DRL152K Marina based roadster rebuild

[J_Hammond]

Re: DRL152K Marina based roadster rebuild

I have made some good progress on replacing the front bulkhead. The original was rather tired and had a scary crack from pressure from the pedal box.
cracked by Robin Martin, on Flickr
I have made the replacement in steel, the same as the rear bulkhead. Proved to be quite tricky getting it right particularly at the bottom arround the chassis members. I have a couple of closing plates to still to fit there.
The pedal box is also trial fitted. I have made a L & H shaped reinforcement from 25mm angle to help spread the load. The clutch pedal needs a little adjustment using the blowtorch and hammer it seems.
The observant might notice there are 2 rows of fixings at the top rear of the bulkhead. The original design used the same fixings both to fix the scuttle (dashboard) moulding and secure the bulkhead to a chassis crossmember. I decided to make those seperate thereby improving the strength. I know the fixings are stainless, generally frowned upon for anything structural, but there are enough of them to well distribute any loads. On the final assembly I will also bond the bulkhead using a Sikaflex adhesive - same as I did on the Pembleton.
front_bulkhead1 by Robin Martin, on Flickr
front_bulkhead2 by Robin Martin, on Flickr

Next job: overhaul the steering rack and decide on the position for the steering column. I want it under, rather than through, the dash as in the original design. The orginal Marina steering column is pretty shot so I am thinking of using one from a Triumph Spitfire for which you can still get things like bushes.

Cheers for now, Robin

Donkey's years ago my pedal box mounting gave way as I was driving home, fortunately very close to home so I could coast it onto the driveway, and use the handbrake.
I wrote about this in Pitstop and also to the main Kit Car magazines of the time, this would be in 1989. This was taken seriously and Marlin produced a so called "strengthening piece" which could only be fitted by dismantling the offside of the engine compartment. So I cut bits off it and used these plus threaded bar to mount it to the rear wengine mount, unused with a 1.8 engine. A long piece of bar but it made it rock solid.
At the time Pitstop publuished other builders' solutions but it deffo was/is a serious weak point. So well done for spotting it and hopefully fixing it!

[martinclan56]

I have repaired and trial fitted the rear wing that had been previously been bodged. Also filled the many holes previously used to fix it as I wanted to start again. And.... filled the ragged holes where the lights were fixed. I am planning on using some round Lucas style lights rather than the original Marlin supplied Rubolite ones
As I am fitting cycle wings at the front I have also shortened the rear wing removing the stub of the running board where it would have joined to the front wings. Considering the original plan was to fit cycle wings all round it actually looks pretty good. The fit of the wing is not the best though - nothing I have done - that's just how it was made. But by the time I fit some wing piping the gap that appears at the top will disappear (I hope). I could probably pull the tub and wing together a bit more but I didn't want to over stress 40 year old fibreglass.
On to the other wing now....
rear_wing_repair by Robin Martin, on Flickr
rear_wing_fitted1 by Robin Martin, on Flickr
rear_wing_fitted2 by Robin Martin, on Flickr

[martinclan56]

I have almost finished painting the chassis using CraftMaster coach paint. This requires a minimum of 6 coats, 2 x primer, 2 x undercoat and 2 x topcoat hence the long delay since I last posted (Plus I have had Covid). Although it takes ages to do the result is worth it.
I have done the main chassis in black raddle which is a sort of semi gloss. It's tough as old boots once it has had a few weeks to dry.
The bit of the chassis that supports the windscreen frame, and the frame itself is MG Maroon and boy is it shiny. This will match the body colour. The final coat I applied using brushes made by Purdy which cost an arm and a leg but the result is worth it.
chassis_painted1 by Robin Martin, on Flickr
chassis_painted2 by Robin Martin, on Flickr
Now all I have to do is paint the rest of the body!
Now the chassis is painted I have permanently fixed the front and rear bulkheads using a combination of stainless screws and mastic.

I have also made a new front grill using some stainless mesh, as the old "crinkly wires" used by Marlin are no longer available. It's a bit of a b*gger to cut but the result is quite pleasing.
new_grill by Robin Martin, on Flickr

[jon_wilkinson]

Outstanding job and fabulous looking result. I take it you are planning to use coach paint for the rest of the car as well?

[martinclan56]

Yes, coach paint for everything other than the bonnet top and sides which I will leave unpainted. That's when I have made them of course ;-)

[listerjp2]

Yes, coach paint for everything other than the bonnet top and sides which I will leave unpainted. That's when I have made them of course ;-)

Something like this.

PSX_20230310_084133.jpg

[martinclan56]

Yes. I wonder where I got the idea from :-)
Will be painting the doors though.

[listerjp2]

Yes. I wonder where I got the idea from :-)
Will be painting the doors though.

That's what I like about kit cars, everyone's unique:-)

[listerjp2]

Yes. I wonder where I got the idea from :-)
Will be painting the doors though.

I was just lazy and anything aluminium I left as is.:-)

[listerjp2]

I was just lazy and anything aluminium I left as is.:-)

I used a scotch bright pad and WD40 to give a brushed aluminium effect and then a clear coat of lacquer.

Don't look to shabby.

Adrian

[martinclan56]

My first attempt at coachpainting some of the fibreglass. it's not bad even if I do say so myself. This was coat number 5 - the first topcoat. 6th coat (2nd topcoat) looked better but forgot to take a picture. Still a long way from perfect but good enough. The red, by the way, is considerably darker in real life.
coach_painted1 by Robin Martin, on Flickr

And now I have started to re-assemble the car in ernest. Near side front suspension is done. The big problem with the Marina is you cannot adjust the castor. Which in turn affects the steering self centering - big time. But at least with my adjustable tie bars you can tweak it. By measuring the angle of the torsion bar relative to the chassis I have established that the castor is bang on the suggested 2.5 degrees. Hooray. Note the Heath Robinson angle device!
castor_angle by Robin Martin, on Flickr

[listerjp2]

The half moon shape in your front scuttle, does anything live there?

Adrian

[martinclan56]

A few more pictures. Having a bit of a push at the moment.

front suspension complete by Robin Martin, on Flickr

pedalbox complete by Robin Martin, on Flickr

painted scuttle top by Robin Martin, on Flickr

[martinclan56]

I have mocked up the dashboard. I am going for the minamilist look - large Jaguar rev-counter in the centre, standard Smiths fuel and combined oil pressure / temperature for the smaller gauges. Bicycle speedo and oddometer discreetly mounted. No glovebox as the suggested one is uselessly small.
dash mockup by Robin Martin, on Flickr
Lucas windcreen wiper motor and boxes trial fitted. These are a real b*gger to get right but essential to do so as they are fitted in the clamp which holds the screen in place. As this is sealed in with mastic once the screen is fitted so you don't want to be taking it out very often!
wiper motor installed by Robin Martin, on Flickr
Front brake pipes all run. I didn't follow the suggested route from the manual. I know that one of them bridges the point where the side mounted exhaust exits the bonnet side panel - but I am not going to be doing that with the exhaust anyway. I had to make the brackets for the front flexi pipes as my (very early) chassis was missing them. The flexis are a bit tight but I think they will be OK once the suspension is at its working height.
front brake pipes by Robin Martin, on Flickr

front brake pipe bracket by Robin Martin, on Flickr

[HairyDave]

That is looking superb I love the snape of the dash. How does the Jag tacho work? Mechanical or electric or mechanical?