Merlin...

[Bulldog Bri]

Well, I have a freind who now lives up near York but has always known me and my cars and has now bought this Merlin on Ebay. I said that I would help him build or restore one years ago so now that time 

It does need quite a bit of work and needs to be IVA'd and registered but should be a good un when it's all done.
The car is down in Devon at the mo' and Ive got to go and collect it  Anyone fancy a road trip poss Saturday week?
 

['The Gaffer']

Are you going wiyh a trailer Bri?

How about the whole of the BKCC fleet turning up to collect this project?

[Bulldog Bri]

Yes it does need to be traliered back and I do have the use of one.

It's down In Bude, Devon. So a liitle to far for a club run. Me finks. 

But a second pair of hands to come down for a ride could be helpful 



Now set for Sunday week (15th Nov)

[Richard]

Can't promise at the moment but check with me a bit nearer the 15th.

[Bulldog Bri]

Have now got the trailer secured for the day and just got to make room in the garage (rebuild the sink area fit some more shelves)

My freind Steve, who has bought the Merlin, will be coming down to the Exeter show with me now as well

['The Gaffer']

Dont you have enough work to do without taking on another project?

[Bulldog Bri]

Hey... I like to keep busy 

[Bulldog Bri]

I'm ok now for help collecting the car. Thanks Rich though for the offer.

[Bulldog Bri]

Spent the day making room for the Merlin. All my benches are now down one side and the sink turned round, so that i have room at the back for one more car 

Making an early start in the morning the trailer is on the drive ready to go, just hope the weather holds off a bit 

piccys tomorrow eve. (I hope)

['The Gaffer']

Weather looks a bit more promising Sunday. Hope all goes well with the transport.

Look forward to the pics

[Bulldog Bri]

Great day, weather was fantastic the run down went really smoothly my car managed the whole run without a hitch Very happy...


2 engines and gearboxes (1.6 & 2.0 pinto's + 4 & 5 speed boxes)


All loaded and ready


Yes I CAN get 3 cars in my garage!

['The Gaffer']

Nice one, and so the work commences

[Bulldog Bri]

Here's how things are progressing.

I waited for Steve 'Murdoch' who bought the car had had a chance to see it as it had arrived, after we got back from the Exeter show... Then set to taking it apart.

By the end of the weekend we had removed most of the intirior (carpets, seats dash etc).

But then Steve had to return home.

Next, was to get the body off the chassis, so spent the next few days rolling about under the car undoing any bolts and bits that held the two parts together, then one eve after work another mate dropped in and helped lift the body up and tie it to the roof joists.


After a going over the chassis with wire brushes to remove any loose paintwork I gave it a coat of the ol' Hammerite' also I've redone the rear brake cylinders and shoes (a new set was in the boot of the car when we got it  ) so may as well fit then while easy to get to.

The stainless exhuast system was straight forward enough to fit as well.


Steve came down on Monday evening as he was going to see Alice Cooper in Wolverhampton the following day and as Bristol is closer than York  made sence to stay down here 
So with his help we lifted the chassis high enough and moved the 1600 pinto engine that is going to be used in this car into the area so it could be cleaned and then lifted up into place, also fitted the 5 speed gearbox on. Small alteration is going to be needed to the chassis as the 4 speed mounting point is about 3 inches further forward than the 5 speed  not to much of a problem, just annoying.


Thats it for now. more later.

['The Gaffer']

Great progress there mate.

The car looks in pretty good condition.

[Richard]

Bri,   The really important question though is that massive, humungous purchase that was made in Exeter that was critical for all progress on the Merlin - did it work ? was it as advertised ?  any pictures of it in action ?

[David H]

you dont seem to be hanging about there mate

[Bulldog Bri]

A bit more movement on the progress of the Merlin today, the new propshaft arrived for the 5speed box and is now in andI've got around to the other side and done the N/S rear brakes.

Just need to get gearbox mount welded in and the rest of the plumbing done (fuel & brake pipes)

Just a quick request, has anyone got an old starter motor for a pinto kicking around? the one with the piggyback soliniod on.

['The Gaffer']

Good work there. I recon you should ditch your job and and take up finishing kit car projects for other people

[Bulldog Bri]

Would be a dream job but don't recon the £'s would be there.

[Richard]

Getting a good move on there Bri !

[Bulldog Bri]

Things have been a little slow here this last couple of weeks, what with working for 'Royal Mail' so very busy and the cold wet weather as well hasn't helped 

But have been getting bits in during this time to hopefully try and start the engine soon. Only thing missing is a starter motor  got a few feelers out looking for one at the right price 

Hope to have some movement this weekend.

['The Gaffer']

Would be a dream job but don't recon the £'s would be there.

Start part time and see what happens, no harm in having a go I'll set up a page on the site for you if you like.

Look forward to the updates.

[Bulldog Bri]

I did manage to get hold of another starter motor on Xmas eve through the old skool Ford guys at work.

I wired it up to test and all seemed ok the motor turns at a good rate and the gearing is pushed forwards to engage the flywheel. So fitted it... All I get now is a clunk, as if low on power but battery is fully charged!!! I turned the enginevia a torque wrench on the front pulley nut and feels quite free other than in cylinder compression...

