DRL152K Marina based roadster rebuild

[andyf]

Mine is 170mm measured below doors.

Adrian

On mine the bottom of the chassis rail to the floor is 8" but the sump is closer to 5"

[Ye Ol Ripper]

On mine the bottom of the chassis rail to the floor is 8" but the sump is closer to 5"

Hi Andy. Your engine is a Pinto so the sump height may well differ from the Marina 1800 engine. I will measure mine today once it stops raining

[listerjp2]

Hi Andy. Your engine is a Pinto so the sump height may well differ from the Marina 1800 engine. I will measure mine today once it stops raining

The secret is not whether it is Pinto, 1800, 1300 or anything, it is to make sure the top of the suspension upright does not touch the inner wing when the suspension is fully compressed.

The instructions give you a starting point, that's all.

It takes a bit of tweaking of the torsion bars and reaction lever.

If you have clearance problems then you may have to set it higher.

That is why you will see different heights even on like engined Marlins.

I have seen that sometimes the bolt holding the suspension upright on has not been cut down enough and hence you will find some Mk2's with dents in there inner wings.

It will take a bit of patience but keep at it.

I note that you are to have cycle wings so won't be a problem.

Get it to look right and safe over speed bumps.

Good luck

Adrian

Here's the starting point.

[Ye Ol Ripper]

Robin. My measurements are as follows, my car is fitted with185/70/13 tyres on Compomotive CX alloys.

My measurement from the lower edge of the chassis, (directly below the front exhaust hanging bracket) to the floor is 185mm.

The exhaust pipe exits from under the nearside chassis with 25mm (1") clearance. This provides sufficient clearance so the underside floor paint doesn't get burnt off.

Let me know if you need further measurements.

If you are using bigger diameter wheels but with lower profiles than mine, your ride height will probably be lower than mine. IiRc you plan to use 15" wire wheels?

With regards to Adrian's very useful input , especially ensuring you have sufficient clearance by trimming the upper ball joint thread protrusion.

Can you clarify if you wanted to know my sump pan to ground clearance, as mine clears speed humps ok?

The other engines whether A series, Pinto or Lancia/ Alfa, I would have thought are different heights and therefore, how low a particular sump hangs down below the chassis would surely be something to consider?

[martinclan56]

Thanks all
I am using 15" wire wheels with 165/70 tyres. I think when I calculated the diameter it was about 24" which is slightly more than a 185/70/13. So may give me an additional few mm clearance for the chassis with the standard suspension settings.
185mm to the chassis sounds perfect. Alledgedly the maximum height allowed for speed humps is 100 mm giving about 85mm clearance to the chassis and a cats whisker to the exhaust :-)
As to the upper ball joint clearance - it won't be a problem for me as I (will) have cycle wings which have no inner wing!
Don't know about the sump yet as the engine is yet to be fitted! But it's a B series and will be mounted on the lower landrover engine rubbers which I understand are necessary for the front carb to clear the bonnet top.

[Ye Ol Ripper]

I seem to recall that the single carbed 1800 required the lower land rover mounts , however I am unsure what are actually fitted on my car. The front carb pancake airfilter rubs on the aluminium 90 deg strengthening piece that sits on top of the nearside panel. I filed a tiny v off it and there is nolonger any noise from it with engine idling.

With regards to speed humps, the workmen often make them higher than they are supposed to.

If you do run into problems on a steep speed hump. Go slowly over it at a diagonal.

[jon_cox]

Thank-you :-) After your comments I decided to revisit the silencer height. In fact the silencer seems fine, but I think I will have to remake the support as the u-bolt protrudes below the silencer.
Out of interest - do you know what is the height of your chassis above the ground?

Cheers, Robin

The information given in the build manual for final ride height is:

image.png

[andyf]

That's interesting, 180mm is 7" and it says that the floor should be parallel with the floor, which mine is yet it is 8" not 7"... odd. At the moment it drives really well so I'm not inclined to change it but I may get the tape measure out again to verify

BTW mine is one of those with dents in the wings which were courtesy of a grass autotest that I did just after building the car!

