A post on the owners club facebook has led to this being on my drive for scrap money:
It's an 80's kit car, styled after a 30's Alfa, built from from the running gear of a 70's Morris with one of the all time greatest Italian engines dropped it. Oh and it has the stigma of a 1989 Q plate so painfully won't be tax exempt for a while.
The Morris Marina was a technological leap backwards for Leyland in the 70's. After the success of the 60's Mini, they decided to forget everything that made it so fantastic and basically reclothed the 1940's Morris Minor in an attempt to produce a low cost car. Lever arm dampers? Trunnions? RWD live axle? torsion bar front and leaf spring rear - had the Mini taught them, nothing? Regardless - the Marina was a success and so the scrapyards filled up with rotting examples.
These already 30 year out of date underpinnings make for the perfect setup for a vintage style roadster.
The bad bit - this had filled up with water some time like a bathtub and rotted out the plywood floors, also the wood and carpet holding water had reduced the strength of some of the important bits, like suspension mounts. Yes thats the carpet and some wiring hanging out the floor.
The good bit - The main Marlin chassis is hewn from thick steel and was welded shut at the factory, over engineered hence their popularity as trials cars. The rest of the chassis just has a bit of surface corrosion here and there. Running gear and everything else seems reasonable apart from a few bad earths. Marlin junked the lever arm dampers for telescopic:
The best bit: The 2l Fiat Twin cam is the most successful rally car engine of all time. And this one sounds healthy:
The inspiration:
The plan:
Weld up bits that need welding
Make new floors
Cam belt
Go for MOT
Paint it. I'm not a shiny car kinda guy, I'm thinking of using satin graffiti paint, probably a wine red.
Make a new dash. Poss engine turned alloy and toggle switches.
Backdate it - rear lights, indicators, steering wheel
Maybe wire wheels.
It's an 80's kit car, styled after a 30's Alfa, built from from the running gear of a 70's Morris with one of the all time greatest Italian engines dropped it. Oh and it has the stigma of a 1989 Q plate so painfully won't be tax exempt for a while.
The Morris Marina was a technological leap backwards for Leyland in the 70's. After the success of the 60's Mini, they decided to forget everything that made it so fantastic and basically reclothed the 1940's Morris Minor in an attempt to produce a low cost car. Lever arm dampers? Trunnions? RWD live axle? torsion bar front and leaf spring rear - had the Mini taught them, nothing? Regardless - the Marina was a success and so the scrapyards filled up with rotting examples.
These already 30 year out of date underpinnings make for the perfect setup for a vintage style roadster.
The bad bit - this had filled up with water some time like a bathtub and rotted out the plywood floors, also the wood and carpet holding water had reduced the strength of some of the important bits, like suspension mounts. Yes thats the carpet and some wiring hanging out the floor.
The good bit - The main Marlin chassis is hewn from thick steel and was welded shut at the factory, over engineered hence their popularity as trials cars. The rest of the chassis just has a bit of surface corrosion here and there. Running gear and everything else seems reasonable apart from a few bad earths. Marlin junked the lever arm dampers for telescopic:
The best bit: The 2l Fiat Twin cam is the most successful rally car engine of all time. And this one sounds healthy:
The inspiration:
http://instagram.com/p/BR2kihaAuVC
The plan:
Weld up bits that need welding
Make new floors
Cam belt
Go for MOT
Paint it. I'm not a shiny car kinda guy, I'm thinking of using satin graffiti paint, probably a wine red.
Make a new dash. Poss engine turned alloy and toggle switches.
Backdate it - rear lights, indicators, steering wheel
Maybe wire wheels.
