Marlin Mon Amour Part 2 !!

[dbazdavies]

Well my 'new' baby has arrived... Many thanks to Mike and promise you a ride in her if you are ever in North Wales ??

This is a follow-on from Mike's earlier Build Diary

http://www.marlinownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?4987-Arhies-Marlin

It all began in 1982 when I saw an advert in Kit Car Magazine for a Marlin and could not believe that a replica of my favorite car (Alfa Romeo 1932 1750) was available to build. The following day I rang the number on the advert and spoke to Paul, I told him I wanted to order a kit and would be fitting an Alfa twin cam .. As it had not yet been done Paul agreed to supply the Marina Version but with a Triumph bulkhead as it would allow more room than the Marina one ....

The car was finished over the winter of 1983/84 and in 1985 appeared in a feature in Kit Car March edition under the title 'Marlin Mon Amore ' !!!!!

For the last 18 months have been trying , with the help of the Marlin Owners Club, to find my car which I believe is in the Isle of Man !!! without success

So now have Marlin Mon Amore Part 2, Marlin MK2 -Marina based LWB - Alfa Romeo 1750cc twin cam engine - 5 speed Alfa gearbox..

to be continued !!!!

[dbazdavies]

Re: Marlin Mon Amour Part 2 !!

March 2016 Update, thanks to Dave (dcdunn) seems my car was built by Alan Davies in Liverpool and is reg EKA799Y.. I have a plan to start the rebuild on April 1st and am spending the next 3 weeks cleaning out the garage - making some stands that will raise it 14 inches of the ground.. A lot of work has been done by the previous owner to brakes and suspension, so its a mater of servicing and checking..I am fitting 15 inch wheels so will have to make up some adaptors for the hubs. The biggest job will be the wiring as it has enough wiring to go around the Isle of Anglesey !!! the engine bay needs some serious tidying and a new dashboard.. Painting - Hood fitting.. and back on the road !!

[Blue Marlin]

Re: Marlin Mon Amour Part 2 !!

Hope it goes better than my Alfa rebuild. Just discovered that after spending approx £1000 on an engine rebuild that on refitting and managing to get her to start and run round the block I STILL have the original problem of low compression on 1 & 2.

Deep breath required and plan B, what ever that is.

Sorry for the negative vibes, been one of those days.

[dcunn]

Re: Marlin Mon Amour Part 2 !!

Sorry to hear that HD, regret I have no knowledge of the Alfa units but I'm sure that others on here may be able to advise - good luck and hope you're sorted soon !

Baz, try EKA 799Y LoL. Looking forward to your build diary. Suggest that if you're building stands and you have the option, go for larger rather than smaller castors, they take bumps a lot easier

Roadster bumpers are a good place to support the car.

[dbazdavies]

Re: Marlin Mon Amour Part 2 !!

Sorry to hear about that with the engine - think you need to do a leak down test - ie put some compressed air down into the cylinder 1 when it is at TDC and see where the air is going..
1 out of the carb inlet valve
2 out of the exhaust exhaust valve
3 out of the oil filler piston rings
4 out of cylinder 2 head gasket/warped head
5 out of cooling system liner seals/head gasket/crack in head opens when warm.

just remembered think there should be rubber O rings fitted with the cylinder head gasket - as seem to remember I forgot and had compression problems -but it was 30 years ago !!!

hope this helps

[dbazdavies]

Re: Marlin Mon Amour Part 2 !!

What are your compressions on all cylinders please ???

[Blue Marlin]

Re: Marlin Mon Amour Part 2 !!

Before rebuild 1 = 30 2 = 35 3 =165 4 = 170
After rebuild but before running engine 1 to 4 all = 75
After running engine (just) 1 = 25 2 = 35 3 = 75 4 = 60

I am surprised the engine runs at all as No 3 does not appear to be doing anything as you can pull the plug lead off and this makes no change to the idle. All the others do, some more than others.
All 4 plugs, leads cap and rotor arm are new and all are sparking well. I think there may be fuel problem on No3 as I sprayed a little Bradex Easystart in the barrel and the idle picked up a little with a corresponding puff of smoke before dying away again.
I am going to borrow another compression tester just to double check as mine is an ebay cheapy, my old age decent one died with a split hose (after checking the before readings)
You are correct about the O rings, they are fitted where the oil flows into the head. Good memory!

[dbazdavies]

Re: Marlin Mon Amour Part 2 !!

I would clean out all the the idle jets, as if blocked will make the engine seem as it is mis-firing !!

[dbazdavies]

Re: Marlin Mon Amour Part 2 !!

Couple of pics of my original Alfa Engined Marlin 1985 Kit Car Magazine !!

[jon_cox]

Re: Marlin Mon Amour Part 2 !!

I saw this on Youtube and thought of you. I little bit of inspiration for you.
https://youtu.be/NRbLafpjmu

[dbazdavies]

Re: Marlin Mon Amour Part 2 !!

Wow wonder where that was taken ??? there cannot be many Marlins with an Alfa engine and the spare wheel in the front right hand wing - could be my original car !!!

[dbazdavies]

Re: Marlin Mon Amour Part 2 !!

So today 23rd March 2016 finally got around to carrying out a detailed examination of the roadster.. There had been some extensive modifications done by a previous owner ( not the chap I bought it from ) and not very well either.. Both the front and rear lamp mouldings had been cut off the wings and Morris minor lamps fitted at the rear and Austin A35 ones fitted at the front. I managed to see on E bay a set of rear lamp mounldings and guess they might have come from my car ?? these will be refitted.. Not decided on the front.. The main modification was the the rear body section had been hacked about and raised around the seat tops with a piece of wood and some fibre glass, fortunately managed to get a NOS one from a member to replace it..
The wiring is a nightmare so will be removed in total and replaced with a Rebel 9 + 3 one - most of it hidden away..
Main problem is that the engine and box are not fitted along the centre line and the gearbox is jammed against the mounting on the nearside and the front carb is against the engine side panel..
So plenty to do with making stands the first job so it can be at a nice height for an old chap with bad knees !!!

[HairyDave]

Re: Marlin Mon Amour Part 2 !!

Oh the bad knees! I know that one. Put carpet on the floor, this makes crawling much easier. We also learned about planning, before going down is everything we need within reach and while down there what else can we do to save getting up. Old age is c..p , until you consider the alternative!

[dbazdavies]

Re: Marlin Mon Amour Part 2 !!

Not forgetting knee pads as well !!!

[Gareth]

Re: Marlin Mon Amour Part 2 !!

My problem is getting back up!