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Go Back   Madabout Kitcars Forum > Mad Build Area > Marlin 5exi builds

Marlin 5exi builds Calling all you sexi builders....sorry 5exi builders, show us your progress.

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  #21  
Old 10th October 2009, 12:09
DavidH DavidH is offline
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Have you taken any photos of the rear suspension arms, am interested to see how they have changed compared to mine, wondered if they had done anything about rear ride height as mine is very low we think.

D.
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  #22  
Old 10th October 2009, 17:44
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidH View Post
Have you taken any photos of the rear suspension arms, am interested to see how they have changed compared to mine, wondered if they had done anything about rear ride height as mine is very low we think.

D.
Not yet, they are all still wrapped safe in a box.
Will take some photos as I move along with the build.

What is your ride hide? And why can you not change it?
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  #23  
Old 26th October 2009, 19:36
EddAllsop EddAllsop is offline
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Hi, not been on for a while as just trying to finalise the order and locate that elusive donor car!! Unfortunately its all showing me just how wet behind the ears I am at all this, so any help greatfully recieved. Firstly, has anyone got any better places to be searching for the donor other than ebay and autotrader? I'm looking for the 180bhp 1.8L turbo SEAT leon (tho if I could find a 235bhp Cupra R version that'd be nice!!) and hoping that £2000-3000 should get me a nice engine thats not done too many miles (60-70,000 miles). Unfortunately pickings are slim at the mo so anywhere else I should be looking?

Also am slightly concerned about the 'extra's' lists for the marlin price list and whats needed and whats not. Obveously Marlin need to make a profit, but I dont really like the idea of being taken for a ride just due to lack of experience. For example is £110 on their build stand for 12 mths money well spent or just not needed? Also Terry has sent me thro a near finished new price list which lists a lot of relatively expensive brake parts that I wonder if I should be getting these else where? Any thoughts?
eg:
2 x Front brake discs - Vented VW/EXi £ 30.00 pr
2 x Rear brake discs - Solid VW/EXi £ 20.00 pr
2 x Willwood aluminium 4 pot (front) calipers £ 160.00 pr
1 x Set road/race brake pads for front calipers £ 20.00
2 x Single pot rear handbrake caliper assemblies (incs pads) £ 120.00 pr
2 x Rear wheel bearing kits £ 49.00 pr
2 x Front wheel flange / bearing assemblies £ 85.00 pr
OR
Hydraulic pedal box assembly to inc
1 x Pedal box (inc clutch pedal, brake pedal & accelerator pedal
1 x Balance bar assembly
2 x 0.75 Master cylinder
1 x 0.62 Master cylinder
1 x Cylinder clevis connector
1 x Hydraulic fluid reservoir
1 x Mtr brake fluid feed hose £ 175.00
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  #24  
Old 26th October 2009, 19:52
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limpabit limpabit is offline
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Hi there.

I can only comment on the older chassis design so might be talking cobbles with the new designs. But the original design was use a Rover 200 with the drivetrain from say the Honda type R or Rover turbo. In your case the Seat. Have they gone away from the single donor route now?

These are all consumable and would replace anyway as a matter of course during the build.
2 x Front brake discs - Vented VW/EXi £ 30.00 pr
2 x Rear brake discs - Solid VW/EXi £ 20.00 pr
1 x Set road/race brake pads for front calipers £ 20.00
2 x Rear wheel bearing kits £ 49.00 pr
2 x Front wheel flange / bearing assemblies £ 85.00 pr

Cannot use donor calipers???
2 x Willwood aluminium 4 pot (front) calipers £ 160.00 pr
2 x Single pot rear handbrake caliper assemblies (incs pads) £ 120.00 pr

I found that having a complete Rover assembey was point less. As to get it all working, all the pedals had to be chopped from the Rover pedal box anyway. All separate pedals.
Hydraulic pedal box assembly to inc
1 x Pedal box (inc clutch pedal, brake pedal & accelerator pedal
1 x Balance bar assembly
2 x 0.75 Master cylinder
1 x 0.62 Master cylinder
1 x Cylinder clevis connector
1 x Hydraulic fluid reservoir
1 x Mtr brake fluid feed hose

As for the donor. Can you not look for the Golf/Audi A3/Skoda? Even the 150BHP ones. Then lookout for a bigger turbo for it if you want more power.

Also, what's happening about the wiring loom? Do Marlin sell them for the car?
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  #25  
Old 30th October 2009, 07:13
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Seems you need a bit of clarity here.

