I would just like to say

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Stanleysteamer said:
The chassis and body come from the manufacturer of the kit, so original Marlin circa 1984, but the suspension was originally Marina 1800. They did make a longer wheel base but mine was one of the original short wheel base ones.
However the awful lever arm dampers were replaced by a mini wishbone at the top, although the torsion bar was retained at the bottom. Then adjustable Konis were fitted.
At the rear the cart springs were retained, with lowering blocks but the shocker mountings were turned over and swapped from side to side do so the shockers worked better, and gave better roadholding, again, adjustable Konis.
But I got a special kit which gives you a short Panhard rod and anti-tramp bars.
The 1800 twin carb motor and 4 speed box is OK altho the weak reverse idler was a sh!t. it took me two goes to get a decent box. You can fit a Ford Pinto engine and box or MGB 1800 with a 4 speed plus OD box.
some have fitted a Rover 3.5, others a 1600 or 2000 Fiat twin cam.
As with all kit cars, if you can get it in then go for it!
Ideally I'd like a Fiat 2 litre twin cam and a 5 speed box. seems a bit more "pure". :):):)
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as ive said several times ,id like to turn my fathers 98 d1 in to a similar type "kit car"obviously 4x4 and more boxy, its just having the time , ive 2 tractors need work and the house plus buildings in the yard
ive never had a lot to do with the old english suspension types im just used to leafs coils and std shockers
 
jamesmartin said:
as ive said several times ,id like to turn my fathers 98 d1 in to a similar type "kit car"obviously 4x4 and more boxy, its just having the time , ive 2 tractors need work and the house plus buildings in the yard
ive never had a lot to do with the old english suspension types im just used to leafs coils and std shockers
Click to expand...
You wouldn't think it of me, knowing what an amateur I am, but the editor of Pitstop actually had to get permission from the committee to include my article on springing a few years ago as it was so long and detailed!
At the end of the day, all springs are torsion bars, it is just that coils are torsion bars wound into a spiral shape! We are so used to them that we do not realise that torsion bars can be used to modify suspension/spring rates at the turn of a spanner.
Leafs require specialist skills to be modified and I do know of a Marlin that broke a spring in Italy and the guy who repaired it used modified Panda springs and not many of those had leaf springs. He was a retired Ferrari mechanic and really knew his stuff. Came across the story in Pitstop but then accidentally found ourselves in the same village for a fortnight when we went to Tuscany for a holiday. The Italians are such fanatics when it comes to cars!
When it comes to your dad's 98 D1 you could do worse than to use the existing bodywork to make a mould then make/modify it to make a fibreglass body. It would be much lighter, then you could strengthen it with a roll bar or cage.
But I do know what you mean about the rest of life getting in the way. I have two D1s just sitting there awaiting my attention. as well as three other kit cars. i keep hoping I will eventually retire and be able to play with my projects!
And you still have kids at home, don't you? All ours have flown the nest, long ago! TBH. the two girls have hit the menopause, makes you feel old!:(:(:(
 
Stanleysteamer said:
You wouldn't think it of me, knowing what an amateur I am, but the editor of Pitstop actually had to get permission from the committee to include my article on springing a few years ago as it was so long and detailed!
At the end of the day, all springs are torsion bars, it is just that coils are torsion bars wound into a spiral shape! We are so used to them that we do not realise that torsion bars can be used to modify suspension/spring rates at the turn of a spanner.
Leafs require specialist skills to be modified and I do know of a Marlin that broke a spring in Italy and the guy who repaired it used modified Panda springs and not many of those had leaf springs. He was a retired Ferrari mechanic and really knew his stuff. Came across the story in Pitstop but then accidentally found ourselves in the same village for a fortnight when we went to Tuscany for a holiday. The Italians are such fanatics when it comes to cars!
When it comes to your dad's 98 D1 you could do worse than to use the existing bodywork to make a mould then make/modify it to make a fibreglass body. It would be much lighter, then you could strengthen it with a roll bar or cage.
But I do know what you mean about the rest of life getting in the way. I have two D1s just sitting there awaiting my attention. as well as three other kit cars. i keep hoping I will eventually retire and be able to play with my projects!
And you still have kids at home, don't you? All ours have flown the nest, long ago! TBH. the two girls have hit the menopause, makes you feel old!:(:(:(
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just the one now full time the youngest lads in the army and hes between here and there , the daughters in lincoln and visits and the eldest lad thats still here works shifts 2 days 2 nights and 4 off, his nights seem to correspond with the times we have to work on the house so stop it
youve got to have hobbies or interests though and you surely do :)
 
