Tag Archives: mantis

Lest we forget

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Armistice Day today, & a truely glorious Autumn day – clear blue skies & sunshine. Foolishly I have not gone out in the Mantis, even though it’s been on the trickle charger & I haven’t put the hood back up yet on the off chance of a quick spin out. Maybe tomorrow if the Met Office forecast proves completely wrong (currently black cloud with double rain drop icon… Oh dear! 🌧️).

In the meantime I have been told there is a picture of my Mantis adorning the Marcos Owners Club stand at the Classic Car Show. What excellent taste! 🤣👌😎

Goodbye, first quarter of 2022

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A quiet first quarter with very few miles added to the clock, what with playing hockey, work & needing to go out on my bike more than a drive when the weather is sunny. It will be interesting to see how many miles I drive in the Mantis over 2022, given the last two year’s restrictions arising from Covid. However, things are moving (pun intended). I had a wonderful if rather random drive through the country lanes of Cheshire under clear blue skies & beautiful spring sunshine last Sunday with my son. Today I took the opportunity while having a few welcome days away from work to go out for a scenic drive through the Pennines to Chatsworth House, then back through Buxton & Macclesfield via the Cat & Fiddle. I invited my chum along who has a few interesting cars & who unbeknownst to me had bought an immaculate Daimler Double Six Vanden Plas last November. Whilst not my bag (it has a roof!) it’s a lovely 70s saloon and with 5.3 litres to draw on, didn’t have any problems keeping up with the Mantis (although the cornering was a bit interesting on the winding roads in the High Peaks). The Mantis drove well again, wasn’t too thirsty (good thing too at £1.85/litre for Unleaded. Grrr….) & I only got rained on for the last 10 minutes of a four hour expedition, so all in all, good fun!

Next up is a much-postponed (Covid – tsk!) get-together for Marcos owners in the North West, when we meet for Sunday lunch in Northwich. The weather is due to get a lot colder between now & then, & there has even been mention of snow, but unless they salt the roads or there is horizontal rain then I will go in the Marcos. I’ve also booked a ticket for the National Kit Car show at Stoneleigh, where this years Club Marcos International AGM will be held on 01-May-2022. Yes, yes, I know the Mantis isn’t a kit car (you knew that, right?!) but that seems to be the best bet in terms of catching up with other owners, after a famine of events over the last two years. I used to go to the Stoneleigh show & park up with the other Marcos on the CMI stand for a few years when I first got the car, but not been for ages so looking forward to seeing what it’s like.

Castle Combe 60th race

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I was sorry to miss the last 60th anniversary event of the year, the Historic Cup at Castle Combe. Although I had tickets, family reasons meant I was unable to attend, but the pictures & video on Facebook looked great & the weather held for everyone. 👍🌞.

Now I am cycling to work (Doctor’s orders… 😔) the Mantis is not getting used much. The autumnal temperature is perfect for me though so I will probably succumb in the near future! 🤣

Cracking me up

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A beautiful morning in Manchester & with the missing trim having now arrived with National Windscreens, another go at fitting the new screen.

The crack has been sneaking down the current windscreen (since October last year I think? 🤔) so this is good timing before taking the car to the Gold Cup at Oulton Park on Sunday.

“Before”… The poorly screen

Once again the National Windscreens team were first class, talking through the fitting in detail and checking over the car.

Not a fan

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Just picked the car up after the cooling fans stopped working again. Unfortunately the contact in the junction block fitted last week by the auto electrician was not a good one, & the resultant power surges melted the Fan relay holder. In the absence of a spare relay holder which fits into the existing modular block, the relay has been wired direct which gets the car back on the road. Something to revisit at a later date however.

It’s been nine weeks since I contacted National Windscreens for a replacement screen as the crack in mine is slowly getting bigger. No outlook on when it may arrive so getting worried it may not be done before the 60th Anniversary at Wroxall in July. The supplier of course could only be Marcos Heritage Spares, so I phoned Rory who explained that Pilkington had moved their manufacturing out to Finland & were having logistics problems. Mine is one of 12 screens he is waiting for from up to four months ago, which is not great! Fingers crossed….

Enlightened

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Gave a recommended local auto-electrician a try & he has fixed the cooling fans (corrosion on junction box behind rad & underneath fan belt) & daylight running lights (earth disconnected in wiring by controller). Result! Just need to wait for the rain to stop now! 🤣☔🙄

Past the MOT hurdle

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… or should that be Passed the MOT hurdle?! See what I did there? See what I did?…

Yes indeed, like the ‘difficult’ second album, this was the second MOT following the fitting of the new engine. I was slightly apprehensive as Jay did the first one when he put the LS3 (so obviously it passed – Duh!). Having invested in some CATs, how would it do on Emissions? I was also stuck as to where to take it to for the test itself, Cross Street Garage being persona non grata after the 2016 MOT test resulted in no engine(!). As luck would have it, a couple of chums at work recommended Altrincham Tyre & Exhaust, which I drive past on my way to & from work but had never realised did MOTs. Next day the appointment was made & as of this evening I have a shiny new MOT Certificate! Huzzah! (A couple of advisories on offside steering gaiter & handbrake but both very fixable). Very friendly staff – have I found a new local garage to fix things I wonder.

