Marin FS? Need advice..

[cactus-man]

Hey you all! A few years back I was walking in the streets and I saw a frame sitting besides the garbage can of somebody, but it was a special frame...

YES, someone was going to THROW OUT a perfectly good, UNCRACKED 93' FS bike and I took it, except it has MARIN markings on it, a Custom Marin Plate on it and non-original parts on it, so I built it based on images I saw on the internet.
But should I just remove the Marin Stickers and replace 'em with Manitou stickers?

Now the bike has some great KM on it, and is starting to get pretty down ( when pushing up a hill you can clearly hear cracking noises from the gears and mechanical peices themselves...) but it's been my baby for 6 years now and I took real good care of it though and now I'm thinking of restoring her but I don't know where to start? :?

-Suspension is inexistant, the forks are almost dead
-frame could be repolished but isn't going to break
-The peices that keep the rear fork to the frame are new ( I found them IN the garbage can LOL )
-brakes are shitty
-Hardly riden , but solid as a Lada
-Has Shitty Deore gear shifters
-It's lighter than a gibson Lespaul
-Frame in very good condition ( I have ridden at least 5km per day on this bike for the last 6 years , it's not a Museum peice , it's moving Art)
-Aaaaand stickers are starting to peel off slowly


Here are some pictures.. ( Look at the shocks...they are flat out..Elastomers?)

I even have the original gear set!

Any help to where to start would be appreciated!

 

[gtRTSdh]

A thorough check of the frame for cracks, the forks look like the stanchions have pushed through the crown so much investigation required there.

 

[cactus-man]

It's the only problem I CAN'T sort out...
I don't have ANY IDEA on what to do with the suspension, I'm sure it's fixable but how?

 

[duncancallum]

you could strip the forks down heat the stanchions up in in an oven and cool the leg with a co2 extinguisher and press/tap the leg down?

 

[cactus-man]

you could strip the forks down heat the stanchions up in in an oven and cool the leg with a co2 extinguisher and press/tap the leg down?

You done this before?

I was thinking of a more cashy/new way of bringing those back to life..but eh!

 

[trail_head]

First; that is a Marin. They made a replica of the Manitou FS.
I recently rebuilt my Manitou, Read through and you'll get an idea what you're getting into;

http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=182567

The fork crown has bolts that have loosened and allowed your stanchion to move up. But, careful the stanchions have a breather hole which has to line up with the clamp gap in the crown.

Your suspension is all rebuildable, instructions can be found here and elsewhere on the webz. the elastomers are available as well.

I'd recommend you do a lot of research as a starting point.

Good luck,
Start a build thread and this community will help you along.

 

[duncancallum]

if they bolt up like pace rc35mcx's that's easer I thought they may of been a sweat/interference fit.

 

[cactus-man]

Allright thanks for the tip!

But I have to say, I'm quite skeptical about it being a Marin...
( you can't see it on picture) but you can clearly see that there were Manitou Markings on the top limb of the frame , the front emblem isn't welded neither is the one beneath the seat, the seat that it had when I took it had "Manitou" written behind it ( It got stolen -.-) ...

Now, I'll see to those Forks and we'll GET THIS THING GOING!

 

[trail_head]

Perhaps one of the Marin FS experts can comment on the frame. I can assure you that is not a Manitou FS frame. The serial number is all wrong. The head tube butting is wrong. The chainstays are wrong. The swing arm pivot is wrong. By wrong I mean not Manitou. My beat guess is that it's a Marin, it has to be as they were the only ones to use Manitou's rear suspension design.

 

[cactus-man]

Hmm you're right,I saw your serial and it ain't close to this. So it's a Marin...
or some kind of hybrid bike that came out from another dimension lol