New to the Marina - Some advice please?

Drew · Post by **Drew** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 1:52 pm

Hi everyone!

I'm new here and new to Marina's. Actually, I'm new to classic cars and driving all together (only had my licence a month!).

My girlfriend wanted an unusual, different and 'classic' car, so she bought a Morris Marina from eBay:

eBay - Morris Marina 1.3 Deluxe - 1977

I've got a few quick questions that you can hopefully help me with:

1 - Is the price she paid reasonable? (see above link)

2 - We are collecting the car on Sunday. Is there anything I should lookout for?

3 - The car is in Birmingham and we're in Leeds. The car is apparently a "good runner", but would it be alright driving from Birmingham to Leeds on the motorway in a car this old? Should we take lots of stops? Drive slow? Stick to the A roads?

4 - Neither of us have driven a 'classic' car before. Are they much harder to drive than a modern day car? Obviously there is no power steering, ABS breaks or anything fancy like that

Thanks for your help!
Drew

billytits · Post by **billytits** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 2:24 pm

price looks good to me looks lick a nice little car love the colour

if they say its a nice runner she should be ok on the motorway take some oil and water with you and keep an eye on the temprature dont go any faster than 65 for the first 15 miles then dont go any faster than 70 unless you want to go deaf poor little 4 speed gearboxes and engines get a bit loud but thats all part of the fun.

same as any old car look out for the tin worm in the usual places check your brakes before you go to far to make sure they are free and not binding then bite the bullet and go for it good luck and let us know how you get on.

Trev

andrewwita · Post by **andrewwita** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 2:34 pm

hi drew
and welcome to the marina forum
i agree with billytits - also if you can to be on the safe side if your not already a member join the aa or rac better safe than sorry

as for motorway there fine i bought my one in may ( even tho it is on ebay at the mo) as i bought a project - pics below
as i said i bought it in may and it had not been used that much and on its journy from wales to london fan belt snapped ( so perhaps buy a spare and take it with you )

wish you all the luck with your marina - and never know if you join the club see you at some shows

stuthegasman · Post by **stuthegasman** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 3:17 pm

you should have no trouble travelling from lands end to john o groats if you wanted too, a few basic checks as previously mentioned oil, water brake fluid levels etc and watch the temp gauge !! just sit in the inside lane at 55mph or there abouts and you should have no trouble just remember these are not modern cars and should be driven accordingly but you will soon learn what's right and wrong the note of the engine usually tells you if it's happy if it sounds like your pushing it a bit then you probably are, I keep a box in the boot with a few spares i.e 5L water 1L oil set of good second hand plugs a good set of second hand leads a length of hose suitable as a temporary repair if a rad hose goes set of points a rotor arm and a fan belt anything to get you going again in an emergency...
good luck and welcome to the wonderfull world of marina ownership and to this forum

Clan Chieftain · Post by **Clan Chieftain** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 4:29 pm

8) Welcome to marina and ital land and the forum...........Larry

JoshWard · Post by **JoshWard** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 5:40 pm

Nice buy! You should have no problems getting her back, mine managed to make it across the A14 running on 3 cylinders and with no MoT

Just do as the others say and you wont go wrong

Best regards, Josh (who has to wait a few years before being old enough to drive!)

Uncle Frank · Post by **Uncle Frank** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 8:36 pm

Hi Drew, welcome to the forum, got to agree with everyones previous opinions really, the only thing i would add is to leave a bit more room between you and the car in front as the brakes on older cars are nothing like modern ones!

, plus go easy on the corners until you get the hang of the cars handling characteristics, they can be a bit "lively" on corners till you get the hang of them

, otherwise they are a really useful, reliable easy to maintain little car, have fun!

~Sam~ · Post by **~Sam~** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 8:49 pm

Also if you have never driven a car with a choke before it's a bit hit and miss until you get used to it but don't use any more than you need to just get the revs up around 1200 (ish) and remember not to leave it out too long and that's its pushed all the way in!