Any Ideas lads???

['The Gaffer']

Is there a very good earth connection?

Is it an identical motor?

[Bulldog Bri]

Yup. Basically I had the starter wired up as the only part of the curciut in the chassis...

Battery sat on the floor by the engine the + connected to the solinoid on the starter and the - frm the battery to the bell housing, then a fly wire from the + to the switch terminal on the solinoid to start.    CLUNK!!!

Another thought is that the battery isn't kicking out full power though showing full charge 

It's not idendtial to the original motor but did come from a 1600 Mk3 Cortina.. 

['The Gaffer']

Do you have another battery to try, this cold weather can play havoc. Dont take any notice of the voltmeter, a battery has to deliver huge current at start up and if its a bit suspect it will fail under load.

Are you sure the gears are lining up correctly, not being an identical motor?

[Bulldog Bri]

Well, tried a different battery today and yes it did turn the engine over but only just. 

It turns over but sound very slow and as though something is grinding somewhere 

At the moment the engine is being stripped down, I've taken the head off cleaned up the head and top of the cylinders (all seems ok there)

I've removed the gearbox as well refitted the starter using the sandwich plate but the nosie is still there. 

Looks like I've got to go in the bottom end as well now. 

The other thing I've noticed is that I don't appear to be getting any oil up top so I will need to check that out while I'm in the sump area. 

[Bulldog Bri]

With all the bad weather of late I've been bringing in parts of the Merlin that can be cleaned up indoors the main piece has been the scuttle, windscreen and dashboard.

First was to removed the windscreen from the scuttle, this only had 6 bolt's (including the 2 for the wing mirrors) which were all rusted in place. As this is quite an old kit the edges of the frame need to be filed and radiused for IVAing and windscreen may need replacing only as it hasn't got any markings on it    though it's all polishing up great.

The scuttle itself needs a little attention, as who ever built it first time around drilled the holes for the wipers in the wrong place then filled with a massive amount of filler then took the over fill down leaving loose lumps to hang below inside the scuttle  other than that a good sanding ready for painting.


I've made a new dashboard out of as the old one had to many holes in the wrong places and had water damage.




The other parts I've been working on are the Cibie Oscar Headlights, these had loads of surface muck on the rims and very rough paintwork on the bowls but have also cleaned up a treat.

['The Gaffer']

Nice work there Bri, the new dash will look really smart.

[Bulldog Bri]

Once I've sorted the garage, the first job on the Merlin is to remove and strip down the bottom end of the engine to find whats grinding and why the oil isn't pumping... 

We've decided on the shade of blue for the car.. this is now to be Toyota's Metalic Dark Blue... (Just the Cream colour to sort now)

[Bulldog Bri]

Got started on the engine this morning.

First thing was to drain the sump!!!  after 3-4ltrs of WATER!!! coming out and then about the same in oil!  I was able to remove the block from it's mounts and up ended onto a board stretched over the chassis.

I've been sure that I've not had oil (water) pumping around the engine (even when turning over I should have seen some) so I removed the oil pump and yep, that was seized solid. After many 4 letter words and a few new ones I managed to hammer the rotating part out of its housing and then able to clean the surfaces inside for the shaft, this is also driven by the distributor via a small cam.

Once I've got hold of a new gasket set, I'll be able to put sump back on and rebuild the engine try and run the engine with some cheap oil and a full flush and couple of times.

['The Gaffer']

Wow thats some sludge in there mate. Looks like its head gasket time too

EDIT: Not to mention if the engine has been running in a part water solution, then it might be wise to check all the bearings and bores for damage.

[paintman]

Definitly not a pretty sight mate...good luck with the rebuild.

[Richard]

Eugh, that will take more than one run through.

[Bulldog Bri]

Well, engine is all back together and turns by hand now with no problems. wired up the basics for the ignition yesterday and with battery on a gentle over night charge and some fuel will be attempting the first firing later this week.

Once this is running the body can be put back on and I can start on the rest of the car...

[Richard]

You and others seem to be cracking on with things, most impressed.

[Bulldog Bri]

Sob  the engine didn't start when we tried so dug a bit deeper and discovered that it only had about 10lbs of compression on 1 cylinder the rest Zero.

So off with it's head, put some fuel down each of the bores to check the rings, they were fine
and removed the valves, yep, their were pretty nackered  So I've spent the last week and a bit hand grinding them back in.

Along with this I've got the dashboard fitted with all the guages and the glovebox appeture cut, a few repairs to the scuttle and thats done.

['The Gaffer']

Thats a shame Bri. Whats the chance of picking up another engine?

[Bulldog Bri]

If all this doesn't work then I'll be looking into it 

I've even been using an old wet block to smooth out the head surface it'self 

[Bulldog Bri]

Ok... I've got some compression now about 80lbs and thats with the engine turning over slowly, hopefully better if I can get a better starter. Also seem to have cooked the coil. Damm.

Still sounds a bit grindy when I turn it over. Again hoping thats the starter... any one got a spare one I could try?