Morris Marina GT - How bad is it? - Part 2
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 ก.ย. 2024
- In Part 1, ( • We rescue a Morris Mar... ) we rescued this rare Morris Marina GT from a garage where it had been since 1985.
In this episode, we investigate the lack of compression in the engine, remove the brakes, and check just how bad the bodywork is.
Music and sfx from the fantastic Upbeat.io
I had one just like this for my first car back in 93, (mine was the 1.3) My dad bought it for me for £110. It was a magnificent heap. The windows fell out when it went over bumps, i lived in a perpetual mist cloud due to the water that constantly leaked in from all sides and the car mad a "whimp whimp whimp" noise due to a badly fitted mount on the propshaft, occasionally bits of the vinyl roof came off. But I loved it-- achieved several firsts in this old banger (rapidly reclined seats are an advantage!) and on one memorable day managed to get it up too 96mph bombing down rawreth lane. (thing near shook to bits doing it)
I honestly don’t remember the Marina GT.
My friend’s dad bought a new 1.8TC and he couldn’t have been more proud of that car. They were kind enough to take me on holiday with them in that car as their boy and me were best mates. It was bright orange with black and chrome detailing and black vinyl interior. I was about 12 at the time and I thought it looked fantastic. It was a big thing that it had the MGBGT engine. Later on they did buy a lovely orange MGBGT so it did make an impression.
History has perhaps been kinder to the MG than the Marina.
It's not great but it's not awful either. However, the GT is so rare I completely forgot about it for years until I saw this series! I don't even think they were particularly common when they were a current model so it's well worth saving.
They weren't that common when new, there wasn't a huge price difference between the GT and HL its four door equivalent so most people opted for the HL.
'Not great but not awful'. You are joking aren't you 😅
@@johnhughes3796 Seen far worse cars restored.
I used to sell new BL cars during the late 70's and while we sold plenty of Marinas, we sold very few GT's. The emissions screwed up the performance of later Marinas, so the GT's were not as fast as the TC, the car it replaced. I liked them, but we ended up having to put one on the road as a demonstrator.
It just is (awful)
My oldest sister had an Austin Marina (Canadian model) for years, didn't have too many complaints about it, except for the gearbox. They had a VERY steep and short driveway, wore out reverse getting out. After that they parked on the street rather than wear out another one. I believe they retired it when it got rear-ended by a Pontiac.
My buddy had a TC GT he was a mechanic for BL Heron garage. It would blow many cars off the road. We all had 1600Es. I remember this car well. Could be a fun fix. But the bill is adding up. Run Forest Run. Usual BL build Quilty. Good luck. 👍
I had the chance to have one of these when I was 18. Same colour. Didn't know at the time how rare these are. Went to scrap in the end
Just found this on my feed 😮
I was a BL mechanic in the 70's and 80's, and this has brought back many bad memories of siezed trunions, clutch slave cylinders, clutch release forks, etc 😢.
I will follow this series avidly.
DO you know, we are trying to keep the rebuild simple by keeping the car standard, but so much feedback from viewers about the rubbish handling makes me want to improve the thing! But would take so long and risk derailing the project, especially when we have a deadline of March 16th for a trip to the coast! But maybe we will improve it slowly over time, I really want to put a V6 in it and go drifting. If Si will let me! As long as we keep the steering wheel he might be okay with it.
Cheers
Matt
i love it when i car gets love after so long, especially a car that very few people would love.
Keep up the good work and stop scratching the hub caps!
the engineers at BL had a totally inadeguate budget and management kept changing their brief, flip flopping between aiming at the Escort or the Cortina, several times.
We had two 1.8s as company cars and my father had a 1.3 four door, glacier white with navy blue plastic trim. For their time they were fine
Great video, always thought the Marina Coupe was a good looking car, although it's infamous Morris Minor derived handling let it down. You know a 2 litre T series turbo will drop straight in there using Ital parts, right? What could possibly go wrong? 😂
We didn't know that. 🤔
Yeah, T series is bolt compatible with the O series that was in the Ital, it's not a complicated swap. There is also a company somewhere, IIRC, that will put mazda 6 speed internals in a MG gearbox which I think is the same as what you've got there, so it would all be quite simple. Downside is that you would crash and die at the first corner, but hey, you can't have everything 😂😂
Will Airfix relaunch their Marina 1.8 TC kit? It was a great kit. Didn't have any rust, mind
That would be great if they did.
