New (old) Member. History of Marlin Roadster Q285 AVO.

[jon_wilkinson]

Re: New (old) Member. History of Marlin Roadster Q285 AVO.

Thank you I would be very interested to see how it fits in. I can't decide which is the most favourable route, have my Viva rad uprated and them all the mounting and pipes fit or go with the civic rad and have to manufacture mounts and source pipes. Reading the forum posts I will definitly be installing ducting inside the nosecone to derect the airflow through the core, again what is the nost effective fan mounted to the front or behind the rad. I have a SEAT Alhambra that is my daily drive and that has the fans behind the rad with a remote expansion bottle with filler cap, the rad cap is on top of the radiator on the Marlin with no expansion bottle.

I found that most of the time even the standard Viva is fine. It was only when I was in a traffic jam or slow moving stop start traffic that it was a problem, most likely because the engine fan was too far from the rad to be any use. Since I uprated the rad and fitted an electric fan I haven't had any issues.

I didn't want the faff of fabricating mounts and rerouting pipes, although I will admit that those Civic rads look good.

My research suggests that the most effective fan position is behind the rad but there wasn't the room so mine is in front. Seems to work fine and I've read that some manufacturers use the same configuration so I'm not concerned.

[andyf]

Re: New (old) Member. History of Marlin Roadster Q285 AVO.

Thank you I would be very interested to see how it fits in. I can't decide which is the most favourable route, have my Viva rad uprated and them all the mounting and pipes fit or go with the civic rad and have to manufacture mounts and source pipes. Reading the forum posts I will definitly be installing ducting inside the nosecone to derect the airflow through the core, again what is the nost effective fan mounted to the front or behind the rad. I have a SEAT Alhambra that is my daily drive and that has the fans behind the rad with a remote expansion bottle with filler cap, the rad cap is on top of the radiator on the Marlin with no expansion bottle.

With hindsight I would have the Viva rad recored as the pipework is already worked out and the mounts. By comparison fitting a Civic rad is major surgery! As for the fan the modern pusher fans work sell in front of the rad. I am still considering how to add an expansion bottle.

[stevejgreen]

Re: New (old) Member. History of Marlin Roadster Q285 AVO.

With hindsight I would have the Viva rad recored as the pipework is already worked out and the mounts. By comparison fitting a Civic rad is major surgery! As for the fan the modern pusher fans work sell in front of the rad. I am still considering how to add an expansion bottle.

When I had my Viva radiator recored I took the opportunity to have the correct neck to fit the correct double sealed cap.
I also had a drain plug fitted so I could drain the system in a controlled manner.
Finally I has a boss brazed on, ready for a temperature sender.
All easy to do whilst the rad was out of the car.

[andyf]

Re: New (old) Member. History of Marlin Roadster Q285 AVO.

This is as far as I have got at the moment. The top mount is too flexible and catches the bonnet so needs adjustment but physically it is in and fits.

radinstall.jpg

[marlinmick]

Re: New (old) Member. History of Marlin Roadster Q285 AVO.

Hi All. Now that the lockdown restrictions have been eased with regards to travel I can now take my Viva Rad to have it re-cored I think that for me this is the easiest way forward. I collected my new windscreen yesterday fron Alvaston Glass in Derby. it's slightly thicker than the 35year old Marlin supplied glass that I took out and it has a lovely polished edge all round. I have now got to work out a better way of holding it in the Sikaflex holds it in alright but I dont want to have to chop it out again with a chiesel againn if I have to remove it anytime. I'm looking at a Square U Channel rubber seat to secure it in position with justa bead of sealer all around the edge of the windscreen to weatherproof it.
I am in the long process of preparing all the panels for repainting addressing the knocks, bumps and scratches it has gained whilst no being used. I must have been in a rush when I painted it the first time has some very gentle rubbing with 600 wet and dry is already revealing the primer. This time its having 3 colour coats with some clear coats on top. I'm using single pack QD Enamel sprayed, I had a little dabble at coach painting with a brush and with time and care you can get a really smooth finish with barely any brush marks with lots of flatting back etc but it is very time consuming and probably quite difficult in places on the Marlin (bonnet louvres/rivets etc).
During the strip down I discovered the remote gearchange that I fabricated for the Marina gearbox (I'd forgot about, its that long since I drove it) I have tried on several to import some pictures of my car but all I do is loose all my text and then my patience! I get there one day.
Mick.

[andyf]

Re: New (old) Member. History of Marlin Roadster Q285 AVO.

I think that's a wise decision

[wiggiesworld]

Re: New (old) Member. History of Marlin Roadster Q285 AVO.

The biggest beef I have with my Cabrio is just how close the filler cap is to the underneath of the grill surround, very difficult to remove it and replace. One of my future projects will be to have a remote filler and expansion tank like on all modern cars. On your car at least you look to have a reasonable amount of clearance so I expect your knuckles will be in a better state than mine.......

[stevejgreen]

Re: New (old) Member. History of Marlin Roadster Q285 AVO.

The biggest beef I have with my Cabrio is just how close the filler cap is to the underneath of the grill surround, very difficult to remove it and replace. One of my future projects will be to have a remote filler and expansion tank like on all modern cars. On your car at least you look to have a reasonable amount of clearance so I expect your knuckles will be in a better state than mine.......

I would agree with a roadster, not so much for protecting your knuckles but more to ensure you have a full capacity of coolant, with no airlocks.
if I was to start again a custom alloy rad would be my first choice. The viva rad was always undersized if operating without a thermostatic fan.

[agent leman]

Re: New (old) Member. History of Marlin Roadster Q285 AVO.

