No Super Car yet

Hi,

Long time since any update but have been a little busy, no super car or car project yet as funds not available so enjoying the Honda CB900 despite in the summer the engine throwing a timing chain tensioner all through the engine breaking into little bits and requiring a full rebuild, this took many weeks to resource parts and was finally back on the road 2 days before the TT Races so the journey through the night to catch the ferry without even a test run was a little on the nervous side but it never missed a beat all the way and a great holiday was had.

Have powdercoated a few bits and put some daytime running lights on for safety along with a 4-1 system getting rid of the heavy 4 - 4 exhaust system, the bike is so much lighter now and sounds WoW really meaty and with the engine now run it it's a lot more powerfull than before.

Once winter arrives and the Honda is off the road there are a few minor jobs to do including a small dent in the fuel tank that needs pulling out, the seat recovered in black leather and the rear arms powdercoating and brakes improved with braided hose and discs drilled, that should keep me busy.

In the meantime i have just started on a new MTB project using a Kona Hoss Deluxe frame i purchased some time ago, it has been repainted green, a new Shimano SLX 1-11 Groupset complete with hydraulic brakes arrived this week along with some wheels specially built up for me, looking forward to getting this on a few trails.


Still look our for Marcos cars on the road and hopefully one day the right project will find me,

Martyn
18/10/2017

Good Morning !

Hi,

Just a little update that yes i am getting the "Marcos Pings" which was recently diagnosed by my GP and is a caused by the missing out of a recently departed, extremely rude, loud, uncomfortable, but fast and beautiful sports car and and only be relieved by lots of "there there creme" and the arival of another !

As yet i don't have the storage room to start another project but if a metal chassis, non Q plate came my way looking for a full restoration i am sure i could find a home for it until the welding gloves were ready to come off,  you will know from my previous that something very special would come out of the door at the end, move over Mr Potts as i have several ideas bubbling around my head as to what can be done. Please let me know if your tired Marcos needs some zest and want it to go to a good home and be reassured it would be reborn beautiful again.

Anyway, at present to releive me of my petrolhead blues i recently purchased 2 wheels, a Honda CB900 Custom from 1981, this bike is in lovely condition with only 30k on the clock and was never sold in the UK and imported here i guess in the early 80's probably by somebody posted here at one of the US airbases and sold on when they returned home, i will apply to the DVLA to get the history.

It was purchased from a guy in Yorkshire who converts bikes to caferacers and he bought it with the same intention but the condition is so good he just could not take a spanner and grinder to it so he decided to sell it on, there are a couple of mods i want to do to it but at the moment i am just enjoying the sunny days riding,



Martyn
09/08/2016



Goodnight !

With some sadness i have to announce that my Marcos Mantula has been sold.

It has been a lot of fun and learning for me during the restoration and driving and have met some nice people in the Marcos world always ready to help each other out and offer advice when needed.

On the posititve side the Marcos has gone to Pierre in France who i am sure a lot of you will know already and is clearly so passionate about Marcos Cars and this one added to his collection now makes it 7, i don't think i have seven pairs of shoes so i am reassured that it has gone to a good home and will continue to be developed  and enjoyed.

What's next for me, who knows but i will kinda miss every time i pull up at a fuel station people approaching with dropped jaws and asking "wow what's that" and on the motorway people hanging out of windows taking photographs on their smart phones as we pass, i always give a little nod or wave.

May be a little time but as they say "watch this space"


Martyn
31/01/2016.


Curborough Sprint

After many years of watching i finally got to take to the track at the annual Club Marcos day at Curborough Sprint near Lichfield.

There was approx 15 Marcos cars running and the entry was bolstered by a few hot eurobox cars, a Lambo and a D type replicia, it was interesting to see the times between the cars of different era's although the hero of the day was the little yellow 1600, clearly the driver knew what he was doing and he just seemed to glide round the course, smooth being the key to a good time.

For a first time i was pleased with my results although i did leave the track twice and put this down to trying too hard, i certainly had the power and can only compare it to a scalded cat but felt let down by the brakes and think they just need setting up properly, the balance bar in particular, i shall ensure this is done well before next years event.