Just keep it away from pianos. You can't trust 'em. Vicious bloody things.
We had these as police cars in the 1970,. S they lasted 6 months, couldn’t keep the back end on the road
Ah clearly the lack of driving skills and nothing to do with the sublime handling of these sports coupes.
You will get many viewers if you fully restore this Morris Marina GT - a la Yorkshire Car Restorations. I think the Marina is a nice looking car, with beautifull lines and an old, old engine. But it would have driven well at moderate speeds. As for reliability, compared to lets say a Datsun or Toyota I can't say so much as I never had one, but it is a far cry from the Morris 1300 and other servings from the Austin - Morris or BL kitchen. ☀
Thanks for your comments. We won't be doing a YCR style set of videos for this car, but we do have a couple of other cars that need a full restoration that are stripped to shells. We could do that with them.
Rare car now,early ones were Tc’s and look better
With pressed steel fancy wheels ,you can get a bit of power out of them nice and torquey that B series
Don't worry about the "crusty" bits....it's MOT exempt in it?
It is indeed but we want to get it MOT'd.
You can body parts from the owners club👍
We've managed to get some sills, front and rear valences and a wing. Not joined the club yet but the had conversations with committee members who have been brilliant.
I think the style was good , just shit driveline, some had 6cyl in Australia
These were a decent-looking car, though of course not a decent car. Needs the full restomod treatment, some sort of IRS rear end, a V6 and a complete rebuild...
We like your thinking!
Hi Graham, yes, I have a 1.8 mazda V6 I would like to put in, maybe next time. And the rear end will need upgrading too, depends what we can make work!
Cheers
Matt
Run on unleaded with no additive..NEW valves needed
Never hit cast iron with steel! Bloody hell! Use nylon copper and heat and slacken backing plate adjusters. tsk tsk Still I have fucked up myself on the odd occasion. Learning to weld cast iron is a useful skill I have developed...
He'll know next time. The backing plate adjusters were seized although in hindsight we would have attempted to free them off first. We will let you repair it if you like. 😉
@@crap_car lol no working on my Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire Mk2 at present... lots of coffee brakes..
Thank you, that is a useful tip! I probably knew it once but have long since forgot !
Cheers
Matt
Yeah strip it dip it pressure wash it
rust prove it
Prime it spray
it body done
Engine strip
rebuild it brakes
steering shocks
Prop axle rebuild it
wheels treat it
spray it new tyres
All done start it &
Bob's your uncle &
Fanny your aunt.🙄😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😁😁
Piece of cake! Done in a weekend! Dunno what's taking them so long 😅
@@NotMarkKnopfler oh
You Plonker 🤣🤣🤣🤣
The only thing that is good for is a home for mice 😂
I think one did live in there once, but even that left.
@@crap_car 🤣🤣
Tc or gt 🤷♂️
GT
Wind the brake adjuster out before removing the drum. The shoes were catching on the lip and holding them, I never had trouble getting Marina drums off back when i was a mechanic.
Same here, it needed penetrating oil on the hub too.
I like Marinas and Itals. I am very happy to see this one saved.
Can’t wait to see this back on the road!👍🇬🇧brian
Just discovered your channel, love it. The Morris Marina is/was a rare car in GT form, will be good to see it restored. Hope you are insured against falling pianos.
Thank you!
I'm enjoying the content. I knew about the 1.8 TC, but not the GT. I had an Ital van. I remember renewing a front to rear brake pipe, one end was a metric end, the rear was imperial! But I likely BL vehicles, they were better at starting on a winter morning! My favourite was the Rover V8 SD1. I can't wait to see the Marina back on the road.
My father's first car, was a 75 1.3 saloon deluxe
My first car, but in brown! Fun, but awful handling😂
I had a 1.3 Marina 4 door. To be fair it was quite reliable, although the worst handling car I ever owned.
Went everywhere in it, and it never let me down.
Wouldn't want another now.
Best left to distant memories.
Just laughing out loud - the sense of humour is right up my street and I also share your irrational attraction for the cars made by British Leyland. Gents more please.
