Marlin trails car

[rbenn100]

Hi there I'm looking to fit a 10cwt ital rear axle into my trails car and wondered if I should fit van rear springs to improve ground clearance or will it make it too stiff what has everyone else done please? Thanks Alex

[stevejgreen]

Re: Marlin trails car

That’s really a question for the Trials boys.
Bearing in mind that a Roadster is a lot lighter than a Morris Marina.

Do you know what your existing springs are, presumably but not certainly from the original donor, but was it a 1300, 1800, or an estate?

This document might help https://kvisit.com/S1Mb2AQ

[AndrewKB]

Re: Marlin trails car

Springs are huge area of debate in the Marlin trials world, with no clear 'industry standard' (yet). Personally, if you have a set of van springs, I would fit them and worry about alternatives after you've done a few events. Lots of people have played-around with alternatives but there have been a lot of spring failures. I have van springs on my Marlin, and they are stiff, but I now think that the shock absorbers may have had-their-day and are contributing to the stiffness. Replacing them is a priority when there's a decent lull between events (too busy at the moment).

[AndrewKB]

Re: Marlin trails car

PS - See https://wheelspin.info/marlin-roadster/ and then please Contact Me so I can keep my Register of Trials Marlins up to date.

[marlin1984]

Re: Marlin trails car

10cwt Marina or Ital van axles are now pretty rare. I counted myself very lucky to find an [unidentified] one on fleabay a couple of months ago. Key identifier was the cast iron [therefore slightly rusty] diff housing - standard ones are alloy. Good luck.

Steve Green may have a couple back in England but as he's now in Spain access is extremely difficult.

[stevejgreen]

Re: Marlin trails car

Steve Green may have a couple back in England but as he's now in Spain access is extremely difficult.

True, they are in the loft of my garage in the UK, but I rarely return and dragging them out and arranging postage/delivery when I have tenants there it would be quite an inconvenience, so for the sake of discussion, they do not exist.
Should the consequences of Brexit or life mean I have to move back to the UK, they may become available, but don’t hold your breath.

[marlin1984]

Re: Marlin trails car

Springs are huge area of debate in the Marlin trials world, with no clear 'industry standard' (yet). Personally, if you have a set of van springs, I would fit them and worry about alternatives after you've done a few events. Lots of people have played-around with alternatives but there have been a lot of spring failures. I have van springs on my Marlin, and they are stiff, but I now think that the shock absorbers may have had-their-day and are contributing to the stiffness. Replacing them is a priority when there's a decent lull between events (too busy at the moment).

Maybe - but "had-their-day" shocks normally get weaker/more feeble with wear rather than stiffer … ?

[greyV8pete]

Re: Marlin trails car

Some years ago now I had some Spax adjustables on my Mk 2 Cortina. They failed as they became progressively harder and although the adjuster screws would turn they wouldn't soften up the ride. Peter.

[marlin1984]

Re: Marlin trails car

Some years ago now I had some Spax adjustables on my Mk 2 Cortina. They failed as they became progressively harder and although the adjuster screws would turn they wouldn't soften up the ride. Peter.

??? I did say "normally" because that has always been my experience - maybe Spax are constructed differently to nearly every other make ?

Have had Spax adjusting screws go solid though [thanks to exposure to water].

[boustrophedon]

Re: Marlin trails car

10cwt Marina or Ital van axles are now pretty rare. I counted myself very lucky to find an [unidentified] one on fleabay a couple of months ago. Key identifier was the cast iron [therefore slightly rusty] diff housing - standard ones are alloy. Good luck.

Steve Green may have a couple back in England but as he's now in Spain access is extremely difficult.

Standard Marina, van and Ital diff housing were not ally they were cast iron.

[Nuttydon]

Re: Marlin trails car

both van and car axles look very similar from a cursory glance. and yes both have cast iron diffs. So just Count the bolts around the diff circumference . 8 equals standard, 10 equals the Stronger Van version.
these axles are VERY similar to MGB versions which effectively only differ in width and mounting brackets - the hubs/drums etc can be retro fitted.
Don

[marlin1984]

Re: Marlin trails car

Above posts - just goes to prove you should not believe everything you are told by an 'expert' - He said 'only 10 cwt low-ratio diffs were CI '... APOLOGIES.

So I was very lucky in ending up with a van axle ?

On similar subject of very duff info. on internet > beware the MGB site that states >"... In practice Gold Seal engines have an 'E' or 'N' suffix letter as in 48G733E nnnnnn." - NO. Mine does not.
Marlin engine number digits covered.JPG

Also beware the assertive statement '... all [Gold Seal] engines had the core-plug recesses bored deeper to accept the cup-type plugs instead of the flat type' - NO. Mine does not, it still has the 'flat type'.

[stevejgreen]

Re: Marlin trails car

Above posts - just goes to prove you should not believe everything you are told by an 'expert' - He said 'only 10 cwt low-ratio diffs were CI '... APOLOGIES.

So I was very lucky in ending up with a van axle ?

On similar subject of very duff info. on internet > beware the MGB site that states >"... In practice Gold Seal engines have an 'E' or 'N' suffix letter as in 48G733E nnnnnn." - NO. Mine does not.

Also beware the assertive statement '... all [Gold Seal] engines had the core-plug recesses bored deeper to accept the cup-type plugs instead of the flat type' - NO. Mine does not, it still has the 'flat type'.

There are lots of experts, anything that you read on the Internet should be treated as guidance, not as gospel. When it’s in print from a verifiable source, it’s more accurate than the bible!

I try to verify everything I publish personally, but still mistakes slip through.

Its when the experts are also salesmen, especially on eBay, that the mis-truths begin to multiply.

[newtrialer]

Re: Marlin trails car

Hi

i to am working on developing my marlin to a better trials car. I am fairly sure mine has a van axle from historic information I have. My issue is over the leaf springs, to get front wheels light and weight bearing down on real wheel, to do that I have added a lot of weight, which is making springs go flat and reducing travel. Shocks I don’t think are an issue. I am struggling to understand what options I have with leaf springs in terms of weight bearing and ground clearance. Nobody seems to sell springs based upon length and weight as they do coil springs.
any guidance would be very welcome
thanks
john

[duncan]

Re: Marlin trails car

The wonderful thing about Leaf springs is that you can simply add more leaves to the stack to make it stiffer!

My leaf springs for my unbuilt Marlin have two leaves - undo some bolts and fit another leaf

There are fixings to stop the leaves from wandering about but you can make new ones or replace them with the square U Bolts you get for trailers

If you want the normal stack look - shorter, medium, long - then simply cut the "new" leaves to length

You can also grind the leaves in width to match yours - I would not grind the thickness