DRL152K Marina based roadster rebuild

[danny_nelson]

Always interesting to see something different.

[greyV8pete]

Just love the low tech plating set up and the good results it has produced.

[martinclan56]

In between applying the numerous coats required with the coach paint I have decided to use, I have been getting on with some of the numerous other little jobs.

First a little home chemistry to nickel plate the door hinges. Done with vinegar (acetic acid) a nickel anode, and a 12 volt battery.
Unfortunately the door hinges were already pitted with rust so the results aren't fantastic, but at least they shouldn't rust! They now look a bit like stainless steel.


nickel_plating by Robin Martin, on Flickr

hinges by Robin Martin, on Flickr

I have also completed the resto of my old school Triumph steering wheel, finishing it off with a leather cover from Ebay. What you can't see is that I have replaced the horn button with a little wireless electronic gizzmo which operates the horn - err - wirelessly. It just happens to fit exactly where the horn button used to be.

steering-wheel by Robin Martin, on Flickr

Now I must get on with the painting but don't hold your breath.....

[andyf]

For those that have Pinto engines fitted be careful there are a lot of cases where 3rd party distributors have stripped the oil pump drive gear so there are a few recommended manufacturers that you should stick to. As for the Magnetronic versus Optronic comparison all I can say is that even when the hall effect versions were working the results were better than points but nowhere near as good as what I'm witnessing with the Optronic setup.

[lil_red_roadster]

Aldon do several variations of distributor for the B series, depending on location of vacuum take-off, different camshafts & with/without Igniter module. Expensive compared to alternatives but worth a look (I have one fitted).

[MOC Chair]

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.

[listerjp2]

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

[andyf]

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

[martinclan56]

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

[andyf]

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.

[martinclan56]

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....

[Ye Ol Ripper]

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.

[martinclan56]

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

[Ye Ol Ripper]

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.

[martinclan56]

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!