Fast Marina Magazine

Ha, you seem to be missing the point here, i.e. by fitting a ford engine & box you are admitting every engine & box that came out of the B.L./Austin/Rover parts bin was a pile of kack, & if I wanted something from the ForMoCo stable, I would simply buy a ford!.

P.S. just got in today after scrapping my second marina in as many weeks, sometimes they're just not worth saving! pics to follow.
Lol Brian. :twisted:

Saunders Auto Dismantlers & general scrap metal merchants.
Peoples Democratic Republic of North Tyneside.

hello russ if i remember both the tc +o series engines that were fitted to nell both came from my cars.i dont supose there is chance of getting of me getting the tc engine back that you borrowed .
also do you still have the scotch lock parformance mods fitted to nell.

marinabrian wrote:Ha, you seem to be missing the point here, i.e. by fitting a ford engine & box you are admitting every engine & box that came out of the B.L./Austin/Rover parts bin was a pile of kack, & if I wanted something from the ForMoCo stable, I would simply buy a ford!.

Not at all! The K series is a good engine if looked after, in fact I know of a brand new crated 1800VVC engine with all the conversion parts needed to make RWD going for a good price. I love the B series growl and the A series has to be up there with engines that have changed the course of automotive history. I am not saying all BL/Rover engines are rubbish but I do like diversity and economy. To convert the M or T series engine into RWD you need parts from cars that are in about the same numbers situation as the Marina! i.e. SD1 2ltr, Sherpa van, Discovery MPI (intake plenum is the correct way around for converting) etc. To convert such an engine on a budget you simply would struggle unless you had all the right donor cars at your disposal. Saying that I have all the parts and I have tried it. The engine is very heavy as it is still cast iron block and I don't like the idea of cutting the bulkhead/tunnel around just to get parts to fit that are not exactly easy to replace! The car would still handle like a jelly baby on steroids unless you seriously changed the front suspension to be more accommodating. Certainly with a turbo charged T series you would be mad not to strengthen the chassis considering a Marina is over 25 years old and wasn’t meant to have turbo boost!

The ford route would be an interesting alternative. I agree if you wanted to buy a ford engine then you may as well buy a ford car. Like I said, I like diversity and you can't argue that to pop the bonnet on a 30+ year old Marina and see a nice tidy 16v modern engine would be something ?! The ford engine is well supported, it is practically blue printed at the factory and parts are cheap as chips!

I would never sell any of my Marina's for Fords but I do like the idea of showing the classic car world a thing or two about diversity!! This is only my opinion mind you. Each to their own and all that.


Ben 8)

Are you sure that engine was on loan? I'm sure money was changing hands,but please remeber there's a hire charge for two chrome dash pot covers and a chrome rocker cover,intrest at 14.9% over the duration of the loan,your house may be at risk if you don't keep up re-payments on the subject of the scotch-locks,i'll keep that for a other story

Aha, I bought 4 brand new LT 77 'boxes in the packing crates for the princely sum of £25 each!. The input shaft is the same as a 1700/1800,the box is overall 19mm shorter than the original marina/triumph unit. so I manufactured a 15mm makeup sandwich piece in aluminium to mate the marina bellhousing to the L.T. unit.
The clutch used is identical to that used in the marina, so externally in the engine bay, everything looks standard. At the rear end of the box, I machined a boss to adapt the output flange, which is approx 8mm bigger in diameter than the marina one, with a different P.C.D., fitted with opposing captive studs of the P.C.D. to match each mating face, to allow the marina prop to be used without modification!!. The rear crossmember was a piece of cake to fabricate, however the 'box does have to be lowered by 22mm in order to clear the tranmission tunnel (which in itself requires NO MODIFICATION). Finally the gearstick, which is a modified sherpa one was shortened to suit.
The overall results were a considerably more relaxed cruising speed, & vastly improved fuel economy!!
Now anybody wanting to go down the Type 9 Ford route is more than welcome, but for me a 'box which is used in 3.9 litre V8 Landrovers in more or less the same format & are virtually unburstable, I know what gets my vote everytime!

Further to my earlier comments where i may have been misconstrued as saying all B.L. engines are kack, I personally am driving around in an R8 rover 214 with in excess of 200k on the clock, however the entire K series engine weighs about the same as a B series cylinder head!
The car starts whatever the weather, & returns 42 m.p.g. around the doors! and has 110 b.h.p. to boot!!

Best wishes

Brian.

As I recall the B series in question was abandoned behind "Plug" Grevitt's warehouse in Acomb!! If He hasn't scrapped it by now, check to see if he's given it to someone else!!

beniboyz wrote:Na done that Brian.. It's too much work and effort for another old oil burner.. You would be better off fitting a hamster on a wheel for the good it will give you to fit the dam thing! The engine mounts and exhaust would be the main problem to clear the turbo and chassis legs.

LT77 is just too big for the Marina, if you did do it I would opt for the type 9 conversion at least it is a slim line box in comparison! Induction would be a doddle on non coil pack and standard ECU but then you have to cut the bulkhead.. Coil pack versions are a better engine but then you would be better off having an aftermarket ECU and throttle bodies. There was a guy that built a NASP T series into an Ital estate running a 2ltr dizzy and electronic ignition with twin weber DCOE's..

Go down the Ford engine route... It would be much easier! !

Ben

All is revealed a closet Fix Or Repair Daily man! urgh :shock:

Yeah dam right ! ! May be I should show off my Capri 2.8 Injection Special !... Nah thinking about it, I do need to repair that one....