I did use my go-pro and have uploaded to youtube including the couple of spins onto the grass, no damage caused, all in all a great day and shame there was not more Marcos running,





Martyn
07/06/2015



Poster print

Following the recent article in Speedhunters they have released for sale a poster print of my car, ordered mine already, the link is,

Here


Martyn
25/04/2015.

Magazine article

Just love the headline "Long low and dangerous to know", a feature by Jonathan Moore on my Marcos in Speedhunters magazine,

Magazine Article


Martyn
04/02/2015.




Sprint Event

Have just sent off payment for the annual sprint day at Curborough, Lichfield on Saturday 6th June 2015 organised by Club Marcos International.

Having watched this event for several years it's finally time to put the gloves on and take to the track myself, fingers crossed for good weather,


Martyn
29/01/2015.

Club Event

Have decided to organise my first Club Event with a visit to the Morgan Factory for one of their very popular tours on Monday 15th June followed by a little lunch in the lovely town of Malvern.

It's one of those places steeped in history that I have always wanted to visit but never got around to it, so if you would like to join us please message me, full details are on the Marcos Forum or in your copy of the Marcos Owners Club magazine hopefully just delivered to you,


Martyn
23/01/2015.

Headlight update

Just driven home night time with new headlights for the first time and WOW what a improvement and when switching to full beam on the country lanes a massive improvement, the best mod yet and gave me much more confidence to press ahead round the bends.

Glad I binned those sealed beam units and Happy Christmas,


Martyn
24/12/2014.

Headlight Upgrade

I have been planning on upgrading the sealed beam headlights for some time but after somebody pulled out on me a couple of weeks ago at nightime and missed me by inches i thought it was now time to get them sorted.

After much reading on the Marcos Forum i purchased a set of 4 from Staffordshire Vehicle Components who were quite helpful and local to me in Tamworth so saving on the postage.

A set of 4 headlights cost me £70 with a set of standard H1 and H4 bulbs and have jusr recieved from Amazon some Philips X-treme vision to replace the bulbs supplied. It really is a easy job to convert from sealed units to Halogens and as long as you don't use 100w bulbs and keep to 55w the forum suggests the existing wiring will be sufficent.

The Marcos will be off the road for a couple of weeks while i tend to another couple of jobs so will give a update once these new lights have been tested.


Martyn
01/12/2014.








Rain Rain Rain

Rain Rain Rain, will it ever stop ?

It's been a while since i updated this page so thought it was about time.

Not a lot of news on my Marcos at the moment other that it's sitting in the garage nice and snug and have only been using it recently weather permitting so it's all still clean and shiny, this time last year i was polishing it frantically in preperation for the NEC Classic Car show in Birmingham.

I do have a couple of jobs to sort for next season, these being i need to put a smaller cog on the wiper motor as the sweep is too wide and the wiper arm struggles to move smoothly due to the curve of the screen, my single wiper parks in the middle of the screen as opposed to the usual 2 arm system that sits on the opposite side and does not have to cope with the same curve at the side of the screen, if that makes sense ?? and finish the cool air vent system i installed which still needs a little tweaking.

All my spare time at present seems to be cycling (in the mud) playing guitar (lots off) and digging the garden (we had a extension built last year and the lovely garden we had is being redesigned) so trying to get that sorted over the winter.

There are a couple of other Marcos restorations project blogs i am enjoying reading at present and do look forward to their updates, would be nice to see a few more on the road over the next couple of years.

Martyn
08/11/2014.


Tyre pressures

Messing about trying different tyre pressures to see how it affects the handling and really surprised at what a difference a small increase all round from 25 to 27lbs makes, the car seems to run much smoother on the road and getting around smaller islands is no longer a effort with the steering wheel.

The air flow into the car is also improved having finished increasing the tubes to 3" and with a larger scoop at the front of the car,  not that we have much hot weather left this season.

