Fast Marina Magazine

Bought this for the ital ive got to use everyday.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SHERPA-LEYLAN ... true&rt=nc

bargain!
Best regards
barry

Lovely Barry which car is it going into?

Dads ital that ive got here
been looking for another 2.0 engine for ages,got loads of blocks here but all 1.7 so was going to have 2.0 pistons fitted and a cylinder head done up but this came along.
i do have a sd1 2.0 block but it requires a rebore,so this is probably cheaper then getting these done
sadly chris i cant live with the 1.3 for long so ill be dropping this in when the weather picks up
dads old ital is a 1.3 sl in opaline only done 46,000 miles but requires a bit of bodywork and tidying
will be a 2.0 manual eventually.
hopefully the 1.7/1.8 box will stand the extra bhp,we will see
a 2.0 o series has about 90 bhp,not much more then a 1.8 tc i think?
best regards
Barry

Speaking as someone who owns a car with a notoriously weak gearbox on the edge of the power it can take; it's how you drive that is the real factor.
If you're in gear and press your foot smoothly down to the floor then all will be fine as there is no shock loading. Give it 3000 revs and drop the clutch in first and the whole lot will go boom.

Good luck with the project!

Sounds like it needs a five speed it'll take loads of torque, more than an O series anyway.

I'll see how it goes
i have all the bits of my 1.7 engines backplate,mountings,flywheel,manifold,carb etc
so wont have to purchase anything else and have 3-4 gearboxes spare at the moment.
ive ran the 1.7 for 7 years doing around 10,000 a year at hammered the crap out of it and the gearbox never let me down.
see how it goes ,i can always do a five speed conversion at a later date.
it will be single carb so shouldn't be too thirsty and im thinking of using 2.0 waterpump with viscous,instead of the fixed fan waterpump to help fuel.
i dont understand why BL used a fixed fan waterpump on the Ital 1.7 and only fitted a viscous type to the 1.3 and 2.0??
best regards
barry

Cost I expect Barry - cheaper to produce.

You wouldn't find me complaining if you fitted an LT77, but I think a type 9 is a better bet (lighter and easier to do than an LT77 in my opinion). Just not all BL.

only another 12bhp from a 1.7(78)to a 2.0(90)so as long as dont go mad should be ok.
the axle is the other think do a run a 1.7/1.8 diff 3.63 which give me more acceleration or do i put a 2.0 diff 3.27 for lower revs a top speed??
im thinking of keeping a 1.7 diff as i don't do that much motorway driving and most of the roads round this area are A roads,so not looking for top end speed.
im trying to use stuff ive got,keeping costs down and im fresh out of 2.0 diffs,last one went in the black ital.
see how it goes again.
best regards
barry

I think that it's the torque that f**ks gearboxes and axles, so your point about sensible acceleration is important. BL had to assume that customer would use the extra torque and power and would as a standard assume a level of over-engineering to accept the forces of a 2.0 litre to withstand say 80k miles before rebuild, to avoid warranty claims.

Regarding the comments about 1700 or 2 litre cylinder blocks - they should be exactly the same.

It was only the crankshaft and pistons that changed to make the difference.
You could use a 2 litre crankshaft in a 1700 block as long as you also used the 2 litre pistons which have a lower crown to suit the longer stroke.
The 2 litre Austin Princess used a more aggressive cam profile too - never met a 2 litre Ital so I don't know if they did the same.

Interestingly - I have just returned from a holiday in my red estate which has 2 litre Princess crank and pistons but with a 1700 camshaft.
It seems to be more economical than using the Princess camshaft, and possibly a bit down on top end, but otherwise quite a joy to use.

Cheers all,
Kilroy

Great photography Kilroy, very moody. Your summer looks nice against our winter, rain and sleet today.

Hi kilroy
your right 1700 and 2000 blocks are the same diameter,its just the stroke thats different
i have several 1700 blocks and was going to fit 2.0 pistons and have cylinder head done up when this turned up so i bought it as it was as cheap as having a block done and cylinder head.
1700 sherpa/marina/italcylinder heads a have cam shaft marked white and 2000 ital cylinder heads have a cam shaft marked red,different lobe profiles
not sure on the princess
best regards
barry

MarinaCoupe wrote:I think that it's the torque that f**ks gearboxes and axles, so your point about sensible acceleration is important. BL had to assume that customer would use the extra torque and power and would as a standard assume a level of over-engineering to accept the forces of a 2.0 litre to withstand say 80k miles before rebuild, to avoid warranty claims.

Power :-
1800 - 83 bhp
1700 - 87 bhp
2000 - 93 bhp (Princess)
1800 TC - 95 bhp
2000 TC - 100 bhp (Ambassador HLS)

Torque :-
1700 - 97 ft/lb
1800 - 99 ft/lb
1800 TC - 106 ft/lb
2000 - 112 ft/lb (Princess)
2000 TC - 120 ft/lb (Ambassador HLS)

We know the TC was pushing the gearbox for reliablility, so a standard 2000 with only an extra 6ft/lb might be ok with gentle use, but the 2000 TC with an extra 14 ft/lb would probably tip it over the edge.

fwiw the 922kg Triumph GT6 put 104 bhp and 117 ft/lb through a variant of the Marina gearbox, but it was the car's weak spot .

Good research Bryan,

BL blunted the torque and power of the 2.0 litre Ital with the auto box (side stepping the manual gearbox problem), and protecting the back axle in the process. Also by keeping her as a single carb they could strangle the O series potential.

The Marina box was originally designed for the 1200 Triumph Herald, the updates helped but essentially the basic main bearing sizes and gear set dimension were defined in the late 1950s / early 1960s.

The TR7 went from the same gearbox to the LT77 as the Triumph engine was pushing out 135 lb/ft of torque and needed a more capable gearbox as well as a fifth gear.

MarinaCoupe wrote:Good research Bryan,

BL blunted the torque and power of the 2.0 litre Ital with the auto box (side stepping the manual gearbox problem), and protecting the back axle in the process. Also by keeping her as a single carb they could strangle the O series potential.

The Marina box was originally designed for the 1200 Triumph Herald, the updates helped but essentially the basic main bearing sizes and gear set dimension were defined in the late 1950s / early 1960s.

The TR7 went from the same gearbox to the LT77 as the Triumph engine was pushing out 135 lb/ft of torque and needed a more capable gearbox as well as a fifth gear.

Even the Dolomite 1850 with 91 bhp and 105 ft/lb must have been pushing the limits. What was the donor for the o/d gearbox you first tried, or was that a late Spitfire?