Marcos Maniacs

Hi Ted,

Welcome to the group. I've often wondered what happened to Ted MacGregor and
his red V6. He really loved his car. What made him give it up? I last saw
him in the late 70s when he, Mike Mitchell and I took part in a sports car
meet at the King City conservation area north of Toronto. That was the last
time 3 Marcos coupes were seen together in this part of the world. I have a
photo of the event somewhere. Mike Mitchells white V6 is now owned by Simon
Edlin of Markham. Last I heard, Simon was planning to race the car at
Mosport and other local tracks. 

Your car has really held up well over the years. It looks just as I
remember, with the flared rear wheel wells and fat tires. When you have
time, please give us more about information.

Thanks,

Paul Dransfield
3 litre Volvo

-----Original Message-----
From: patemery@... [mailto:patemery@...]
Sent: May 7, 2003 1:25 PM
To: MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com; MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: RE: [MarcosManiacs] 100 Members !!


Paul!

I am the 100th member of this fine group. And I have been waiting for years
to chat with Marcos owners, about wheels, tires, gear ratio, etc.
I have Ted MacGregor's former Marcos 3L Ford V6, serial number 3L5365. It
still has the 13x8 front and 13x10 rear MINILITES. The tires are the same
Pirelli Cinturato CN36 P215R60-13(front) and P235R60-13 (rear). They are
23.15" O.D and 24.10" O.D respectively. I am due for new tires but cannot
find replacement. I am considering to go to P235R50-14 (25.10" O.D)at the
rear. I want to preserve the look of that car and will have to go with
similar looking wheels. I would much prefer to leave it the way it is if I
could find tires. Considering that I rarely use the car, I could probably
make good with racing tires. I am also planning to install different rear
end gear ratio. The existing 3.58 @ 1 is terrible on the expressway. 3.0 @ 1
would be better. I will likely end up replacing the whole unit as there
isn't any choice with this Salisbury unit. I would have better luck with a
Ford 8" unit as equipped with 2.8L V6 Capri or Mustang. I have plenty of
projects but no time. I enjoy 
 reading your letter and will get back to you with information about the
wheels when I get back home. I live near Montreal, Quebec but work in Saint
John, New-Brunswick. I have my Daimler SP250 here with me so it is not all
that bad without the Marcos. Here are some pictures. Best Regards to all. 
Pat> From: pauldransfield@...
> Date: 2003/05/07 Wed AM 10:00:07 EST
> To: MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: RE: [MarcosManiacs] 100 Members !!
> 
> Don,
>  
> I originally had Avon 175SR13s on my car which have a diameter of 23.94",
> according to the Roger Kraus Racing tire guide. I went to 185/70R13
Michelin
> ZXs when the Avons wore out and have had them on the car for 21 years now.
> Obviously I don't put many miles on my car on a yearly basis. The tires
> perform very well (at least they did), even though they squeal a lot these
> days, and I don't drive in the rain so the hardened rubber hasn't effected
> the handfling. 
>  
> As Mike Denman noted last year, using old tires isn't the best idea and I
> suspect mine have deteriorated because they won't balance properly any
more.
> A shaking has built up slowly over the years making it less enjoyable to
> drive, so I thought I should do something before I shake the car to
pieces.
> There are two problems with the 185/70R13s from my perspective. They don't
> fill the wheel opening properly and they cause my speedometer to
over-read.
> According to the specs, they should only be 2/10" smaller than the
originals
> but they look much smaller than than that, either in actuallity (though I
> haven't actually measured them) or as an optical illusion. 
>  
> The 205/60HR14 on paper is slightly smaller than the ZX, so that isn't an
> option. I reckon the larger 215/60HR14 would fill the wheel opening better
> and correct the speedo problem as well, and they're only slightly larger
> than the 195/70HR13 which you use. The 225/55VR14 has the right diameter
but
> it's too wide. 
>  
> My Cosmic rims are not in very good condition. I've tried to polish them
up
> but they still look battered and dull. I need new rims in any event so I
> might as well have what I want if they're available anywhere at a
reasonable
> price. That's why I was intrigued by your latest email about Pete Paulsen.
> I've sent a note off enquiring about the possibility of accommodating the
4
> x 3 3/4" PCD. At 15", the 205/55VR15 would be just about right and the
> Daytona in chrome wouldn't look bad at all. 
>  
> As a final note, a Canadian, Ted MacGregor,  has a red 3 litre Ford. He
used