Thank you. The next thrilling instalment is coming this week.
The endoscope gag 😂
People knock these British cars but Fiats, Lancias, Alfas etc rusted far worse, were harder and more expensive to work on. I had an MG Midget and an MGB, they both went well, parts were cheap and were easy to repair. Good luck with this guys,I can’t wait to see her finished. 👍🏻
Vauxhalls rusted like a bastard, an old friend was very good at welding them up and mot testing them, kept him in beer money
I had a 1.8 4 door in white with a brown velour interior when I was 16. I paid £50 for it, which was in 1987. Great memories
Ah, Marina... I still have one 73 2d 1300, I´ve had one 74 2d 1300 and 1800 2d... between 1987-91. My father had two 2d 1300 when new, 1973 and 1975. My plan is to put a Rover V8 under hood of that 73 Marina.... Wrooooom. 🏆
The early seventies purple one was a dream car of mine!
The Marina was my 1st car. I absolutely loved it. I look forward in anticipation to see how you comedians progress on yours. 👍🔧🤣
Comedians? We are serious restorers. 😉
The next episode will be out in a couple of days, once I've bleeped all the swearing out.
👍
I remember when I worked at a British Leyland Dealership and worked on these cars. They have manual brake adjusters (you need a square key spanner, I had a posh one with universal joints on it, I still have it but had no use for it for forty years) to adjust the rear brakes and you don't have anything like the bother you had setting them up.
8000kms and the fronts were scrubbed out due to terrible camber adjustment. In Australia this car held the record for some time for worst warranty claim record of any new car delivered into our market. It may still do, given the sh*tfulness of their design and build quality. A truly awful work car that was a joy to be away from…
As it is a 1978 car ,it was only seven years old when it was garaged. Amazing that it should be so rusty after such a short life. Just goes to show the shoddy quality was of what were otherwise basically good cars. Can you imagine such a young car needing major rust repair (carried out to a terrible standard) after only seven years today?
I had a front collision with a volvo estate (police said 100mph combined ) , the marina van was half the origional length and i had life changing injuries and was extremely lucky to survive at all ., the volvo had a cracked front windscreen and the driver mild whiplash... What was apparent was the hidden rust everywhere on the Marina ! . The brake pedal managed to get onto the front driving seat !!!
QED!@@MyKharliI hope that you made a good recovery.
@@robbierobson3251
We have no idea if it's been under cover for all those years though and how damp the garage was where it was stored.
True, but those poor past repairs must mean that it had rotted and been botched up, prior to going into storage all those years ago.@@skylined5534
You guys are blessed. My stepbrother had one in Metallic blue it was a great car - even though he abused it. Performance was good for its day (a four seat MGB🤔😳😀😀).
I learned to drive cars - I'd already driven tractors - aged 12-14 in a Morris Marina van, I'd love to own either now.
Such fond memories of Marinas and Austin 1300's, my MK2 Escort handled well, but I never have much luck with Ford's🤕😕
I had a dark blue Marina Coupe was in good nick when i bought it but had problems with over heating , i p / x it for a Mini which i had for 4 years went everywhere in that but the dreaded rust killed it , if the subframe went we scrapped them , christ when i think back ive had some real shit cars , my word 😢
Sounded like an MGB, same engine. Great in a straight line but wheyyyyyyy around corners.
An era now long gone, sad in a way because at least you could take them apart..repair them and put back together again.
Ford Escort mk1 and Morris Marina were rivals in the day...my dads last was a Morris Ital van 440L 1981 which was used in family business, he chose this over the Escort purely because of more space....we travelled all over the country in this and put many miles on it ,that's why dad was always in the UNIPART shop buying parts .
Leyland cars then suffered somewhat because of all the disputes going on at that time with management, the construction of BL cars in 70s were so rugged and basic rust started getting hold very rapidly, but we bought them in the thousands!! because we liked them , I think the worst one of all time has to be the 'Allegro '...what a nasty looking thing that was...haha
Bloody hell. I got recommended a video by TH-cam but didn't expect to see me old mate Zakspeed...!!!
Zakspeed has some serious hidden talents!
