DRL152K Marina based roadster rebuild

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  • martinclan56
    club member
    Club Member
    • Feb 2020
    • 471

    #166
    So a bit of investigation and much discussion later resuted in pulling the engine to investigate the clutch issue. I had used a NOS clutch cover, plate and bearing, but to be on the safe side I have now purchased a new boxed set of the 3 components. The clutch plate and cover are completely different in appearance to the NOS items but probably similar in function. The bearing however is a different story. The bearing I originally installed, supposedly the correct item, was 16mm high. The new bearing is 19mm high. I have since put everything back together and refitted the engine and am pleased to say I now have a clutch that works!


    nos_vs__new_clutch1 by Robin Martin, on Flickr

    nos_vs_new_clutch2 by Robin Martin, on Flickr

    clutch_bearing by Robin Martin, on Flickr​

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    • martinclan56
      club member
      Club Member
      • Feb 2020
      • 471

      #167
      Engine installation now complete and I have a working clutch. It's a long story but the main problem was the release bearing which was the wrong size.

      Yesterday was a big milestone as I turned the engine over on the starter for the first time and established that I have good oil pressure. Always a fearful moment particularly as the engine hasn't been used for many years (20+) even though it had been rebuilt.

      I have also now fitted all the ancilliaries and all the cables and pipes. Even with a simple engine like this there is a lot of plumbing.... The next step is to double check the timing, rig up a temporary fuel supply and fire it up. What could possibly go wrong....

      A few pictures of the completed engine install.

      Traditional SU HS4 carbs. Still thinking about how to add an air fiter as there is very limited space between the front carband the bonnet. Home made heat shield to hopefully aleviate fuel evaporation.
      engine_lh by Robin Martin, on Flickr

      Accuspark distributor (Chinese hmmmm) and tiny Denso alternator. HT leads need a bit of tidying up and I am probably going to fit some right angle plug caps.
      engine_rh by Robin Martin, on Flickr

      Completed exhaust system. I had the section with the flexi, which joins the manifold to the silencer, made from a drawing. Always a tricky thing to do with a 3 dimensional object like an exhaust. But it fitted after a little fettling. It looks a bit low but at the current chassis height there is about 5 inches of ground clearance - the same as the sump.
      exhaust_complete by Robin Martin, on Flickr
      exhaust_connection by Robin Martin, on Flickr​

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      • martinclan56
        club member
        Club Member
        • Feb 2020
        • 471

        #168
        It's alive.....

        Click the its_alive link adjacent to the picture for the video.

        its_alive by Robin Martin, on Flickr

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        • martinclan56
          club member
          Club Member
          • Feb 2020
          • 471

          #169
          I had intended to paint the rest of the car in September but the other half has rather inconveniently broken her ankle big time. It's very debilitating - no weight on it at all for 6 weeks and then very limited for a further 6 weeks - so I am now chief cook and bottle washer (and nurse) for the foreseable future. Ho hum.

          However I have managed to spend the odd hour here and there in the man cave, and have been doing a lot of thinking! As a consequence I have completed something I would have done later which is a decent air filter arrangement for the twin SUs. It's quite difficult to acheive on the Marlin as the front carb in particular sits so close to the bonnet side. As a consequence most cars either have no air filter at all, use horrible pancake filters or have a huge hole cut in the bonnet side and top.
          Anyway - enough words - here are some pictures.

          air_filter1 by Robin Martin, on Flickr

          air_filter2 by Robin Martin, on Flickr

          To say I am pleased with the result is an understatement :-)

          I did have to relieve the return on the bonnet side which is there for stiffness. But I have replaced that with another piece of ally angle about 5cm down. Still held with clicos in this picture.

          air_filter3 by Robin Martin, on Flickr

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          • Ye Ol Ripper
            club member
            Club Member
            • May 2016
            • 294

            #170
            Sorry Robin but I don't think that air filter arrangement will be ideal because the air filter is at the bulkhead end and there will be a lot of heat in that area under the bonnet. The problems will be most apparent on a very hot day when the power will drop off dramatically.

            Potentially it could work as is, with either bonett louvers or alternatively running a cold air feed flexi trunking from the gap above the radiator and under the nose cone.Then running the Flexi trunking along the drivers side and pointing at the foam air filter.




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            • martinclan56
              club member
              Club Member
              • Feb 2020
              • 471

              #171
              Yes. I realise I need to get some cold air in. Unfortunately my radiator fills the nose cone with almost no gaps. So I am contemplating a scoop in the bonnet. Just don't want it to be too ugly!

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              • Ye Ol Ripper
                club member
                Club Member
                • May 2016
                • 294

                #172
                Hi Robin . Eventually I will get around to replace my 2 pancake filters with a fabricated airbox . However I used some approx 2" flexi trunking from behind the front grille and routed it to blow cold air just in front of the front carb as that gets hottest first. That was sufficient to overcome the vapour lock issue.

                Louvres may look better cut into the top of the bonnet , Like a Caterham 7 uses, rather than a scoop. However that's a personal choice for you to make as all Marlins are different.

