I got a couple of them... And a few others besides..