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Latest News from Marlin:

1 Apr 2008, 12:07pm
This the latest mail from Marlin:


Well you know what they say 'It never rains but it POURS!!



We were ready to move into our new premises on the 13th March, with contractors standing by to help with the heavy machinery, when Mark had a serious back injury. It was so bad that two of us had to virtually carry him to the car and into the house. He then spent the next four days lying down hardly being able to move. This unfortunately meant that the move had to be postponed.



We were also committed to preparing Dylan's race car for the following week-end where he took part in the first race of the season in the Special GT championships at Castle Combe. (Mark did not race as his back was still too bad for him to be able to take part). Dylan did absolutely brilliantly and was 3rd in class for most of the race (in front of two Ferraris again) when part of the exhaust came away which meant he lost power, then his gearbox got stuck in fourth gear, AAARRRGGGHHHH!! Dylan fought on and still came in 9th out of 14 in a crippled car, a remarkable achievement considering the problems he had. The next race is 5th May Bank Holiday Monday.



In the meantime, the contractors are not able to come out again until the 3rd week in April which coincides with our pre-booked 10 day break from 2nd - 12th April. In view of our current circumstances the holiday has coincided with a crucial time, but when it was booked we could not have foreseen that we would still not have moved :-(



On our return we the plan is to contact the contractors again to book a date and ensure that we complete the move as quickly as possible. I know that there are a still a few of you waiting for items that are stored away in our containers, please be assured that your orders will be dispatched as soon as we are able and we would like to thank you so very much for your patience and understanding.



So as they say onwards and upwards :-) We will be in touch again later this month

when we have further news about the completion of our move.



With Kind Regards

Terry & Mark


I'm starting to get a little hacked off with all these delays... I seriously dobut that I'll get my engine running much before August at his rate.

And I really don't have anything else to do - I'm sort of reliant on Marlin, unless I bite the bullet and get a fuel tank & swirl pot fab'd elsewhere and cancel the order with them for those bits.

I can wait on the GF bits. I Just really want to fire it up and make sure I haven't fudged anything up! :(
1 Apr 2008, 1:16pm
You can use a 5lr can of fuel put both pipes in and run it off that, that's how we did it initially :D

If you look at the first drive, and exhaust V1 videos you can see the green fuel can :)

http://www.msportster.co.uk/videos.asp
1 Apr 2008, 2:35pm
GreatOldOne wrote:
And I really don't have anything else to do - I'm sort of reliant on Marlin, unless I bite the bullet and get a fuel tank & swirl pot fab'd elsewhere and cancel the order with them for those bits.

(


I have an unused Marlin swirl pot if you want it. I modified it slightly before deciding not to use it (Just removed the mounting brackets which forced you to place it on the wrong side) It's yours if you want it for 50% of whatever Marlin charge now.

Robin
1 Apr 2008, 4:00pm
Robin - I've sent you a PM re the surplus swirl pot.
1 Apr 2008, 9:11pm
A somewhat worrying update from Marlin?

I'm happy to measure up my fuel tank if you want to get one made. It's a very simple constuction with no specail baffles or sumps.
I think there are a couple of places that do custom ally fab that advertise in the kit and custom car mags.

Peter
1 Apr 2008, 9:40pm
I sent a revised order through today, removing the header tank, pumps & swirl pot from the original.

I got a reply this evening along the lines that most of my parts are actually ready. I'm a little confused though, as Terry said that the 'tank needs welding', but in a previous mail she said they had one in stock and it was in one of the shipping containers they're using during the move. They have my pumps as well, so Ill put them back on the order, as it seems the right thing to do as they've ordered them in for me.

I definitely don't want the swirl pot now though, as I've agreed to buy Robin's surplus to requirements one. (Cheque will be in the post tomorrow, Robin! :))

I've asked for a specific list of what's ready, and a date that it'll be sent to me / I can go down and pick up, just so I know.

Whilst trawling through the web looking for other sources, I started to realise that Marlin do seem to be more expensive than other kit manufacturers... Westfield uses the exact same header tank as Marlin do (at least I guess they do, as it looks exactly like the one Pete has, right down to the bracket), and it's a good £5 cheaper before VAT...
1 Apr 2008, 11:07pm
GreatOldOne wrote:
I'm starting to get a little hacked off with all these delays...


Likewise, to the point I cancelled my order for a number of 5exi components. I'd been waiting 5 months, and my patience expired.

Following my cancellation I received a nunber of emails, which I was tempted to post online to alert people to some interesting attitudes....

That's not to say I haven't sent them to people via PM!
2 Apr 2008, 10:32pm
GreatOldOne wrote:
I sent a revised order through today, removing the header tank, pumps & swirl pot from the original.

I got a reply this evening along the lines that most of my parts are actually ready. I'm a little confused though, as Terry said that the 'tank needs welding', but in a previous mail she said they had one in stock and it was in one of the shipping containers they're using during the move. They have my pumps as well, so Ill put them back on the order, as it seems the right thing to do as they've ordered them in for me.

I definitely don't want the swirl pot now though, as I've agreed to buy Robin's surplus to requirements one. (Cheque will be in the post tomorrow, Robin! :))

I've asked for a specific list of what's ready, and a date that it'll be sent to me / I can go down and pick up, just so I know.

Whilst trawling through the web looking for other sources, I started to realise that Marlin do seem to be more expensive than other kit manufacturers... Westfield uses the exact same header tank as Marlin do (at least I guess they do, as it looks exactly like the one Pete has, right down to the bracket), and it's a good £5 cheaper before VAT...


