Fast Marina Magazine

Hi need a few items for the life on mars marina
anyone know where I can get new rubber front tie bar bushes ??? mini , minor are they the same item don't want superflex ones
heard few horror stories recently involving them
also looking for a pair of engine mounts. are they the same as MGB ? or another BL motor ?
thanks guys in advance

Engine mounts are special to Marina. I have been running Superflex tie bar bushes for eight years with no problems and have not heard of any problems in that time.

I would not bother getting the original tie rod bushes as all stock is now very old. I fitted brand new ones and they just exploded!! Although NOS were useless.
Superflex are the way to go, had no problems with mine.

What horror stories have you heard?

It's very easy to make new tie rod bushes. Just get a big enough bit of rubber and cut it to size and drill a hole in the middle. Costs next to nothing. Well worth looking for large bushes etc at autojumbles that can be cut down to size.

Superflex ones are very good, never had any issues with any of mine. They should last a lot longer than rubber ones and noticeably improve the handling.

I have a box of NOS ones, never tried them...

You will struggle to find 1.8 engine mounts that haven't collapsed

JubileeNut wrote:I would not bother getting the original tie rod bushes as all stock is now very old. I fitted brand new ones and they just exploded!! Although NOS were useless.
Superflex are the way to go, had no problems with mine.

What horror stories have you heard?

the horror stories I ve heard are very recent been two crashes involving polyurethane bushes but mainly bigger cars like jaguars and rover p6s involved sad to hear.
but happy to fit them now I know other people have them and there not a problem and safe,

anyway is any other way to fix the engine mounts ?
surprised the club not made any tbh find 1300 ones easy just shows you tho 10-15 years ago most likely get them on the shelf from a rover dealer or motor factor

JoshWard wrote:It's very easy to make new tie rod bushes. Just get a big enough bit of rubber and cut it to size and drill a hole in the middle. Costs next to nothing. Well worth looking for large bushes etc at autojumbles that can be cut down to size.

Superflex ones are very good, never had any issues with any of mine. They should last a lot longer than rubber ones and noticeably improve the handling.

I have a box of NOS ones, never tried them...

You will struggle to find 1.8 engine mounts that haven't collapsed

mines ripped off the steel mounts on the rubber on one side josh

the horror stories I ve heard are very recent been two crashes involving polyurethane bushes but mainly bigger cars like jaguars and rover p6s involved sad to hear.

I would treat such stories as simply that - 'stories'.
If such were true there would be much legal activity involving the product, and it would be headline news in auto media.

The locations of the polyurethane or nolathane bushes in our cars - and indeed most - are such that the bush itself could hardly cause a crash even if it totally disintegrated.
As in fact - most originals have already done by now.

The real danger is that the increased roadholding afforded by using these products allows unskilled drivers to way exceed their safe limits and lose control.

had look on the engine mount front might have a go at making my own using urethane casting seems lot of people do this now when building custom cars http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.p ... nder-30.00 interesting read for marina 1800 owners might be a idea for mine

It seems to talk about void filling in standard bushes, although it does provide some links to other tech sites with casting details. Three things stuck out;
1. you need a special fixer to get polyurethane to stick to metal bush mounts.
2. Molds need to be bigger than the final product as the polyurethane shrinks as it cures.
3. It takes several days to cure properly.

So to make a Marina engine bush you would need a bush to mold from, make it oversize, reuse the old metal brackets or get new ones made up.

Not sure but would the mounts that fit 1.7 and metro engines work? Chris has done something similar.

I can see that you've been reading my Coupe's website. To fit the O series bushes you need to drill the B series engine and chassis brackets to take the O series bush bolt pattern. Not a big job and they are firmer than the B series bushes. Ideally you should also use the steel cups that fit over the tops of the O series bushes as the engine brackets are narrower than the bushes are wouldn't displace the load evenly.

The Metro bushes are very similar to the O series bushes and are possible a little stiffer still, but not by much.

MarinaCoupe wrote:I can see that you've been reading my Coupe's website. To fit the O series bushes you need to drill the B series engine and chassis brackets to take the O series bush bolt pattern. Not a big job and they are firmer than the B series bushes. Ideally you should also use the steel cups that fit over the tops of the O series bushes as the engine brackets are narrower than the bushes are wouldn't displace the load evenly.

The Metro bushes are very similar to the O series bushes and are possible a little stiffer still, but not by much.

thanks for great info there chris might fit o series bushes if they are available,
does anyone else know if the front tie bar bushes are same as allegro or mini ? just a thought before I bought some superflex ones
get some pics of my engine mounts tomorrow

Why buy the wrong tie bar bushes when the right ones are available?

There is a single O series engine bush on EBay http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/181428544490

MarinaCoupe wrote:Why buy the wrong tie bar bushes when the right ones are available?

There is a single O series engine bush on EBay http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/181428544490

just thinking the future there not available or if I have no internet or something and thanks chris be in touch when I have these
mounts bought the superflex ones for tie bar bushes

Like Chris and others I fitted poly bushes to my tie bars and rack mountings on the TC many years ago and are still perfect. I fitted a full set to the front and a part set to the rear suspension on our MkII Jaguar (used specifically where the original rubber bushes lasted less than a year) these are still in perfect condition.

I fitted a set of oringinal tie bushes to the SDL yesterday, they are not rubber but some strange material (no idea what) and one immediately split, Superflex will be used the same as the TC once the welding is done.

Brian