I had an east peak, chucked a load of XT at it and changed the forks to pro class 2's, I liked it but the shock (I think it was similar to yours) badly needed an upgrade to an aircan. Stick some cheap ebay Marzocchis on it, a disc for the front and keep an eye out for a more modern shock.
But for £150, I think you have a winner.
I lusted after one of these in 98
However that was the year of our first born child so it wasn't to be.
Your 14 yr old is a lucky lad. £150 seems fair.
I eventually got a FS marin in 2006- by this time there were linkages involved and the frames were more boxy than the round tubes of the original but the layout is pretty similar. Still gets me up/down/along most things!
Mine is a 17.5 and I'm a smidge under 6 foot so your lad should be ok for a while.
DocR later Marin model changed in my experience, I'm 6ft odd and ran an original 19" 2000 MV but then changed to a 17" for the 04 then 06 MV (warrenty replacement) frames.
Again as above £150 is fine, newer forks (reba's) and an Fox Propedal shock would be topping the upgrade list, followed by discs.
Thanks all. ive trued the wheel and it rides well. Forks seem in good order and will take a disk. unfortunately, it's combined shifters and brakes mean i'll need some new parts if upgrading brakes. however the XT groupset is still clearly very nice quality 13 years later.
He's not really brand conscious and his best mates ride Appollo - and i still got them around Swinley without dying 
At 14, I saved for a bbc computer at the lofty price of £400. Bikes were not really the rage then. We have discussed employment options 
The combined shifter will operate an Avid Mechanical absolutely fine. I use them front and rear and they stop my 100kg with no probs...
doh. Of course! His old hardrock had mechanical disks. I'll see what i can find.
Dibbs to the forum please, I repeat Dibbs (aka Marin Historian and currator of 'old shit') to the forum please.
You may find a disc swing arm - the frames often fail with the BB cup breaking...
that wasn't the first marin mount vision 
(apologies if someone has already pointed it out/if i got it wrong). i rode one of these for a couple of weeks (was my first taste of full sus).i really liked it to be honest 
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Here is mine this has been in ss mode since 2000
When Marin first came out with the Mount Vision I was sponsored by a shop in Taunton so I got given one as my race bike.
I used it a few times and hated it so much I had to give it back and go back to an old school Orange P7.
Well, he likes it a bit more now...
Upgrades are the 2.4 Nobby Nics, Havoc stem, EA50 monkey bars, Ergon grips, BB7 front brake and Thomson Elite saddle. £300 including the bike purchase. Looking for a new set of wheels (Rim and Disk compatible please), as the front is borrowed from his hardtail and the rear is off the tandem! (Back wheel was buckled too much to fit the tyres). Next upgrades are likely to be the fork and rear shock, and repaint the swingarm black.
I think it was the tyres that did it 
. Thanks all.
That's looking really nice now (owner of two Marin bikes)
You should be able to get a rear shock cheap enough, its a standard 6.5" x 1.5" (or 165mm if your metric). Youll need to factor in a set of bushings too for whatever you buy, unless you strike lucky and find a shock off a marin, so add another £20 for those. Personally for him id suggest you look for a coil shock like a Fox vanilla r, but in that length a Fox Float will easier and cheaper to source from ebay.
Good work, there's some snobbery up there, glad he likes it. It's not like bikes suddenly got rubbish.
Ace old tool - I remember them well. I rode a Sub5 and MV one weekend and was a total convert...
I used to have one too! A 1999. Again, forks changed for some Marzocchi Z2's. Did loads of riding on it all over the UK and the Alps. Great bikes! Theres not many bikes from the 90's still being ridden, especially full-sus ones, which says a lot i think.
My first full suss was one of the early rift zones and loved it, apart from the forks as mentioned above. It was great at climbing up muddy tracks the suspension really used to dig in for traction in granny when mates on hardtails were getting of and walking
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