Marcos Maniacs

Hope you all had a great christmas! I wanted to say hi to all of you 
now that I have finally bought my 1st Marcos. I bought a 1984 OHC 
Rosso Coupe, Chassis Number 81624 Plate Number Q259PWS. I bought it 
from Jeremy Kearns (Redline Sports cars)for the original owner, Who 
has kept this car in great Shape. ( Thanks )
Not sure how to post any of the pictures yet but I will soon. 
I wish you all a great New year also.
Thanks
KC

Hey Don,
              I'm thinking of importing a car in from Canada do you have any 
words of wisdom or pitfalls I might encounter? On a side note have you ever 
heard of the grey market? 
               hal
               #5353

Thanks Figured out how I will post some more when
weather is better.
\\\\\\kc
--- Don Lattimer <donlattimer@...> wrote:
> KC,
> 
> Congratulations!  Nice looking car.  Saw it on
> Jeremy's website.  Looking forward to some pics. 
> It's easy to post to the Yahoo message board.  Just
> click on "photos" and it will guide you along.  If
> you want, email them to me and I'll post them.
> 
> Happy Motoring!
> 
> Don Lattimer
> #3m5759
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: Kevin Christensen <kdchrist@...> 
>   To: MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com 
>   Sent: Friday, December 27, 2002 12:43 PM
>   Subject: [MarcosManiacs] Finally Bought Mine.
> 
> 
>   Hope you all had a great christmas! I wanted to
> say hi to all of you 
>   now that I have finally bought my 1st Marcos. I
> bought a 1984 OHC 
>   Rosso Coupe, Chassis Number 81624 Plate Number
> Q259PWS. I bought it 
>   from Jeremy Kearns (Redline Sports cars)for the
> original owner, Who 
>   has kept this car in great Shape. ( Thanks )
>   Not sure how to post any of the pictures yet but I
> will soon. 
>   I wish you all a great New year also.
>   Thanks
>   KC
> 
> 
>   To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
>   MarcosManiacs-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
> 
> 
> 
>   Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo!
> Terms of Service. 
> 


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Hal,

I've never imported a car but have heard plenty of stories.  I 
believe if the car is pre-1973 it can be imported.  That's the 
Federal rule.  As far as your state rules I don't know.  The thing to 
remember is that there are two sets of rules.  It is possible to 
import a car into the US and NOT be able to register it in your state.

There is also the "take the engine out, ship it as a kit" route of 
which I know nothing.  I talked to a person at XK'S Unlimited here in 
CA and he said he wanted to import a newer Mantula into the states as 
a kit.  Said it wasn't too hard.  I've heard different but he deals 
in Jags and UK stuff.  So who knows??

I guess the most important thing is to research all the laws before 
buying anything.

Don Lattimer
#3m5759
Willits, CA, USA


--- In MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com, Meggsief@a... wrote:
> Hey Don,
>               I'm thinking of importing a car in from Canada do you 
have any 
> words of wisdom or pitfalls I might encounter? On a side note have 
you ever 

> heard of the grey market? 
>                hal
>                #5353

Hello Group
    Having just imported a car from the U.S. into Canada I can give my 
take on the import/export laws......
    1)Pre 1977 vehicles are duty free(depends on what you are going to 
use for)25 Years old is the cut off point.
    2)Make sure the customs of the country you are importing it into 
has an ownership for the car at least 72 business hours before you 
plan to cross(I arrived at the border at 6PM saturday night and was 
told that I could not bring the car across .....luckily I found an all 
night storage facility to store it till the following weekend on the
U.S. side.)
    3)Although this particular car was well represented by the seller
(I t was better than he had described)I have had a bad experience with 
buying a car sight unseen....find out all you can about the car before
parting with any Benjamins
     4)As has already been mentioned check the State law where you 
live to see if you can in fact bring the car there ..... Ontario 
is quite lenient as far as pollution goes but such things as daytime 
running lights are required for cars of a certain age and newer.
  Sorry to ramble on ,hope this helps
   Cheers Dave #5577 



