Marcos Maniacs

Hi Larry,

I am very interested to hear from you. I suppose the obvious questions are, is it still possible to find the (Triumph?) structural components without major headaches. And is the Volvo now obselete? We find getting parts for the Lotus can be a complete pain, especially living outside the UK, and we have had to resort to buying "nearly right"s for the Ford motor, eg. clutch bearings and then get the best (a combination of two halves from two different sets) whittled down for fit at a lathe workshop. It makes every repair job a marathon.

Sara



 --- In MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com, larry meadows <lmeadowsw@...> wrote:
>
> Welcome aboard, Sara.
> Good luck in your endevours. I have a steel chassis, 1970 3l Volvo powerd Marcos that I have owned sence 1972, and will be glad to answer any questions about the car as I have restored it 3 times sence I bought it. I know very little about thy ply chassis cars.
> Best regards,
> Larry
> 3V 5536
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ________________________________
> From: sararowland1 <sararowland@...>
> To: MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 4:23:35 AM
> Subject: [MarcosManiacs] New member looking for a vintage (1600?) Marcos - a roller perhaps
> 
>   
> Hello,
> 
> I am a new member of this group, which I got to know about via a contact of a contact of a friend of a racer who I met at the racetrack and to whom I mentioned my desire to fulfill a long-held ambition to own a Marcos. 
> 
> So I thought I should introduce myself.
> 
> I first found out about Marcos after being invited to sit in a fabulous-looking beast of a car, I think it was a 5-litre Mantis, around about 1993, at the British Motor Show. My getting past the crowd-control ropes probably had something to do with wearing a short skirt, as I recall I seemed to be issued something of a dare to attempt to do this elegantly. Well, that memory fades, but I do remember the car. 
> 
> This season is my first experience of vintage racing as pit crew to my partner who races (occasionally - there's always something to fix) a 1969 Lotus 7. I can't wait to have a go on the track but so far I have not got a definite 'yes' to trying out in the 7... But it would be good to enjoy the same hobby of vintage racing with my partner. In my younger days I used to throw my old Toyota MR2 around the lanes of southern England, but I am getting some race lessons for my birthday later this year, so I'm hoping I'll make a careful, but not too risk-averse, vintage racing driver - with some practice.
> 
> Since we have spare twin-cam and x-flow engines for the Lotus I am hoping I can find a roller, one of the older Marcos's without the 1600 Ford x-flow, or a complete car in need of some TLC and with a motor for which my partner at least has some prior knowledge, tools and engine parts. And that will be on a ply chassis I assume. 
> 
> But we have the prospect of buying a (80K km) 3-litre Ford Essex motor - so we could look for a later roller too. 
> 
> I'm not in a desperate hurry. Indeed, a delay of a few more months will probably help greatly with purchasing power. But it would be nice to find something to prep for 2010. Maybe there is someone out there who wants to keep their finely-tuned race engine but they don't need the body of the car any longer? I know that Marcos's of vintage era only come up for sale occasionally, and may be sold before you know about it - so joining this forum I hope will help me some. I know about Redline Sports Cars(UK) and Wire Wheel (Florida), and some interesting and relatively inexpensive vintage cars have evidently been sold by these guys in the past. But maybe a private seller is my best bet. 
> 
> Also, has anyone any anecdotes to share regarding wooden chassis versus steel, 1600 versus 3-litre, relative performance under racing conditions? My partner is a bit worried about the idea of a ply chassis. We've been told the big problem is scorch from the exhaust. Just what repairs are possible?
> 
> Oh, and finally, my partner is 6'4" tall - is this too tall to fit behind the wheel? (Ha! that may be a very GOOD thing!)
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Sara
>