Next to look at is the brake balance bar which i think needs proper adjustment by somebody with experience of these, the brakes are fine as they are even without a servo but feel that with such a light vehicle they could be even better and may be just the balance bar that needs adjusting,

Will these cars ever be finished ? probably not.........


Martyn
26/08/2014.

Prescott 2014

Finally dry after a very mixed weather weekend at Prescott to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Marcos Coupe.

Saturday was lovely and sunny and took a few photographs of cars parked up and got chance to chat to a few other owners, lots of interest was shown in my car and recall one couple in particular who appeared to be comparing the style of mine with a very early Marcos parked next to me, i got talking to them and  asked if they had a Marcos, no they told me but were was looking and had always liked them, the lady asked if she could sit in the the drivers seat, of course i said and when she got out full of praise for the style of the car i asked if she knew much about Marcos,  she told me she had come along with her dad Dennis and then it clicked, Dennis Adams who actually designed the car 50 years ago was there for the weekend to hand out a few prizes.

Saturday night was non stop rain and i told myself no way was i going to risk driving up the hill for the first time in the wet however Sunday afternoon the sun eventually broke through and managed a few drives up the hill,  much fun but i did take it very very easy,

http://youtu.be/LmY9CEgumbU

This is my new favourite photograph of my car, taken by Gary who was parked up on the hill most of the day, i will be getting this made into a canvas print for the wall.



Martyn
11/08/2014.

Engine tuning

Just got back from taking the Marcos to a local engine tuner with a rolling road facility, this was a first for me and quite nervous seeing the car strapped down with the rear wheels screaming away on the rollers.














The intention was for the engine to be taken to about 5500rpm but according to the tuner the wheels started slipping on the rollers at just under 3000rpm as it was producing so much torque at 302lb and being quite light in weight it just would not sit down enough on the rollers to take it any higher.

The power at 2895rpm was showing 166bhp so can only estimate what it would be at full revs, not that i would ever really get the opportunity to have the car at full speed or even want to.

Before putting the Marcos on the rollers the mixture was adjusted as it was running lean at idle and later some adjustments were made to the mapping on the Megajolt system.

Looking forward to Prescott Hill Climb for the annual Marcos Rally this weekend which will be my first proper club event taking my Marcos with me and have booked a couple of runs up the hill,

Martyn
05/08/2014.


Not much news

Not much news other than just enjoying the sunshine and driving the Marcos whenever possible, i do still find it a little hot inside when really sunny and think i need i fit a larger air scoop at the front of the car to feed in more cool air into the under dash vents i fitted a few months ago.

Looking forward to the Annual Rally at Prescott this year in August as it will be the first time i have attended in the Marcos and have even booked myself a couple of drives up the hill, i am a little nervous about this especially with the last right turn before the finish having a sheer drop on the outside, i will certainly take it easy on this corner however it was a track car originally so it does need the occasionally thrashing in keeping with the spirit the car was built for.

I am just waiting for delivery of a roll cage attachment for my GoPro camera so will make a couple of in car videos soon.

I have the Marcos booked in for a tune on a rolling road the week before the Rally which is something i have been meaning to do for some time but the £££ keep being diverted elsewhere and looking forward to seeing what results can be produced.


Martyn
25/06/2014.



Bucket List

Of course finally getting a Marcos after some wanting of 25 years plus was the biggest tick ever on my Bucket List but really pleased yesterday to have made the remaining list now even smaller.

Yesterday i released a single with me playing guitar, an acoustic version of "Over the Rainbow" and excuse the blatent plug on here but as all sale proceeds are to Cancer Research UK i hope you don't mind, it's available for download on i tunes UK. For you non i tunes users it will shortly be available to download on Google Play.

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/id880156316 

Would really appreciate it if you would spend 79p to download the song and pass on the link to your friends,


Regards,


Martyn
20/05/2014.

Mother in Law

Had a little sunshine today so decided to take Margaret for a little drive, had been promising this for some time so it had to be done.

Some years ago she was the Secretary for the Jensen Brothers at the West Bromwich factory so knows a great British sports car when she sees one,  I think my Marcos passed the "smile" test,




Martyn
23/03/2014.

