Mk2 1.8 HL Automatic update

**Topics directly related to Marinas and Itals**

Moderators: ClaytonSpeed, balmy

marina12
Posts: 2132
Joined: Sat Jun 09, 2012 1:36 pm

Re: Mk2 1.8 HL Automatic update

Post by marina12 » Wed Jun 20, 2018 7:54 pm

When I had a Marina in daily service I greased the front suspension trunnions every week; I don’t remember doing the top swivels so often. Once a year at the ‘annual service’ where much was dismantled, inspected, repaired/adjusted/ replaced against the next year of use I pumped grease through trunions and swivels until fresh grease came out- and with the steering on either lock as well. I do tend to over maintain stuff though.....nothing seized or wore out but I did get through some grease!

mickthefitter
Posts: 1457
Joined: Thu May 26, 2016 11:00 pm

Re: Mk2 1.8 HL Automatic update

Post by mickthefitter » Wed Jun 20, 2018 10:12 pm

I have tight access to my driveway.... ;)

david painter
Posts: 1704
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 3:52 pm

Re: Mk2 1.8 HL Automatic update

Post by david painter » Fri Jun 22, 2018 7:30 am

Mick there is a set of 13inc chrome trim rings on ebay listed for MG Midget I found them a while ago when deciding what to do on my MK3 Coupe just checked a set still listed item number 361290275036
Dave
mg trim rings.jpg

mickthefitter
Posts: 1457
Joined: Thu May 26, 2016 11:00 pm

Re: Mk2 1.8 HL Automatic update

Post by mickthefitter » Fri Jun 22, 2018 8:32 am

david painter wrote: Fri Jun 22, 2018 7:30 am Mick there is a set of 13inc chrome trim rings on ebay listed for MG Midget I found them a while ago when deciding what to do on my MK3 Coupe just checked a set still listed item number 361290275036
Dave mg trim rings.jpg
Yes thanks Dave, actually before I went to bed last night I was checking eBay on my phone and I think I put the same ones in my watch list. I also found some secondhand ones said to be from a Ford Fiesta, after Gareth said Mk2 Escort ones would fit (so I assumed these would be the same) but they might be a bit marked. I watched them but need to have a proper look at everything from my larger computer screen. Plenty of new plastic ones and even a few sets claimed to fit 1600Es, but I don't want plastic and 1600E ones look far too wide.

mickthefitter
Posts: 1457
Joined: Thu May 26, 2016 11:00 pm

Re: Mk2 1.8 HL Automatic update

Post by mickthefitter » Fri Jun 22, 2018 9:44 am

marina12 wrote: Wed Jun 20, 2018 7:54 pm When I had a Marina in daily service I greased the front suspension trunnions every week; I don’t remember doing the top swivels so often. Once a year at the ‘annual service’ where much was dismantled, inspected, repaired/adjusted/ replaced against the next year of use I pumped grease through trunions and swivels until fresh grease came out- and with the steering on either lock as well. I do tend to over maintain stuff though.....nothing seized or wore out but I did get through some grease!
Sorry I missed this post! Hmm...in the three and a half years I owned my white SDL in the 80s I thought I was doing the greasing at adequate intervals but I only had a puny hand pumped grease gun, the type you push on, and I think I got the car up on wheel ramps to do it. I did get grease come out of most joints but one was hard to pump. Ultimately I got an MoT fail on a seized trunnion. Kennings did the repair, but I think something like 18 months later I got a repeat of the problem. By this time the car was a bit old and going a bit rusty so I went for something else, and a workmate bought the Marina off me and apparently got the car through the MoT by stripping the trunnion, cleaning it up with emery cloth, re-assembling and re-greasing and it was fine! For a while now I've had a proper lever action grease gun that takes cartridges, but the Autobooks manual I got with the HL reckons you should pump grease in with the weight off the suspension, which I'll do before I put the wheels back on but haven't done yet. I'm not keen on stripping things down routinely though! ;) I didn't think I'd done that many miles in the HL since I bought it but I've done 800, not massive but more than I thought, and most must have been since last June as it was barely usable before! So it is due another re-greasing, definitely.

User avatar
Morris McKinnon
Posts: 2925
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2014 3:30 am
Location: South Wales

Re: Mk2 1.8 HL Automatic update

Post by Morris McKinnon » Fri Jun 22, 2018 9:54 am

If I remember, the Escort rings had those wide lips that almost touch the tire like in that pic, whereas the VW versions sat nice and flush to where the wheel weights clip on. Much neater but probably impossible to find now.

david painter
Posts: 1704
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 3:52 pm

Re: Mk2 1.8 HL Automatic update

Post by david painter » Fri Jun 22, 2018 11:11 am

Check on size of Fiesta ones some had 121 inch wheels from memory
Dave

marina12
Posts: 2132
Joined: Sat Jun 09, 2012 1:36 pm

Re: Mk2 1.8 HL Automatic update

Post by marina12 » Fri Jun 22, 2018 5:25 pm

Very early Fiesta (MK1) had small wheels.
Regarding weekly greasing I changed the trunnion greasing ends to 90 degree angled ones and set them to face forward. Looking back I should have put a cover on them to keep the dirt off and water out but it didn’t seem to cause any issues at the time- maybe because they were used every week. I think I must have done something similar to the swivel ones but they were less of a concern as all the wearing parts could be changed. That meant I could reach the trunnion points from under the front of the car without jacking with a standard grease gun and feed them fresh grease. Had the “advantage” of working outside so fine in the summer, but less so in the rain or snow, when it was probably more necessary for a car out seven days a week. With the over maintence regime it was jacked up, wheels off and weight off for the annual greasing. Did go,through a lot of grease and a lot of it was then wiped on the chassis.