Preaching to the Catalytic Converted

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Dropped the car off at JP Exhausts in Macclesfield this morning to have catalytic converters (aka ‘Cats’) fitted. It was a good trip over to Macc & I spent a lot of time soaking up the exhaust note in case it changed after the cats were fitted. How sad is that! (At least I didn’t record it!… Although… I might have at some point.). It was nice to be greeted by the whole JP crew as I arrived (only because I was early – not sure I am getting the red carpet treatment) & the car was quickly ushered in & onto the ramp. I took a quick ‘Before’ picture of the Jetex 200 catalytic converter, pre polishing & fitting of cones as I’ve never seen one before (with apologies for the poor focus).

 

Kyle also spotted that the nearside exhaust was touching the sump guard bracket, potentially generating a rattle (which I hadn’t spotted due to all the other rattles… & the 105Db exhaust!) which he would try & sort out at the same time as the cats. Good man!

Having been told it was ‘an all day job’ I headed back over to JP a few minutes before 1700 to pick the car up. The cats were fitted & somehow or other Kyle had managed to keep them above the height of the sump guard, which he had lowered by a few millimeters with a washer to clear the exhaust. Polished up & with the cones fitted, they looked the business & should mean no more fretting about emissions at MOT time.

 

 

Le Mans 24 hour 2017

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Had a great time at Le Mans this year, accompanied once again by my good chum Doug. I suppose this is what everything had been leading up to… the new engine (and the new everything else!).

Tuesday: Met up with Andy & Lorraine Peers in their lovely LM500 (replacing the previous supercharged Mantis) at Knutsford Services on the M6. An straightforward blast down south to the Holiday Inn in Folkestone; weather was great & the M25 clear.

Wednesday: First stop of the morning was at the nearest Services where a very enthusiastic (& easy on the eye!) lady from the Channel 4 production team briefed Andrew & Lorraine on what their program was about & fitted several GoPro cameras inside & outside the LM500. Eventually I decided to kill time by… filling up with fuel (again) which is the default activity of every Mantis owner. (Or polishing, if your name is Partridge). Finally with the Borg-like LM500 adorned with cameras the two cars set off for the Eurotunnel terminal. Here we met up with a couple of older Marcos Mantulas in Eurotunnel departures car park, to travel over around midday. After a diversion to drop off the Channel 4 production company’s cameras, the four cars headed off to Le Mans. We managed to stay together for most of the journey apart from some SatNav-initiated diversions through the centre of Rouen. Arrived at Neuvillette-en-Charnie about 1900 hours & decided to drop into Chateaux Morrison to see Debbie, Darren & the Essex gang who were staying there before heading on to our own gite a mile further. Great to see everyone but then… the Mantis broke down in their driveway (blocking Darren from getting to the pub!). Symptoms were no fuel but with the gauge reading just under a quarter full & numerous fill ups on the way, this seemed unlikely to me. Eventually, given the 30+ degrees temperature, fuel vapourisation was the diagnosis. However, managed to bleed some air from the fuel lines & then filled up with some ancient fuel from Darren, allowing the car to start again & we made it to our own gite a few minutes later.

Thursday: Cleaned the bugs off the front of the car then headed off to the start point of an organised tour of the 1906 French Grand Prix. Hot! Hot! Hot! The car started overheating as we arrived in the car park, & a quick check revealed that the second fan was not kicking in due to the 30A fuse having blown. Fortunately I had some spares that SP Automotive had given me, so a few minutes later the car was sorted & we set off along the route in convoy with Debbie & Darren’s LM500 & Geoff’s ’68 GT.

In the evening there was a Hog Roast organised at the gite with many other Marcos owners attending. The highlight (of the whole weekend perhaps) was the appearance of the Yorkshire Volunteer Band in full military uniform who gave us the most fantastic performance as we gazed on in awe. I think it was probably quite hot in all that kit!

Friday: Today was the big day for the Macros owners… the Classic British Welcome! There were over 70 Marcos in attendance, & while the majority of us were parked outside, there was a fantastic display of Marcos in the exhibition hall. As well as a beautiful example of each model produced, there was also one of the two LMs that raced at Le Mans in 95 & 96. Jay swapped out my Rev Counter (reading half) for the upgraded unit from Smiths/CAI in front of about 200 people (the poser!). I wasn’t that impressed to discover the new unit over-reading x1.15 though, particularly as they had had the unit for 12 weeks.