Calipers
The front calipers from the donor go onto the rear of the 5EXi, this allow for the use of the donor driveshafts etc .
You then need a new set up for the front.

2 x Willwood aluminium 4 pot (front) calipers £ 160.00 pr
2 x Front brake discs - Vented VW/EXi £ 30.00 pr
1 x Set road/race brake pads for front calipers £ 20.00

You can also use the pedal box from the Donor if you wish.
But a Marlin pedal has advantages, such as front/rear balance bar.
Hydralic clutch,
If you use a VAG donor, the throttle is electronic, so no cables or wires here, you remove the Accelerator from the Marlin pedal box and put in the electronic one from your donor.

As for a donor, you might struggle to find an Audi A3 or VW in budget.
Seats and Skodas are the same kit but your not paying for the badge. What ever you use the main problem is geometry the driveshafts mainly need to be the right length. A3 and Cupras seem to match, no gurantee available anything else will, as it is un-tried.

Hence I went for the Seat Cupra 180Bhp.
You can find a lot of 150Bhp models, and Cupra R's (in budget) are rare.
I paid £2200 for my donor, X Reg, 63K miles, MOT, but it had Some minor Body Panel Damage (Hence cheap, car without damage should of been £3500).
The problem is since the government introduced the scrap scheme, people are trading in cars, under this scheme the cars MUST be scrapped from a UK registration point of view, These cars actually end up in Poland. This is having the adverse effect for suitable donor cars for the kit car market. Hence suitable donors are more expensive than say 2yrs ago

Try looking on some salvage sites, find a CAT C or CAT D damage repairable
http://www.douglasvalley.co.uk/
http://www.asalvageyard.co.uk/
These cars may NOT be driveable, so you will need to arrange a trailer or flat bed. Personally the thought of paying a bit more and being able to drive it gives you some assurance that what you need from the donor actually works.
Ebay and Autotrader are perhaps the best places, look DAILY for new adverts in Autotrader, I got mine the same day it appeared online. Good luck

Quote:
Also, what's happening about the wiring loom? Do Marlin sell them for the car?
Yes Marlin will sell a you a special wire loom for the 5EXi, it currently being developed for the VAG engine series , they do not have them available off the shelf yet.
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  #26  
Old 31st October 2009, 10:33
EddAllsop EddAllsop is offline
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Thanks John, Steve,

very useful comments. Definately a little clarity needed!! It's all becoming clear now!!

I have a couple of cars in my site's at the mo, tho there are also 2 cars up Halifax/Leeds way which are in the 55000-60000 bracket for £3000 ono. These two are from car dealers, but if the service history is there to proove the milage I may be tempted to splash out that little extra for a sl newer engine/parts etc. The others I'm looking at this weekend are more like 70K miles for £2000-2500. I guess just patience is the key here!!
Hopefully will have placed my order some time next week, and I'm informed they already have a chassis cut so delivery before christmas is a distinct possibility... exciting times!!!!

Many thanks
Edd
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  #27  
Old 11th November 2009, 21:14
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What sort of return can be made on the unwanted Leon/A3/Octavia/Mk4 Golf donor parts?

The reason I ask, is all my friends with 1.8t converted cars, have paid around £700 max for an engine, ecu, loom, and perhaps an extra £100 if the gearbox is thrown in. When I went and collected an engine with a friend a few years ago, we extracted a 2 year old Leon cupra engine, and got with it the complete wiring loom (b-pillars forward), ecu, clocks, climate controls, engine, all the engine ancillaries, brakes, etc, for £700. After selling all the unwanted parts we'd collected, the engine owed my friend about £500 - 2 years old, and about 30k on it.

Has the engine / donor market gone up significantly recently? My K20A2 owes me about £1800, and at the time I sourced it engines were changing hands for around £2.5k. I bought a Cat B whole car for about £2k. Maybe this is the way to go with with VAG 1.8t too?

As an aside, from what I understand it won't be long before the various companies on the VAG scene will be offering kits to allow a TFSI engine to run as a standalone unit. One of those, with the dsg gearbox, would be very neat.
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  #28  
Old 16th November 2009, 20:06
EddAllsop EddAllsop is offline
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Hi, been a few weeks since I was last on here but exciting developements!! I've finally sourced a very nice 02 reg donor car with just 50K on the clock and in very nice condition indeed. By the time I'd paid the petrol to pick it up from leeds it cost just under £3000, which tho it was more than I wanted to pay, as steve said, it was reassuring to drive the car back and test what I'm about to dismantle before the long haul to resurect it in the marlin shell. The rest of the car was emaculate so a bit of a shame to chop it up, but surprisingly good fun once I started to strip bits out. Hopefully with enough time on Ebay I should be able to recoup some of the initial outlay.

