Harry's Roadster rebuild

[Harry]

Hello all, we have had some lovely weather for a blast in the Marlin, but it's still surprisingly cold, especially up here. Today I replaced a faulty engine water temperature sensor, and sorted out a bit of wiring to the lighter socket ( Sat nav ) also needed a new fuse, then sorted out the wiring at the rear ( Ex tow bar ) Over the course of the last week, I have been out several times and have had a number of family joining me, needles to say they have all enjoyed the experience ( Unlike the better half ) one cousin bought a kit car within a week, and my Aunt is now looking for one ( She thought it was brilliant ! ) My 30 year old woman friend also had her ride and thought it was great ( Daughter in law !! ) so all in all a great result for me and my little Marlin !

[Harry]

Raining again

Yes it's raining again and my son decided to dismantle his Vectra in front of the garage, so I decided to get back in there and tinker with the Marlin, on the last two run's up over the hill's I noticed the temperature gauge would rise rapidly then fall to zero, I had a fair idea it was the sensor, so I had ordered one from ebay £ 11.00 postage included. I had also noticed an extra noise coming from the front wheels on the rougher sections of road, so once I fitted the sensor, ( Now working fine) I checked the front wheels only to find both set's of wheel bearing had become lose, the offside had quite a lot of movement in it, so I sorted these out too, I then noticed a top trunnion had a bit of movement in it, ( must get a few before the next mot) As I remember, if one fancied a bit of excitement, you took the Marina out on a local undulating hill and tried to do in excess of 60 mph without losing control and crashing ( Extra pair of pants required) My roadster is not much better in that area. The one thing I found out about this type of suspension is that it seems to react badly to any worn or lose components , ( More so than other old car's I've owned) so hopefully the old Marlin should be a little better behaved.

[Harry]

In car shower

After a spot of general fiddling, as I have won't to do from time to time, ( I like to try and get the old SUs tuned a little better, they are a bit rich but don't like being weaned off the petrol either) I took the Marlin for a quick 20 mile run over the hill, I had no hood fitted as the stitching has rotted so I'm having it redone at a local seamstresses shop, so there I am at 6.00 pm, still sunny but a cold wind blowing, I notice a bird flying at the side of me, I was quite taken with this experience but then I never noticed how deep the puddle up front was, needless to say in just a fraction of a second most of said puddle had dived over the screen and was splattered all over me, I can honestly say, I have seldom been woken up so fast in my life, but hey ho I grinned and bared it, I carried on driving (By now quite cold in my wet wooly jumper) over the moors through Worlds End and along the Panorama looking down on the Dee valley and Llangollen golf course then through the Garth back to the returning duel carriageway where I drove back home as fast as the Marlin would go ( I think) face now frozen. I must say that I enjoy every trip out in the Marlin, no matter what occurs, and everybody I've taken out has enjoyed it to --- ( Even the other half has become more positive hehe ) We now have 3 kit cars in the family and 2 mates are thinking of buying one, and all since they came out in mine !

[Gareth]

Re: In car shower

Think I've been caught the same puddle, Harry!
Love driving the Marlin around that neck of the woods.
Gareth.

[Harry]

Mow the lawn or have a fiddle ??

The lawn needs mowing but I have a fetish for fiddling with my SUs, I bought myself a colour tune and a carb ballancer last week, so tonight I took the Marlin for a run ( Wife as passenger !! -- no earache this time ) drove through a few of the local villages including Llanfynedd Derek Jones - did you hear me passing?? , then back home for a carb fiddling session. It's been years since I last used a colour tune and I must say, they do make the job easier, the mixture was too rich as I suspected, so after several bouts of tuning and balancing, I think I got it about as good as is possible given the engine is a little worn anyhow, I think I need to check the timing once more as I had trouble getting the pistol type strobe close enough to the timing marks last time and I suspect it may be a tiny bit bit retarded ( Like me at times ! ) anyhow, once done I took the Marlin back out for a quick run and was impressed by the result, it was more responsive and never smelt like it had a petrol leak, it also has the popping exhaust note on over run - remember the old Morris 1000 s ? ( Going down hill ) I'm just waiting for my Trunnions to turn up and I have another excuse to lock myself in the garage - beer in hand !

[Harry]

General fiddling

Afternoon all,
I spent an hour after work in my garage giving the old SUs a bit of a fettle, the problem being that I set them up a few weeks back using my new Colour tune and was quite pleased with the result, the car appeared to tick over better and "took off" more rapidly, but once on the road it became apparent that all was not well, the mixture was too lean especially at full throttle, I noticed the top speed had dropped off by 10 - 15 mph, so after a 20 mile country side drive I stuffed the Marlin back in the garage until this afternoon, so out come's the tool box, Colour tune and carb balancer, I had to enrich the mixture quite a bit before the car would behave on the road, after more tinkering I could see the mixture was very unstable at tick over and it was impossible to get the engine to run at the recommended Bunsen blue, (At higher revs) although it could be fleetingly observed, I think the long and short of the matter is that the SUs are old and worn and the jets, needles and guides are worn, apart from the engine being a little worn too ( I think I'm expecting too much really) but I like trying -- More winter jobs !! the Marlin actually runs quite well now and after the ball joints and track rod end were replaced the Marlin - dare I say it handles better ( Tested at the Nant Y Garth pass ) on the way from Graigfechan (Lovely area ) we stopped at the Three Pigeons Inn for a "Shandy" well worth a visit ! So apart from wanting a new engine, carbs and steering rack, all's well !