Cheers
Matt
I was a sucker for punishment ! I had 3 Maria's a L reg coupe a N and P saloon all 1300. The front of the wings always went rusty because there was a little shelve where shit would collect. The Tronions use to be crap because it was a design back from the morris 1100's. Don't forget to get some snorkels the floors were always wet under the front carpets. If I can remember the marina were rear wheel drive and they were shit in the rain and snow. After all that I'd still have another one.
I have so many memories of these from 1978 , my father had 5 of them... in those days we didn't realise how bad they were in the BL years.
The exhaust valves always seemed to burn away, Trunions went, Water leaking into foot Wells, Rusting Bodies, Clutch/Slave problems etc .
We just seemed to put up with it all. All cars rusted back then of course. Ford always seems to get a free pass as they are so loved. But I remember they were even worse for rust. Leyland had a strong brand loyalty carried over from Austin Morris. They were fine if you were an old boy who drove it to the post office and shops then garaged it up. But the salty roads and industrial air in those days took their toll very quickly. The Marina coupe was a good looking car compared to many others in the 70s. Better off though with the 1.3 A series even if it was a bit underpowered. Cheers.
My grandad had a beige 4 door it was his pride and joy always polished cushions in back window. When he died I was 14 my dad had me drive it ahead of him to the scrap yard to watch it be crushed.
That's a sad story. also, driving at 14. On the public highway?
@crap_car Yes, I didn't understand the emotions and reasons behind it at the time. i was just helping my dad safe to say they had some history. This was in the 80s, so technically not so illegal 😁
In Australia we even got thumping great 6 cylinder Marinas in hot orange and black vinyl roof. They were quick and the overhead cam engine was very sweet.
Other people have told us about the 6 cylinder. They sound great.
@@crap_car I had one in a P38 ... oz joke Very good engine put the car sideways very nicely
Loving the content. I had a racing green Saloon back in 1987. Please be careful with the rear brakes as when I replaced them they were made from asbestos and seeing the dust fly was a bit concerning.
Thanks for the brake info.
Good on you fellers saving cars I had a 1.7 Morris ital had good fun driving it shame people slagged BL cars
Cheers! I've never driven one, but I'm sure it'll be a blast.
😂 I guess a good sense of humour helps when trying to restore a bag of 💩💩💩💩💩😛😜🤪😅🤣😂👍🏻👏
them three at 14:20 looked awfully clean, they not been doing owt? If I came in looking like that after spannering my missus 'd faint. Didn't see Fuel Hoses on the list (modern petrol etc)
It was early in the evening. Honest.
Fuel and brake lines are being replaced fully.
Wat a rare old marina being a two door I never like that body type you got some welding to do a man down the road from me have two (mint well wat can be for a marina) one a 1.3 in beige and one a purple wat it looks like thats 1.7 with twin su carbs on it and slot alloys the 80s style vinyl roof he drives them alot at weekends and not in a garage sat in a getting dusty that floor is great on that austin 1300 years ago i had a rotten just for the engine to put in a mini only just found your channel so i will be joining to see the work getting done on the old cars you have be good to watch
Cheers! I'd just love the purple Marina.
Took my kids on holiday in one of these in the 80s
I used to own a Marina TC in the mid 70's and there were lots of Triumph parts on the car, like the gearbox and I also believe the rear brake drums were as well. I also stiffened the rear end up by fitting the rear springs and dampers off the 1.8 Estate.
Yeah a lot of the brake parts are Toledo. And as a popular conversion was to put discs onto Minors, there's a company that does discs and calipers.
Personally I think the old interior although brings back memories looks totally weird compared to todays
I love these cars still think the coupes look cool, I had a company car marina estate back in the day I actually quite liked that to but don’t tell anybody I said that ! I remember driving down the motorway smoking a fag and flicking the ask out the window only to discover the back seat was also smoking ! but not a problem I was dying for a leek so soon sorted that 😂
A nice Friday night treat, nice one guys.
We never got the GT down here in New Zealand, but I do recall the coupe body and that iconic facelifted nose cone. That face is the best one on the Marina in my opinion, but again, it never sadly appeared on the coupe down here.
I wasn't even aware of the GT model existing until this appeared in my watching "suggestions" and thought I'd take a butcher's. Impressed, fellers. Impressed. Love the humour and banter - even to the point of the BOM cup sitting beside the obligatory workshop kettle. I have a kettle in my own workshop with a small fridge for milk and other beverages I may consume while working on my Triumphs (a 2500S and a Stag) or while furthering one of the two MkIV Mini projects I have going,,,,,although one of those is supposed to be a road-legal driver but does not appear to want the responsibility.
