Mike's Cabrio Build

[Peterx]

Re: Mike's Cabrio Build

Well done Mike. Carpets and seats look great, your on a roll now!!
Woolies is the place for SS dome head screws and countersunk raised washers.
...peter

[Mike]

Re: Mike's Cabrio Build

Building a kit car is a real roller coaster.

This weekend I prepared the fuel tank to go back in, adding some support strips for the boot floor, and gluing the rubber liners onto the support straps.


Tank and Heat Shield Supports.jpg


It all went back in very easily.

Next on the list was the exhaust. When I removed it, the exhaust was mounted on rubber bobbins which were showing signs of perishing, and that led me to think about their possible failure. If one, and then likely both failed how could I limp my car back home? I decided using rubber rings would be a better method for supporting my exhaust. They are likely to be far more durable, and if they do fail its easy to use a bit of wire to act as a temporary exhaust carrier to get me home.

So I made a new bracket to attach rubber rings to and began marking the chassis, ready for drilling. I could see one of the holes would come close to the copper return fuel line (you are ahead of me already..........), so thought I'd be careful, and not push the drill through too far. I know better than that.............and yet I still did it. The drill bit grabs the last vestiges of the hole and pulls itself through, nicking the fuelline on the way past! Oh b****r! This is the fuel line that has its p-clips bolted into the seat recess that I have just carpeted over! Argggggh! The roller coaster is going down...........


.....but hold on, have I ruptured the pipe - maybe not - I'd have to run some petrol through it to see. Maybe I'd been lucky?


Next up - add petrol, and calibrate the fuel guage as I did it. A good idea, but the Marlin tank is not flat bottomed - it needs to slope forward to the outlet, and of course I had added a 2 litre sump to avoid fuel starvation. So the first 2 litres was never going to register on the guage.

The problem was the next 10 litres barely registered on the guage either! Now going down pretty quick.........

At this stage I did not want to add any more in case the return fuel line was ruptured, and I'd have to drain it all down again. So I decided I'd test the fuel circuit - I'd try running the fuel pump.
Its a long story, but I was not certain the fuel pump would run without adding an earth to the fuel pump relay - we had tested it and never found an earth from the ECU.

More in hope than expectation I tried the starter, and it fired up! - Whoooh!......hit the bottom. ans started to shoot up rapidly .........but its bound to stop when its used its fuel in the rail?.........but no......... it continued...........now reraching great heights! Yeahhhhh!

It turns out the ECU provides an earth for around 3 seconds to the fuel pump relay to allow it to prime the fuel rail, and then stops Which is why we could not detect the earth - we were too slow!). Then a crank position sensor takes over. So if the crank is moving the ECU gives the fuel pump relay an earth.
In the event of an accident, and the engine stops, and the earth to the fuel pump relay cuts out.
As an added safety measure, I've included an inertia switch (from a Metro) to cut the fuel pump off in the event of an impact too.

Now the embarrasing bit - I mentioned before I thought my fuel pump was noisey - I even went as far as sending it back to Sytec for them to check it.
Well this time, when my engine continued to run, I thought I'd listen to the pump running. It was really quiet. It turns out the noise I'd previously heard was not the pump at all, but a servo valve in the air intake system!!! Silly me!!


Then some more good news - I re-connected my dash and found the Rev counter appeared to be working, tick over at 700rpm seemed reasonable - why do I sound so surprised? I wonder if the speedo works too? Selected 5th gear (my car is on chassis stands) ans sure enough it was showing 25mph at 1,000rpm, spot on ........really at the top of the ride now...........


With the engine running, and knowing the revs I could test the noise levels for IVA - it has to be 99db or less. My cheapo meter suggested I am at 98db/99db, so I'm right on the limit - bit disappointing really..starting top go down again. However, this was whilst my car was inside my garage with the exhaust pointing out the door, so I'm hoping that when I my car off its stands, and bring it out into the open, I may get a lower reading?

Next disappointment came from the temperature guage - it had only reached 90C when it all started to boil. Double b****r! Why hadn't the fan kicked in as well? Water and steam, and I'm in free fall.....................
However, it turned out I'd only put a 10 amp fuse back in the fan circuit, so it had blown immediately, so it was an easy fix. But the gauge still reads too low, and I'll have to do something about that - which is annoying as I'd calibrated the sender/guage off the car.............Harumph! But at least it was giving a reading - the oil pressure guage resolutely failed to move off zero! Another one to check out. Back to earth................

