Mk3 Morris Marina - in the wild

[kilroy]

Maybe some of you more experienced types could help here..

Its winter down here in New Zealand.
Where I live in Lyttelton, we get off pretty lightly, but we have our first dusting of snow..



No great shakes - but the air temp has plummeted. Makes it most uncomfortable working on cars outside in the yard, but as I don't have a convenient garage - thats how it is.

But thats not the problem.

Last night I fitted the remaining two pistons and rods into the new 2 litre block. For some inexplicable reason, the inner edge of the ring compressor caught the end of the second compression ring, and neatly snapped about half an inch off. I felt it go...

But thats not the problem.

I had another set of new pistons so I borrowed a ring and finished the job..



.. which got me to the point of needing the sump.
Now the part of rebuilding engines that I really dislike, is cleaning all the crappy old stuff. The sump has to be the worst - and this one had sat attached to a gungey old 1700 - in a car - in a field - for 9 years, so it was worst than most..!

But thats not the problem.

I looked at the ghastly sump this morning - where it lay outside in the grass - in a corner reserved for nasty sh*t - and thought - if there's just one thing I get done today - cleaning that sh*tter has to be it.
In the freezing air.
Outside.

But thats not the problem.

I used kerosine - rags - a chisel - a wire brush - stainless wool.
My hands were frozen - but I was determined to get this boring task over with.
With total lack of sensation in my fingers, it was only when I saw the blood that I discovered I had seriously wire brushed my fingers.
I thought - thats gonna hurt when they thaw out..!

But thats not the problem.

Scene of the crime..



I put some gloves on.
It aint gonna beat me..!
I ran out of kerosine - and most of the rags - and found that the drain plug was stripped. Fortunately it was just the plug - and the thread in the sump was good.

But thats not the problem.

Despite the pain, I finally got to having a really clean sump - and most of the paint was intact - and I was easily able to flatten out the buckled bits where previous owners had overtightened the sump bolts.

But thats not the problem.

This is the problem.

Today is my girlfriends birthday.
We were going to meet for a cosy brunch downtown.
I was doing battle with a sump, and I forgot..

Now I'm in very..

.. VERY


.. deep..



doo-doos..!



Any suggestions..?

[sparko]

OOOOOOOOOOO sucks to be you!

Just say you were cleaning the sump in the morning and sliced your fingers open and had to go to hostpital to get them stitched back up.
Keep them under bandages for a while untill she forgets.

Job done

[kilroy]

Ummm

Without being impolite at all..
If you consider some of the other things I do with my fingers - I think she might notice the lack of stitches..?

Next plan..?

[DutyFreeSaviour]

- now that rings a bell......

I was just honest and showed her the state I was in..... apologised and told her I already had something else planned but didn't want to ruin the surprise..... leading to
creeping my way out of it by booking a swanky place a couple of days later and then played the 'it's the closest to your birthday they had free' card. -

Was on best bahaviour for a while though!

EDIT - Just seen your computer work - the same reason I have my Triumphs - nice to fix something and see the difference sitting there in front of you

[Seth]

Didn't she want a clean sump for her birthday?

[kilroy]

the same reason I have my Triumphs

Dude.
They 2 wheeled or 4 wheeled..?

homepages.ihug.co.nz/~kilroy/Bikesindex.htm

You could be on the right track - I'm looking for a way through with this premise...

Seth, my friend - actually - she does want a clean sump - she is in fact - very appreciative of the work I am doing on her car - especially as it is the potentially best engine I have yet produced - and she is potentially a petrol-head..!
I'm hoping to turn her head with horsepower - and will promise to add the soon-to-be engineered extractors and weber - so that she can give the 'boys' a nasty scare at the lights - this does appeal to her...

I am finding a path somewhere between these approaches - and I thank you all for your suggestions.
I did feel that this particular experience was worth sharing - I'm sure that I am not the first retro-rider to find themselves in a similar position - albeit with such a humble ride as a Marina.
I shall appeal to her humanitarian values - with the added spice of an exciting motor forthcoming...
I'll let you know how it goes...

Go well Brothers...

[kilroy]

WOOT..!

All is as it should be.
Thanks all for the suggestions - I did the full humble trip, and it paid off.

Cost me a weekend in a place with snow...



.. and food..



.. but that got me all sweet and back to the car today - so I was able to take the new 2 litre block..



.. and mate it to the newly repaired BW65..



.. and bung it into the hurriedly cleaned engine bay of 'BBK'..



.. then add a few more rather necessary bits..