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                • martinclan56
                  club member
                  Club Member
                  • Feb 2020
                  • 471

                  #173
                  I am gradually picking away at a few of the smaller "to do" things when I get the odd hour to myself.

                  When rebuilding the engine it was obvious that the distributor was well past its sell by date so I purchased a new (Chinese Lucas 25D clone) replacement from Powerspark. This is an electronic distributor using a hall effect sensor and was responsible for the difficulties I had when first starting the engine. Partly my fault I should say to be fair. However that was soon sorted, but it led me to investigating the distributor further. The Powerspark distributor is supposedly a direct replacement but when I investigated further I found it was pretty unlikely that it had the correct advance curves.
                  A bit of deep Googling and I found that there are dozens of types of 25D each with a different mechanical and vacuum advance mechanism depending on the engine it is for. Ahh...
                  The mechanical advance is determined by the cam plate and springs. The vacuum advance depends on the vacuum advance unit fitted. After a bit more investigation I found that Distributor Doctor could supply new springs (not cheap) and I managed to get the correct cam plate (10deg) and vacuum unit from Ebay.
                  So now I have an almost new "proper" distributor.
                  dizzy1 by Robin Martin, on Flickr
                  You can see that 2 quite different springs are fitted. The lighter one is responsible for the initial slope of the advance curve whereas the heaver one takes over part way through the rev range and controls the second part of the advance. The total advance, 10deg at the dizzy and therefore 20deg at the crankshaft, is limited by the camplate. It's all very clever.....

                  While I was at it I also repaced the little wire that connects the points to the outside world. This has to be super flexible to allow for the movement of the points plate when the distibutor advances and retards. I used multistrand silicon insulated wire normally used for the leeds of multimeters. Only time will tell if it is up to the job.
                  dizzy2 by Robin Martin, on Flickr

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                  • Ye Ol Ripper
                    club member
                    Club Member
                    • May 2016
                    • 294

                    #174
                    I have found that the Chinese distributors from Accuspark, Powerspark & the MG club are actually incorrect for the B series engines , having the incorrect advance curve as you have now discovered. All originate from China.

                    Don't forget they also fit the A series engines.

                    They also had various advance curves.


                    However the Accuspark electronic kit to fit inside your rebuilt dizzy is well worth installing to replace the points and condenser.

                    If you type in this deliberately misspelled word " Lucal 25D" on AliExpress. They do the kit for approximately 1/2 the price of Accuspark & mine arrived in Accuspark packaging for £22.
                    Last edited by Ye Ol Ripper; 27-09-25, 09:31 AM.

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                    • martinclan56
                      club member
                      Club Member
                      • Feb 2020
                      • 471

                      #175
                      Originally posted by Ye Ol Ripper View Post
                      However the Accuspark electronic kit to fit inside your rebuilt dizzy is well worth installing to replace the points and condenser.

                      If you type in this deliberately misspelled word " Lucal 25D" on AliExpress. They do the kit for approximately 1/2 the price of Accuspark & mine arrived in Accuspark packaging for £22.
                      Yes I was thinking about doing that. Appart from anything else the quality of the points available nowadays leaves much to be desired....

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                      • andyf
                        club member
                        Club Member
                        • Sep 2014
                        • 928

                        #176
                        If you want to go electronic I would recommend the Luminition Optronic setup. I have had a couple of the hall effect types and they have failed in about 2-3 years each. Having installed the Optronic setup the performance is totally different and so much better than it has ever been.
                        Mk2 SWB Marina Roadster with a 2.0L Pinto built in 1986

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                        • martinclan56
                          club member
                          Club Member
                          • Feb 2020
                          • 471

                          #177
                          Originally posted by andyf View Post
                          If you want to go electronic I would recommend the Luminition Optronic setup. I have had a couple of the hall effect types and they have failed in about 2-3 years each. Having installed the Optronic setup the performance is totally different and so much better than it has ever been.
                          Gosh it's expensive! Probably means though that it is NOT made in China

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                          • andyf
                            club member
                            Club Member
                            • Sep 2014
                            • 928

                            #178
                            It is expensive but yes they are manufactured in England The price put me off the last time I replaced the Accuspark unit with the Luminition Magnetronic one but that also only lasted a few years
                            Mk2 SWB Marina Roadster with a 2.0L Pinto built in 1986

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                            • listerjp2
                              club member
                              Club Member
                              • Nov 2011
                              • 2445

                              #179
                              Originally posted by andyf View Post
                              It is expensive but yes they are manufactured in England The price put me off the last time I replaced the Accuspark unit with the Luminition Magnetronic one but that also only lasted a few years
                              I've had my Accuspark one in for some 8 years now, no problem.

                              Adrian

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                              • MOC Chair
                                club member
                                Club Member
                                • Dec 2022
                                • 211

                                #180
                                I fitted a Magnetronic to my pinto engined Cabrio and it was still going strong when I sold the car 16 years later. I fitted an Aldon Igniter with Flamethrower coil to my Berlinetta this year after getting fed up with the points.

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