What ride!
It has to be a great day when you start up a 6 cylinder and hear it purr away beautifully!

[dcunn]

Re: Mike's Cabrio Build

So in summary as usual despite the frustrations/annoyances you're making definite steps, well done.

Cheers DC

[Mike]

Re: Mike's Cabrio Build

Downloaded, and then printed the latest version of the IVA manual tonight - it took 55 minutes to print all 299 pages - plenty of bed time reading for the next few nights!

[Mike]

Re: Mike's Cabrio Build

How long can it take to fit one nut?....................TWO AND A HALF HOURS!!!

As my seat belts are fixed to both sides to the seast, the seat mountings to my chassis floor need to be particularly strong. I made a set of load spreader plates from 40x5mm flat steel bar for all 8 seat fixings, and with my son's help began fitting them.
We were able to locate and fit the nuts into the front runners and screw the bolt up into them quite easily, but the back ones certainly tested our patience!

The Audi A4 seats I have used are brilliant to sit in, but they were not designed to be installed into a Marlin Cabrio with very limited access. There is around 100mm maximum clearance at the back of the my seats to the rear chassis cross member, but then the seat runner is hidden a fuirther 100mm underneath and inboard of the seat back. So to fit a nut in the runner meant offering it up blind, by contorting hand and arm, and imagining where i might be.......and that was the easy bit!

We could push the nut along the runner with a finger end, and then line it up over the fixing hole from beneath the car with a screw driver, and even get the bolt started into the nut. However, because I had chosen nyloc nuts to make sure they never vibrate lose, it meant we had to hold the nut quite firmly whilst tightening the bolt head. This was where our problems began.
The passenger seat went in OK, but the drivers seat was a b****y nightmare!
The nut is positioned inside the Audi's narrow U shaped seat runner, so fitting a spanner is a non starter. My normal approach to this situation is to jam a screwdriver between the nut whatever it is close to, to stop it rotating but, because of the limited space and the angle we were working at, this proved impossible: believe me we tried everything!

After two hours of trying and failing our patience was being sorely tested - but they say the darkest hour is just before dawn, and the Marlin ingenuity gene kicked in. I decided I would make a special thin spanner:

IMG_5093.jpg

The first version did not work as I made the side too thin, and it just splayed open when we tried to tighten the bolt. The Mark 2 version, seen above, worked perfectly. After 21/2 hours struggling we were able to do it up within a couple of minutes.
Quite satisfying in a perverse sort of way!

Big Milestone
From the day I took delivery of my kit it has stood on a pair of home made mobile chassis stands. (Marlin offer to hire these but at their extortionate rates, and my slow build it would have doubled the cost of my build!). These stands have been fantastic, making access underneath easy, and to move the car around to get better access to each side. If any one is considering, or in the middle of, a major restoration I can not recommmend these mobile stands enough.
Fitting the seat spreader plates was the last task major I needed to perform under my car, so the time had finally arrived when I could take the momentous step of lower my Cabrio down from its stands, and hopefully dispense with them for good.

photo (2).jpg


Before finally going ahead, I decided to change my wheel/tyres to narrower ones which will go through IVA without concern - my intended wheels are marginal on width relative to the wing sides.
My donor Sierra pepperpot alloys are in remarkably good condition, but two of the tyres were bald, so I bought a pair of scrapyard steel wheels and tyres for £10 the pair. I know they look awful, but the IVA test does not legislate against poor style or taste ......... yet!

photo (1).jpg

Off Its Stands

So finally...................
IMG_5065.jpg

Sad End to "My Best Marlin Birthday Present"
It was quite fitting that the same weekend I took my car off its stands, my mechanics crawler board, which has been my best "Marlin Birthday Present" - and I've had a few - gave up the ghost and fell apart. It has been brilliant - again thoroughly recommended if you have a flat floor to work on. It made life so much easier.

IMG_5082.jpg

Honey, I've Shrunk the Cabrio
After 7 years of seeing my Cabrio on stands it now looks awfully small, and very low sat on its own wheels - its going to take some getting used to.

Sump clearance was always going to be an issue, as it is with most Marlins. With these gash wheels I have 140mm (5 1/2"), and reckon with my chosen wheels and tyres this will go up to around 155mm (6"), though it may settle to below this. There is not much I can do, other than resort to a special sump and pump feed, which will cost a fortune.