Stanleysteamer said:
You could go for this.
https://www.totaloffroad.co.uk/vehicles/special-vehicles/disco-inferno/
Click to expand...
was thinking more a version of this
images
 
jamesmartin said:
just the one now full time the youngest lads in the army and hes between here and there , the daughters in lincoln and visits and the eldest lad thats still here works shifts 2 days 2 nights and 4 off, his nights seem to correspond with the times we have to work on the house so stop it
youve got to have hobbies or interests though and you surely do :)
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Oh I do!
Far too many!
but recent injuries and arthritis in my hands have stopped me doing as much as i used to do.
also working on our place in France has seriously cut my time down But the bigger projects have ended up on the back burner.
If we eventually get properly sorted out so we can go back to spending 6 months in France, I will build a big garage over there and spend time in it doing stuff I would normally do over here. So that means trailering stuff over there to work on. It is just so much more pleasant to do it in decent weather.
Both of us have got to the age now when we have decided that there is no point in hanging on to savings "in case we need them for something" so we are starting to spend them to make sure we benefit from them rather than just worrying about them. So we are spending bits on doing our Brit house up, for the last time: neither of us intend to leave very much! Coming to terms with one's own mortality can be quite a "freeing off" moment! As someone once said, there are no pockets in shrouds!
 
Stanleysteamer said:
Oh I do!
Far too many!
but recent injuries and arthritis in my hands have stopped me doing as much as i used to do.
also working on our place in France has seriously cut my time down But the bigger projects have ended up on the back burner.
If we eventually get properly sorted out so we can go back to spending 6 months in France, I will build a big garage over there and spend time in it doing stuff I would normally do over here. So that means trailering stuff over there to work on. It is just so much more pleasant to do it in decent weather.
Both of us have got to the age now when we have decided that there is no point in hanging on to savings "in case we need them for something" so we are starting to spend them to make sure we benefit from them rather than just worrying about them. So we are spending bits on doing our Brit house up, for the last time: neither of us intend to leave very much! Coming to terms with one's own mortality can be quite a "freeing off" moment! As someone once said, there are no pockets in shrouds!
Click to expand...
certainly arent ,lifes to be enjoyed to the full were you can :)
 
Love it!
Nothing to stop you. as soon as a car has a chassis the world is your oyster.
Once you get the body off your D1 you can craft whatever you want to fit on top of it. You just need to work out whether you are going to be able to make it out of ally sheet or whether you need to use fibreglass. Sheet steel can of course be used but it is so much harder to get a decent finish, to say nothing of the weight considerations, and the rust.
You will find the biggest problems to be the nosecone and the front/rear of the scuttle. Anywhere where there are compound curves. You might even fancy making an ash frame and skinning it in thin ally sheet like a Morgan or any old open car from the thirties.
Getting anything through IVA is a bit of a nightmare though.
But if you keep enough of the original vehicle it will just be a a radically modified vehicle and ought to keep its original reg.
https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-registration/radically-altered-vehicles
and won't need to go through IVA.
 
Stanleysteamer said:
Love it!
Nothing to stop you. as soon as a car has a chassis the world is your oyster.
Once you get the body off your D1 you can craft whatever you want to fit on top of it. You just need to work out whether you are going to be able to make it out of ally sheet or whether you need to use fibreglass. Sheet steel can of course be used but it is so much harder to get a decent finish, to say nothing of the weight considerations, and the rust.
You will find the biggest problems to be the nosecone and the front/rear of the scuttle. Anywhere where there are compound curves. You might even fancy making an ash frame and skinning it in thin ally sheet like a Morgan or any old open car from the thirties.
Getting anything through IVA is a bit of a nightmare though.
But if you keep enough of the original vehicle it will just be a a radically modified vehicle and ought to keep its original reg.
https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-registration/radically-altered-vehicles
and won't need to go through IVA.
Click to expand...
running chassis will be enough was my thoughts ,yes was thinking of ally sheet and rivets and few compound curves like some ww2 stuff unless buyable
 