Not knowing much about the Marina, I was very surprised to see the lever-arm dampers in the front end. Does the Marina handle alright with the old dampers? I wonder if there is an upgrade kit for the Marina to allow it to take telescopic shocks, because the lever-arm dampers look about 20 years out-of-date for a 70s vehicle. I mean, the Marina eventually came sporting an 1800cc engine with twin carbs and although the 50's Austins and 60s Farina bodies still ran dampers with similar sized engines, they were a bit heavier than the Marina is. Don't get me wrong - I'm not knocking the beast. Just a bit confused why BL would want to do that......but then again, look what they did to the Stag!
Looking forward to more on this beasty as time progresses and if so inspired, I might see if I can find a coupe and a facelifted donor and make a GT replica for one of my future builds. It would be a one-of-a-kind down here and I've always wanted to own a Marina.
The Marina was probably the best example of BL Management poor decision making.
Because the 1940s Morris Minor & 50s Minor 1000 were popular very reliable cars they decided that a 1970s new model should be based on the Minor with very little modification. Hence the first Marina 1.3 had drum brakes all round, suspension very similar to the Minor and those old lever shocks.
Presumably due to insufficient road testing the car was launched with appalling handling (dangerous understeer).
The handling was so dangerous that two motoring magazines (Autocar & Motor IIRC) unusually joined forces and approached BL and said they'd go public about the dangerous handling unless BL redesigned the front suspension geometry to reduce understeer which they did (I believe those cars already manufactured were modified by Dealers).
Much as I love the Marina, the Hillman Avenger was a good example of what the Marina should have been.
Just discovered your channel really good watch.... looking forward too the next episode
Beware of falling pianos!!!
Had one of these as a company car. MGB GT engine? Loved it. I had the rear springs changed which transformed its awful handling. Lovely engine tho
Reliving my nightmare of loosing so much money on a marina ten years ago then was stupid enough to waste more money on a ital last year.
I’m so glad I’m well rid of them cars i will never waste money on marina ital rubbish ever again finally lesson learnt .
The 'flat square tyre' was an original design feature - similar to the square steering wheel on the Allegro... 😉🤪
Watching this brought back so many memories ...... of just how crap these cars were.
Such an egregious error..........that hubcap, totally inexcusable!
Cibie type 35 driving lights, just like a Jaguar XJ6.
Well it certainly wasn't as rotten as Steph's Marina! That's an incredible find! Well worth preserving! If it was me I'd just oil rag it and daily it as they are only like this once, so much history in how it looks, but it's your car do what you wish good luck 😊😊
My father had one of these back in the late seventies, light metallic green with tan interior.
I love the hit n hope method of engineering .. it goes with the Marina.
Good series, Im addicted already lol
That's good to hear! Thank you!
My dad had a blue GT RLV447T GT 2 door HL had 4 clutch slave a nuisance and handling had big issues lots understeer then back and went. Also suffered axle tramp . All that said I liked it was always getting stopped by police when it rained as the rear lights earthed out and brake lights turned into indicators etc good luck
Sounds like a great car!
Hi. Just found your channel. I love it!
The reason they are rare is because nobody wanted them when they were new either!
I love theses cars they are better than the crap u get today
It’s a junky marina 😂 love the content guys
OMG a Marina - my father had one and we hated the thing.
GT lol. BL should have been done under the trade descriptions act. Keep up the good work👍
In this case, GT stands for Green Turd.
Red robo for priminister
I hear a tdi landrover ticking over....
I remember Leyland 262 six. as Australians were putting six cylinder engines into almost everything back then. The seventies were the absolute best times to be young in this country. When I die I'm going back and I am going to stay.
A mate of mine rebuilt one. Like to see more on the road .like the leyland story red robo and the strikes
Easiest to fix car ever , my front wheel fell off when the front suspension arm seized and snapped off , plenty stiff steering warnings tbf . The van was favored over the escort for being just a bit longer and could fit a mattress !