.. at which point play was ceased due to lack of daylight.
I did manage to fit the battery, and crank the motor until the oil light went off - always a good sign - and it has water - but I have yet to add oil to the carb dashpot, and tighten the exhaust flange joints - so there are a few small items to attend to tomorrow before I can start it.
Also found a little fuel at the base of the carb - so I may have to remove the base plate and reface it if the leak persists.
The motor will be run in with the standard carb and manifolds, after which I intend to have new manifolds made for extractor and 45mm weber.
Currently using standard Princess 2000 cam as the reground cam needed new shims to be made, and I have not yet found someone who can do this.
I think that in future I will adopt a far more radical approach to cam profiles if I am going to have to have shims made etc.
Might as well get max mileage for the nuisance factor.

Love this stuff..!

Chiz.

[Colonelk]

Just read this whole thread. Excellent excellent stuff, and top parts re-appropriation with the ford pistons

Love the whole lot.

[kilroy]

Cheers Dood.

Love the avatar..!
Clever stuff.
Funny what you can find to fit where...
The device that you can see on the side of the 2 litre block covering the oil filter aperture is a timer knob from a washing machine.
It just sorta clipped on there and was perfect for masking while spray painting the block.
Guess one should patent such a thing.
But then I suppose there's a whole sh**load of stuff one should do...

Me - I just look for the easy road...

[kilroy]

Howdy all.

Just a small progress report from the far side of the planet.
The new 2 litre lump is performing very well - just loving the extra torque available.
Had to rip the entire dash out to fix a few small probs and plumb in various speakers - gotta have the sound ya know...

Small admission.
Was drifting about with my baby checking out some really old and photogenic buildings in the city.
There was an area with heaps of wrecked cars, and Dudes working on them - who took an immediate interest in the sight of the Marina.
Unable to keep the testosterone in check - and despite only having 150k's on the new block - I floored it and got things spinning.
At this point the throttle cable detached itself from the carb - so the excitement was very brief.
I used the choke (god bless manual chokes..) to keep some forward motion, and we limped a few blocks to a friends place to borrow tools and repair the bleedin cable..!
Do I look silly..?
Just thought I'd share that.
Its all up from here..

Pics to follow.

[marinanut]

kilroy said:

At this point the throttle cable detached itself from the carb - so the excitement was very brief.
I used the choke (god bless manual chokes..) to keep some forward motion, and we limped a few blocks to a friends place to borrow tools and repair the bleedin cable..!
Do I look silly..?
Just thought I'd share that.
Its all up from here..

I've done that at a car show....just after I'd been praising the reliability of the cars.....

[kilroy]

Yo all

Got Red's 2 litre mostly sorted, so we hit town last night for a few photos.
Swapped cars several times - so same, yet so different. The 2 litre just wants to fly - the 1700 has much firmer suspension and w-a-y superior brakes.
Gotta get to the bottom of that now...

We live in the port which is at the end of a 1.5k tunnel - brilliant atmosphere for photos - but despite several runs - just couldn't get the shot..!
Well - not without risking serious mayhem - as we were both driving and using cameras..
Will try that again with a dedicated camera person methinks.

Forgive the pic heaviness..

Kilroy & Red


















Woot..!

[michiel]

WOOT indeed, awesome pics!

[TerraRoot]

"forgive the pic heaviness" ??

boy you have not been here long! excellent car's btw

[grizz]

Thanks for the pics again.

My fave, I think.

[Marc]

Excellent pics, excellent cars, excellent thread.

Thoroughly enjoying this one dude! ;D

[Rob]

Brilliant - lovely cars ! Very jealous -

Good work !

[Oldbus]

To be honest i never liked Marinas...until i saw your blue Estate, nice one!!

Welcome aboard.

[onlyrwd]

My uncle had a yellow estate when I was a kid, never liked them even back then...

But seeing what can be done with the stick and a set of rims how much better they look I seem to be changing my mind.. nice one

[kilroy]

More stuff.

Today I finally started the suspension mods on BBK.
Now the horsepower situation is a bit more respectable - the handling is being reviewed in a more critical light.
The majority of Marina Mk3 saloons over here have 2 leaf rear springs. Coupled with the standard 19mm torsion bars, they have a fairly soft ride, and hence were much improved by the monster 7/8" anti roll bar.
However - the estates and the vans had heavier 21mm torsion bars, and 4 leaf springs - with the van having a thicker gauge spring than the estate.
So - its real easy to mix and match to get whatever combination you need to give the required effect.
I'm going to use estate (also offered as a HD option for saloons) rear springs, and the bigger torsion bars - as well as front and rear ARB to give a firmer ride and less body roll.
There's no doubt - in standard form, the estate handles much better than the saloon - so it will be interesting to see what estate suspension feels like in the saloon.



Out with the lowered 2 leaf, and quickfit the lowered (2") 4 leaf...



Also taking the opportunity to replace the rear brake shoes and the shocks. Keen to test the difference.
Next step will be the torsion bars...