Marlin Sportster Build

[Silver Nomad]

Am hooked on the idea of building a Sportster and would love to get in touch with any owners/constructors in the Bristol area before committing.

[Bulldog Bri]

Firstly... Welcome to the club. Regardless of the style kit your looking to build (as that's really just the choice of body on a chassis) the rest you'll get plenty of help with here.

I've built a number of cars but all are pre ECU'd and old sckool mechanic's. I belive the Merlin Roadster is BMW based but there are plenty of knowledgeable people that can help with that.

Good luck with your build and why not come along to a club meeting or 2 before and see the type of nutters we have in this club first  

['The Gaffer']

Hi and a warm welcome to our club.

Good luck with your build but because of IVA and registration hassles you might consider trying to find a roadster Marlin, Merlin, etc etc (Or any other Roadster that takes your fancy) that has already gone through the tough testing procedure and completely renovate it to your own taste. Some would say the fun is in the complete build however.

Not trying to get rid of you but there is a Merlin website http://www.merlinoc.org.uk/ £10pa and a Marlin owners club for starters http://www.marlinownersclub.com/ It is £15 a year to join but tons of relevant info there I would have thought too. That said, this is a free friendly club with lots of people willing to give help and support so keep us up to date

[sanzomat]

Welcome! I wasn't sure what a Marlin Sportster is so I googled it. Now I know I can say with fair degree of certainty that there was one of those at the club track day in August (or was it the Classic, retro and kit action day in June??). It definitely overtook me on one of those days anyway so there must be one reasonably close to Castle Combe!

[YellaBelly]

Hi and welcome! I must agree with Phil on the car though, those of us that have had the grief that is the IVA would agree I'm sure that it is an awful lot of hassle. I for one would never consider doing another build that needed IVA'ing. I will look for an already registered car that needs re-work etc. next time.

Whatever you choose, I'll watch with interest as the Marlin was always one of my wants when I started looking into kit cars (although I ended up building a Locost! )

JB

[benchmark51]

A cortina based marlin was up for sale near me, in Warmley, recently. Did you buy  it?

[Silver Nomad]

Thank you all for your prompt and friendly responses and advice - it says a lot for the BKCC. I fully appreciate that IVA testing can be a pain and my research has shown that others who have submitted Sportsters to the process have had problems. I guess I am somewhat driven by wishing to revisit my youth! In 1960, I built a retro special (of my own design). It was based on a 1939 Standard 8 Tourer and like the Sportster, had cycle wings, aero screens and an aluminium bonnet held in place by leather straps. Performance wise there can be no comparison! With BMW M3 power the Sportster specs at 450bhp/tonne and 0-60mph in less than 4 seconds. As suggested, I will be signing-up to the Marlin Owners Club, meanwhile I still hope to find someone in our area who has experience of and preferably has built, their own Sportster.

['Mendip Wurzel']

There is a Marlin owner in the Apple Country Kit Car Club with a nice BMW version (they are Taunton based)

http://www.applecountykitcars.co.uk

[Facial Hair Optional]

Welcome! I wasn't sure what a Marlin Sportster is so I googled it. Now I know I can say with fair degree of certainty that there was one of those at the club track day in August (or was it the Classic, retro and kit action day in June??). It definitely overtook me on one of those days anyway so there must be one reasonably close to Castle Combe!

I must have missed that one Dave, so I did what you did and Googled it, wow! What a great looking car!!! Picture below of the one I like best to save everyone the Googling   

[jmad]

Hi. I used to own a speedster but the older ford based car. Mine was Marks old race car, with a rover V8. As mendip wurzel says there are a few Marlins in the apple county kit car club including one bmw based car and one currently mid build.

[Brandy Barrel]

I agree, nice looking car which that bit different.

[Moleman]

Hi & welcome to the club. Good luck with whatever you decide & I will look forward to seeing it progress. 
You will be most welcome to attend any of our meets to get some idea's on what you will be doing though this time of year we end up in our tin tops. 

[Iancider]

Welcome Silver Nomad - that is a great car - specially the BMW base.

Enjoy the club, you will get plenty of advice here!

Ian

[SPAXIMUS]

The best thing to do is to visit Marlin, who are just down the road in Devon and speak with them. The roadster is a great car and can be built in a stripped out form or more comfortable. It gives all the thrills of a 7 type car but is bigger, roomier and for touring has space.
Anything can pass IVA and the factory will guide you. Sometimes people building try to save money and do not use what the factory fit and then fail on a silly rule.

IVA cost is over £400 plus £95 IIRC for a retest if it fails so factor that in. But if you buy a mechanically sound doner, you will get a great car at the end which will last as BMW mechanical bits are robust and plentiful

[Facial Hair Optional]

The roadster is a great car and can be built in a stripped out form or more comfortable. It gives all the thrills of a 7 type car but is bigger, roomier and for touring has space. If you buy a mechanically sound doner, you will get a great car at the end which will last as BMW mechanical bits are robust and plentiful

Now that does sound very tempting indeed!!

[Bulldog Bri]

Here's the BMW powered Sportster from the ACKCC. It did look very smart

[sanzomat]

http://www.marlinsportscars.co.uk/news/220/

That's the one that overtook me at Combe! it was the June action day, not our track day - looks like it was their demonstrator!

I did manage to overtake that silver 5exi though although I don't think he was really trying...

[SPAXIMUS]

The purple one is or was their demonstrator, fitted with a full fat M3 running gear.  A seriously fast bit of kit

[Facial Hair Optional]

Here's the BMW powered Sportster from the ACKCC. It did look very smart

A nice array of cars and only 3 yellow ones!! 

Have to be honest and say I prefer the Marlin Sportster without the full screen or the low profile tyres though. It's amazing how one or two small things can make a kit look so totally different.

[jmad]

This is my old car.

Image from https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xaf1/t51.2885-15/s320x320/e35/12093357_1644950065779482_1187424224_n.jpg.

[Facial Hair Optional]

Now that's proper!

[Camber Dave]

There is a huge amount of info on the Marlin Sportster thread on Mad about Kitcars

http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=13