1972 Marina 1750TC Coupe 50,000km - good value?

[locost_bryan]

heavy steering sounds to me like seized trunnions - maybe that car hasnt been near a grease gun in 5 or 10 years!

Wouldn't surprise me!

Would benefit from a proper service - engine started first time and ran quietly, gearbox quiet and shifted well. Clutch may have been subjected to little-old-lady abuse, if you know what I mean! :shock:

Auction place had a short test track - too short to go up through all the gears, but long enough to try out the un-boosted brakes (no problems there! ).

Suspect the car has not been garaged - the paint was very faded. Someone had started giving it a cut-and-polish, but had run out of enthusiasm when they got to the front doors. :roll: At least it showed that the paint finish was reasonable under the oxidation.

[locost_bryan]

OK guys, here's some pics of the rust spots. What do you think? Easy to fix?

Turners Auction photo - front cut & polish to door, rear still oxidised. Note rust spot on top leading edge of left mudguard (close up to follow).

marina tc 1.jpg (30.48 KiB) Viewed 6123 times

marina tc 3.jpg (28.53 KiB) Viewed 6120 times

Little old lady Interior :-)

marina tc 6.jpg (34.73 KiB) Viewed 6123 times

Twin carb OHC 1750 - note rust below (unboosted!) master cylinder

marina tc 7.jpg (43.11 KiB) Viewed 6121 times

Are any of these serious enough to warrant the use of a barge pole? Anything that could indicate worse stuff lurking under the surface? Or am I just being a wus?

[XER905L]

The only cause for concern in your pix is pic 5 & 6, inside out rust which will never get worse if you keep the car in a dry garage and dont intend to use it in the rain.Anyway, changing a front wing is relatively simple and not too expensive.I would personally just give it a t-cut and wax and let its 1970s timewarp patina speak for itself - my TC coupe is in this same condition and will stay that way I hope!
If the bottoms of the wings,tops of the wings above headlamps,jacking points,floor in front footwells under carpet,headlamp mounting panels (knock with your knuckles inside the wheel arches), boot wells under spare tyre & opposite side and the lower edges where inner & out sills join are not holed then there is nothing serious rustwise that I can see,just a solid car to treasure!
I think from your pix the car looks burnt orange rather than brown -i like it!.

[JoshWard]

You think you have rust problems.....


You should see my boot wells

[JubileeNut]

Nothing there that is a big worry dude!
Check out my TC on Uncle Franks workshop under Jubilee has landed!! It was a close call to do it or scrap it!
It was my decision to continue as I wanted to save the car and get it back to what it should be!
23 odd panels and many extra patches thanks to Frank!
Paul.

[locost_bryan]

The only cause for concern in your pix is pic 5 & 6, inside out rust which will never get worse if you keep the car in a dry garage and dont intend to use it in the rain.Anyway, changing a front wing is relatively simple and not too expensive.
I think from your pix the car looks burnt orange rather than brown -i like it!.

The camera never lies - yeah, right! The colour is definitley a chocolate brown, rather than a nice shade of orange.

Salt belongs on fish and chips, not roads! :P We don't get ice, so our roads don't get salted. No structural corrosion that I could find - sills and floor look fine.

Unfortunately, the car will sit out in the rain for at least a year or two, so treating the rust will be a priority. If the auction stays in my price range, then it will become my "daily driver" (50km round trip), and replace my 285,000km 1992 1.3 Corolla (Ferrari F1 legend Chris Amon did the suspension tuning for Toyota NZ, so it handles great, but the motor's rather tired and the body has structural rust around the front and rear screens to the WOF/MOT failure stage ).

[locost_bryan]

Had a chat to the local panel beater. Estimated about $800-1000 (300-400GBP) to remove the rust and repaint (with Dulon) the affected areas, or $3,000-4,000 (1,000-1,500GBP) to strip, repair, and repaint in 2-pack.

He also estimated about the same $800-1,000 to remove the rust from my 1992 Corolla, which is otherwise tidy but mechanically tired, but will never be a "classic". Really don't feel it's worth throwing good money after bad...

If I can get it at the auction for what I think it's worth (as long as no-one makes a silly bid), then it's a goer, even with the rust.

[marinacoupe+rust]

Gidday,

Good luck for the auction on saturday mate, hope everything goes your way.

Partially off topic though, I had a call earlier tonight from a guy in christchurch who has a 1300 coupe which apparently has only surface rust, one ding, and a broken taillight which he wants to sell, so P.M me about it if this doesn't go to plan, otherwise forget I said anything

Cheers,
Chris

*Edited because im a failure at spelling

[locost_bryan]

Sounds like it might be in better condition than this van on Trademe for $350. :shock:

Shame about the porthole windows

Bryan

[marinacoupe+rust]

No, that van looks mint, it would look brilliant with a T-cut

[locost_bryan]

Lick o' paint Mr Fawlty, lick o' paint, now for a nice cuppa tea... :P

[locost_bryan]

Went to the auction on Saturday. An internet bidder paid $3,600 (1,200GBP) for the TC Coupe - bidding started at about $2,000 :roll: and was one of the more fought over cars.

There was also a base model 1976 1.8 auto saloon in tidy condition (no rust I could see), that was passed in after a single $1,500 bid. :roll:

Best buy I saw was a 1999 Jag S-type 4 ltr V8 for $13,200 (4,400GBP).

Main attraction was a fully restored 1970 Ford Falcon GTHO Phase 2 with a racing history. Top bid was $267,000. :shock: