Berlinetta build and restoration

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Next a relatively easy job, mount the alternator. Originally it sits at the top of the engine and surprise surprise there was no room in the Berli here. A call to Marlin, before I gave up calling, and they sent a bracket which relocated it to the bottom nearside of the engine. The problem was the pulley didn't line up with any drive pulley. This may not be entirely Marlin's fault as I had moved the water pump pulley to be in line with the original power steering pulley (to the best of my recollection, don't quote me!). Anyway the bracket was no use but the mounting position was good. So I copied the bracket with the pulley lined up and then I had to figure out how to tension the drive belt. The lug for this was now on the bottom with no obvious bolt on the engine to mount the slotted bar. The only bolt was on the other side of the crankshaft, so a long L shaped bracket was made with the original slotted bar on the end. The bracket was fixed to the bolt on the other side of the crank, dropped down then across under the crankshaft pulley to the alternator. I used a decent gauge of flat bar for this to prevent flex and it worked fine.

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

A very important job next, the brake servo. There was no room in the standard position for any servo never mind the large Sierra item. I considered the options.

1. I could not have a servo, many rally cars etc have up rated brakes with no servo but you would need to know what you were doing or it could be a lot of expensive trial and error. Any way all production cars have servos, I'm sure manufacturers do this with good reason.

2. Fit a remote servo. There was enough room for a master cylinder and I could fit the servo else where. The problem here is twofold. Firstly, to get dual circuit brakes, which are essential in my view, I think you would need two remote servos. Finding room for one servo was hard enough without two. Secondly, would it work? Mixing and matching braking systems could mean a lot of expensive trial and error as before.

3.Try to fit the standard servo but relocate it and operate it by a linkage, as is found in many production cars. If you look under the bonnet of a production car many have the servo fitted on the passenger side, due to most being designed as left hand drive, and operated by various linkages. This appealed to me as it would keep the braking system all standard Sierra and so there was the best chance of decent brakes, which would be handy!

I decided to try the linkage approach, with plan B being remote servos. So, many hours were spent wondering where to fit the servo in the cramped Marlin engine bay. I decided that the best thing would be to put it where the battery should go in the center of the bulkhead. The battery could go in the boot. Many more hours were spent in what was becoming my second home, the local scrappy, looking for a linkage that perhaps I could modify to suit the Marlin. The answer came in the shape of a Vauxhall Astra. This has a cable similar to a clutch cable to operate the brake servo. I was a bit dubious of using a cable for the brakes, after all clutch cables have been known to snap. But if it's good enough for Vauxhall I decided to see what I could do with it. The cable would be much easier to use compared to a fixed linkage.

After many hours of trial and error it looked like I had cracked it! The only problem was that it interfered with the heater. I looked at the heater and it was mostly an empty box mainly due to the Ford system of using a mix of hot and cold air to set the desired temp. I thought that I could make it smaller if I used the system of regulating the coolant flow to set the temp. So I modified the heater to as small as possible.

The casing was plastic so was easy to modify using thin plywood. The part containing the fan was cut off and a box to contain the matrix was made and attached. All I needed was a flap in this box to heat the passengers when it was open, and when it was closed the air would flow up the attached pipes to demist the windscreen. Simples!

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Here you see the heater modified to make space for the Brake servo. You can also see that I swapped the rocker covers from left to right, this means more clearance for the tall breather and filler.

The brake servo was fitted to the Astra mechanism and the pedal end was fitted to the pedal box. I would have preferred a longer cable which would given more flexibility and a neater installation but it worked.

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When it came to the pedals I had two choices, Rover or Ford. There was a pedal box in the Marlin kit which looked like it would take the brake and clutch pedal but no accelerator. I tried the Ford pedals but they would not fit in the narrow foot well. The same was true of the Rover pedals but as they were made from flat bar I decided it would be easier to modify them to fit. The Rover throttle was also used. After many many hours I had working pedals and brakes!

I was never really happy with the brakes although they passed each MOT and this is something that will be totally changed now that I am restoring the car. I hope to have room for a standard Sierra servo in the proper position this time, watch this space. Any suggestions are most welcome.

[cameronfurnival]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Brilliant! The ingenuity of Marlin builders never fails to amaze me

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

By this time I felt I was getting close to being able to fire up the engine and maybe even drive the rolling chassis! I needed a fuel tank and an exhaust first. The recommended fuel tank comes from an Escort van. I thought that a new tank would be much better than one rescued from an old van so I got one from a company that advertised in a kit car mag. It was larger capacity and had the extra cost option of being filled with anti explosion foam. I thought this was a good idea as the tank is fairly exposed at the back of the car, maybe more exposed than the Escort tank as the extra capacity is gained by being deeper. The only regret is that I didn't opt for stainless steel as now that I come to restore the car the tank is quite rusty. The filler pipe was on the side of this tank and required a right angle elbow. This turned out to be a major pain when filling with fuel as it would spit back and the trigger would click off, so I had to only half pull the trigger. At least when I change the tank this problem will be addressed, every cloud...

The other problem that arose was a leak from around the fuel gauge sender. The hole for this was provided on the side of the tank meaning that it was submerged in fuel a lot of the time. The sender was attached by self tapping screws with a rubber ring seal. I had several attempts at sorting this leak and one such effort was using instant gasket. Big mistake! Huge! I had fitted a filter next to the tank and it continually got blocked with instant gasket, starving the engine of fuel. I had to clean this filter weekly for months, luckily it was a glass one that came apart for cleaning. I will probably get a new bespoke stainless steel tank made this time, not sure where but I have one or two lines of enquiry, and it will have the sender on top secured by captive bolts and a straighter filler pipe. Not sure about the foam filling though.

The tank was a simple box shape with the end plates set in a bit leaving a lip on top, bottom and sides which could be drilled for mounting bolts. I mounted it using four bolts allmost at the top of the sides. For good measure I made two straps from thin steel to cradle the tank aswell. I mounted a Facet fuel pump next to the tank. This was wired through an oil pressure sensing switch so that if there was a crash and the engine stopped but the ignition switch was still on, the lack of oil pressure would stop the pump.

Next the exhaust. I went to the local go faster car accessory shop with my measurements and had a look at what was on offer. I got two small round silencers with chrome tail pipes, two of the largest flat oval silencers, some straight pipe and some universal joins and hangers. After much trial and error I was happy with the result, although I had no idea how it would sound. It turned out to be just right, loud enough to hear the glorious V8 but ok on a long journey. This time around I will get a bespoke stainless steel one made by a local company.

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Here you see the exhaust and the fuel tank. You can see the straps that cradle the tank. If you look closely you can see on the left the extra cooling pipes as they loop back to the engine.

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

A milestone was fast approaching, being able to drive the rolling chassis under its own power! I needed a battery. The battery was going in the boot due to lack of space in the engine bay. A large battery was purchased, plenty of power to start the V8. I made a rectangle from angle steel and bolted it through the boot floor onto brackets that I had welded to the chassis, I wasn't taking any chances that it could break free in an accident, and the battery was clamped to this frame. The minimum amount of wiring was done to get the engine ready to run, starter, alternator, fuel pump and ignition. The oil pressure is critical on the V8 as the pump does not self prime, so I wired up the electric oil pressure gauge and also the coolant temp gauge that were part of a full set of Isspro gauges that I had bought. I mounted them in an old cardboard box taped to the transmission tunnel and we were ready for lift off!

As I said before the engine oil pump does not self prime. One method of dealing with this is to pack the pump with petroleum jelly, vaseline to you and me. So a trip to the chemist for a jar of said stuff, strip the pump and pack the gears with it and reassemble. The moment had arrived after what was now about two years into the build. When I rebuilt the engine I knew it would be a while before it would run in the Marlin so I put it back in the Rover and it ran fine with good oil pressure. So watching the oil pressure I turned the key, as the starter turned the oil pressure rose and the engine burst into life. But just then the pressure dropped! Quick turn it off! I thought I must not have done a good job of packing the pump. So I did it again with more vaseline. Same thing happened. I was getting annoyed when it happened for a third time especially as I had run out of vaseline and had to go to the chemist for more. This was the story of that day and I was getting funny looks in the chemist as I went back for even more vaseline. I decided to sleep on it.

The next day I thought I would go back to basics. I removed the oil pressure sender and when the engine turned over a jet of oil hit the garage wall. There was plenty of oil so the fault must be the gauge. To cut a long story short when I wired up the gauge I looked at the wiring diagram for the ignition switch for an ignition live wire. The diagram said black and yellow. When I looked at the switch there were two such wires one thick and one thin. So I connected to the thin one but it turns out it was only live when the starter was live. So when I turned the key there was power to the gauge, but when I released the key for the engine to run there was no power to the gauge!

Anyway I got the engine running and checked for leaks and it was all good. But when I tried to select a gear the clutch was stuck. I pushed it out into the farm yard and got a mate to push as I turned the starter. Keeping my foot on the clutch pedal I blipped the throttle and my luck was in as it freed off. The next few days were spent zooming about the yard testing brakes and steering but mostly having fun. The only problem was the propshaft which had a serious wobble. When I collected the kit I had supplied Marlin with the gearbox end of the Rover prop and the diff end of the Sierra prop which Marlin used to make a prop to suit. It was disappointing to see the poor job they had done. I took it to a propshaft specialist who sorted it out and balanced it too.

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

I fitted the handbrake next. Marlin provided a base plate which was bolted to the transmission tunnel once I decided the fore and aft position I wanted. The standard Sierra handbrake is bolted to this plate. The cable has to be shortened. From memory I heated up the nipple on the end and pulled it off, shortened the cable after much trial and error to decide the length, then squeezed the nipple on the end of the cut cable in a vice and brazed it on for good measure.

Then it was the scuttle top including the windscreen wipers. I think I used a Cortina wiper mechanism. The linkage was shortened as per the build manual using small bolts to join it once a section had been removed.

Next the dash board. There is a fiberglass moulding which the dash mounts to. In order to have the steering column switches working properly I had decided to move the dash closer to the windscreen. The plan was to remove a section from the moulding and re-glass it. It was a balancing act between having clearance for the stalk switches and leaving room for gauges, heater controls etc. It was fairly easy using a glass fiber kit from a car accessory shop. The dash itself started life as a shelf in a DIY shop. I spent many hours deciding the layout of the dash. I splashed out on a set of Isspro gauges which were expensive but really suit the car. The speedo is electronic being triggered by magnets on the propshaft, and is calibrated by switching on or off eight switches which would make life easy later on.

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Here you see the wipers have been fitted. The dash board has got all the holes cut and has been stained to match the wheel. If you look closely you can see the join in the moulding where a section was removed.

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The gauges and switches were mounted in the dashboard and wired to two multi plugs so that the dash can be easily removed.

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The finished dash. I decided to use a map light as an interior light but during the restoration I would like to try a proper door operated light. I also had to cut a slot to operate the standard Sierra hazard switch on top of the steering column. This really annoyed me and in the end I used a Cortina switch mounted in the dash. I think the dash will be redone during the rebuild.

When it came to wiring the car I was not sure what to do. I had Sierra steering column switches including the ignition switch, Cortina wipers and heater, Rover engine and Isspro gauges. I had a look at the wiring on a Sierra and it looked quite complicated. By contrast the Cortina looked easier to deal with so I decided to start with a Cortina loom. I spent many hours carefully removing and labeling the wiring loom from a Cortina in the local scrappy. I laid it out on the Marlin to give me an Idea of where I could put items such as the fuse box. The loom had two plugs that can be separated where the loom passes form the engine bay to the passenger compartment, by laying the loom out I could see my options for cutting the holes for these plugs. I decided to stick rigidly to the Cortina wiring code. To do this any wire that required to be lengthened was measured and the colour and size was noted. Then I ordered the exact wires that were required from one of the companies that sell by the meter. Doing this was extra expense and time but would be a godsend if there were any problems in the future. I also got proper connectors and loom tape which has no adhesive. I decided to wire in a battery cut out switch for added safety, if there ever was any chance of a fire I could quickly disconnect the battery. With the battery mounted in the boot the live wire was run under the floor to the engine bay and so the cut out was easily put in this wire with the switch handle being out of sight just in front of the seat, you can see it in the above pic. An added benefit was as an anti theft device as the handle is removable. At the time there was much talk of so called Dim Dip headlights becoming law. This was a unit that made the headlights glow dim when the sidelights were on and the engine running. So one was fitted to the Marlin but the law was shelved so it was later disconnected.

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The fuse box and bulkhead plugs.

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Don't let this picture scare you from attempting wiring! It was fairly logical and straight forward

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

It was onto the bodywork next. The bonnet took a lot of time to get right, the panels had to be trimmed to fit and with four separate parts each one affects all the others. But in the end I was happy with the fit. The wings were pretty straight forward although a lot of measuring and standing back looking to see if it looked right took place. I used a lot of stainless steel nuts and bolts to attach the bodywork but now that I come to strip it down I wish I had used more! The stainless fasteners are a breeze, the others usually need the grinder. The rebuild will be stainless where possible, bearing in mind stainless is not suitable for high loads such as suspension.

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The boot section fitted. The fuel filler fitted, it required a right angle in the pipe which was a pain causing slow filling. You can see the battery in the boot.

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Boot lid and hard top.

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Top section of bonnet.

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Almost there!

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Ready for paint.

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

The quality of the paint job can make a big difference to the car. So I was taking no chances and entrusted the job to a local accident repair company that had been recommended by several friends. It was costly but I was pleased with the result, they surprisingly painted the under side of the bonnet and the inside of the doors too which I never expected but made a wee difference. The windows had been removed for painting so had to be refitted. By the way the wind up door windows use winders from a Mini. I got good winders in the scrappy but the channels that fit on the bottom of the glass and the mechanism slides in were all rusty, so I got new ones from the local Austin Rover dealer, remember them? I had to refit the lights and bumpers and the rest of the trim. The headlights were chrome ones rather than the painted glass fiber shells that came with the kit, and the bumpers were optional stainless steel that still shines after twenty years. I stuck thin rubber matting under the wings for stone protection and painted exposed parts of the chassis and inner wings with rubber paint.

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1993. Makes me feel old looking at this!

This was near the end of 1993 and although it may seem the wrong time of year to put the Marlin on the road, the plan was to have it as my only car and my old Escort had given up the ghost and I was having to beg steel and borrow to get about, or even worse take the bus! So it was the sooner it happened the better. Back then it was a lot easier than today. I got insurance on the chassis number and took the car for an MOT which I was allowed to drive to. Then I had to take the Marlin to the local vehicle licensing office in Edinburgh. It had to be on a trailer this time. Once there it was inspected by two police men. Then the woman in the office had a good look at the paper work and said they would let me know in a few weeks. My disappointment must have been obvious because she immediately said that I could have a Q reg there and then. I was surprised that there was any chance of any other reg number and was expecting a Q anyway so that's what I got.

There was only one small problem. The Marlin chassis number was too short and they issued a new one, this had to be stamped on the bulkhead by the policemen but they had forgotten the stamps! They said they had to go back to the station on the other side of Edinburgh and if I wanted to follow them they would do it today. So I got a police escort across Edinburgh. Suddenly they stopped and jumped out in front of me, I was in a mild panic about what I had done wrong. It turns out they had found the stamps and they would do it right here at the side of the street. So on the side of an Edinburgh street on 20/12/93 the Marlin was declared legal, after three years work, just needing number plates.

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

I still had the interior to sort out. I was not confident of doing a good job due to being a total novice and I didn't want to ruin the car with a second rate interior, so after a couple of months I took a trip to a classic car interior specialist about a two hour drive away. I discussed what I wanted and they took measurements but they said that the boss was on holiday and he would sort out a quote on his return, so I left my contact details and headed home.

This was in early 1994 and unknown to me I was about to take up a new all consuming hobby. I had always been a massive motorsport fan, in the late 70's and early 80's I went to about ten British F1 Grand Prix. But my main passion has always been short oval racing. I had been a regular spectator for years and always wanted a go myself. Well a mate offered to sell me his racer and I jumped at the chance. So I became the owner of a BRISCA Formula 2 stock car. With the Marlin being my only car and not having much money left for a van to tow the F2 I put a tow bar on the Marlin and went racing!

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At the end of 1994 I had really got the bug for racing and invested in a new stock car and a van to tow it. For the next ten years this hobby took all my spare time and money, sometimes more! And so less time and money was available for the Marlin. I never heard back from the interior people, I could have gone back to see them but the new hobby took over I'm afraid. I did eventually fit some carpet and sound deadening felt that I bought at a kit car show, but the rear seat and the headlining were never done. I also fitted the second radiator that I told you about earlier but it was later removed. That's about all that happened to the Marlin in the first few years on the road. It was very reliable apart from marginal cooling, even this was not a disaster if you drove normally just if you put the foot down. The clutch master cylinder stopped working once, which required the AA to get me home, but new seals and it was good as new. I covered 18000 miles up to 1999 when it required new exhausts for the MOT. I had every intention of sorting this out but I never got round to it. Instead I parked it in the garage and would fire up the engine once a week then once a month then, you guessed it, never.

However the story has a happy ending, at least for the Marlin. A big crash while racing forced my retirement, and I started thinking about the Marlin. I knew it would be a big job to put it back on the road and so I thought about it for a couple of years, not wanting to start something I may not finish. At the end of 2012 I decided to commit to it.

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2012 after being in the garage since 1999.

[CosworthCabrioLee]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Bloody brilliant read Scott. ........... Not to far away from you in Carlisle if you ever want a meet, and your quite welcome to come to the lakes in June car or no car

[lizbillings]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Really interesting read Scott.

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Glad you like it Liz and Lee. I just looked at the old photos and wrote what came into my head. At first I had no idea what to write but I've ended up writing a lot more than I expected. There are one maybe two more posts to come then it will be up to date. After that I intend to keep posting but it will be in real time so could be a wee while between posts. Watch this space....

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

I took a good look at the Marlin and it was in reasonable shape, and I did consider just doing the minimum to get it running and looking presentable. But in the end I thought if a job is worth doing, then it's worth doing right. So I decided on a complete strip down and rebuild, this would allow me to change any of the things that I was not completely happy with. Top of the list had to be the engine. The V8 is a nice engine with plenty of torque and the sound is fantastic but as you have read it is really too large for the space available in the Sierra Berlinetta. The cooling system and the braking system are both compromised. The low MPG is another mark against it, although the Marlin with it's total lack of aerodynamics is never going to be frugal.

So I started thinking about what other engine I would like to try. To give more room I decided that a four cylinder would be the answer. It needed to either be from a rear wheel drive car or be able to be converted to rear wheel drive. I liked the 150hp of the V8 so the new engine should be at least that. I wanted fuel injection and four valves per cylinder to give good response and help the MPG. In the end the short list came down to either the Ford Duratec or the Vauxhall Red Top. There are plenty of parts available to convert both to rear wheel drive so both were evenly scored so far. When it comes to fuel injection the Ford seems to be more work. With it being more modern the fuel system ECU seems to be part of the DNA of the car and so the chances of using the standard system are slim. This would mean an expensive change of injection system and ECU. On the other hand the Vauxhall engine is almost self contained as far as engine electrics go, which is why it was so popular to fit it in smaller Vauxhall hatchbacks. The only thing against the Vauxhall is that it is an old engine that has been out of production for years, so the chance of finding a good low mileage example are slim. I decided to try the Vauxhall and found a Calibra for sale with a Red Top. The timing belt had snapped which usually means bent valves but it was cheap.

I thought it would be a good idea to mount the new engine before stripping the car, no use in having a nice galvanized chassis and having to weld mounts to it later. So the first job was to remove the Rover engine. For easy access I removed the wings.


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Outer wings and head lights removed.

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The inner wings and radiator cowl removed.

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Radiator removed.

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Propshaft, exhaust and gearbox mounts removed the easy way! Having a forklift can be handy.

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Finally the engine comes out.

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Rover V8 and 5 speed manual box for sale! Seriously, need the space. Probably try it on evilbay.

[scott h]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

With the Rover engine out it was time to try the Vauxhall engine in position. I sat it in the engine bay on wooden blocks and it looked good, much more room than the V8. The Vauxhall engine is designed to sit at a seven degree angle for clearance in the front wheel drive Vauxhall. To convert it to rear wheel drive the bellhousing is changed to one that mates to a Sierra gearbox. Two types of bellhousing are available, one has the engine at seven degrees and the other the engine is vertical, while both keep the gearbox vertical. After a bit of jiggling and measuring I decided that having the engine tilted was best. I got a belhousing from SBD motorsport, they are specialists in the Red Top engine. I also got an engine mount kit from them designed for putting the engine in Mk2 Escorts, it looked like I could modify it to suit the Marlin.

A friend donated a Sierra gearbox from an abandoned RS2000 project, and it was fitted to the engine. This was then lifted into position and after a bit of trial and error I decided that 20mm over to the nearside would give me the most room for the brake servo, perhaps enough for the Sierra one. The height of the air intake was an issue when I sat the bonnet in position so the engine has to be as low as possible, the limit is the anti roll bar which runs under the sump. The mount kit that I had bought comes with lugs on a piece of angle steel which are welded to the Escort chassis rails. Unfortunately the Escort rails are parallel but the Marlin rails are not, being narrower and higher at the front. So it was easier to make my own lugs and weld them to the chassis, the rest of the kit was ok. My luck was in when I measured up for the lugs and discovered that the original Marlin mounts were just right for one lug on each side meaning I only had the rear lug on each side to make.

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Lugs were made to line up with the bottom hole of the original mounts.

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Nearside engine mount tacked ready to weld. The triangle plate, tube and bush were part of the kit.

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Offside engine mount.

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The floor and transmission tunnel removed to make a mount for the gearbox.

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New gearbox mount on the left, original on the right. The original crossmember supports the floor so will be left in position but the bracket will be removed. The new crossmember is lower than the floor.

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Gearbox mounted using standard Sierra mount.

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Engine mounts finished.

Well that brings the project up to date. Now with the engine mounts done I can take the engine out again and continue to strip the car down. Watch this space...

[Robert in Cumbria]

Re: Berlinetta build and restoration

Hi Scott, I have just skimmed through this thread, seems very interesting, I have just bought a Berlinetta in similar condition, unused since 1992. I pulled the engine and box out this morning and brought it back home a few minutes ago, a round trip of 500 miles today!

I am planning to write up an account of my renovation. I will be keeping the Rover V8 engine (That was the clincher to buy it, I love that engine! That and the auto box...), so if you still have your old one I may be interested...