MY poor old Marlin had been sat neglected under a cover for a couple of years as house remodelling got in the way. I gave myself a deadline to get her running again for an up and coming event.

A look under the bonnet (hood for you across the pond) revealed that the waterproof cover was not as advertised, water in the spark plug recesses and a very rusty top to the air filter... among other things.

I gradually worked my way through a list of items and had her up and running again.

It was when I decided to tart up the air filter that I discovered a problem just 2 days before the event.

Step 1: Disintegrated Filter

I lifted the filter off and found that the foam filter had turned to dust!

I got straight on the internet to find a replacement...that did not go well, this was a Saturday afternoon, I needed the car Monday, I could not find what I needed in the time frame I had.... time to think laterally.

Step 2: Alternative Filter Material.

I realised that I had some "scotch brite" scouring pads of various grades, the finest one (light grey) looked to be the one so I cut a few strips and ran them round the inside of the mesh surround.

Once the top rubber cover is pressed into place it seemed to retain the filter in place.

Step 3: Increase Its Filtering Capability

As it is the pollen season and the scotch brite is not as fine as the original foam I decided to give it a good spray of Silicon oil to try and catch any fine stuff.

Step 4: Finish It Off

I cleaned up the rusty chrome cover with a flap wheel and gave it a quick coat of black paint to make it look a bit better.

This has only got to last for one day of driving and I believe it will be better than running with no filter at all, I will let you know how it went :)

**Update**

The Marlin and I had a lovely day out, she didn't miss a beat...... I still have not found the correct filter element so my fix may be in place for a bit longer.