--- In MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com, sveltebat@a... wrote:
> Dear Don and Hal,
> 
> I've been trying, on several occasions, to figure out a way to buy 
these 
> Marcos GT's from Canada and England (such as the one on eBay right 
now that 
> has an engine in one location and the body/chassis at another 
location) and 
> have been advised that the cost of restructuring/completing such a 
car will 
> be far more than purchasing one already assembled.
> 
> The advice that I am getting, so far, is "beware" of purchasing a 
Marcos GT 
> unless it is assembled, completed and ready to drive. I'm told that 
it will 
> cost far more than purchasing one ready to drive. These sources are 
coming 
> from those that assemble the cars themselves such as Len up in 
Canada, Hayes 
> down in Florida and elsewhere.
> 
> Perhaps, just perhaps, these guys might be a bit biased but from 
what I am 
> gathering, thus far, is that unless you know a lot abut mechanics 
you are 

> well advised to purchase an already completed Marcos GT.
> 
> What do you guys think about this advise given to me thus far?
> 
> With Best Regards,
> 
> Svelte Bat

Dave,
        When you say 25 years are the cutoff do you mean that a 1969 car is 
not importable?
                   HAl
   P.S. Do you think I would be able to import a 90 V-6 through the grey 
market or as a kit. My 69 originally came from Canada but has been in the 
states for years.
         Hal
         #5353

Hal,

I think he means that anything newer than 1977 is NOT importable to 
Canada?  That seems odd tho......  Dave imported his into Canada so 
the laws, etc. will be different when importing into the USA.

Don Lattimer
#3m5759


--- In MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com, Meggsief@a... wrote:
> Dave,
>         When you say 25 years are the cutoff do you mean that a 
1969 car is 
> not importable?
>                    HAl
>    P.S. Do you think I would be able to import a 90 V-6 through the 
grey 
> market or as a kit. My 69 originally came from Canada but has been 
in the 

> states for years.
>          Hal
>          #5353

Svelte,

Depends on your resources.  I'm personally not at the restoration 
stage of life.  Although I love working on cars I would rather do all 
the little detail stuff and maintenance rather than working on a 
restoration for an extended length of time.

I've gotta drive!  Thankfully it's raining/snowing here in northern 
CA or I'd really be upset with the Marcos sitting in the garage 
without 4th gear!  Soon...........

Don Lattimer
#3m5759

--- In MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com, sveltebat@a... wrote:
> Dear Don and Hal,
> 
> I've been trying, on several occasions, to figure out a way to buy 
these 
> Marcos GT's from Canada and England (such as the one on eBay right 
now that 
> has an engine in one location and the body/chassis at another 
location) and 
> have been advised that the cost of restructuring/completing such a 
car will 
> be far more than purchasing one already assembled.
> 
> The advice that I am getting, so far, is "beware" of purchasing a 
Marcos GT 
> unless it is assembled, completed and ready to drive. I'm told that 
it will 
> cost far more than purchasing one ready to drive. These sources are 
coming 
> from those that assemble the cars themselves such as Len up in 
Canada, Hayes 
> down in Florida and elsewhere.
> 
> Perhaps, just perhaps, these guys might be a bit biased but from 
what I am 
> gathering, thus far, is that unless you know a lot abut mechanics 
you are 

> well advised to purchase an already completed Marcos GT.
> 
> What do you guys think about this advise given to me thus far?
> 
> With Best Regards,
> 
> Svelte Bat

Regards . . . Ron McLeod
1970 Marcos Mantis P8/5858

Thanks Mike, well said.  Couldn't have said it better myself!  I 
guess we all have our comfort zones, both physically and 
monetarily.  Jac makes some very good points also.  I bought the 
best I could find for the price and still replaced brakes, shocks, 
springs, hoses, etc. and still have some things to do.  But I'm 
ecstatic driving it and enjoy working on it.