Tv Cars


I had heard the story about John Noakes from Blue Peter owning a Marcos but thought it was just a tale.

Just been sent this video clip, wonder if the car is still going ?





http://youtu.be/p2FZLBp_BLk


Martyn
11/03/2014.

Just

Just been for a "spirited" drive in the sun, cobwebs blown away,



Martyn
01/02/2014.

Magazine feature

Just received the latest Marcos Owners Club magazine "Torque" and they have done a feature on my car following the recent NEC show, didn't quite make the front cover so i will have to get my new (old) Nikon camera out and take some moody photographs to send them, shame about all the salt on the roads now stopping me from taking her out.


Martyn
12/01/2014.

Air filter

Seasons Greetings to everybody..........

Not much chance to drive the Marcos recently due to the lousy weather but hoping for a little sunshine on Christmas Day as i am working in the morning and need to get home quick for dinner so might take the Marcos out with me.

Never really been happy with the original air filter fitted as due to clearance problems it sat very close to the bonnet which must have restricted the air flow into the Edelbrock carb so after much www searching and measuring for clearance i have gone for a different set up which sits lovely in the bulge of the bonnet, i am also going to take out the choke as i never use it and again this is supposed to give a slightly better airflow.

Here is a photograph of the new filter in place which will also give me cool air from the front of the car as there is plenty of airflow coming over the top of the radiator into the engine bay, i have not had chance to drive the Marcos yet with this set up and are now looking at different engine tuners who are familiar with the Rover V8 and Megajolt system to get the best set up, the carb rods may need changing too so lots of reading up to do especially on this page as the writer seems to know what he is talking about.





Martyn
23/12/2013

Fame at last

Speedhunters.com give my car a complimentary mention and a couple of nice photographs in their review of the NEC Classic Car Show, have a look here and view the "Barn Storming at the classic Motor Show" page "British Brutes"


Martyn
22/11/2013.

Video clip from the NEC

Here is a brief video clip during one of the quieter moments at the weekend,

http://youtu.be/2joDraWsKG4


Martyn
19/11/2013.

NEC Classic Car Show 2013

Just returned home tired and hungry but what a fantastic 3 days i have had, many thanks to John and Isobel from the respective clubs who put in so much work to make these events happen and to all the other Marcos owners and enthusiasts i met. The Marcos recieved nothing but praise especially the interior, a few photo's below,










Martyn
17/11/2013.

Shiny shiny

Just started the big clean/polish in preparation for the NEC Classic Car show  in a weeks time, might even have a bath myself, hope the rain keeps away,


See you there and please come and say hello,


Martyn
07/11/2013

Interior done

Went to collect the Marcos today from "Dave the Trimmer" in Cranfield near Milton Keynes and really pleased with the end result.

Dave is better known with TVR owners for his work and this was his first Marcos project and i am sure will now be the first of many, if you are looking for something a little different he is certainly worth a visit, i had several idea's of how i wanted mine to look and with his experience he was able to guide me as to what would work and put the idea into reality.

It has been a busy day at home as we are in the middle of some house renovations (it's all go here !) so have not had chance to take some photographs yet, will post some here in a couple of days,

Other good news is that i have been invited by the Marcos Owners Club to have my Marcos on their club stand at the classic car show at the NEC in a couple of weeks, looking forward to this and meeting other owners over the three days,


Martyn
01/11/2013.

More interior photographs

Just received a few more photographs of the work in progress, looking good and looking forward to seeing the end result,






Martyn
22/10/2013.

Interior so far

Went to refit the dashboard today and took a couple of photo's of the work in progress. Unfortunately the photographs do not do it justice and the colours appear grey (blame it on the camera flash) but is actually black with a silver stitch to match the exterior, part leather and part alcantara including the dash top to stop any glare onto the windscreen.

They are presently working on the centre console to be followed by the seats, looking forward to seeing the end result,




Martyn
15\10\2013



Interior

Took the Marcos in monday for the interior refit and exchanged some last minute ideas of the look i am going for.  They were just finishing off a Ferrari that was being were worked on which sounded lovely when it was started up, reassured that they will do a good job.

