Marcos Maniacs

Hi guys,

I recently had a problem with my gearbox which I thought I'd share with
those of you who have 3 litre Volvo Marcoses. It may apply to those who have
the 1800 and other versions as well. I noticed a few months ago that
changing into 2nd gear was a little sticky, in that it went into gear but
something seemed to be slightly impeding the movement. I meant to give it an
inspection but was distracted by problems getting parts from AVO as I will
relate below. Then on my last outing before I was to put the car away for
the winter, I had problems changing into and staying in 4th gear to the
extent that it would pop out of gear on the highway. I immediately thought
major dollars would be involved but upon inspection found that it was a
fairly simple problem to resolve. The gear stick is attached to the gearbox
extension by a screw-on cap. The inside of the cap is domed to accommodate a
ball socket which allows the stick to smoothly move in any direction. The
ball socket was completely worn out, to the extent that it had started to
disintegrate and impede the stick movement. Fortunately I've been able to
secure a replacement but it's apparent that the ball socket should have been
lubricated to prevent such an occurrence. It was completely dry. I don't
know whether oil or grease should be used as a lubricant so if anyone knows,
please pass it on.

After replacing my wheels and tires this summer, I found that my wider rear
tires were fouling on the wheel arches, especially on bumpy roads, and
thought that it was probably because the shocks and springs were a bit
tired. After all, it's probably 20 years since I last replaced them. It
turns out that I may also have to make adjustments to my rear wheel flares
because my rear axle is 2" wider than the one on Don Lattimer's car and I
haven't figured out what to do about it. I hadn't really noticed it before I
replaced the wheels, but my front wheels were more inboard than on other
cars and my rear wheels were about right. Now my front wheels look right but
the rear wheels protrude an inch on each side. My original Cosmic wheels had
a 4" backspace rather than the standard 3" so now I'm really confused. Was
my car fitted with the wrong rear axle? It would certainly explain why my
car used to oversteer under hard cornering. It's completely neutral now. If
anyone has any insight into my dilemma, I appreciate hearing from them.

Anyway, I ordered a complete set of shocks and 12" springs from AVO in
England.  They were significantly less expensive than the ones from Marcos
Heritage and, as Don Lattimer related that he is happy with his AVO shocks,
I figured I'd save some money. I was very impressed that the shocks and
springs arrived in less than a week but was dismayed to find they had
supplied 9" springs for the front and 10" springs for the rear instead of
the 12" springs I ordered. After a few email exchanges with AVO, when they
expressed concern about the length of springs I ordered not being correct
for their shocks, they agreed to send a set of 12" springs at no charge.
They arrived a week or so later. Before my exchanges with them, I confirmed
with Marcos Heritage and Don that 12" springs were correct. Don obtained his
springs from a US supplier and fitted them to his AVO shocks without any
problems. My current adjustable Koni shocks are fitted with 12" springs, but
at US$100 apiece plus part costs to have them rebuilt in the US, the AVO
shocks are cheaper. The bottom line is, if anyone intends to order springs
from AVO, insist that they send the 12" ones.

Regards and a Merry Christmas to everyone,

Paul Dransfield
3 litre Volvo