marina and minor axles and diffs

Post by **cormorant** » Tue May 19, 2009 4:13 pm

Hi folks can the Marina diff be fitted in a Minor axle housing? Failing that can the complete Marina axle be used and if so, what mods does it need?

Many thanks

Post by **Matt** » Tue May 19, 2009 4:37 pm

marina diff does not go in the minor axle without significant mods

I believe the spring mountings on a marina axle are slightly different but its not a hard fit. The wheel stud pattern is also different (4 x 3.75")

Tue May 19, 2009 9:05 pm

you will also need a new prop shaft as the noses of the minor and marina are different lengths.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Tue May 19, 2009 10:08 pm

Why do you ask ? Pretty major swap to fit a different axle. If you want lower revs - best to search for a 3.7 diff ex Spridget - which fits right in the standard casing.

Post by **cormorant** » Tue May 19, 2009 10:12 pm

I have a noisy diff and a complete and good Marina on offer. Car is daily use and can't go off the road for any length of time, so I am looking at all the available options to do the change over to Marina power and other bits, brakes etc without losing the use of the car.

Post by **d_harris** » Tue May 19, 2009 10:17 pm

If you have a complete marina then please dont just cannibalise it and scrap it. Marinas are now much sought after. It may be that someone at the marina club could offer you all the bits in exchange for the car and another classic vehicle could be kept roadworthy

Post by **bmcecosse** » Tue May 19, 2009 10:22 pm

Quite a job to swop Marina bits to Minor!! Good luck with that. You certainly won't do it without having the car off the road - for at least some time ! Noisy diff - maybe just need oil (EP 90) in the back axle ?? Otherwise - plenty of standard diffs about - for not much money either. It's just the rarer 3.9 and 3.7 diffs that attract good money.

Post by **cormorant** » Tue May 19, 2009 10:35 pm

Well I am hoping I can do all the safety related stuff first i.e. brakes and poly bushes and prepare all the Marina engine stuff at my leisure, then hopefully do a swap fairly quickly. Could go off road for a week if I had to. Might look for a 3.9 diff, no the axle is well topped up thanks. The diff is not too noisy but will need doing, I,m just trying to plan ahead as far as possible.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Tue May 19, 2009 10:45 pm

Well - the front brakes are not a straight swop either - and if you use marina hubs - then you need to use marina wheels - which look ghastly on a Minor!

Post by **cormorant** » Tue May 19, 2009 10:51 pm

I think there is a conversion though to retain the standard Minor wheels or alloy 14" Minorites ?

Post by **bmcecosse** » Tue May 19, 2009 10:56 pm

Oh yes - all things are possible - if you have deep enough pockets!

Post by **cormorant** » Tue May 19, 2009 11:02 pm

Hi Dan The Marina in question by the way is completely rotten but good mechanicals. If I go ahead I will try and recycle any good bits I don't need

Post by **d_harris** » Tue May 19, 2009 11:30 pm

Rotten or not, please please please offer the remains on here:

http://www.fastmarinamagazine.com/

its where the marina guys hang out...

Wed May 20, 2009 8:24 am

your pockets do not need to be that "deep" to change the stud pattern on the front hubs i think ESM charge about 20quid per hub to convert to the minor stud pattern. If you change the front stud pattern you will also need to change the rear axle stud pattern as well and drill out the rear drums to suit the new stud pattern.

As bmc says 13inch wheels do not in the opinion of many people ( including mine ) suit the minor. One option is to retain the ital stud pattern and find some other wheels that fit eg mgf alloys.. if you like steel wheels mgf sapce savers / apparently they are the same as montego steel wheels are 14inch and will fit.

as for swapping the marina rear axle now and then at a later date swapping in the engine / box etc you will need different prop shafts each time and budget around 130 quid per time so it probably cheaper to get your minor axle fixed.

As for doing the engine / box swap in a week... best of british is all i can say.. do not get me wrong it is fairly straight forward but i think a week is asking a lot... no doubt someone will be along now to say they did it in a weekend.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Wed May 20, 2009 11:10 am

Yes - MGF alloys are cheap (in England!) and fit nicely on Marina hubs - and look great on the car. The rear axle drilling needs to include the half shaft flanges too - as well as hubs and drums.
Engine swap - using the Minor box - will be ok in a day - but if changing the box to something else - that will certainly take longer.

Wed May 20, 2009 2:49 pm

but why would you want to swap to a marina engine and axle but leave the moggy gear box sitting in the middle of it... seems a bit like half a job and he does say he has a complete marina so assumed he would want to do the whole job.

Post by **bmcecosse** » Wed May 20, 2009 6:05 pm

Aye - but fitting the Marina box is not so easy - extensive clutch mods and quite a squeeze to get it between the chassis legs. And the prop shaft to worry about too.

Post by **cormorant** » Wed May 20, 2009 7:08 pm

Ah well thanks for that info, discs don't seem too bad then but I didn't know the Marina box was difficult. I was wondering as a lot of people either seem to retain the 1098 box or fit the 1275 with a Ford 5 speed conversion. However pockets not that deep just now

Post by **bmcecosse** » Wed May 20, 2009 7:54 pm

If you feel the discs are necessary - then they are realtively easy insatllation in themselves - but you need to budget for a new master cylinder (a little seal needs removing from the master when using dioscs- and disturbing the old seals can lead to problems) and some use a remote high level filler tank - and some find the brake pedal so heavy they need a servo fitted! The cost can add up. The 1275 engine swop is not too difficult - although the flywheel from the outgoing 1098 engine will need to be slightly modified for use with the 1275 crank.

Wed May 20, 2009 9:13 pm

If you are going to retain the minor gearbox you might as well retain the minor rear axle, many people do and find it works fine.. the money you will save on doing the mods to the rear axle ( stud pattern ) and the prop shaft mods could be spent on curing your noisy axle.

It will also make the final swap from minor to marina engines a lot easier.

fitting the marina box is relatively straight forward until you come to fit the hydraulic clutch.. if the ford type 9 also has a hydraulic clutch you will have the same problems.