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| My MarlinPhase one completed | Rate Topic |
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| Posted by Robert: Thu Jan 17th, 2013 15:11 | 1st Post |
| I mentioned a while back about a car I have been restoring, a Marlin 'Kit Car' which I helped a friend build back in 1982. He used it until 1988 when it failed it's roadworthiness test. My friend brought the car back and dumped it in his wood, still on it's trailer. Last Easter I called by and he gave me the car. In June I winched it out of the wood, we loaded it onto a trailer and I put it in storage while I waited for DVLA to decide if they would issue a new registration document. I had to take the car to Carlisle for them to 'inspect' it. About 14th September DVLA told me they would issue a new registration for it. So then I pulled the car apart and set about restoring it. Today I finished stage one of the project. The car is ready to test again just over 24 years later. It's very basic, no windscreen or any other fancy frills but it should pass it's test, I hope! It has taken me about four months to do a total rebuild, chassis, suspension, brakes, steering, engine, transmission, electrics and bodywork. Stage two will be adding luxuries like the windscreen, a roll over hoop, maybe a hood? and generally prep it for Endurance Trialling. Sump guard, stronger rear springs, weaker front springs, etc. I am hoping to have it ready for the Edinburgh Trial in October. I have been invited to take it to Stoneleigh near Kenilworth in Warwickshire to the National Kit Car show, the car is also featured briefly in a leading glossy car mag this month, with a fuller feature to follow once it's on the road. Attachment: Marlin Finished 1.jpg (Downloaded 60 times)
____________________ Robert. |
| Posted by Eric: Thu Jan 17th, 2013 15:18 | 2nd Post |
Robert wrote:I mentioned a while back about a car I have been restoring, a Marlin 'Kit Car' which I helped a friend build back in 1982. He used it until 1988 when it failed it's roadworthiness test. My friend brought the car back and dumped it in his wood, still on it's trailer. Last Easter I called by and he gave me the car. Very nice work Robert. Recommend you keep it under cover in this weather. 
____________________ Eric |
| Posted by Robert: Thu Jan 17th, 2013 16:16 | 3rd Post |
| Thanks Eric, I have a garage now!!! One of my neighbours took pity on me and said I could use theirs. It's a couple of yards further away and the roof needs mending but it's a palace compared with being outside which I was until late November.
____________________ Robert. |
| Posted by Eric: Thu Jan 17th, 2013 17:24 | 4th Post |
Robert wrote:Thanks Eric, I have a garage now!!! One of my neighbours took pity on me and said I could use theirs. It's a couple of yards further away and the roof needs mending but it's a palace compared with being outside which I was until late November. Out of interest, are those exposed wheels and angular arches accepted on the road.....knowing how hyper we are in this country about elf & safety these days?
____________________ Eric |
| Posted by jk: Thu Jan 17th, 2013 17:39 | 5th Post |
| Well done Robert. Does it go for an MOT or is there some other test ?
____________________ Still learning after all these years! https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none |
| Posted by Robert: Thu Jan 17th, 2013 17:59 | 6th Post |
Eric wrote:Robert wrote: Yes, no sharp edges of course, this isn't a new car, it's a 70's impression of a 1930's Alfa Romeo sports car which I have rebuilt and tried to improve along the way, for example the screen frame is solid steel, supposedly a roll over bar but the edges were razor sharp, anybody in collision with that bar would be a goner so I have radiused all the edges to make it safer.
____________________ Robert. |
| Posted by Robert: Thu Jan 17th, 2013 18:10 | 7th Post |
jk wrote:Does it go for an MOT or is there some other test ? In my case just a standard MOT because it's just a re-build but if it were a new kit car it would have to go through an IVA, Individual Vehicle Assessment, which costs circa £300 and has many detailed requirements stated minimum radiuses, a ton of stuff, everything has to be 'E' marked and carry engineers approval like seat belt mounting calculations. Exhaust emissions are another difficult area. There is no way this Marlin could satisfy those regulations, it's too old, although where ever possible I have tried to adopt the principles of the IVA, like radiusing the screen frame. It's been great fun building it but it will be nice to get it on the road.
____________________ Robert. |
| Posted by jk: Thu Jan 17th, 2013 18:13 | 8th Post |
| Well I'm sure that it will sail through! Well done. I guess the windscreen is Plexiglass or the like.
____________________ Still learning after all these years! https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none |
| Posted by Robert: Fri Jan 18th, 2013 04:50 | 9th Post |
| No, not allowed for front glass, has to be laminated, and... perhaps you guessed? E marked! There are specialised suppliers who can do that, cut to my own pattern. There is a deep groove in the frame the glass pushes up into the groove which you fill with silicone sealer, or ordinary putty. Once set it's pretty solid. The problem is the wipers, they will take a lot of fiddling with. Experimenting with different wheel boxes and positions to get the best sweep. Old series II and III Land Rover wipers are said to be best, but it will be very time consuming. Washers will of course be a doodle.
