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Go Back   Madabout Kitcars Forum > Mad Build Area > Marlin Sportster, Cabrio, Berlinetta and Roadster builds

Marlin Sportster, Cabrio, Berlinetta and Roadster builds Enthused or Confused about your vintage Marlin build? Ask away here or show off your build.

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  #1  
Old 24th September 2011, 20:13
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Talking Updates!

A small update:

It was time for an upgrade after spending a year on and off cleaning contacts and still having the number plate lights blink sometime. Using the original housings the standard bulbs have been switched for LED blocks from CBS. These are the same as the type used for the interior lighting. Not tried them in the dark yet as it’s a really nice day today!







Did a bit of surface rust clean up on the bottom of the chassis too, mainly on the drivers side. MOT in a couple of weeks!
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  #2  
Old 3rd October 2011, 11:40
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It passed MOT today One advisory - play in ball joint on the near side.

I'll be referring to http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/foru...ad.php?p=13375

Are there any good quality Metro / MGF ball joints out there or are they all made of cheese?

This looks to be the right type to get: http://www.minispares.com/Product.as...d=34748&title=
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  #3  
Old 3rd October 2011, 16:27
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Hi Patrick,
well done on the MOT pass and interesting that you have a ball joint on the way out.

Marlin are currently supplying 'First Line' which is what my local motor factors tend to sell.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/5806804...57626800104389 (Ian Morris may have the part number?)
But I have no idea if they are any good.

I would avoid buying anything that is not in a recognised packaging. I have collected a couple of new old stock 'Unipart' original parts as spares that do come up on eBay from time to time.

I think there are two different types of metro ball joints and I think the ones you want are GSJ269 but to be honest I have not yet fitted any of these.

Out of interest, how many miles have you clocked up now?
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Old 3rd October 2011, 17:13
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Thanks Just under 4.5k now been a slow couple of years for one reason or another (weather being a big one)

Will have a closer look when I get home, surfing and being a passenger in a car make my gut queeezy
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  #5  
Old 9th November 2011, 17:44
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Hey Patrick,
a chance to get your M20B28 engine tested...

http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/foru...referrerid=181

...could be interesting?
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  #6  
Old 9th November 2011, 20:56
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Interesting, something I had been planning on doing for while. Need to see what the weather will be like
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  #7  
Old 9th November 2011, 22:20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick View Post
Interesting, something I had been planning on doing for while. Need to see what the weather will be like
Ah, yes, I had forgotten you are 'hoodless'
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Old 20th January 2012, 23:35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick View Post
It passed MOT today

Are there any good quality Metro / MGF ball joints out there or are they all made of cheese?

This looks to be the right type to get: http://www.minispares.com/Product.as...d=34748&title=
Hi Patrick,
did you get the Minispares supplied ball joints?
Any comments on quality and make, etc.

thanks

Peter
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  #9  
Old 20th January 2012, 23:53
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its on my to-do list, been busy with other stuff recently - that has reminded me to order some!
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Old 1st September 2012, 23:30
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Did a little bit on the Sportster today, Richard was following me a while ago and commented that the brake lights were not so easy to see. So as a temporary fix I stuck a 3rd brake light on, Richard sorted the wiring:

(Sorry about the poor pic, the camera in my phone is shot and I left my DSLR at home)

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  #11  
Old 6th October 2012, 22:42
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It was MOT time this week. I change the driver side ball joints as they had a warning last year, the lower one had noticeable slop.

I didn't check the handbrake, or the driver side ball joints this year - guess what it failed on... hindsight a wonderful thing.

The rubber on the lower driver side ball joint was perished so failed on that. I replace the whole ball joint as I had spare ones.

The passenger side handbrake had no brake effect, on checking the cable seems to have stretched a bit and there was not enough thread to tighten it up properly, so put a space it and did them up.

Passed just fine with those two little fixes - could have avoided them if I'd spent a bit more time check the car over before the test.
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  #12  
Old 7th October 2012, 18:22
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Glad you got your pass eventually.
Those metro ball joints do seem to be a weak spot in the design.
Watch out for your steering rack gaiters. They'll be next to go....
...peter
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  #13  
Old 7th October 2012, 18:34
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Almost seems like the balls joints spent 20 years on a self while the rubber rotted. Odd that the passenger side ball joint went as the rubber was fine on that one. At least they are easy to change!

Started on swapping out the metro brake servo for a dual diaphragm servo - been a while now so this is long overdue.

So far I’ve fitted the new servo by expanding the mount holes of the old servo, extended the push pin with a bolt and started making the servo to master cylinder adapter.

Need to wait for a rose joint to connect the servo to the brake pedal. Also my counter sinker isn’t making much of dent in the servo master cylinder adapter plate so need a better one!







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Old 7th October 2012, 22:10
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Another thing while I remember, I'm considering one of these:

http://www.megasquirtpnp.com

Looks to be one of the most straight forward ways into megasquirt and it's all laid out for the m20 requiring only a few minor changes to get the engine running on the base map.

I was looking at the millermaf / WAR chip which looked interesting and has some good feedback, as well as a few negative ones online. What I like is that it's simple, what I don't like is that it seems like a very closed system.

I might start with a wide band lambda sensor and AFR gauge to get an idea of how the engine is running. I know is rich on idle and lower down the rev range but I don't know what it's like furhter up. In theory the standard 2.5 injectors are getting close to their limit with the 2.8.
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Old 10th October 2012, 21:31
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Finished off machining the adapter plate today, brought some proper countersinking bits with me! Had to machine down the bolts ever so slightly to fit in to the counter sunk holes.

Bought a rose joint to go on the servo, minor issue bought the wrong thread direction – oops! New one on order . Also 10mm bolts don’t go through 3/8″ holes by about 0.4mm so ordered some 3/8″ nuts and bolts to use.











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  #16  
Old 11th October 2012, 09:34
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Very neat Patrick!

[QUOTE=Patrick]Finished off machining the adapter plate today, brought some proper countersinking bits with me! Had to machine down the bolts ever so slightly to fit in to the counter sunk holes.



[QUOTE=Patrick]
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  #17  
Old 11th October 2012, 21:02
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Thanks Mike, hopefully I'll get the new rose joint and 3/8" bolts tomorrow then I sort out the mechanical side of it at the weekend. Brake pipes I'm think of getting some braided flexi pipe to get a nice finish. Either that or I try and sort out the copper.
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  #18  
Old 19th October 2012, 20:27
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDVDzzX5tJ8

Short video which gave me an excuse to try iMovie on my new phone showing the rose joint in situe.
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  #19  
Old 27th October 2012, 13:36
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Got hoses this week, they’re really nice:








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  #20  
Old 29th October 2012, 14:46
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They look really good quality Patrick.

What have you done at the other end, do they connect up to some sort of bulkhead bracket or are they just spliced inline onto the original copper pipes.

John
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