Hi to all,

I am planning to start building the car this summer. I was wondering if anyone know's if a Morris Marina 1300, will be a good donor car for the Ron Champion project as I have one sitting in my garage.

night rider

Some Caterhams used an Ital (Nee Marina) back axle. If you don't mind the "power" of a 1300 then you have got the basics in a RWD package. Depends how much work is needed on the parts and what your budget is.

Nooo.
Dogs when new and unlike fine wine won't have improved with age! (Says he who used a Lancia Beta as his donor).
Seriously you have to think about 1) spares availability and 2) if there is the knowledge around to help you when you encounter problems with the build.
That's why its taken best part of an hour for two of us to reply.
However some great cars have come from much less promising donors.
Cheers, Pewe

Don't see wht not, if it's a 1300 A series - a good oldie fitted to midgets sprites, minis etc. Should be no probs with that. If I remember correctly the axle is the same as MGB.
You need to source uprights from Cortina or Sierra, but you could probably use rest of running gear.

I agree the car was a dog, but I don't think there's much wrong with the base components.

The A series engine is well known and understood, and as long as you realise that you will be somewhere in the 60-90 bhp range depending on what mods you make, the Marina will be a decent choice, especially as you already have one

John

a good start if its already in your garage. and i'f you're like me, and into upgrading broken parts rather than just replacing (within reason) then no reason why you can't swap the engine for something a bit more modern etc at a later date

infact I was considering to use only the running gears only ect of the marina, and than I will buy a zetec engine. My big concern is the width of the axle, now i am comparing the measurements of the marina with that of the escort mk 1. Any feed back would be appreciated.

[Edited on 12/5/09 by night rider]

I believe the marlin uses the maina / ital as a donor?

Mk2 Escort axle is 48 inches between brake back plates - it just fits on a 8 by 4 foot ply build board