TRIAL REPORT
MCC - Exeter Trial
9th/10th January 2004
My preparation for the Exeter Trial really started in November 2003 when the engine 'blew-up' on the Hardy Trial. The problem was clearly somewhere in the bottom end but I hadn't even steeled myself to get the engine out before I heard that Dave Parker had a totally rebuilt, and virtually unused, MGB engine for sale at a sensible price. So, less than two weeks after the Hardy, Steve Holder and I were travelling back up the M5 with a 'ready-to-drop-in' engine in the back of Steve's pickup and, two weeks after that, Steve presented me with a roadworthy, and newly-MOT'd, car and a large(ish) bill. I then had to spend what little spare time I had over the Christmas holiday period driving the roads of the Cotswolds clocking-up as many running-in miles as possible. Then there was the trip up to Aldons in Brierley Hill for a rolling-road tune, followed by the post-running-in oil change, after which I could start the actual pre-trial preparation.
I wouldn't say the preparation was cursory, or even minimal, but it certainly didn't include much more than the essentials and, in short, I was just pleased to be on the start line (Cirencester, Gloucestershire, 1.42am) with a working car. The Touring Assembly run to the Haynes Museum was as uneventful as normal but everything was about to change. As we drove slowly into the scrutineering bay the engine coughed, died, and resolutely refused to restart with classic symptoms of fuel starvation. I'd had similar problems in the past but generally only when the car had been standing for a short while when very hot - normally when trying to restart the engine after pumping-up the tyres at the top of a section. This, however, was clearly different as it occurred after a very leisurely road run in cold conditions. We pushed the car into the parking area, opened the bonnet, and removed the tops of the float chambers to reveal them completely dry.
Now, for those of you who are not Marlin owners, a bit of background information. Marlins are notoriously difficult to keep cool, due to the small radiator and confined space under the bonnet, and this problem seems to be particularly bad with B-Series engined cars - it must be that big 'ol agricultural lump of an engine - which is why you'll often see Marlins with the bonnets up either before, or after, a section. The mechanical fuel pump on the B-Series engine is also, supposedly, one of its weaker components (and it's mounted where it can get really hot) but we had been trialling for eight years without a hint of a fuel problem, except in the conditions of extreme heat as described above. Whatever, we didn't get much sympathy at Haynes from all those who thought running a mechanical fuel pump was asking for trouble.
We checked all the fuel lines as best we could, under a car, in the dark, at 3.30 in the morning and there were no obvious leaks so we closed the bonnet and headed-off to breakfast. Of course, by the time we got back to the car the float chambers had miraculously re-filled themselves. With no obvious cause there was little alternative but to soldier-on with fingers crossed. Turning-into the section at Sug Lane the engine died again so we pushed the car out of the queue for what turned-out to be the first of innumerable roadside repairs. I can't remember exactly how many times we had to do it to perfect the technique but perfect-it we did - disconnect the hose feeding the front carb, suck like crazy until you get a mouthful of petrol, spit it out, re-connect the hose, restart the engine, and pray! Sug Lane was cleaned, as were Gatcombe Lane, Normans Hump, and Clinton, the engine pulling really well and cleanly when on full throttle, but it was "under the bonnet" again immediately after Clinton. We started strongly on Waterloo but the engine was spluttering by halfway, finally dying within sight of the Section Ends boards - it was a long reverse out, especially with no power.
Waterloo was clearly, well, the 'Waterloo' for Marlins in 2004 with no fewer than eight failures, and this on a hill we should all romp up. Unluckiest was Jon Ellwood, in his first MCC trial, who realised that he'd punctured the petrol tank somewhere in Bovey Woods and decided that it was safer to retire and make his way gingerly to Exeter Services rather to attempt any more sections. Fuel supply restored it was off to dispatch Stretes, Higher Rill, Back Lane, and Passaford Lane without any re-occurrence of the problem and with only the start line on Passaford Lane requiring any particular care. So we arrived at Exeter Services with only one failure, although Class 7 regulars know that they really need to be 'clean' before the serious stuff starts west of Exeter.
Although we had all been informed that "no work is to be carried out on cars at Exeter Services", that was not the main reason that we didn't do anything to the Marlin, it was more a case of being unsure what we could do to address a problem with such apparently random causes. But on the way to Tillerton the problem struck again and, this time, no amount of sucking would pull the fuel through. We now hit the next problem - we were running only 12 cars from the end of the trial and, having been seriously delayed, were in grave danger of being overtaken by the course closing car which, as every competitor knows, is the end of your trial. Sure enough, after five minutes by the roadside, along came the course closers who were most sympathetic. After a brief discussion they suggested that if we could get the car going in five minutes we should continue, otherwise we should miss Tillerton and go straight to Fingle to make up some of the time, and that is exactly what we did. (You are allowed to miss a couple of sections and still claim a Finish if everything else is attempted.) As it turned out this was probably very good advice as Tillerton was in 'killer mode' with 12 out of the 17 Marlins that attempted it failing.
So on to Fingle Bridge which we cleaned before the engine died again on the short stretch to Wooston Steep where we were one of 13 Marlin failures out of 16 attempts, only the three supermen on their way to Awards cleaning Wooston this year. Wooston was one of four sections (the others were Waterloo, Simms, and Slippery Sam) where the MCC applied a minimum tyre pressure of 15psi to Class 7 for the first time and I'm sure this had an affect on the results. And so to the dreaded Simms where Arthur Vowden, on his way to a very well-deserved 'Gold', was the only Marlin to pass the 'A' boards before cleaning the section - the 15psi limit taking its toll again. The final section was, once again, Slippery Sam with its incredibly rocky surface, deep red Devon mudbath on the exit road, and a reputation for over-zealous marshalling. The results sheet was certainly peppered with 'RBs' but also with a large number (13) of Marlin failures. I don't know where the other 12 failed but our engine just cut-out (again) on the restart line - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
I'm afraid to say that any satisfaction at having actually finished was tempered by the knowledge that five fails (well actually four plus a missed section) made this our worst-ever performance in an MCC trial. However the results revealed a trail of carnage spread right across south Devon - just three Marlin Awards, with the 14 Finishers recording from three up to nine fails out of the 14 sections attempted.
26 Marlins were listed in the Entries, 22 in Class 7, Owen Ingram's v8-engined car in Class 8, and 3 in Class 0, and the final awards tally was:
- Gold: 1- Arthur Vowden. Arthur was one of only two Golds in Class 7, losing-out on the Class Award to 'man-of-the-moment' Andrew Martin (Dutton Melos) by just 0.8 seconds on the Clifford special test.
- Silver: 1 - Bryan Phipps (failed Simms). Bryan was one of six Silvers in Class 7, most failing at Simms.
- Bronze: 1- Mal Allen (failed Simms and Slippery Sam). Mal was one of only three Bronzes in Class 7.
- Class 0 Award: 3 - All three Marlin entrants in Class 0 finished with awards. Well done guys, now how about playing with the 'grown-ups' on future MCC events?
- Finishers: 14.
- Retired: 4.
- Non-Starters: 2.
Results: See the Marlin League updated to include the Exeter results.
Photographs: On the Classical Gas Web Community - Photo Album 1 and Photo Album 2.
Postscript: If you really want to follow the fuel starvation saga, you can read "what happened next" in my report on the Exmoor Trial. After the Exmoor I moved the newly-installed electric fuel pump from the engine compartment to behind the passenger seat and we ran the whole of the Lands End Trial without any re-occurrence of the problem. As I've been unable to compete in the three ACTC trials since the Lands End, the Edinburgh will be the next test of the new set-up. Fingers crossed!
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