1971–1984 including the Ital · drums or discs decides every brake part · and we have the chassis numbers
The brake split is the single most useful fact about this car. At launch, specification followed trim and engine: De-luxe 1.3 cars on drums all round, Super De-luxe and TC 1.8 cars on front discs, and servo assistance on the TC only. The owners’ club puts the end of it plainly: pre-October 1975 1.3 models were fitted with drums all round; later models have front discs. The trade parts catalogue agrees from the other direction — front brake shoes are listed only for April 1971 to September 1975 and then stop. The disc, when fitted, is 9.78in (248mm).
Marina brakes are Girling. The clutch may not be. Girling single-circuit, tandem and servo master cylinders throughout, and Girling front calipers. But the clutch hydraulics are mixed — the catalogue carries Lockheed slave cylinders alongside a nylon hose marked “use only with Girling”. Identify the clutch side before ordering it.
And here are the chassis numbers, which almost no other car in our range has published. Front wheel cylinders on the drum-braked 1.1 and 1.3: 19.0mm bore up to chassis 172478 (1971–72), then 22.2mm from 172479 through 302537 (1972–73) and on from 302538 (1973–75). Rear wheel cylinders split by whether the car is drum/drum or disc/drum — 15.9mm on disc/drum 1971–72, 17.5mm on disc/drum from October 1972, 17.5mm then 19.0mm on drum/drum — and again by 7cwt versus 10cwt van and pick-up. On the Ital, front brake hoses split at V.701889 / V.701990 and van and pick-up clutch nylon hoses at 730165 / 730166.
The body rubber is unusually simple, with two exceptions. The front door aperture seal is one part for saloon, estate, van and pick-up across Mk1, Mk2, Mk3 and Ital — thirteen years, one seal. The rear door glass weather seal and both window channel kits likewise do not split at all. The two that do: the boot lid seal is a three-way split — Marina saloon, Marina coupé, and Ital are three different parts — and the front door glass weather seal changes at Mk3, so Mk1 and Mk2 take one part and Mk3 and Ital another. The rear door aperture seal splits saloon versus estate, which is what you would expect. Perished windscreen rubbers are the named fault on these cars, with coupé rear screen rubbers close behind, and the leak leads straight to the sills, headlamp areas and wheel arches.
Suspension changed three times. The launch front geometry gave no camber change in roll and heroic understeer; roughly 30,000 cars were built before the front uprights were corrected on the line by September 1971. 1975 (Mk2) brought anti-roll bars front and rear on saloons and coupés, and uprated dampers and leaf springs on vans and estates. 1982–83 on the Ital, the lever-arm front dampers were replaced by telescopics and parabolic rear springs fitted.
The Ital is a facelift, not a new car. July 1980 to August 1984, 175,276 built, and all of the Ital’s front body panels are interchangeable with the Marina’s. Saloon, five-door estate, two-door pick-up and van — no coupé. Built at Cowley 1980–82 and Longbridge 1982–84. And the name is marketing, not a design credit: Harris Mann did the restyling; Giugiaro’s Ital Design studio did the production engineering.
The Minor connection, correctly stated. The Marina’s front suspension geometry is closely derived from the Morris Minor’s — derived from, not identical to. In practice the traffic runs the other way: Marina brakes and suspension are the standard Minor front disc upgrade, and the trade sells a single brake disc catalogued as Marina / Minor. We stock both ends of that job.
Morris Marina — specification & changes within the model
- Drums or discs — ask the engine and the trim
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De-luxe 1.3: drums all round. Super De-luxe and TC 1.8: front discs. TC only: servo. Pre-October 1975 1.3 cars are drums all round; later cars have front discs. Disc size 9.78in (248mm).
- Chassis numbers, front wheel cylinders (drum cars)
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19.0mm to chassis 172478 (1971–72) · 22.2mm from 172479 to 302537 (1972–73) · 22.2mm from 302538 (1973–75).
- Chassis numbers, Ital
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Front brake hoses split at V.701889 / V.701990. Van and pick-up clutch nylon hoses at 730165 / 730166.
- Brake and clutch makers
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Brakes are Girling — master cylinders and front calipers. Clutch hydraulics are mixed: Lockheed slave cylinders are catalogued alongside a Girling-only nylon hose. Identify before ordering.
- Body rubber — what splits and what does not
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Front door aperture seal: one part, every model, 1971–1984. Rear door glass seal and window channel kits: no split. Boot lid seal: three parts — saloon, coupé, Ital. Front door glass weather seal changes at Mk3. Rear door aperture seal splits saloon versus estate.
- Suspension, three changes
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By Sep 1971 — front uprights corrected after about 30,000 cars. 1975 (Mk2) — anti-roll bars front and rear; uprated dampers and springs on vans and estates. 1982–83 (Ital) — telescopic front dampers replace lever arms, parabolic rear springs.
- Engines
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1098 A-series to 1973, vans only. 1275 A-series 1971–1984. 1798 B-series 1971–1978, the TC twin-carb version related to the MGB unit. 1489 B-series diesel 1977–1980, export only, 3,870 built. 1695 O-series from 1978, 1994 O-series on late Itals.
- New Zealand
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Assembled here 1972–1981 — a year later at each end than Britain’s 1971–1980 — at Dominion Motors’ Panmure plant, Auckland.
- Not claimed
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Earth polarity. We will not guess it. No marque club, period road test or factory document we would stand behind states positive or negative earth for this car. Nominal voltage we can give you — and it is worth saying that the Morris Minor was 12 volt from the first car in 1948 to the last in 1971. Check the car before you order anything polarity-sensitive. 12 volt is confirmed. Sources also disagree on the launch brake split: one divides it by trim level, another by engine, and the parts catalogue supports the engine reading. Both can be true if the 1.3 was only ever sold in De-luxe trim — but no source says that, so ask for the trim level and the engine. Ital launch date is given as June or July 1980 depending on the source. Australian and South African cars used E-series fours and a 2.6 E6 six that are in no British parts book.