Don Lattimer
#3m5759


--- In MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com, "John Denman" 
<mikedenman@e...> wrote:
> Hi Don,
>     Time to work on the transmission! Don't wait until it is nice 
outside, that's the time to drive! I'm putting my transmission back 
in today (for the second time this month!). Seems that the pilot 
bearing had destroyed itself which I didn't catch the first time I 
removed the transmission to see why it was acting weird. On the 
Volvo engine the pilot bearing is actually a roller bearing and not 
a bushing that is common on American engines. 
>     As to Svelte's question... If you want a really nice original 
Marcos (or any other car for that matter) buy the best example you 
can find or afford. Restoration is a very expensive proposition even 
if you have all the resources to to the work yourself. The Marcos is 
easy to work on but it is still loaded with potential "money traps". 
Windshields and rear screens will set you back a bundle but are at 
least available. Body work can be done at home but it is very time 
consuming even if you have the proper tools.There are a couple of 
Marcos owners on the list that seem to know what they are doing that 
have been working on their car bodies for a couple of years and 
still aren't finished. Trim items can be very difficult if not 
impossible to find. And we haven't even talked about the mechanical 
systems yet. Almost without exception, I can find a better car for 
less money than you (or I ) can restore a lesser example to the same 
standard.Ebay is full of restored cars that are selling for HALF of 
what the owners have documented spending on restoring the car. It is 
very difficult if not impossible to get the money you spend 
restoring a car back when you sell it. The only way people like 
Hayes can survive is they are very smart about what they pay for a 
car and then they have the benefit of having parts left over from 
other projects that they can use and they can buy parts 
wholesale.But even Hayes would tell you that he would always buy the 
best example he could find.
> Mike Denman
> Chassis # 4079

Svelte,
When I had my 1970 Marcos I looked into a professional restoration.
This was three years ago. At that time it was $5,000 deposit just to 
start on the car. Because of the nature of the business the top end 
is more open ended as it depends on unforseen problems that may arise 
but I was told that $15,000 would be a ballpark figure.

Unless you have a very expensive collector car or you can accept that 
this will never be even close to a recouping your expense I would 
look an not doing it.



--- In MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com, sveltebat@a... wrote:
> Dear Don,
> 
> Awh, come on Don! That's not what I was asking or you were way, way 
over my 
> head!
> 
> I'm asking if these renovators are being honest with me with regard 
to the 
> prices being much more if I were to purchase "pieces" of a Marcos 
GT to put 
> back together again! The renovators themselves seem to be very 
negative with 
> regard to that approach.
> 
> They are telling me that if I can find/acquire a Marcos GT 
disassembled I'm 
> going to end up paying much more than dishing out a mere $12,000.00 
to 
> $15,000.00 for an already assembled on ready to go after they or 
someone like 
> them have finished with it. Is my question unreasonable????
> 
> The prices are for an unfinished or incomplete Marcos GT is 
phenomenally 
> "low" compared to one already constructed and ready to go; you 
know? But from 
> what Len and Hayes have advised and informed me of, the end result 
(once I 
> found a qualified "put-her-back-to-gether-again" guru I would end 
up paying 
> more than one already put back together again!
> 
> I've seen this figure from both Len and Hayes if not others which 
equals to 
> 600 or more "man hours". Them are lots of hours at whatever dollar 
per hour 
> figure we wish to use.
> 
> Come on guys, give an ol' man a break here. Give me your honest 
opinions.

> 
> With Best Regards,
> 
> Svelte

Kevin,

Thanks for posting the pics.  Is that grin permanent now that you 
have your Marcos??  Hope so.

Don Lattimer
#3m5759


--- In MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com, <kdchrist@y...> wrote:

> Thanks Figured out how I will post some more when
> weather is better.
> \\\\\\kc
> --- Don Lattimer <donlattimer@p...> wrote:
> > KC,

Hi Don That is a Smile I have waited to have for a few
years now. Hope to have a even bigger one the 1st week
of Feb When I get my 2nd. Unless something gets it the
way.
lol
Hope to chat with you all more. KC from England



--- "Don Lattimer <donlattimer@...>"
<donlattimer@...> wrote:
> Kevin,
> 
> Thanks for posting the pics.  Is that grin permanent
> now that you 
> have your Marcos??  Hope so.
> 
> Don Lattimer
> #3m5759
> 
> 
> --- In MarcosManiacs@yahoogroups.com,
> <kdchrist@y...> wrote:
> > Thanks Figured out how I will post some more when
> > weather is better.
> > \\\\\\kc
> > --- Don Lattimer <donlattimer@p...> wrote:
> > > KC,
> 
> 
> 


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