IMG_5071.jpg

Not having to fit CATs has been a real bonus - my exhaust seems to be fine despite running the length of the car under the chassis.

Count Down To IVA
My list of "Jobs to do before IVA" has ceased to be so infinitely long that I have dared to create a definitive spreadsheet of tasks and times to complete. At the beginning of the weekend there were 23 items: and I reckoned I had around 70 hours work to do before I felt it would have a fighting chance of passing .

Rear Wing Extension
The rear wings on a Cabrio do not meet the IVA requirement to cover the rear tyre down an imaginary horizontal line 150mm above the wheel centre line: extensions are required:

IMG_5091.jpg

These were easy to make from stainless (ally would have been easier still, but I felt would be too soft, and not look like they were meant to be permanent. Stainless would go with the rest of my Cabrio, but is a pig of a job to drill for fixings, so I decided to glue them on using thick black body underseal gunge and clamps. Hopefully it will not prove too succesful, as I expect to "fall off" post IVA.

VIN Plate
What a pain!

Some time ago I decided it might be a good idea to contact my intended VOSA test station to seek their views on how to present my Cabrio, and hopefully have them "on-side" on my test day. One of the items that came up in conversation with Andy (we are on first name terms!) was the VIN plate. He takes a very literal view of the IVA rules, and insisted the only two details that must appear on a VIN - "The Make of Car", and "The Chassis Number" should appear in a separate box, with the "Make" in CAPITALS, at least 3.5mm high. There must be nothing else in the same box - not even "Cabrio".

So this is the result, a minimalist VIN plate with a separate box for the essential information, and another for the non essential blurb!
Despite the trials and tribulations along the way, I'm pleased with it:

IMG_5077.jpg
(Many thanks to Jason for helping with the design)

My tester had better not have any objections to it!!

Oh, and of course, it has to be located on the offside in an easily accessible position!

IMG_5086.jpg

The steel bar over the heater cowl is a stiffener I've added to help strengthen the pedal box at the rear. It works very well, preventing its rotation and flexing when the brake is applied.


And at the end of the weekend, I've knocked off two jobs and 7 hours from my list............and I've still got 23 jobs and 70 hours work to do as I found two other tasks that I'd over looked!

Will I ever get there?!

[nigel]

Re: Mike's Cabrio Build

Mike,

VIN plate looks great but just a thought. I mentioned previously that I was told some time ago that the last to characters of the VIN number now have to be numerals. I got a scare story that it will get through IVA with letters but that DVLA won't register it. If you then change the VIN number the IVA cert becomes invalid so it has to be IVA'd all over again with the new number.

No idea how true this is but perhaps it's worth checking with DVLA (and see if you can get the same answer from two or more of their people!!)

24 jobs maybe....................................!!

Nigel

[Mike]

Re: Mike's Cabrio Build

Mike,

VIN plate looks great but just a thought. I mentioned previously that I was told some time ago that the last to characters of the VIN number now have to be numerals. I got a scare story that it will get through IVA with letters but that DVLA won't register it. If you then change the VIN number the IVA cert becomes invalid so it has to be IVA'd all over again with the new number.

No idea how true this is but perhaps it's worth checking with DVLA (and see if you can get the same answer from two or more of their people!!)

24 jobs maybe....................................!!

Nigel

Sometimes this site just sets me worrying.........!

The only "information" I have found on the net is that it has to have a 17 digit code which is vehicle specific.
It appears to only be a North American requirement to have the final 5 digits as numeric: European rules just look for something vehicle specific.

Unless anyone can tell me differently.........................?

[dogoncrazy]

Re: Mike's Cabrio Build

70 hours work left -with coffee /loo breaks that's only 3 days !!! Doesn't sound so bad now does it? Getting close now buddy. Regards Alan

[Mike]

Re: Mike's Cabrio Build

70 hours work left -with coffee /loo breaks that's only 3 days !!! Doesn't sound so bad now does it? Getting close now buddy. Regards Alan

Thanks Alan!

I've a feeling that is how the final 70 hours could turn out!.
Some jobs are quite easy to estimate, but others, such as ensuring a degree of self centering are impossible to guesstimate. I am guessing that adding castor (the top wishbone pivot leaning back relative to the bottom one) will generate self centering.
Until I start work on this task I simply do not know how much work will be required?

[chris_cussen]

Re: Mike's Cabrio Build

Knowing how variable kit car builds are, but when I put my Cabrio together it self centred adequately with any adjustment. It was presented for IVA with a small amount of toe-out and 30psi tyre pressures all round.

[Mike]

Re: Mike's Cabrio Build

My IVA Test has been confirmed for Tuesday 5th Novemeber at 8.30am (Firework day - it just had to be - if I fail maybe I'll want to blow the establishment up too!)

Looking at my car I wonder if I am being a tad ambitious:





(I had to swap the steel rims out for the alloys as they looked so bad!)

The remaining work is really only putting it all back together, except for setting up the suspension, and headlights. I think I might follow others and book it in for a dummy MOT 10 days beforehand to see if they find anything that I have over looked, particularly headlights and emmissions, (and do they test noise in an MOT these days?)

If anyone has been following my build and has seen anything they feel could be a problem at IVA I would really appreciate it if you would share it with me, please? -no offence will be taken, I promise!

I have read the IVA manual from front to back, and am working through it section by section ticking it off, (where I can), but some things are down to subjective interpretation, and I have to accept that I have pushed the limits in places, and could fall foul to a zealous inspector - I'm really looking forward to it, now that I have a confirmed date.

The count down has really started now:
16 Jobs : 47 hours on my list!

What have you seen that it might fail on?

[Mike]

Re: Mike's Cabrio Build

Noise

My first quick check of the noise level suggested I was right on the limit of 99db, but this was with the car inside the garage, not out in the open.

A second test, set up in accordance with the IVA manual - same height as exhaust, at 45 degrees, and 500mm away:


IMG_5102.jpg


IVA then states - run the engine at 3/4 of its maximum power, and note the reading obtained.
BMW state maximum power is at 5700 revs, so I ran it up to 4500rpm (slightly over the 4,275rpm calculated figure) and this was the figure my cheapo db meter showed:


IMG_5100.jpg


96.5db, so just inside the magic number!

I had thought I may have to add another centre box, but on the basis of this test I will trust to luck on the day.

One last little anecdote....................am I going to need a limited slip diff?!


IMG_5103.jpg

.....honest I was not trying either, I was just putting my Cabrio back in the garage!!!

[greyV8pete]

Re: Mike's Cabrio Build

My Hunter drives far better since I fitted the 3.38 open diff i.e. without the L/S diff. I would keep away from them in light cars such as ours. Maybe a pair of thinner shoes Peter.

[Mike]

Re: Mike's Cabrio Build

Having a dead line, and a definitive list with estimated hours has been a real tonic. It has given me a lot more focus, and a real sense of achievement, so I am enjoying crossing off the tasks and the hours.

Six more tasks completed today:

Following comments regarding VIN plate fixings I removed the heater cover (yet again), and welded a couple of the nuts to the rivets to make it impossible to remove them "reasonably" (IVA definition)

IMG_5109.jpg
This one is for the IVA man ( - if he questions the fixing)

Heater fan cover refitted and bolted down, including pedal box support bar (see next item)

IMG_5115.jpg

Pedal box packer plate and load spreader plate fitted under the the pedal box at the rear to triangulate and stiffen the pedal box - it is so much better now - the master cylinder does not noticeably move up when the brake pedal is pressed hard:

IMG_5118.jpg

Battery clamp made from stainless flat sheet folded into an angle (gives nice radius compared to an ordinary piece of angle)
Stainless securing rods made from 6mm round bar with threads welded on each end

IMG_5113.jpg

Battery through post fitted to top of bulk head, to allow just one cable upto the battery terminal, and any number of connections under the bulkhead to my dash electrics.

IMG_5121.jpg


New battery cables made to length and soldered into the battery post clamps, and covered over (IVA requirement):

IMG_5114.jpg

Also a quick gain - I fitted my rear view mirror (ex scrapyard Fiesta,. cost £1, + £1 for the sticky pad):

IMG_5123.jpg

I'm not sure that it is totally in keeping with the rest of my car, but IVA states all mirrors must be attached by a method normally used by a major manufacturer. This rules out a chrome stemmed mirror screwed to the screen surround, which would have been my preference. Having said that I will probably leave it fitted even post IVA as the sticky pad fixings are much safer in the unfortunate event of an accident.

12 Tasks & 40 hours remaining on my list!
Providing I can get my steering to self centre, I am reasonably confident I can have my Cabrio ready in time!

[greyV8pete]

Re: Mike's Cabrio Build

Battery through post fitted to top of bulk head,...............

Hi Mike. Presume you will be fiting a cover over that exposed terminal as well? Peter.