[Gareth]

Re: General fiddling

Ah! The Nant Y Garth pass. Last year I was a passenger in my mates Westfield and we went through there like a bat out of hell, followed by someone in a SWB Landrover and just couldn't shake him off. Couldn't believe how quick that Landy went around those bends, God knows what he had under the bonnet.
The Three Pigeons looks worth a visit, and not to far for us. Meals any good Harry?
Gareth.

[Harry]

Re: General fiddling

Hi Gareth, I always found that coming up the Garth was better - From Ruthin to Wrexham -- beware the wet leaves, it's not nice going backwards down the ditch into the stream ! The Three Pigeons was always known for good food, however the place now has new owners, but from what I saw yesterday the food looked very nice, in fact we will visit the place next week, the new owners and the locals seem a nice crowd. Ps, I think you're mate was not trying hard enough if a series landy was on his tail, lol.

[Gareth]

Re: General fiddling

Trust me, he was trying hard enough. He's a very fast driver! I'm the only soft sod that'll go in with him! The Landy was something special, presumably owned by one of the locals, as he turned off at the end of the pass.
Gareth.

[Harry]

Out for a short run

I never had a fiddle with it today, we just jumped in and off over Llandegla, and over the pass, we stopped at the Britannia for our tea and I had a nice shandy ! the other half had a large White thank you, I did check the fuel level before setting off on our 12 mile or so trip and there appeared to be a third of a tank, but half way there the petrol gauge needle just fainted and lay on it's side, it came up a little on some nice bends but other than that I just ignored it, there and back ! It's an odd feeling of en trepidation wondering when you will be walking home, not felt like that since I last had a Mini Metro ! I must say that my new exhaust is still too loud and ain't doing my ears any good, I think a Mk3 exhaust is on the cards this winter ??

[Harry]

Tinkering and driving

Hi all, I don't know about you folks but I seem to have a period of not doing anything with the Marlin ( About two weeks, it seems ) then I have an urge to fiddle with it and of course this leads to a bit of test driving ! If the sun is out or in the case of where I live - it's not raining, then it's happiness, so, over the last few weeks, I had a bout of gearstick swivel when trying to engage reverse ( I remember this one from my Marina driving days ) the retaining pin had not broken though, simply a case of the hole it fit's in becoming elongated and the pin working its way out. Someone had problems with it in the past as it had electrical tape wound around the area. I made a tiny steel bracket and welded it to the retaining cover, so that problem was sorted. A few day's later I decided to check the tappets and found a few were well out, so they were adjusted ( Car also running a little better ) Then I got my hands on a very bright strobe light and once again checked the timing, I suspected it was a little out as the last strobe light was a bit dull with a yellowish light, so a small adjustment was required, this left the engine tick over too high at 1100 rpm so a small adjustment to the carbs was then required, and of course some nice "test drives" up over the hills, I do like to have a bit of fun in the Marlin when driving over Minera mountain and moors, especially if there is no body about, the car is running better and since I replaced most of the joints on the front end, it also handles a bit better. Next up is the God awful exhaust noise, It's just to loud to bother driving the car very far, and wherever the silencer is placed its right under my ear hole, so I removed the silencer and fitted more mesh baffle it to the center, it seems to have reduced the noise by maybe 20% but it's still to noisy for a long run, even with ear plugs fitted, it seems I'll have to sort out a new exhaust ( Again) with two boxes fitted. Anyhow, this week, the Marlin has started jumping out of reverse, unless I hold the stick in place ( Yes, both my Marinas did this too) , I don't really mind that apart from the gear box is getting a little more noisy with every outing ( I think it's dying) I must admit I give it a hard time going up over the hills, I was thinking of replacing it with something that can handle all that BMC power - any suggestions welcome?

[Harry]

MOT Time

In all honesty, I've not looked at the Marlin for about four weeks, what with work, weather and these long dark nights, but it was Tax and MOT time, well the tax is easy, 12 month ticket for nowt. When I went to start the car the day before it's MOT it started on the second go but was running badly, I guessed the petrol had "gone off" as I used to have the same problem with a BMW of mine, I decided to fit the Hood back onto the car, I was told they can be difficult when cold and this turned out to be correct, trying to stretch the material just a few more mm to get the studs over the pins was an epic effort, my thumbs still have the stud marks imprinted in them. I drove the Marlin to the petrol station three times before I finally managed to get in there, then put 25 quids worth in the tank, I took the car for a chilly but very enjoyable 15 mile drive, after just a few miles the engine was running well once more, but one side of my face had lost all feeling ! It's colder than you expect up over Llandegla moors. Anyhow, the next day I took the Marlin for it's test and it passed with no problems, although I had to help the examiner out as he got his leg stuck, and so I went for another short run then put the Marlin back in the garage until a decent day arrives, I might be waiting quite a while eh ?

[b_caswell]

Re: MOT Time

One tip to make things a bit easier when putting the hood on in the cold weather is to drape the hood over the frame and leave a fan heater running in the car for half an hour or so before buttoning up the studs..

[Harry]

Dismantling

I got home from work, hot and bothered, no sooner sat down when I had a call out to a air receiver blowing off, but once back home I found time for an hour in the garage, I stripped a few ancillaries from the engine, and off course found more worn and damaged parts, the starter motor is quite worn, bendex teeth and bearing it also has only half a bottom flange, it must have snapped off years ago looking at the break, more the wonder how it got to Stoneleigh and back. Just the carbs and exhaust to remove and I can get at the engine and gear box, maybe tonight eh ?? I've got as far as uploading photo files onto this thread but what happens to them after that ???

[cameronfurnival]

Re: Dismantling

Hi Harry - give me a pm and i will talk you through the process of uploading if you havent worked it out. Coedpoeth - exactly where I broke down last time i went for a longer run in the roadster! Am 30 mins form you and Derek the Chairman is even closer.