UltraWomble

1978 Red Morris Marina 1.3 L Saloon 4dr Petrol Manual (69 bhp) for sale for £4,075 in HOUNSLOW, BOROUGH OF HOUNSLOW (autotrader.co.uk)

£4,075

I bet it doesn't 

I bet it doesn't 

Marketing always wins. You only have to look at any VW Golf to realise that.
 
Have we had the Ford Ka, yet?
Horrific things. Badly made, rattly shit heaps with a terrible interior and an engine that seemed to be from the 1930s.  It's as if someone had a bet at Ford that they could create a smaller version of the truly awful Escort of that era, yet somehow do the seemingly impossible and actually make it worse. If ever a car was built down to a price, rather than up to any standard at all , it was the Ka.
Pile (of shit) it high, sell them cheap.

What Hill Will You Die On for your opinion but other motorists think is wrong:
THE ROVER K-SERIES METRO/100 WAS UTTER SHIT AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH BETTER THAN WHAT IT WAS.
IT DESERVED TO DIE AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN KILLED OFF MUCH EARLIER.
The A series mini Metro/ Metro was an adequate BLARG offering for the time,  in an ideal world the bean counters would have fitted it with normal suspension rather than hydrolastic/hydragas  and someone shoudl really have tried harder to come up with a 5 speed option rather than the overly tall 4th gear. But considering when it was designed and how quickly it went into production against established small cars like the Fiesta and Polo, it was OK.
Grease nipples remained a part of weekend fettling, as was checking the dash pot had a bit of oil in it and going around the car treating rust blebs before they became bigger blebs the size of a subframe. It was still a car with 1950's technology and people who bought them for the most part understood this. Fast wind to 1991 and the K series Metro...

The K series engine, good on paper but not quite as good IRL. A small coolant leak quickly led to the head gasket failing and in some cases completely knackering the engine. OK, not the end of the world, but something that should have been better from the outset, as was the use of plastic locator dowels and bolts that went riiiiiight through the block to  attach the head. Dont get me wrong the K series when looked after and with an adequate coolant system can be a really good engine, Lotus used them for a while. The thing that really really really pisses me off about the K series Metro/100 was teh build quality.
Essentially  Metro Mk2 with some facelifts both inside and out but with no attention paid to the actual build quality.

In the early 1990's  customers were starting to get used to cars with decent prep and rust prevention from new, so that they were not the proud* owner of a pile of rust on wheels by 6 years old.  Despite Rover being able to make a 200/25 bubble with reasonable build quality, they somehow bypassed this on the Metro and examples 4 and 5 years old were rusting badly and failing MOT tests - for this reason alone is why I hate with a passion the K series Rover Metro/100.
No matter how good a new/sorted 1400 16v feels driving the whole of the underlying car remains frankly a let down with a clocks shared with the LDV vans of the time.
I dont expect to sway anyone with my opinion or change theirs if they only see the K with rose tinted spectacles, in the same way that cars I loved and still do are undoubtedly utter shit. However its my opinion and I shall DIE ON THIS HILL.
 
 
Over to you...

1978 Red Morris Marina 1.3 L Saloon 4dr Petrol Manual (69 bhp) for sale for £4,075 in HOUNSLOW, BOROUGH OF HOUNSLOW (autotrader.co.uk)

£4,075

1978 Red Morris Marina 1.3 L Saloon 4dr Petrol Manual (69 bhp) for sale for £4,075 in HOUNSLOW, BOROUGH OF HOUNSLOW (autotrader.co.uk)

£4,075

Summer Sundays are just around the corner

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226093026233?itmmeta=01HVH8SP6VBBZJH2FAGZXZZJD4&hash=item34a431cbb9:g:qiAAAOSwvTtmHDGI

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1088775955532382/?ref=browse_tab&referral_code=marketplace_top_picks&referral_story_type=top_picks

Misspelt Xsara wagon, £750... actually looks like a decent workhorse for the money.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/7593658884010541

1978 Red Morris Marina 1.3 L Saloon 4dr Petrol Manual (69 bhp) for sale for £4,075 in HOUNSLOW, BOROUGH OF HOUNSLOW (autotrader.co.uk)

£4,075

1978 Red Morris Marina 1.3 L Saloon 4dr Petrol Manual (69 bhp) for sale for £4,075 in HOUNSLOW, BOROUGH OF HOUNSLOW (autotrader.co.uk)

£4,075

1978 Red Morris Marina 1.3 L Saloon 4dr Petrol Manual (69 bhp) for sale for £4,075 in HOUNSLOW, BOROUGH OF HOUNSLOW (autotrader.co.uk)

£4,075

505 GTI Manuel estate seen at Goodwood yesterday no price but a phone number in window 
(resolution on here blurs the number so message me if you want it)
 

Never seen a 75 with this colour interior before, I quite like it 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166711131187

Let’s face it. We (this forum) are a minority. Most people aren’t that interested in cars other than the convenience of getting from A to B (or B&Q), without going via C and D  and smelling other people’s BO.
They prefer internet connectivity to handling  and cup holders to performance. 
Brand snobs are even worse. They pretend they know about cars but they wouldn’t know a 118d from an M3, all they know is their BMW is better (I.e more expensive) than your Ford.