____________________ Robert. |
| Posted by Eric: Fri Jan 18th, 2013 05:45 | 10th Post |
Robert wrote: No, not allowed for front glass, has to be laminated, and... perhaps you guessed? E marked!Couldnt you get Michael to sit alongside and lean out the window with a squeejy on a long stick?  A friend of mine had a Citroen Light15 (maigret car) with running boards and....manual wipers worked off handles inside. We went to Norwich to see his visiting football team play and driving round Norwich ring road in the pouring rain I got repetitive stress injury trying to work both wiper handles. What was more interesting was we were approached twice on the 20miles ring road (when at traffic lights) with people wanting to buy it off him!!! He reckoned that happened wherever he went. So you may have to put up with some 'attention', when its on the road. 
____________________ Eric |
| Posted by Kathy Baker: Fri Jan 18th, 2013 16:46 | 11th Post |
| Well done Robert. I am impressed. It makes me want to work on my old broken sewing machines again.
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| Posted by Robert: Fri Jan 18th, 2013 17:15 | 12th Post |
Go on, be a devil Kathy ! If anybody has an hour or two to spare and want to follow it up much of the story is here: http://www.marlinownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?4224-Progress-to-date It had attracted almost 9,000 views up to now, over 800 in the last week! Unfortunately, unless you register you can't see the images.
____________________ Robert. |
| Posted by blackfox: Fri Jan 18th, 2013 17:45 | 13th Post |
i hope your gonna bring it down here and take me out for a spin round the mountains rob ,we might even get some proper photography in to oh wise one 
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| Posted by Robert: Fri Jan 18th, 2013 18:09 | 14th Post |
| No problem Jeff, Can we let the snow melt first please? I would love to take it over some of the mountain roads in your area, I know there are some good ones but I have never found them. Horseshoe pass is about all I have ever found. It needs local knowledge... The car isn't very big so we might need a shoe horn? It is fun though, and I'm not a maniac driver despite what the boys say. Daddy's a lunatic, is Christopher's favourite saying. He loves very minute even so. :thumbsup:
____________________ Robert. |
| Posted by blackfox: Fri Jan 18th, 2013 18:42 | 15th Post |
| if you think i,m going on a diet just to go in your car think again boyo . yep i do know a few out of the way welsh motorways ,with the grass growing down the middle of the road ,could be fun  yep moel-y-gare for a starter you can see seven counties from up there ,got a couple of local single track lanes round here as well .tons within a few miles in fact BRING YER WELLIES :-O:-O
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| Posted by jk: Fri Jan 18th, 2013 18:49 | 16th Post |
| You might need your spiked wellies Jeff. If the car gets stuck it is the co-driver who gets out to push!
____________________ Still learning after all these years! https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none |
| Posted by Robert: Sat Jan 19th, 2013 04:51 | 17th Post |
| It's got quite good ground clearance at the moment, about 10" under the sump. Although rather less under the diff of course. I love the green lanes, hope you aren't planning that long high bumpy road with boards across and two metal rails up Snowdon? At the moment the Marlin has a Triumph Dolomite 1850 gearbox with overdrive, unfortunately first gear is rather tall, equivalent to a normal second gear, so before I can go 'off roading' I will have to attend to that. I am planning to fit the standard gears from the original box but have put jobs like that off until the car has passed it's test. It's been a challenge enough to do what I have in four months, my strategy has been to do what has to be done to satisfy the test, unless it's fundamental, then once the test is passed, pull the car apart again and do it properly. It will no doubt be a continuous rolling development as my rally cars were.
____________________ Robert. |
| Posted by Robert: Sat Feb 2nd, 2013 04:23 | 18th Post |
The Marlin passed it's MOT (roadworthiness test) it can be registered for the road now.  It was a long drawn out test, took 2 1/2 hrs instead of the usual 40 minutes, but we got there with the help of a very positive examiner. One of the difficulties we had to overcome was the data entry on the DVLA computer system, the examiner hadn't done a non registered car before but together we sussed it! We actually got to create the entry for the car from scratch.
____________________ Robert. |
| Posted by jk: Sat Feb 2nd, 2013 05:30 | 19th Post |
Robert wrote: The Marlin passed it's MOT (roadworthiness test) it can be registered for the road now. Well done Robert.Now you need to start manufacture!! Maybe UK can reduce its national debt by producing high quality engineering goods again.
____________________ Still learning after all these years! https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none |
| Posted by Eric: Sat Feb 2nd, 2013 10:26 | 20th Post |
| That's really good news, Robert. Betcha pleased?
____________________ Eric |
| Posted by Squarerigger: Sat Feb 2nd, 2013 11:39 | 21st Post |
| Well done Robert. Quite an accomplishment. I hope you get many hours of pleasure showing it off around the country side.
____________________ -------------------------------------------- Gary |
| Posted by Robert: Sat Feb 2nd, 2013 14:17 | 22nd Post |
| And relieved! Once I have it registered I will be down your way! I will have a quick tour round to run the engine in a bit and get used to the car.
____________________ Robert. |
| Posted by blackfox: Sat Feb 2nd, 2013 17:38 | 23rd Post |
| well done rob ,mine passed its mot on monday as well ,the most terrifying part of the year if your on a fixed pension
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