> to live locally before he moved out west. I've since heard he moved back
to
> Ottawa but he hasn't surfaced in years. Anyway, his car had very wide, low
> profile tires as I remember and he said they handled very well. I guess
the
> proof is in the pudding as they say.
>  
> Regards,
>                 Paul 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Don Lattimer [mailto:donlattimer@...]
> Sent: May 6, 2003 6:59 PM
> To: MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [MarcosManiacs] 100 Members !!
> 
> 
> Paul,
>  
> Looks to me like 205/60R14 tires come the closest to the original
185/70R13
> circumference, although a liitle more(215/60R14) would improve ground
> clearance a little.
>  
> In my opinion, going to 14" isn't worth the price for 1/2" more tread
width.
> I also like the looks of the 15" but you're right, "nothing is easy" or
> inexpensive!
>  
> Minilites don't excite me either, especially in the 14" and 15" sizes.
They
> "mini" for a reason.  They look great on 13".
>  
> The 195/70HR13 tires I have now ride nice (I don't race, yet!), are good
in
> the rain, and fill the wheel well nicely.  Guess I'll be satisfied for now
> but I'll keep looking for other options also.  The UK guys have a lot of
> suggestions, just a matter of sorting them out.  Although I like the looks
> of the 15", I have to keep in mind safety, handling, etc.  when changing
> sizes of wheels and tires.
>  
> Don
> #3m5759
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: pauldransfield@... <mailto:pauldransfield@...>  
> To: MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com <mailto:MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com>  
> Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2003 12:28 PM
> Subject: RE: [MarcosManiacs] 100 Members !!
> 
> Thanks for the info Don. I was in contact today with an outfit in the US
> which sells Panasport wheels, which look like minilites. They're a Lotus
> parts supplier with a web site at www.rdent.com <http://www.rdent.com> .
> They sell the 14" wheels with a 3 3/4" PCD for $175 but apparently the hub
> of the 15" wheel will not accommodate the 3 3/4" bolt pattern. I could get
> the alloy hubs for the front and redo the rears at 4 1/4" but I'd then
need
> 5 rims and tires instead of 4. Unfortunately I'm not that keen on the
> minilites and wanted something a little different. I like the look of some
> of the American Racing wheels but they don't appear to have anything for a
3
> 3/4" PCD. Nothing's ever easy, is it, though I now know there's at least
one
> option available.
>  
> The bottom line is I really like the look of 15" rims with 205/55VR15
tires
> but 14" rims with 215/60HR14s would be a lot easier to do. What do you
> think?
>  
> Regards,
>                 Paul
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Don Lattimer [mailto:donlattimer@...]
> Sent: May 6, 2003 12:47 PM
> To: MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [MarcosManiacs] 100 Members !!
> 
> 
> www.usacomp.com <http://www.usacomp.com>  has "minilites" in just about
any
> size you want.  
>  
> The Mantulas have the alloy hubs on the front with 4 1/4" PCD to match the
> rear.  The pre-1972 cars had the rears redrilled to 3 3/4" PCD to match
the
> front.  So the Mantulas have much more choice when it comes to wheels.
>  
> I've communicated with Chris in the UK and he currently runs 205/50-R15's
> all around but is going to switch to 195/55R15 in the front and 205/55R15
in
> the rear on his Mantula (with 4 1/4" PCD).  He uses 15"x7" wheels with a
> 37mm offset.
>  
> The USAComp site is a big help in figuring this out.  The "minilites" run
> about $240/wheel.
>  
> Don
> #3m5759
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: markwoof92@... <mailto:markwoof92@...>  
> To: MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com <mailto:MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com>  
> Sent: Monday, May 05, 2003 9:32 PM
> Subject: Re: [MarcosManiacs] 100 Members !!
> 
> Paul,
> After squeeling and sliding around the Thunderhill track on my 195/70/13s
> with the nice folks of the Volvo Club of America,I too am motivated to
> upgrade my wheel and tire setup and I did bit of poking around a bit and
was
> told that Panastort rims might be of use  to look into ,they are not cheap
> (about $250 each or so) but less costly than a new set of hubs and less
> expencive rims.I was told that they can drill the wheels at the factory to
> fit any bolt pattern.
> Mike Denman hase a set of Panasports(14 inchers) so might want to check
with
> him to get his oppinion.
> A while back Don Lattimer was looking in to this very same subject.
> Don?Any progress? 
> Regards,
> Mark Petrinovich
> 
> 
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