MadaboutKitcars

So as not to hijack Peter's thread I though I would start a new one. Peter pointed out that Marlin now have a new website:

http://www.marlinsportscars.co.uk/sportster/

I have to say though it looks a lot, lot better than the old site which was more of a relic from the early 90's!

All the new photos look great, its a shame you can click on the ones in virual show room and road test to get higher resolution versions.

A few things I picked up on the donor page, that I'm a little suprised about:

They are still saying that "Radiator, mounting rubbers and hoses" will fit?!? Has anyone managed to fit a 325i face lift rad into their sportster? And "Front anti-roll bar" as well as "Rear anti-roll bar and link arms" - even though I've had multiple conversation about them saying you dont need them and they only give you the parts if you directly ask for them and get told they wont give you any support fitting them - I have to say I'm a bit confused!

Minor one, but - I had a conversation about E, M & S numbers with Terry by email - I was asking which engines they have mounts for and she wasnt aware of BMW's engine numbering system (M20, M50, M52, M54 etc). The website has a piccy of an E46 and then talks about E36 & E30 donors.

Much better, and a hell of a lot easier to navigate.

I dont know how different the later radiator is but my donor is a 1986 model and with a bit of staring, walking away, coming back, fiddling, staring,walking away again, pondering, coming back to it( you know the feeling!) I have managed to fit it by cutting off the bottom corner of the edging strip to allow clearance for steering shaft. The top hose comes out of the nearside edge, facing the side of the car, rather than towards the engine, so clearance is very tight with nose cone but it does fit. As for ARB brackets, as I have said before, I was given these with my kit but the rubbers supplied dont fit so for the moment I'll not bother and see how it goes.

Alfie.

Your must have been from a pre-face lift car then (chrome bumpers?) They did make some changes pre-post face lift to the engine. The management electronics for example are L-jet tronic rather than motronic. The compression ratio is different on the old engines too.

Anyway, the BMW radiator I have supplied form Marlin is from cars with an M10 engine - a generation earlier than the E30 iirc.

Either way i think it should be made clear that it may not fit, rather than a quick side note on the way out the door when you pick the chassis up.

I agree with Patrick's comments about clarity of donor requirements on the website.

Looks to me like it has been updated with new format and pictures, but a lot of the old material being re-used which is a shame.

When I had my debate with Terry over the ARB brackets, she claimed the website was 'out of date' and would be updated shortly. That was about two years ago!

Also, I am now the proud owner of three e30 1989 radiators that don't fit.
(The one that came with my donor, a 'spare' used one I bought on ebay and another 'new' one from ebay that I couldn't resist! All before I realised you need the pre 1988 version.) My fault for not checking first.
If anyone knows somebody that wants an e30 radiator, please do let them know that I have a selection to choose from!

For any new builders or prospective builders I have a very important piece of advice.

READ THE DETALED PRICE LIST. It is the most imformative document available! You don't realise it at the beginning , but you will end up needing almost everything on this list.
I now use it as my build checklist! When I have fitted everything on the price list, my car will be finished.

Still minor gripes, and I have no regrets from choosing Marlin. There is still nothing else on the market that comes close for style and engineering design.
Just a little more imagination was required than I expected!
(As an example, I think I have now seen five different ways of mounting the AFM.)

BR to all builders,

Peter

My view exactly, its such a nice car I should think potential builders will end up pn here or on one of the build sites and see some of the niggles we've had. I think probably still would have bought one. My biggest issue is the lack of a good and detailed build manual. The photo CD leaves to many open questions. That and the buying guide is not great, lots of little things left out of the big "kit-in-a-box" options that as a newbie you just dont know about. I've used all the build sites for ideas on how to make things - hopefully with resources like that available it will be easier for future builders

I got a pretty positive reponse from Terry when I emailed her about the site, I've highlighted here responses:

> Hi Terry,

> First off let me say the new site looks superb. A huge improvement over
you
> old one in terms of look and design its really brought it up to speed!
> Navigation is a lot easier now too!

[COLOR="DarkGreen"]Thanks we think so too.[/COLOR]
>

> Only a few minor and I hope contructive comments - please correct me if

I'm
> wrong on any of these!

>

> 1) In the donor info you've got a picture of a pre-facelift E46 Saloon and

the
> parts need come from either E30 or E36 - might confuse potential buyers

who
> are not familiar with the E (Entwicklung) number system.

[COLOR="DarkGreen"]Well spotted will get this changed.[/COLOR]
>

> 2) In the parts list: Radiator, mounting rubbers and hoses - may be worth

> mentioning that the rad from the face lift E30 probably wont fit. Ours

didnt
> and neither did it the ones from some of the other builders.


[COLOR="DarkGreen"]Yes again good point I will change this on the donor page.[/COLOR]
>

> 3) Front anti-roll bar/ Rear anti-roll bar and link arms you still got

these
> on the list, but I get the feeling you don't recommend using these.


[COLOR="DarkGreen"]Missed this again well spoted.but we do use the rear on the E36 (optional)[/COLOR]
>

> 4) Oil cooler assembly - unless you hang the cooler under the car where

its
> very vunrable I don't think the donor oil cooler will fit due to its so

width.[COLOR="DarkGreen"] I see where you are coming from and we have out pipes in brackets
here.[/COLOR]
>

> I know all 4 are pretty minor points but it might help

>

> In the virtual show and road test room I would really like to be able to

click
> on the pictures and see a bigger versions as they are quite small on the

page
> - again minor one but it would quite nice to be able to study them in more

> detail [COLOR="DarkGreen"]yes I agree and this wil develop more over the next couple of

weeks esspecially when we get a few more owners pics.[/COLOR]
>

> All in all big thumbs up on a well thought out and design site [COLOR="DarkGreen"]many

thanks and I have passed onto Simon.[/COLOR]
>

> Thanks,

>

> Patrick

Do I detect a very small admission that they sometimes fit an Anti-roll bar?

Surely not!

I suspect the reason is because the links on the E36 are much shorter and therefore dont get in the way of the chassis. The E30 links are too long!