I've also put my deposit down and Marlin expect to be in a position to finish just before christmas which'll be a veyr nice xmas present to myself!!!! I have a slight dilema of whether to buy module 3 at the same time or not. I am in the fortunate position to be able to store it if needed and like the idea of saving the £430 ish for buying it all at once PLUS not having to pay an extra 2.5% of VAT ontop of it all. However I have seen several people have extended there wheel arches to a very pleasing effect as well as allowing wider tires and more grip which very much appeals. Terry has assured me that before long all the bodies produced will have these wider wheel arches (as per their race versions) and so may save me the hassle of working the fibre glass as well as the resultant respray. But the important point is how much more will it all cost?!?! I can already sense my wallet getting lighter!!! (and I fear its got a few more punds to shed yet!!)
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  #29  
Old 17th November 2009, 08:26
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What car did you go for in the end?

A Leon AUQ 180bhp?
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  #30  
Old 19th November 2009, 23:34
EddAllsop EddAllsop is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by limpabit View Post
What car did you go for in the end?

A Leon AUQ 180bhp?
Hi, yes, the 225bhp versions proved too illusive, but I'm very impressed with the donor I've got so hope it'll be money well spent. I've started stripping the interior out and thats all very simple. The theory is to warm myself up to pulling out the mechanical bits. UNfortunately they havent produced a Haynes manual for the SEAT leon, I've had it suggested I should look at the Audi A3 manual, but any onther suggestions/hints would be very welcome?
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  #31  
Old 20th November 2009, 08:54
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Quote:
UNfortunately they havent produced a Haynes manual for the SEAT leon, I've had it suggested I should look at the Audi A3 manual, but any onther suggestions/hints would be very welcome
Try and get hold of ElsaWin

Software program (Manual) used by Dealerships its not bad it should help.

Etka is also another package pretty good at giving exploded diagrams, no text explanation though.
If you need a part its ok at giving you the part number to re-order

Last edited by nutter; 20th November 2009 at 08:56..
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  #32  
Old 23rd January 2010, 12:10
EddAllsop EddAllsop is offline
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Hi, long time since I've posted anything, but just been busy (I susp this build is going to take quite a long time with the little spare time I have!!). Things have been progressing, Donor is stripped of parts and I may have found a friend of a friend who wants to buy the unneeded bits as one job lot to do up crashed cars which'd be great to get rid of the shell from the front garden as well as recouping some cash. Picked up the kit before xmas which was great, on the whole VERY pleased with it, BUT really should've spent more time going over the car and asking more questions. Think I've had to recategorise my level of expertise as VERY wet behind the ears (which is a little depressing)!! Just about to start the build but very put off by lack of instructions untill I read the various posts here which are very helpful. Then I stumbled across steve's (aka nutter) website which, without sounding too melodramatic was a revelation and has given me confidence to go get started this afternoon. Many thinks steve!!! Because there arent many leon builds its scary how many very big gaps there are in the build instructions. I suspect I cant hope to compete with steve's website, but will endevour to post any interesting pics on the forum here.

PS, any news on the wiring loom for the seat options yet steve?
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  #33  
Old 23rd January 2010, 18:32
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Hi Edd
Thanks for the kind comments about my website.
I havnt updated the website for a while, as I have had not much to report. The recent weather has not been kind and spending time doing the build at -9C is not apealling.
I have been spending alot of time designing the wiring loom and working out the required cables need for current loads. I have not as yet ordered cables as I am still waiting for some missing components from Marlin. Once i get these I can then check the power requirements, and order the cables. Then i fit the loom to the car and check it all works, so the loom is in the pipeline.
I wouldnt get too scared about the leon, Im sure with collective knowledge of everyone it should not be a problem, and the end of the day each thing will only fit in one place.
If you are on broadband let me know, and i will collate my photos into a zip file so you can download them directly from me.
If you have any questions, dont hesitate to contact me, will give you a phone number if you want to discuss. Where are you based??

Steve
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  #34  
Old 24th January 2010, 06:34
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Did you chaps get the stands?

If so Edd, You can start building the car up. Floor, radiator, suspension sterring etc. Done all this on mine in a small single garage and can be done during these cold months. As well as the electrics.

Though I must confess. I did not do the suspension until the summer. Lubing and pressing in bushes etc.

It has been a bit cold here as well. But had the bit between my teeth and been out there in the snow with the car up on stands.
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