Ah so you worked for a bed delivery company. 🤔
^^ it was the 70`s !. Had some of the most jealous fellow builders ever when mid morning my gf would come out the back looking for a loo in the middle of a site lol . Ah memories now .@@crap_car
I had the 1800TC a great car.
At first glance, is this a comedy show?
We are serious car restorers doing light hearted videos.
#istandwithmatt
That has made my evening! xxx
My mums friend had one and it looked like that a week after it left the factory; the suspension collapsed, the clutch went, the steering broke, the starter packed up and the seat belt clasp broke and thats just from memory
Sounds like a Friday car.
@crap_car everyday was Friday at BL wasn't it?
Lots of people just drove cars, short journeys as well and never checked tyre pressures, or engine oil,or had the cars serviced
My dad was a skilled engineer and his cars rarely let him down,and my best mate worked for an Austin Morris dealer,and said the same thing,
A neighbor Bill was a gardener,he owned an A60 van,and never did anything to it,other than repairs at mot time, it often took ten minutes to start
One morning it died completely, so dad and me,popped the battery off and put it on charge,and sent bill off with a shopping list to my mates garage along the road
New oil and filter, new air filter, new rocker gasket and set valve clearances,new plugs,new points, condenser, lubricate the wick on the distributor, new distributor cap and HT leads
Plus top and bottom radiator hoses and fresh ant freeze and thermostat
Bled the brakes and pumped the tyres up !!
Then after lunch fitted the battery, one turn on the key and it fired up,set the mixture and timing
By our rough reckoning, he had owned it 8 years and never had it serviced, he never stopped moaning about how much money the parts cost,but I think he was joking as he was Dad's mate
A couple of weeks later he said how impressed he was with the van,and how little petrol it used, he even overtook another car!!
Great video.x
I had a Marina in lime green. I think it was a 1.3. It was an awful car.
What a fecking mess it is.
They weren't built very well to begin with.
It's very entertaining. I'll look forward to the next video .
If that's not so bad, I'm not sure I wanna see what you think is bad... it's incredible how rotten it is even though it's been kept in a garage for decades. Okay, in a bit damp one, but still. Now I'm starting to see where the bad reputation of Marinas come from... I just hope the ones that were destroyed by Top Gear were in even worse shape underneath, and not actual good ones. Ugh, and that engine looked real bad from the inside, too...
Also, please fix your audio, I've thought my right speaker went out... but luckily not.
Take a look at our Project Skippy vids if you want to see "bad".
Yeah I need to work on the audio.
@@crap_carUhm... yeah, checked it. A bit crispy around the edges... I'd say you might have some metal accidentally stuck in that complete rustbucket :D
You can actually use the anti-vibration screw as a brake drum puller on some vehicles - there is a threaded hole that blinds on the axle flange. My Morris Major has no such feature.
That's a good tip!
Had 3 Marina,s Saloon,Estate,and a Orange 1.8 2 door coupe nice cars never spent more than £300 on one ,watch your trunnion's the anti roll bar might be for the GT. Good luck with it I think the Steel Quality was questionable..My 1.8 had electronic ignition on it from Lucas made a difference.
Cheers! We know about the trunnions.
that's got Canadian rust, the good stuff.
Great to see an old classic get some love !! Btw the drums would have come off even easier if you slackened off the adjuster unless it was seized too ? Can’t wait to see it run guys 👍I had a Marina when I was 17 !!
Thanks. The adjusters were seized. We have had heat on them and have got them moving now.
respect for freeing off the brake adjusters. I had get new ones for our MGB and yes getting the drums off was " interesting".
The Marina TC was a lively car, lots of torque and weighed nothing. It also had an MGB ish exhaust note
I hope you can and do restore it 👍
Can’t wait for the next instalment. Sure, if I had a workshop I’d be restoring a Scirocco Mk 1, but the entertainment value is priceless. Unlike the Marina - it’s totally not priceless.
Thank you. I love the Scirocco. I used to have a Corrado VR6 back in the day. I still miss it.
@@crap_car Forgive my advice being offered where it was’t asked for, but most regrets are difficult to do much about (trust me - I have quite the library of them), but that one seems quite a bit simpler than most. Get yourself another one.
@@kellypaws Na, it's ok. We have got many much more difficult projects so it's good to have a not so difficult one.
Down memory lane or what?