After catching up with many of the owners & a good chat with both Cor Euser (lovely bloke) & Chris Marsh (also lovely chap!), it was time for the invitation-only Cavalcade into Le Mans… complete with motorcycle escort from the Harley Davidson club. As usual the best bit was winding through the local villages with the streets lined by primary school children energetically waving union jacks. For some reason the cavalcade seemed to be a lot slower than my previous experience in 2004, & the engine temperature started to climb as we reached the outskirts of Le Mans. The weather was HOT but the car was definitely HOTTER! A few minutes later the temperature was around 115 degrees & we reluctantly pulled out of the cavalcade into a side street. Bonnet up, coolant all over road & another melted 30A fuse. Doug & I were philosophical about this as we’d experienced the best bit of the cavalcade, so it was a simple matter of waiting for the engine to cool down, topping up with some precious drinking water (Evian of course… nothing but the best for my Mantis!) & then fitting the last of my spare 30A fuses, before heading back to the gite.

I am of course, lying. There was plenty of swearin’ & cussin’ from me but… heigh ho. I was really frustrated that SP Automotive had not fitted the 50A maxi fuses as requested (although to be fair they didn’t want my car to catch fire!). Jay had not had a single problem with his cooling & had been running with a 50A fuse since day one. ‘Nuff said. You can see more details & lots of fantastic photos on Marcos@CBW here.

On a lighter note, when I purchased the Mantis. they definitely told me it would pull the chicks. I should have read the small print…

Pulling chicks…

Saturday: That very nice man Mr Sherwin whipped out a soldering iron in the morning & replaced the crappy 30A blade fuse with a manly 50A maxi fuse. Job done & no more cooling fan problems. Went to the race & parked with minimal queuing in Parking Rouge. It was Doug’s first time at the 24 Hour after a few visits to the Classic with me, so we wandered around a bit then found our Grandstand seats & settled down for the start of the race. After a few hours we decided to stretch our legs & ambled off along the edge of the circuit, stopping off every now & then to watch the race with the great unwashed. For some reason I then decided it would be a good idea to walk down to Arnage Corner (I blame heatstroke), which was a bit further than I thought! The clue was in the multitude of people on bikes, the stream of shuttle buses & the absence of any other pedestrians I suppose! D’oh! Anyway we got to Arnage Corner eventually & it was packed! An cold beer got Doug back on track & I put away a few bottles of fizzy water as I would need to drive back to the gite later that evening.

The night racing was good fun. We stayed a lot longer than planned which meant queuing for over an hour after midnight to get the last shuttle bus back to the main circuit. As it turned out the bus didn’t go quite that far so we had few minutes wandering around the circuit perimeter before we found an entrance & headed back to our grandstand seats. A very handy landmark that Ferris Wheel!

Sunday: Watched the racing for another hour or two from the Grandstand then returned to the car about 0300 hours & set off on the 45 minute drive back to the gite. Top down so happy days. Slightly less happy to discover we had been locked out of our room at the gite (!) so at 0500 hours Doug & I tried to get some kip on the floor of the dinning hall. This wasn’t particularly successful so we were rather pleased to see Mr Barlow wandering around about 0700 hours, as he was the proud owner of a key. Que a couple of hours zeds before jumping up & heading back to the race. Reached Parking Rouge without mishap & went straight to the grandstand seats (via a bar) to watch the last 2 or 3 hours of the race. Then back to the gite for a posh dinner. The band played again & were awesome again. Lots of nice speeches from lots of nice people then it was off to bed as I was bloody knackered after getting no sleep on Saturday night!

Monday: A quick breakfast then we headed off to Dieppe to catch our ferry. Event free motoring except the stereo had stopped working (?). We arrived in good time then it was onto the ferry & some welcome repast. Offboarding took over an hour & the car was getting hot again but the 50A fuse held up. Finally got through Passport Control then it was a four or five hour drive back to Manchester, dropping Doug off then getting home about 2000 hours.

Had a good time. A lot of driving. A lot of Marcos. Time for a break…

All I want for Christmas

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It’s been just over two months without the Mantis, & with Christmas Day tomorrow I have to face up to the fact that Santa is going to struggle to fit it into my stocking! On the other hand Jay has been uploading a few photos of the engine & also the chassis (which will have to be tip top if it’s going to cope with all that power). I was relieved to hear it’s generally OK with only superficial rust in a few places – nothing some rust cure, Hammerite & Waxoyl won’t sort out.

Another New vs Old shot!

 

I’ve also been trawling the automotive world for a decent Engine Start button. Given it’s going to take up one of the holes from the Racelogic Traction Control on the dash, it will be highly visible & therefore needs to look right. I like the idea of something red, but also backlit so it can be seen at night. The aftermarket Engine Start buttons are either barnded, cheesy or both, so I’ve narrowed it down to the Audi S1 (below left) or the 370z Nissan OEM GT-R Push Start Switch combined with the 2015 Nismo Model Red Trim Cover Finisher (below right). I’m leaning towards the Nissan currently as I can’t get the surround for the Audi button plus there’s not much aluminium on the dash (other than the gear knob).

 

Then I’ve got to get the socket & loom which fits the button of course, and then there’s the small matter of how you wire up to achieve the ‘Stop’ function on the engine.