An Englishman's Garage

Days 4, 5 and 6.  Last week the body came off and since then I've made a lot of progress in a short space of time. The sight of the chassis sans body means that I've now officially gone too far to be able to sell the thing without losing my shirt, so no going back now. Next up, removing the gearbox. First I removed the exhaust to be able to drop the gearbox down. Then drained the oil and jacked up the box slightly to support it while I unbolted all the brackets, handbrake cable etc, then the prop shaft... I'll be honest it was a struggle. Getting spanners and adjustable spanners and sockets into places was a challenge but finally with some patience (making its debut here) the thing came free.  But then came a surprise. And not a good surprise. It seems the rear axle is not the one fitted at the factory in 1970 but one from something called a Ford Falcon circa 1967. Apparently it's a 7.25" Ford unit with an approximate ratio of 3.4:1 (discerned by...

Day 3.  Body off day! I say day 3, more like day 9. But day 3 makes me think I'll have her back on the road in no time and day 9 doesn't. So day 3 it is.  After removing the remaining parts like the pedal box adjustment rod, Smiths heater, windscreen wiper motor, remaining wiring, then  all the body mounting screws (double checking I hadn't forgotten any)  it was time to jack the car up from beneath the boot floor. Great care was taken but finally after a lot of creaks and groans the body decided to lift.  I tried winching the body from above but didn't have enough ceiling clearance in the end.  Pretty clear the lower chassis rails will need replacing. How many more I wonder... Then with blocks of wood propping up the back of the car it was wheeled out into daylight. My assistant and I (she loves it when I call her that) lifted from either side until the back was at 45 degrees and the floor pans were clear of the chassis, then pulled backw...

Day 2. Well then. Let's begin with the easy stuff that I didn't achieve today. The fuel tank needs two people to remove it and my butler was on her day off so that'll have to wait. The idea is that you begin by removing the filler hose by loosening the jubilee clips then undo the fuel feed. Then move to beneath the tank to remove the three bolts that hold the bracket on. Unfortunately here's where you need a second person to get to the nuts underneath the car. But that'll happen soon. So then I removed the boot latch. Then moved back to the door hinges with my shiny new imperial spanners. All good there.  Next up the steering column. I removed the upright bolts in the above photo, then disconnected the column where it joins in the engine bay... ...gave it a good tug and managed to pull the steering column through the cockpit and out. Success! Keep the champagne on ice mind. The pedal box is proving a bit more tricky. I disconnected th...

Welcome to my blog in which I'll be detailing the journey of the restoration of my 1970 Marcos GT. Here she is, poor thing. Firstly here's what I know about the car. Sold new in Beverly Hills, California in 1970 this is a 3.0l Volvo B30 engined factory built car in U.S spec (left hand drive, auto gearbox) that originally left the factory in white. It was later painted gold and suffered some dubious chassis 'modifications' in an attempt to install A/C. This was never achieved but in the process the front lower chassis rails were cut and the steering rack was moved forward to allow room in the engine bay. Oh dear indeed. On a happier note the previous owner bought a J-type Laycock de Normanville overdrive gearbox so that came with the car. The plan is to convert the car to manual during the restoration which will involve removing the body tub from the chassis, a full restoration, or replacement, of all mechanical parts, re-glassing the body and strengthening where n...