Fast Marina Magazine

Hi Guys

I am new here but signed up as I am thinking of buying a Pilgrim Bulldog based on 1800 Marina running parts.

I will hope to do my own repairs and servicing, so my question is threefold.

1. What is the availablity of servicing spares such as brake cylinders, clutch plates, starter motors etc?
2. What is the availability of major components such as engines, gearboxes, differentials etc?
3. I know that the Marina/Ital was in production for a long time so are major components interchangeable?

If it helps I live in the Herts/Essex area

Thanks

Hi Bumpy and welcome.. some good people on here who can find most things you'll ever need,
in my own experience, i've managed to get most service parts from my local motor factors, they have large stocks so if you vcan't find em locally, i'd be happy to get them and post em on to you. ebay is another great place to find some of the more unusal parts, but this forum has a wealth of knoledge and parts,
why the Bulldog ? when you could have a Marina lol
jiversteve on here will be your Man he has a marlin based Marina which will probably be of a similar design to the bulldog and even if not, he's been there done it and prob got the t shirt re the kit car route

good luck

Thanks for that reccomendation.

In general most parts are available and no problem but there are a few problem areas.

The 1800B series engine is pretty much an MGB with a mechanical fuel pump. So many engine parts are well catered for.
Clutches are readily available, gearboxes are a potential problem. The input shaft and gearset are Marina specific and are now becoming quite rare. They do appear occasionally on eBay and the like. It is possible to fit a Triumph Dolomite gearbox, parts for which are available from Rimmer Brothers and many other Triumph parts dealers. This is a topic all on itself as its not a direct swap. Second hand Marina gearboxes are around, any 1.8 or 1.7 Ital box will fit with the same gear ratios.
Back axle componets are also common to many Triumphs.

Problem areas are front suspension uprights. With regular regreasing they will last a lifetime. New old stock items do appear, they are handed so perhaps worth buying for spares. The trunnions that screw on their ends are readily available.
There are also issues with Clutch and Brake master cylinders, Marinacoupe, another expert, has solved this issue by having some sleeved with stainless steel but again they turn up as NOS. Every other part of the brake system is readily available.

Just about every other component that you might need is available as Marinas were built from the BL parts bin and can be found on Triumphs, Minis etc etc. of the same era though occasionally you have to do a bit of searching as the part numbers are not necessarly the same.

Finally apart from this forum and Pilgrims one of the most popular Marina based cars is a Marlin Roadster around 150 of them are still on the road, many have had engine swaps but still have Marina suspension, brakes and drive trains.

Welcome to the forum.
Use the search button but if you cant find the answer, ask away.

Thanks guys for taking the trouble to reply. Great info :mrgreen:

Cheers

Pleased to be of help.
If you buy the Bulldog, stick around. They are a pretty friendly bunch round here.

lol yea friendly even if you don't have a proper Marina lol

:roll:

Are parts for the 1.7 engine more difficult to source than parts for the 1.8

It's more a question of knowing where to look. The 1800 engine is well served by the MG suppliers as it is shared with the MGB.

The O series was used in later cars so businesses supporting Austin Rover cars like Montego and Maestro, LDV 200 & 400/ Sherpa (e.g. Rimmer Bros) can often help. As the engines continued to be used well into the 1990s there are a lot more parts on EBay.







Chris
www.marinacoupe.co.uk

Gearbox first/second/ reverse gear selector ring are getting like hens teeth.

All the more reason to consider a Type 9 conversion.
A pretty much bullet proof gearbox (in a Marina) no shortage of parts (nor will there be for many years)
1 : 0.825 overdrive ratio for effortless cruising. Teamed with a Sprint rear axle at 3.45, you can almost count the cylinders firing at 70 mph

But then I am biased.