All things about cars-classic and otherwise
Is that a passenger door mirror. Yes, some Marlins came with the passenger side mirror as part of a trim package but this one didn’t. I like the symmetrical appearance of two mirrors. My Torino came with just one mirror so I found a pair of Cougar mirrors, had them painted and they look perfect….
We all know wheels and tires make the car. The wheels that came with the car were three different colors and two different designs. I had three original rusty and corroded hubcaps. My first reaction was to buy some nice new wheels but stopped when I had to decide the size limits and back-set especially…
Take a look at these posts about the Kenosha Car Show (Friday, Saturday) on Paddle, Pedal, and Coffee. Paddlepedalcoffee.com is a companion website to David’s Workshops.
As the pictures of the Marlin show, the paint is rough. If fact when I first saw the car, I joked it looked like it was on it’s third paint job. Turns out I was right. This is the fender tag for the Marlin The build sheet, usually under the rear seats in most older…
The Marlin’s dash pad was trashed. It was in two or three pieces with chunks missing. While the hot and dry New Mexico desert had been kind to the metal, it had been ruthless to the interior. When I started removing it, it fell apart in my hands, literally turning to dust. Replacement dashes are…
As the car’s mechanical condition improved, I kept trying to give my wife a ride. No such luck. Even with bribes of trips to the ice cream stand. I understood. The seats were old, clean but still dusty. The dash and the floor were bare metal and without the door cards and other interior coverings,…
So every once and while I do swerve into a good idea. This little idea was just that. Maintaining drivability also includes making sure the lights and other electrical stuff is working. I started a checklist on a white board of little things that needed fixing. Electrical was near the top. I went through the…
When running the engine, the water pump was weeping just a little. That’s to be expected but the more I ran it, the more it leaked so a new water pump seemed to be in order. I drained and removed the radiator, then amazingly, all the water pump bolts loosened up. I then removed the…
This second part of the headliner repair was actually completed six months after I first got the car. The repaired liner went right back into the car and looked fine but it was brown and I knew I wanted to change the interior colors and the texture. I thought adding some fabric would improve noise…
Finding an intact headliner was a real bonus for the Marlin. Usually, headliners in old cars are ripped or have become a mouse-house. Or they are just plain gone. This one was sagging on the sides, the plastic retaining type beading was long turned to dust. On the test drive I had to duck while…