Hope to get to see the car in a couple of weeks to check on the progress and take a few photographs,


Martyn
09/10/2013.

Marcos 1 Jaguar 0

Found this lovely photograph on the www of two great British classics side by side with Brooklands race circuit in the rear.




These two models were often compared to each other but have never seen a photo of them side by side for comparison albeit the Marcos in the photo is one of the 80's variants,


I know which one i think is the better looking.........


Martyn
28/09/2013.

Interior date

Marcos goes in for interior refurb 7th October, looking forward to something special,


Martyn
06/09/2013.

Dashboard switches

The cool air system is all fitted now bar the on/off switch and the motor appears to put enough cool air into the cabin, will have to wait till i get the chance to go for a spin to get the full effect.

Whilst thinking about the switch i have decided that before the Marcos goes in for it's interior (after a couple of false starts) in October i have decided that i don't really like the dashboard switches that are standard on the Mantula, i think they look cheap and at night time the light in them is too bright which can be distracting. I have been searching for some black rocker switches to suit the black dials and there really is not a lot of choice out there. I Would have ideally liked some solid looking early Jaguar switches but there are not many about so have decided on a selection of some new MGB rocker switches via ebay, just waiting for the postman to deliver but not a 5 minute job as i will then have the task of filling in the dashboard holes and cutting out new ones again, a bit of a pain but will be much better looking.

Will this car ever be finished ?

 Martyn
 16/08/2013.

Cool Air installation

Have made a start on the cool air installation and as there have been a few mentions on the Marcos Forum with different ideas to solve the heat issue here are a few photo's of the work in progress.

Just waiting for a scoop to fit on the front of the 2" pipe which will sit at the front of the bonnet to collect cool clean air whilst moving, I need to wire the motor fan into a switch and then finish off with a 2 into 1 connector which will sit behind the dashboard. The air vents were courtesy of ebay and came from a Afla of some sort.

There is just enough room to fit 2" pipes behind the dashboard and to make access easier I cut square sections out of the wooden panel that sits under the bulkhead and made some square sections of fibreglass sheets that screw into place with the air vents attached to them. I was originally going to route the pipe under the wheel arch but was concerned on full lock the tyre may have rubbed so the pipe will now sit attached to the inner wing inside the engine bay which I think looks a neat installation, so far so good.







Sadly I won't be able to get to the Marcos Rally today at Prescott in the Marcos. I have worked almost every single free hour over the past few weeks trying to get the car done but time has beaten me and the interior guy who I was booked in for last month let me down big style as for some reason he suddenly decided not to answer his phone or emails when the car was ready to go in, on the plus side I have found another company with a excellent reputation for quality work and the Marcos is booked in for early October to be done, looking forward.

Still hoping to get to Prescott tomorrow to watch a few cars racing up the hill, 


Martyn
10/08/2013

Marcos Heritage Spares

Just noticed that "Marcos Heritage" the official supplier for all Marcos bits have updated their webpage and looks very good with some cracking photographs and history info, thought I would give it a plug here in case you had not logged on their pages recently, oh and there's a photo of mine on the racing page complete with Mobil stickers on the doors,


Martyn
10/08/2013.

Fresh air


Well I have bought a recommended bilge blower 3" size usually used for ventilation on boats which will sit under the bonnet bolted to the passenger inner wing. Going to use 2" hose ducting using some shrink reducers from Europa Spares to adjust the ducting size from the blower, the fresh cool air will be drawn from the front of the car where the spotlights normally sit.

The ducting will lead to two eyeball vents which will exit fresh air under the dash into the footwells, I was going to fit two vents on the dash top as well but lack of room in that area restricts this, I think two vents in the footwell will keep me cool as we sit in these cars quite low.

What I am stuck on is a "Y" piece in 2" size to split the hose ducting into two, i have searched the usual online places but no luck in finding any in this size,

Any suggestions where i can find one ?


Martyn
03/08/2013.