Hi Jason,
I am often confused by Terry's emails, but now they are on holiday and then moving factory so you may still have to wait some more. The pumps are standard and available from a number of sources.

Actually, I bought my coolant header tank from Westfield(:laugh:), it's a Ford standard part (I forget which model). It's a nicer shape and quality than the old British Leyalnd metro tank that Marlin supply. (I did have one but sold it on ebay as it didn't really fit anywhere neatly and has very small connection hose points which didn't match the BMW hose.)
cheers

Peter
2 Apr 2008, 11:53pm
New header tanks from BMW are about £30 IIRC so that's always an option too :) I bought a pre facelift (out of tank) 325i suitable fuel pump which works quite well.
3 Apr 2008, 8:27am
Patrick wrote:
New header tanks from BMW are about £30 IIRC so that's always an option too :)


If you can use the standard BMW rad and standard header tank. That's what I did. It makes life much easier as you know everything is connected to where it should be!

Robin
3 Apr 2008, 9:53am
What the hell.

I may as well crack on and buy the bits elsewhere. If Terry's confused by my emails revoving things from the order, putting them back and then removing them again, so be it.

She'll be in good company with the rest of us! :D

BMW Header tank - did that come with the pressure cap, or is that a seperate buy? Ditto for the Westie / Ford part.
3 Apr 2008, 9:56am
Its a separate buy with BM cap but also not that much. Phone your local dealer for a quote, but also check with [url]www.motormec.co.uk[/url] they can sometimes be cheaper for genuine BM parts :)
3 Apr 2008, 10:29am
VW header tanks are cheap from eurocarparts / gsf. They also have a good baffle in them, which seems to stop problems of air inclusion.
3 Apr 2008, 11:58am
Just odered my pumps from Raceparts.

Spoke to a nice bloke on the phone, who told me to order online as they where in the process of updating their prices, but hadn't got to the pumps yet - and that they'd honor the online store prices! :)

So I should have a Facet Red Top, 90deg 8mm tails, Facet mounting kit and a Sytec FP603 on it's way.

Checked out prices on header tanks - Wow. BMW want most of £70 for a tank, cap & switch. For not much more I could have a polished ali one from CBS...

Motor Mec couldn't cost the tank at the time (they're ringing me back), but did give me prices for the other stuff which was broadly similar to the local stealer.

That Westie tank is looking pretty good at the moment. :D
3 Apr 2008, 12:09pm
GreatOldOne wrote:
Checked out prices on header tanks - Wow. BMW want most of £70 for a tank, cap & switch. For not much more I could have a polished ali one from CBS...

Motor Mec couldn't cost the tank at the time (they're ringing me back), but did give me prices for the other stuff which was broadly similar to the local stealer.

That Westie tank is looking pretty good at the moment. :D


I have a spare BMW tank - no cap or switch though. It's a bit yellowed with age which is why I bought a new one. (I'm a fussy git...) PM me if you are interested. Don't want much for it.

Robin
3 Apr 2008, 12:12pm
Thanks for the offer, but I'm like you - fussy. :)

I may just bite the bullet and get it from BMW. I'm saving quite a bit on the pumps, and the convinience of picking the bits up on saturday and finsihing off the cooling system over the weekend is attractive...
3 Apr 2008, 12:27pm
GreatOldOne wrote:
Thanks for the offer, but I'm like you - fussy. :)


No problem. If you use the BMW one take a look at my website and see how I mounted it. It will save you a lot of time fathoming out how to make the bracket. Patrick used a similar arrangement.

Cheers

Robin
3 Apr 2008, 12:46pm
Will do. BMW parts ordered. Now all I have to do is send Terry an email...
3 Apr 2008, 1:19pm
MartinClan wrote:
No problem. If you use the BMW one take a look at my website and see how I mounted it. It will save you a lot of time fathoming out how to make the bracket. Patrick used a similar arrangement.

Cheers

Robin


Yup worked very well that layout, Richard made up a new bulkhead bracket recently as our first one was a bit wobbly! Pics are still on the home I think.

I thought the BMW tank was cheaper than that (I'm still using the yellowy original - have have been very tempted by some of the shiny ali ones you can get)
10 Apr 2008, 10:12pm
Thanks - I'll see what they have to say when they get back from their holiday on Monday. I've already update the order twice...

I suppose I'd better give them the opportunity to reply first.
14 May 2008, 9:44am
Had news from Marlin - My order is ready (sans sterring rack - that will follow in the post)

So I'm off to collect it on Saturday. :)

Martin - Check your PM.
14 May 2008, 12:15pm
GreatOldOne wrote:
Had news from Marlin - My order is ready (sans sterring rack - that will follow in the post)

So I'm off to collect it on Saturday. :)

Martin - Check your PM.


PM replied to....

Cheers

Robin
14 May 2008, 9:09pm
GreatOldOne wrote:
Had news from Marlin - My order is ready (sans sterring rack - that will follow in the post)

So I'm off to collect it on Saturday. :)

Martin - Check your PM.


Jason,

Marlin's website says they are attending Japfest on Saturday 17th May, so make sure someone will be 'at home'

Peter
14 May 2008, 9:48pm
Thanks for the heads up Pete.

I've already arranged to meet Terry on Saturday morning. She's not going to Japfest, only Mark is.