I too looked into using "U" section channel for the windscreen. I found this: https://sealsdirect.co.uk/shopping.a...artmentId=4#22 item code US162. I got a sample and it looks promising. Have you got any further? This all took place before I realised that I needed to do rather more than just a "freshen-up" to the roadster. After some fabrication and welding I will soon be sending the chassis off for sandblasting ...I don't think that I will be reporting back on the windscreen for a little while!

[marlinmick]

Re: New (old) Member. History of Marlin Roadster Q285 AVO.

Hi All, thank you all for your input to my original post I appreciate all your views and information and with the help of several members I'm gradually finding my way around this site and thanks to dcunn I have now worked out how to resize pictures and include them on my posts - hopefully! I'm gong to try and include some pictures on this post. So with that in mind when I stripped my Roadster down I revealed the Remote Gear Change that I made for the 1.8 Marina Gearbox during the original build. I remember a MK1 1500GT Cortina that I used to have in the mid seventies and I remember that design of its remote gearchange so I loosely based my design around the Ford design and mounted it as shown. I operation it is definitely not slick but it positive a bit heavy but it works. I might revisit it to see if I can improve it to make its operation lighter, it will never compete with a Ford box for slick changing but its suits my driving style anyway.

[marlinmick]

Re: New (old) Member. History of Marlin Roadster Q285 AVO.

Windscreen Mounting Rubber, I just looking into this at the moment, there's a good selection on that link you included I found another site that do similar moundings but basically the same. If and when I purchase a suitable moulding I'll included details here. Another option I looking at is put some domestic sponge window seal inti the windscreen groove to isolate the screen from the metal and vibration and then a bead of frame sealant all around the perimeter for weather proofing.
Just as an aside when do new members cease posting on this page and what is the process to move your post to and old members page?

[stevejgreen]

Re: New (old) Member. History of Marlin Roadster Q285 AVO.

Windscreen Mounting Rubber, I just looking into this at the moment, there's a good selection on that link you included I found another site that do similar moundings but basically the same. If and when I purchase a suitable moulding I'll included details here. Another option I looking at is put some domestic sponge window seal inti the windscreen groove to isolate the screen from the metal and vibration and then a bead of frame sealant all around the perimeter for weather proofing.
Just as an aside when do new members cease posting on this page and what is the process to move your post to and old members page?

You could wait for the MOC webmaster to appear.


But for specific issues like a windscreen surround, start a thread specific to that, and let the subject die on this thread.
It would be far more helpful for future readers if only one topic is addressed in each individual thread.

[marlinmick]

Re: New (old) Member. History of Marlin Roadster Q285 AVO.

Hi Mike, thank you for your comments about my car, yes I'm reburbing it back to its former glory only this time my intension is to do things better, the wiring behind the dash was a complete rats nest that I never did get back to doing it properly, likewise the paint I am now flatting it back in prep for respraying and with a couple of rubs I'm through to the original grey primer I must have been in a real rush to get it on the road. The filler cap was from an autojumble I think, I'm looking to get the mounting flange rechromed along with the headlamp bar when I can find a reliable plater. Yes they are Carmonas but for the life of me I can't remember where I brought them from, it might have been Foukes Bothers at Ibstock (gone now I think) I painted the spokes the same red as the body. I had the paint for the car given to me by a bloke who used to paint Fleet Truck's that's why its Post Office Red but the single coat made it look more pinker than PO Red. I'm painting it properly this time 3 colour coats and 2 coats of clear lacquer. Its still got the same grill as well.

Kind Regards
Mick.

[marlinmick]

Re: New (old) Member. History of Marlin Roadster Q285 AVO.

Hi All, Just a quick update as to where I am with the Marlin refurbishment.
All body panels removed and all dings and scrapes in the paintwork addressed particularly the running board panels mine had become quite rippled along the inner edge of both running boards. I think that I must have induced compression stresses into the panels during the original build of the car by forcing the boards inwards to meet the forward support bracket. Firstly I removed all the paint in the rippled area with a paint preparation wheel on a 4" grinder available from Screwfix

(these things brilliant though they are the work of the Devil boy are they aggressive) especially when they touch your skin, so used good gloves if you ever use them. I then used 240 grit ali-oxide paper on a rubber sanding block along the length of the panel to remove all the high points of the ripples until I broke through to the glass mat. Then I levelled the undulations with body filler and worked through the sand, fill, sand, fill process to attain a nice smooth surface ready for etch priming. All panels then wet flatted with 600 grit paper, again etched primed areas where it broke through to the gel coat or alloy. Cleaned all panels with a silicon/degreaser liquid and once dry used a tack rag before priming. I then sprayed them all with rattle can Upol grey primer and wet flatted again with 600 grit, getting around all the bonnet rivets and louvres was very time consuming. I intend to start applying the top coat as soon as these gusty wind conditions improved. Positioning all the panels to spray both sides is also quite challenging, I've made up some panel supports out of some multi grained plywood that I had lying around I'll post some pictures later, the rest I will suspend somehow from the garage roof supports.

As an aside with all the money that I have saved by staying in during the lockdown (not going out a couple of times a week for lunch etc) I am treating her to abit of bling, no not her, the Marlin she is having an all singing all dancing bespoke aluminium radiator made for her complete with a repositioned filler neck, electric fan sensor boss and a drain tap and will have the fan mountings built in as well. I post some pics when I have it.

[listerjp2]

Re: New (old) Member. History of Marlin Roadster Q285 AVO.

Sounds good can't wait for the pictures

Adrian