Sorry if you know this but it was the most confusing thing to me when I got my Marina

Also as everyone else says oil and water and good luck and welcome!

Post by **MarinaCoupe** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 12:09 am

Welcome Drew

The price seems quite reasonable for a car MOT'd until June 2009. I agree with the others on what to look for.

Take her steady if you use the M-ways and watch the temp guage, carry a v big cannister of water, just in case.

Drew · Post by **Drew** » Wed Sep 03, 2008 11:05 pm

Thank you all for your welcomes/advice. I'll be sure to take lots of water and oil with me

I hope I don't have to use it though.

billytits wrote:price looks good to me looks lick a nice little car love the colour

Yeah, I really like the colour too. I think it may have originally been brown, but it's recently had a re-spray.

andrewwita wrote:also if you can to be on the safe side if your not already a member join the aa or rac better safe than sorry

We made sure to include breakdown cover with our insurance :P

JoshWard wrote:Best regards, Josh (who has to wait a few years before being old enough to drive!)

Not old enough to drive and are already into old cars? Good stuff! Are there many young Marina owners out there? I'm 24. I thought that was quite young to have a Marina, but I guess I'm not

Uncle Frank wrote:leave a bit more room between you and the car in front as the brakes on older cars are nothing like modern ones!

I don't think the breaks on my 08 Fiesta are very good, so I'm going to have some real fun driving a Marina then

~Sam~ wrote:Also if you have never driven a car with a choke before it's a bit hit and miss until you get used to it but don't use any more than you need to just get the revs up around 1200 (ish) and remember not to leave it out too long and that's its pushed all the way in!

Ah, yes, chokes. I've not seen one of them since my Dad sold his old Metro. Is it true you only need to use them in cold/bad weather, or should you use them every time you start the car?

One other quick question. I don't know if this has been converted to run on unleaded petrol. If not, I've been told there is some stuff you can add to unleaded to make it safe for leaded cars. Does anyone know what this is called, or a good place to buy it from?

Thanks!
Drew

billytits · Post by **billytits** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 12:50 am

hi drew
redex do a lead additive about 4 quid a bottle and dose 5 tanks of fuel i use it on my 73 coupe which dose quite a few miles a year seems to make the fuel last longer as well i pick it up in my local tescos garage
best of luck
trev

JoshWard · Post by **JoshWard** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 6:36 pm

Drew wrote:
JoshWard wrote:Best regards, Josh (who has to wait a few years before being old enough to drive!)
Not old enough to drive and are already into old cars? Good stuff! Are there many young Marina owners out there? I'm 24. I thought that was quite young to have a Marina, but I guess I'm not

Well there seems to be some fairly young Marina owners but im pretty sure I'm the youngest at the moment!
I've loved old cars ever since I was a very small boy and most ofmy mates love old cars too. It seems the classic car scene is getting younger and younger.

~Sam~ · Post by **~Sam~** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 7:31 pm

Hey Drew I am only just younger than you at 23!

The choke on a hot day is a little car dependant, so try it without first and if not then a little should do it

If it's wet or snowy I also recommend keeping a tool box or something in the boot to give a little extra grip round corners!

Marina1.3coupe · Post by **Marina1.3coupe** » Thu Sep 04, 2008 8:19 pm

Hi,
I'd agree with Sam, take it easy on the corners in the wet, I lost the back end the other day and smacked in my door.......... and the rear panel.... and the sill..........on a lamp post

( bad times.
Mind you, sliding the back end out can be fun if you get it right, on private roads.
Actualy when I were a lad with my first car ( Mk1 Escort ) I used to go to a dissused airfield and practice losing control in the gravel, good to practice but don't over do it and wreck yourself.

Happy driving Martin.

ice man · Post by **ice man** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 5:51 am

Drew sold hi marina on a couple of weeks ago on Ebay. I was going to bid but didn't have the cash at the time. it started at the Ã‚Â£400 he paid for it and sold for Ã‚Â£690, with lots of bidders.

I think that is a good indication that the prices are starting to increase..?