mickthefitter
Posts: 1457
Joined: Thu May 26, 2016 11:00 pm

Re: Mk2 1.8 HL Automatic update

Post by mickthefitter » Sat Jun 23, 2018 12:57 am

I've been out most of the day till well past midnight so not looked on my computer but yes, I did think the Fiesta trims might look a bit funny, though they are advertised as 13". If they are pitted or damaged when I look on a bigger screen I will rule them out immediately.

mickthefitter
Posts: 1457
Joined: Thu May 26, 2016 11:00 pm

Re: Mk2 1.8 HL Automatic update

Post by mickthefitter » Mon Jun 25, 2018 12:37 am

So if a Morris Marina is jacked up at the front, and the suspension hanging, is there a degree of resistance in the steering if you move it lock to lock? Because of the angles the suspension is hanging at? Or should you be able to twirl the steering wheel as if it wasn't connected to anything?

Earlier on I greased my front suspension while the wheels are still off (yes, still, even now) and had a go at pumping grease in all four grease points while the steering was ahead, and on left and right lock. I've got grease going in, and coming out, at all four joints, so I assume that is good, though even when I had my Mk1 30+ years ago, the grease that escapes never seems to escape uniformly, but squirts out from one or two paths of least resistance. But I assume that is normal. But with the suspension hanging, there's a degree of stiffness in the gear. I'm trying to remember if I had the same thing with my Wolseley Hornet, and I think I might have done, although on those, everything is like a toy car compared to something like a Morris Marina. But I think it felt as though something was a little bit strained if I turned the steering on that while it was supported on stands, so I didn't like doing it much. And there was certainly nothing wrong with the Hornet's steering when it was sitting on its wheels.

I won't know for sure until I get the Marina's new tyres on, drop the car down and drive it. But if there is still a stiffness in it, I'm thinking it's the eBay bought steering rack the previous owner had fitted.

User avatar
MarinaCoupe
Posts: 10190
Joined: Thu May 31, 2007 5:26 pm
Location: Bedford
Contact:

Re: Mk2 1.8 HL Automatic update

Post by MarinaCoupe » Mon Jun 25, 2018 1:31 pm

With the wheels raised off the ground or removed, there should be very little resistance from lock to lock.

User avatar
balmy
Posts: 3349
Joined: Sat Jun 30, 2007 10:12 am
Location: Torquay, Devon

Mk2 1.8 HL Automatic update

Post by balmy » Mon Jun 25, 2018 2:45 pm

Have you oiled the rack Mick?
Might be worth a try.
Tiny hole in centre of rack accessed from engine bay. Usually covered with a rubber band or tape. A little thin oil might help.
1974 Marina Tc Coupe - 1950CC
1982 Morris Ital HL Estate - 7600 miles from new
1992 Lada Niva Cossack - brilliant
2008 Ducati 1098R TB21 LE 200bhp/99lb/ft of a monster on two wheels. All from 1198cc
1998 Laverda 750 Formula-rare
1997 Ducati 916 Senna - Awesome
!974 Honda CD175-awaiting resto - now stripped

mickthefitter
Posts: 1457
Joined: Thu May 26, 2016 11:00 pm

Re: Mk2 1.8 HL Automatic update

Post by mickthefitter » Mon Jun 25, 2018 3:50 pm

I've seen that hole. Might it have a spring clip or something? I remember seeing it exposed and moving something to cover it up. How thin an oil should I use? There was a trace of oil seeping from the bellows because the track rod has been hanging down all week, but the jubilee clip felt tight. I've suspected before that rack isn't right. I don't trust stuff off eBay and I don't trust that garage the previous owner took the car to, who fitted the rack.

User avatar
MarinaCoupe
Posts: 10190
Joined: Thu May 31, 2007 5:26 pm
Location: Bedford
Contact:

Re: Mk2 1.8 HL Automatic update

Post by MarinaCoupe » Mon Jun 25, 2018 4:08 pm

Use diff oil in the rack. About 3-4 ccs.

mickthefitter
Posts: 1457
Joined: Thu May 26, 2016 11:00 pm

Re: Mk2 1.8 HL Automatic update

Post by mickthefitter » Mon Jun 25, 2018 6:54 pm

I've got some diff oil. I'll give it a go. When I saw the state of one of those supposedly reconditioned racks you'd got Chris, that you were checking over to sell, that's when I started to really suspect the one in my car was probably to the same standard. I don't even know why a new rack was fitted. It hadn't been on that long when I bought the car in 2016, probably fitted in 2014 or 15 from memory, but the MoT history online goes back to 2012, further back on paper, but with gaps, but nowhere has the original rack ever been an MoT advisory. With no weight on the front it does feel a tad notchy, stiffens up a bit near full lock, and is generally just resistant when I turn the wheel. It passed the MoT all right last year and should do again, but with me saying the steering is heavy and others saying they've got fat tyres on their Marinas with no problems, it makes me very suspicious.

Post Reply