Welcome to our BMW E30 based Marlin Sportster Build Site,
we hope you will find this documentation interesting and helpful.
The site has grown massively since its inception in 2005, I hope to one day soon improve the navigation as it's a bit overwhelming to start with. The main areas of interest to builders will be:
The rolling chassis build
Bodywork Fitting
SVA Issues
Final Assembly
If you would like read about the build in date order then have a look at his page.
It took 2.5 years to build the car and pass SVA and a lot longer to get to where it is now! To see the Sportster out on the road have a look at one of the videos here.
During 2008 we rebuilt the BMW engine from 2.5 to a 2.8 creating an M20B28 stroker engine. It uses the crankshaft from the later BMW M52B28 and the conrods from the M20B20. Not much more work is needed other than a clean up, slotting those bits together and a crank spacer. To read about the engine build click here (very picture heavy!)
Finally in March 2009 it was painted, a full set of images is here.
To read the whole build from the start click here.
27/08/2007
Interior Design
Firstly here are some pictures of the underside of the boot floor. All these pieces interlock and leave gaps for cables, screws, brackets etc. The birch ply will be given a protective coating to stop is soaking up water.
Today we installed all the carpet (except the boot):
The whole things like a giant speaker box with some very complex edges, that came with carpet that doesn't quite fit! There's a step by step on the page here. We needed one and a bit cans of spray glue overall.
26/08/2007
Elephant ears and boot floor
Boot floor - need to see if we can find some under construction photos. This was a lot more work that it looks from the pictures! There is a wooden construct underneath that props up the floor, bit like a jigsaw. This provides a nice solid base for it to sit on. The holes for the seatbelts and fuel pipes are rounded off with a router. The front end is also rounded off. The floor is in two pieces which means it can be taken out with the tub still in place. Its bolted at the front and will be wood screwed to the frame below. There's also two side piece that will be velcro'd in.
Mirrors and E marked repeaters to pass SVA and rear view with rubber surround, you can't see that much in the mirror so we're experimenting with a small convex mirror, dunno if this is SVA passable but it certainly give a much better view of the surroundings!
Also spend a few hours playing with the front camber and toe settings so the car would auto centre when its rolling along. I think it's there now but need to take it for a drive really.
19/08/2007
Number plate and SVA proofing
Been over the whole of the front of the car looking for possible SVA fails and covering them
The exhaust tip radius' have been giving us nightmares. Got this idea while talking to someone at work, its a bar that comes out from body work so that the exhaust tips don't fall within the 30° cone test for edges. No idea if this actually will mean the fall outside of the test but we shall see!
Not see in any of the phones, more toe in added. The steering rack bolted in properly with nylocs and lots of measuring for the boot floor!
18/08/2007
Nose job
Max checks out the car:
And although it's not really complete and the weathers not great today, couldn't resist taking some photos with the front all put together:
17/08/2007
Let there be light!
Each pod needed to be individually tuned to fit the shape of the fibreglass to ensure that the LED ring was held in tightly and that the inner lighter protrude the correct amount.
Brackets and lights installed on a wing and the wiring sorted.
And installed on the car:
And we have light! The final layout is: rings for brakes, red for rear light, and clear for indicators.
Also added this snazzy button holder under the dash:
10/08/2007
Under scuttle and dash wiring
and on the next gallery page:
Dash wiring, bit of custom wiring on speedo and rev counter - the light bulbs are wiring for always on, so we've take of the tags that wiring internally and attached wires directly to the bulb holder. Now those dim along with the rest of the dash when the light switch is twisted.
Dash installed
Glove box now housing the fuse box which is lockable.
Mirrors - these are chrome bullet mirror which will be replaced with cheapo Halfords ones for the test - these won't pass SVA.
Shot over the bonnet at the mirrors
05/08/2007
Dash & Nose Cone
And some better pictures of the heater speed control:
And the back of the dashboard - by redoing the sponge part we were able to scretch the vinyl over the back and glue to the dash. This means there will be no bumps or gaps between the scuttle and the dash / trim.
Finally some body work, cutting out the holes on the nose cone , these are quite big but the bigger the holes the more cold air can flow in to cool the engine.:
and on the next page:
Holes are now rounded out and the grille placed behind - grille still needs to be cut down and mounted.
All it needs is the spotlights remounting, grill mouting and the front end will be complete.
04/08/2007
Dashboard
Its now very late so better pictures to come tomorrow once a few more things are cleaned up!
29/07/2007
lights & interior
A smallish job we've been putting off for a long time. The 6 branch manifold gets quite close to the brake master cylinder and pipes so we've put in a shield to try and reduce the amount of heat around it. Keep brake fluid cooler can only be a good thing!
Big thanks to Mike at Car Audio Direct.com for sending this pack of Damplifer out so quickly so we could do this over the weekend! Sound deadening such as Damplifier or Dynamat is used in the car audio industry to reduce rattly panels. On the plus side this stuff will dampen vibrations through the floor as well as heat shield it.
3 sheets plus half a sheet of Dynamat we had left over from a bulk pack covers both floors, the lower half of the firewall and part of the side of the transmission tunnel. Which should be enough to protect our feet from heat.
Also added extra bolts to the seat runner brackets that go through the brackets, floor and chassis.
More dashboard work - installed the switches around the steering wheel - yes those holes on the right are in the wrong place! - oops :) Luckily the whole dash will be covered so its not and issue.
Bottom to top: Main light switch (from the E30), fog light, interior light, speedo LCD switch button.
The main light switch is the one from the donor E30. You can spin the button to change the brightness of the dash lighting.
Installation is made easy by using part of the E30 dashboard screwed to the back of the Sportster dash.
Glove box attached to the dash, had to chop a load off the scuttle so it would fit in nicely.
Finally the beginning of an initial template for the boot floor.
24/07/2007
FAQ update
Q: SVA Tips & Common Sportster Issues
(Updated: 24/07/2007)
Q: Wobbly Bumper Fix
(Updated: 24/07/2007)