Many years ago

Many years ago when a Marcos was way out of my £££ range i built and owned a Jago. I have always wondered if it was still alive and today it appeared on ebay for sale, really pleased that it's still going although in need of a little TLC, if only i had the room....

.Jago Geep on ebay


Martyn
11/07/2013.

Sweating buckets

Went to Milton Keynes today which entailed a traffic jam on the M1 in what must have been our hottest day of the year so far and pleased to find the Marcos kept cool in the engine department with no overheating issues at all thanks to the efficient radiator I had designed for me, however we were roasting inside and made for a cool shower as soon as we got home.

Having tried to find out why it seems that on a hot day whilst cruising 70ish, if you wind the windows fully up the car initially is cooler inside until the cabin warms up from the sun on the windscreen but when you wind the windows down the temperature suddenly drops by the escaping heat but then after a short while with the windows down the temperature then rises to the extent that you have to wind the windows up to reduce the temperature and then the circle begins again..

My conclusion to this is that (and I may be wrong here) the heat from the engine escapes as intended from the 4 vents on the bonnet (mantula models) near the front screen, this heat escaping the vents then hits the windscreen and then goes sideways and into the cabin via the open windows hence the rise in temperature and us sweating buckets.

1/ Has anybody else noticed this ?
2/ Why would you want a heater in a Marcos ?
3/ Why did I fit a radio, I can only hear it when stationery ?



Martyn
06/07/2013.

TT Races

No work on the Marcos last week as me and Louis spent a week in the sunny Isle of Man watching the TT races, wow those speeds of up to 190mph need to be seen to be believed especially as they are on closed bumpy roads, we met people who had travelled from Australia just to see these races and so many people from all over Europe there as well, would certainly recommend a visit for any motorsport enthusiasts,

Martyn
06/06/2013.




Soundproofing

Have been busy cutting my fingers to shreds putting in some Dynamat Extreme which claims to be a quality soundproofing and heat reflector. Have done most of the interior including the inside of the door skins ready for the trim to be fitted. I did not want to spend decent money having a quality leather and alcantara trim fitted and regret not reducing the inside cabin noise, the Marcos is okay on A roads but on a motorway can get a little tiring due to the noise. Dynamat also claims that it stops panels vibrating to cut out the drum effect of the larger panels.

Just a couple of sheets short which i need to reorder to finish off the firewall section,




Martyn
27/05/2013.

Little trip

No work done on the Marcos over the last few days as i went on a little cycling trip with 25 guys/gals from work. We cycled from Solihull to Paris, just the 350 miles in 4 days in aid of the "Help Harry help others" Charity, wind against us all the way and lots of rain to test us.

Here's a photo on route outside Abbey Road, London,




I am the big 50 tomorrow so hoping for a little sunshine to take the Marcos out for a drive on my special birthday,

Martyn
14/05/2013

MOT

Marcos sailed through the MOT yesterday and then I drove straight to see the upholsterer I first spoke to a couple of years ago, after him seeing the car in the flesh for the first time instead of photographs we were able to sit down and discuss some ideas/options. I am just waiting for some computer based sketches and a price hopefully within my budget to give him the go ahead.

Got to be ready for the Prescott Annual Rally in August !!


Martyn
02/05/2013.

Wiper motor

Have finally had to change the windscreen wiper motor. It decided not to work once before and after taking it out and testing it on a bench it worked, confused but happy, so when i put it back in after the recent paint job I was a little miffed for it to not work again so time to throw it away and put a new one in.

The original motor was located right next to the steering column and drove the single wiper direct from the motor itself, I did try to find out what car it was from without any success and was always a little disappointed in the sweep area not covering much of the screen.

So last week I bought a Lucas motor which i think is the normal fitment for Marcos cars however as I have retained the single wiper system I decided it would be easier to fit the motor where the heater would normally sit (the 5.0V8 is the heater in this car) which is right behind the centrally fitted dash instruments.

Looking forward to getting the car to the MOT station in the next few days in time for the sunshine,


Martyn
24/04/2013.