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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 14th November 2008, 20:57
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Hi Sconch,

I'd back Steve up on his views...mine is a 1.6K and it does fit really easily and the 1.6 on a cable clutch is fine (2yrs, 5K...no issues)

...in terms of power it depends what you want and what you are used to.

My 1.6 is as quick in a straight line as an S2 111s Elise...and this surpised me as much as my mate in his elise!!...and now the handling is sorted it is pretty similar in the bends.

As Colin Chapman stated...bigger engines make you fast in the straights, less weight makes you fast everywhere.

Inevitably, the T16 engine has more power, but is loads trickier to fit, and a lot heavier.....and you don't want more weight than you need in the engine bay of a mid engined Marlin......not sure on the VAG and Type R weights?

...what would I do now if I had the chance again.....probably fit the 1.8K Turbo ....

Rich
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  #22  
Old 14th November 2008, 21:55
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General comment......
If you've got other commitments of house, family and children, then my advice is take the simplest, cheapest route for your car.

You'll get tremendous thrills from finishing and driving your own low cost, low spec finished car than your hi spec, hi performance unfinshed kit sitting in the garage.

You can always upgrade it in future years when you have more time.

Just my 2 cents....

Peter

(P.S. It took me 5 years to 'finish' my Sportster and i've still got plenty of plans for it now it is registered)
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  #23  
Old 14th November 2008, 21:56
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You hit a good point there Steve. You would like now to upgrade a 1.8 now.

But when the like's of me and you was starting out, there was no cars we could jump in to "see" the performance. We only had the silver 1.6 demo to try. Now there is that choice.

At the end of the day, more power = more money & complex. In the short term. Then upgrade in the future. Or just go for it now. But it will cost you in a long run with first engine choice the upgrade.

Go above the 1.6, and your talking hydraulic clutch, MGF gearlinkage, etc.

With a bigger powered car, you can take your foot off. Not that you will want to.

Try now before doing. Wrong time of year though!

My advise. Got for the engine of your choice. Cost. Maybe more in the short term. And take a bit longer due to finance and complexity. But worth it.
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  #24  
Old 14th November 2008, 22:11
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You can argue the merits of any route.

If you plan to go on track, then I really wouldn't bother with anything less than 200bhp. If you want drive on the road, then really any engine option will suffice.... but whatever you do, you really, really, must get the suspension modified (assuming you have an early spec pair of uprights). My car was a complete dog to drive at SVA time, but having sorted the suspension it's now an absolutely joy to slide it around on track. 200 bhp and sub standard handling, or 100bhp and great handling - I'd take the latter any day.
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  #25  
Old 15th November 2008, 07:27
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thing is if you fit a k, you can always fit a bigger one later as long as you use the same gearbox, all the mounts should be the same.
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  #26  
Old 15th November 2008, 09:53
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Right. Final decision. I've spoken with the wife to get some common-sense into the argument. I've looked on ebay to see the availability of parts. And most importantly, like some of you have ben suggesting, I'm focussing on getting this car finished (not least because the wife wants me to get onto project 2 which is building her a lovely purple and cream cobra V8 replica - maybe one for retirement!!).

Therefore I'm going K-series. Not sure which one yet, but I think it doesn't matter at this stage.

Except for my choice of clutch mechanism. Is it still worth going hydraulic, even if I end up with a 1.6?

Anyway, thanks to everyone for giving me much to think about. Now I've just got to keep the momentum going and do something (once I've finished ripping out our kitchen anyway!!).
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  #27  
Old 15th November 2008, 10:07
DavidH DavidH is offline
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good question, my thoughts are if you go 1.6 and Don't plan to upgrade at anypoint then as rich says cable is fine. if you thknk you might want to upgrade engine at any point (reason i'm doing a hydralic on a 1.6k) then despite the extra work its a lot simpler to do when building. Btw if you are still looking at donors my experience was that late donors require more mods. e.g. exhaust and someother bits were different enough for me to have to find other parts Which added a bit to the cost of my build.
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  #28  
Old 15th November 2008, 14:16
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It is worth going hydraulic, as the clutch cable run is long (so there'll be plenty of friction from the outset), there's lots of scope of water ingress to the cable (which will only make matters worse with time), and I've not heard one person have an issue with a hydraulic setup, but plenty of negative comments about the cable. This assumes you're going to opt for a more pokey k-series, with a PG1 gearbox.

It'd be good to see someone fit a 1.8 turbo k-series.
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  #29  
Old 16th November 2008, 01:28
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We have all been here with different stages of the build. 1.6 K seems ok with cable. Goi 1.8 and above with the pg1, then hydraulic. Best time is now if you have the dash and windscreen out.
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  #30  
Old 17th November 2008, 22:31
sconcia sconcia is offline
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So am I right in thinking that on Rovers, the 1.6 and below were matched to the R65, and 1.8 and above had the PG1?

But can you use the PG1 (and more specifically, a hydraulic version) with a 1.6?
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  #31  
Old 18th November 2008, 08:50
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You should be able to fit the PG1 (k-series one) onto any k-series, i've not done it myself though (got a T-series one) it's just the gear ratios may be slightly out, given that the car is literally half the weight of the intended car, I can't see it being tooo much of a problem for a year or so.

the only difference between a hydraulic one and a cable clutch will be the mechanism that operates the clutch, there is no physical difference inside the gearbox. (it is best (and cheapest) of course to get all the parts already fitted to the gearbox though!!)
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  #32  
Old 18th November 2008, 10:32
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Did the Rover 400 not use a R65 with hydraaulic clutch?
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