Stanleysteamer said:
Love it!
Nothing to stop you. as soon as a car has a chassis the world is your oyster.
Once you get the body off your D1 you can craft whatever you want to fit on top of it. You just need to work out whether you are going to be able to make it out of ally sheet or whether you need to use fibreglass. Sheet steel can of course be used but it is so much harder to get a decent finish, to say nothing of the weight considerations, and the rust.
You will find the biggest problems to be the nosecone and the front/rear of the scuttle. Anywhere where there are compound curves. You might even fancy making an ash frame and skinning it in thin ally sheet like a Morgan or any old open car from the thirties.
Getting anything through IVA is a bit of a nightmare though.
But if you keep enough of the original vehicle it will just be a a radically modified vehicle and ought to keep its original reg.
https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-registration/radically-altered-vehicles
and won't need to go through IVA.
Click to expand...
i remember reading in some kit car mags years back about wrapping ally sheet around ply to give the stiffness pressing would have given
 
jamesmartin said:
running chassis will be enough was my thoughts ,yes was thinking of ally sheet and rivets and few compound curves like some ww2 stuff unless buyable
Click to expand...
It takes quite a bit of practice and having an English wheel helps, but a hammer of the right shape and a leather bag of sand means you can bash ally into all sorts of shapes. There is a guy not too far away from us who makes ally copies of Jaguar D type bodies.
I have seen so much TIG welding recently that I am almost considering getting the kit. The way in which it welds ally is enough to make you want to get it. If you are really committed. At the mo, i have no need for it. but i can imagine myself wanting it in the future.
You may want to go to Beaulieu or somewhere to get hold of rad surrounds or whatever. but nothing there is cheap!
Obvs as it is near us I have been lots of times, but the prices are hair-raising. Peeps come from all over the world layered up with dosh.
I used to cruise autojumbles looking for bakelite switches etc. You used to be able to find them for reasonable money, but those days are gone! So glad I got what I needed when I could! A repro Owl-eye rear light cost me £300 years ago. God knows what they are now!
https://www.vintagecarparts.co.uk/products/901-rear-lamp-owl-lamp
And technically I could do with two of them!
 
jamesmartin said:
i remember reading in some kit car mags years back about wrapping ally sheet around ply to give the stiffness pressing would have given
Click to expand...
Yep, classic way of doing it.
There are also ways of making ply moulds, i.e. cutting it into contours then banging the ally over it. but there has to be a point where the ally is thick enough and strong enough to take the strain on its own as opposed to skinning over a ply base where the ally just gives it a cosmetic outer covering. My Marlin has an ally bonnet and the sides to the engine compartment. With no other strengthening. The rest of the car body apart from the doors, is in fibreglass cos it has compound curves.
This is typical of thirties style roadsters. My Carisma is the same. But Wifey's Chesil speedster 356a copy is totally in fibreglass as it is all compound curves. Funny to think the originals were in ally!
 
Stanleysteamer said:
Yep, classic way of doing it.
There are also ways of making ply moulds, i.e. cutting it into contours then banging the ally over it. but there has to be a point where the ally is thick enough and strong enough to take the strain on its own as opposed to skinning over a ply base where the ally just gives it a cosmetic outer covering. My Marlin has an ally bonnet and the sides to the engine compartment. With no other strengthening. The rest of the car body apart from the doors, is in fibreglass cos it has compound curves.
This is typical of thirties style roadsters. My Carisma is the same. But Wifey's Chesil speedster 356a copy is totally in fibreglass as it is all compound curves. Funny to think the originals were in ally!
Click to expand...
ive worked with glass fibre with my boats and i can see the moulding benefits i just thnk cars should be metal:)
 
jamesmartin said:
ive worked with glass fibre with my boats and i can see the moulding benefits i just thnk cars should be metal:)
Click to expand...
I do understand that.
Used to feel that way myself.
But when they started making kits totally out of fibreglass, like the Quantum range I had to reset my mindset.
Also. there are tons of fibreglass yachts that cross the Atlantic and get pounded like mad by waves and still survive.
To me, if it has a steel chassis then there is nothing wrong with giving it a fibre glass body. At the end of the day you can make it as thick as you like. And steel bodied cars have their limits. There is a good reason rally cars have to have roll cages. If I was going to build a car to do serious off-roading, whether fibre glass, steel or ally, I'd want a decent roll cage in it.
In fact the last kit I have built, but still not finished, has had the chassis tubed so I can fit a removable rollover bar. I will fit head rests to it so it looks more original. And a wire to attach the dogs harnesses to!
The thing about the Marlin is that the windscreen surround is also the roll over bar. It is shaped in a 22 ton press and attached/welded strongly to the chassis. Peeps have survived end over end rolls in them. One of the main reasons I bought one. :):):)
 
The sun has made an early appearance today and its first job will be to clear the frost.
I've still got to put a few more bits into the 'van - mainly food to go into the fridge and freezer, My planned departure is around noon so plenty of time to walk the canines and get all their tanks emptied before I set off.
Enjoy your day folks and I hope you are able to carry through your plans.:)
 
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