[Ye Ol Ripper]

That's interesting, 180mm is 7" and it says that the floor should be parallel with the floor, which mine is yet it is 8" not 7"... odd. At the moment it drives really well so I'm not inclined to change it but I may get the tape measure out again to verify

BTW mine is one of those with dents in the wings which were courtesy of a grass autotest that I did just after building the car!

Hi Andy. The only difference would be as you drop the height on your recently added coilovers,is that the car would usually have more negative camber (it does on most other cars ).Potentially leading to better handling and also lower centre of gravity. So worth doing provided your offside exhaust manifold & side exit exhaust has sufficient clearance to clear the speed humps.

[jon_cox]

That's interesting, 180mm is 7" and it says that the floor should be parallel with the floor, which mine is yet it is 8" not 7"... odd. At the moment it drives really well so I'm not inclined to change it but I may get the tape measure out again to verify

BTW mine is one of those with dents in the wings which were courtesy of a grass autotest that I did just after building the car!

It does state that the car should be "laden". So with a full tank of petrol and 2 adults on board you would expect at least a 1 inch drop in ride height. I would say yours is just right at 8" unladen.

[andyf]

jon_cox that makes sense, and is probably why I had negative camber and dents in my inner wings

Ye Ol Ripper My camber is set at 0 at the moment which seems to be working well. since switching to coilovers and increasing the caster it turns in well and doesn't tend to understeer.

PS what I do need to do is put some grommets in the holes left where I removed the torsion bars

[Ye Ol Ripper]

It does state that the car should be "laden". So with a full tank of petrol and 2 adults on board you would expect at least a 1 inch drop in ride height. I would say yours is just right at 8" unladen.

Mine was measured with £15 of fuel but without me in it . Because I was crawling around underneath with a tape measure . Once I am in it , due to my portly frame, I realistically weigh double that of a light person. I do have stiffer Marina Estate torsion bars at the front & 5 leaf rear springs( usually 2) on the rear.

With an additional passenger it still clears the speed humps.

[martinclan56]

Progress has been a bit slow recently with one thing and another. But I have made a prototype of a gearstick extension gizmo. By default the Marina gearlever is a bit of a stretch - even in the Marina. BL's attempt at fixing this was simply a longer gear lever that was cranked at the base. I think mine is better :-)

gear-lever1 by Robin Martin, on Flickr

gear-lever3 by Robin Martin, on Flickr

It's only at the protoype stage but it works fine. Notice the cr@p welding. I accidently nudged the amp control and discovered (afterwards) that I had been using far too many - amps that is.

[listerjp2]

Progress has been a bit slow recently with one thing and another. But I have made a prototype of a gearstick extension gizmo. By default the Marina gearlever is a bit of a stretch - even in the Marina. BL's attempt at fixing this was simply a longer gear lever that was cranked at the base. I think mine is better :-)

gear-lever1 by Robin Martin, on Flickr

gear-lever3 by Robin Martin, on Flickr

It's only at the protoype stage but it works fine. Notice the cr@p welding. I accidently nudged the amp control and discovered (afterwards) that I had been using far too many - amps that is.

Looks brilliant and , like me, your showing off your engineering. I am loving your blog, it reminds me of my build. Keep up the good work.

[martinclan56]

I have completed the rear of the exhaust by fitting an off the shelf 45 deg bend. Cutting the 45 deg slash on the end proved to be a challenge but in the end I found out how to make a template using Google.
exhaust_tip1 by Robin Martin, on Flickr

I have bonded in the transmission tunnel and floor on one side. Everything is help in place with an industrial strength adhesive (Sikaflex) The mechanical fixings are really just to hold everything in place while the adhesive sets. And to persuade any future MOT tester everything is secure!
floor1 by Robin Martin, on Flickr
I have directly trimmed the panels making up the transmission tunnel with an automotive vinyl. I am not a big fan of carpet in an open car :-)
A bit dissapointed with the vinyl though. It came from a well known supplier but I found it marks and nicks very easily. Too late to change it now though.
To make up for the lack of carpet I have used sound deadner mat on the inside of each panel.

While I was at it I added the floor level seatbelt mounts using some FIA approved spreader plates.
seatbelt_mount by Robin Martin, on Flickr