Today friend visited so we could finish the work on other friend's white Rover. All done and dusted, time for it to head out and possibly be replaced with another car, we shall see. Visiting friend did mention the little oil spots all over the drive where the Princess parked and had a giggle about it so we had a look to see just what we think is leaking.

Number one culprit is the phenolic spacer on the mechanical fuel pump. These was an issue when the O Series was a new thing, many a Marina has been plagued by it. I need to pull off the pump (just two bolts, no hardship) and fit some new gaskets, going to try cork instead of paper this time to hopefully cure it. Just tightening the bolts doesn't actually cure the leak, instead it can make it worse if you overtighten especially if you managed to crack the spacer. It's not a huge leak, just one that collects in the casting beneath the pump and then leads to a hot oil smell.

Number two culprit is the gasket at the bottom of the filler neck tube. Since I have the later iteration of the O series in FWD application, I have a filler neck tube that puts the oil in at the bottom of the block instead of the filler neck built into the cambox cover. I've had to wait for enough oil to accumulate on the front of the block to highlight this one after cleaning everything down to be sure, but now I can see it's the highest point of the oil leak in that area I know what to fix. Another fresh cork gasket here should solve things for a few months to a year before needing to be replaced.

Number three culprit is less clear. Some of the waterpump bolts are a bit oily, not all, and it's not very clear where the oil is actually coming from. It's not the speedo cable or the oil filter this time, so those leaks appear to be cured. It could be coming from further up, perhaps the camshaft, I'm not sure. It also has a bit of oil collecting at the front corner of the head-to-block gasket seam but since I've still got good compression across the board and no mixing of oil and water I think this is actually leaking from somewhere else and finding the path of least resistance rather than OMGHGF.

Number four is suspected to be the sump gasket itself. However, this could also be any of the above leaks finding their way to the lowest point of the engine and making it look like the sump gasket is leaking. Or it could be both.

We also chatted about materials cost and did some rough planning for getting the paintwork done. It seems the most sensible thing is to start with the roof and satin black sections first since they can be fully separated from the rest of the bodywork with no need for blending. This also means I can break the cost down a bit, I need a new windscreen so it would be good to get the roof painted with that removed, may also remove the rear screen if we feel we can risk the rear screen seal which is fully unobtanium.

I'll also tackle all of the door shuts and probably the engine bay with good quality rattle cans because there's not a lot of surface area and again, colour matching and blending isn't vital because of the nature of the areas, most of it needs to be plain black with the exception of the engine bay which I want to be pink.

After that we can do the rest of the bodywork. Friend is keen to see it done mostly because he's a good egg who knows how much the car means to me and how hamstrung I've been to get it sorted. £500 should be enough to get all the materials and then it's down to us to do a metric poopload of prep and welding and sanding and sanding and sanding and sanding and a little bit more sanding with some extra sanding just for fun before we do the sanding.

It's had another sticker put on last week,saying it'll.be removed if it's still here in 7 days 🤞

New drop links fitted, knocking sorted!

Today I set about giving it a quick clean just to see what we’re working with really. 

Issues I’ve found so far:
Front end knock over bumps - advisory for drop link, pair of Febi’s ordered and due here tomorrow. 
 
Blower motor doesn’t sound very happy, sounds like it’s catching on something. Plan to remove it, check it, fix or replace.
Seats are hanging, they’ve had kids in the back and there’s all sorts spilt on them. I’ll either wet vac them or if I can find one being broken, I may even just replace all the seats.
Overall though I’m very happy. I honestly think just by washing and hoovering it and taking half decent pics I could advertise it now and double my money. 
 
The damage is a real shame as it’s a lovely car but it’s just not worth repairing. Touching it I think would make it look worse, probably best to just embrace it!

Collected it last night, stuck 3 hours insurance on it for £11 and made it the 30 min drive back from Norwich.
First impressions? Decent. Auto box is smooth, it runs/idles lovely, cabin is very basic but I look at this shape and see it as a brand new car still. £550 seems mental. 
 

This will be a short term project so going to start a thread rather than cluttering up my ‘Current long term car’ diary thread.
So, after the shit storm of Corsa B to roffle ownership it got me in the mood for another project after the bargain Volvo last year. 
 
Had a look on FB marketplace and stumbled across a 2010 new* shape Seat Ibiza. Pretty poor photos, unwashed, unhoovered, just a lazy effort but I could see potential. 
 
So what do we have on offer here? 
 
2010 ‘60 plate Seat Ibiza ‘Sport’
1.6 Pez, N/A, chain driven.  
7 speed DSG
ULEZ friendly 
134k with full stamped history from new, only missing this year as it’s due now.

MOT’d last month, runs until 19/03/2025
2 keys
Whats wrong with it? The main thing is NSR quarter, they scraped a post in a car park. Unrecorded. Air con isn’t very cold.
It was up for £750, I threw a cheeky £500 offer and they replied £600, we met at £550. 
Here are the advert photos:
 
 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/299834132998981/


 
Yes
That was a Suzuki Carry flatbed

They were a real thing.  694 of them, produced 1960-67.   The 2CV 4x4 Sahara