It is this time of year I have an obligation to visit family in Norfolk (from Cheshire), and so I had either to use the V8 Land Rover, or dig the Marcos out of hibernation (no choice really as the Marcos is so much more economical that it pays for my RAC membership for the year).
Its funny how, after a layup, that you forget those niggly problems that you thought you would sort out over the winter. In fact the first things after a layup are to cure the problems caused by the layup, for example getting the damp out that seems to have snuck in. But I did all the really badly misted up stuff the day before, and by Saturday the problem had 'evaporated' (or at least any misting was easily handled by either a heated front screen or the Octopussy ducting a previous owner had added). I had a lot of misfire problems on the test run on Friday, but I was sure these were water in the tank going through the fuel injections, and sure enough they have gone after a shot run.
So the car is sweet, the engine is at least ticking over now at junctions, and running on all 8 when you open it up, and being very loud, and you remember the nice runs of last year
.
Then there is condensation in the gauges - goddam, I will sort this eventually. The gauges are hot, I think my heater vents leak heat behind the dash, and the fuel and temperature gauge also heat up in their own right - and as a result condense water on the inside of the glass because the inside of the car is cooler (so bag them is the easy answer, but I think I realise at last why they do it).
Then there are the blue flashing lights - lots of people coming the other way being stopped by the police - they have a unmarked Vectra, and bikes, 4 or 5 marked cars. In fact more coppers than I have seen in ages, but somehow I slip through the net, and out to the A50. See signs on M6 - A14 is closed J23 to J24. Tricky - the highway people want me to pick up my map to see how this affects me, but I am on the M6, I can't stop, and a Marcos can cross three lanes if you sneeze ! I wait til I am on the A14 - and then stop in a layby - my map doesn't have junction numbers for A roads - thanks million dollar overhead signs for nothing !
Eventually I hit it, the zero mile an hour snarl up from hell, at Huntingdon (car is as good as ever in a snarl up - it is the driver that gets overheated), and eventually head south on A1 and escape via Royston and blam! into Norfolk. However a succession of roundabouts on the A11 throws up a mechanical problem from last year I had forgotten. A clack-clack-clack from the rear drive-shafts coming out of roundabouts. This car had all new CV joints recently - amazing if it has eaten them already.
And on the way back the trip was sweet, although hoping to find a Lotus in Norfolk, they were all in hiding, but I did see one on the A50 when I stopped for juice, but really not many sports cars out there. The A14 problem is East-bound only so I have a straight run, apart from torrential rain for the last 100 miles, and in-spite of using some stuff designed to be good for my screen (called Vision for Demon Tweeks) it looks like it has been waxed. Having a better screen clearance goes high on my list.
And ao, proceeding in a brisk manner up the A50 I see lots of blue flashing coming down the slip road behind me, and move over and let the boys in blue past, and they do, mmm. Those guys had to drive so fast in dangerous spray conditions,.I am so glad I was keeping my speed sensible.
So 500 miles up this year and a rear IRS drive shaft problem looms, but I didn't say the best part of the trip - on the M1 - a guy in the fast lane pulled over to let me by, wound down his window and gave me the thumbs up. Ain't that nice !
Steve
Its funny how, after a layup, that you forget those niggly problems that you thought you would sort out over the winter. In fact the first things after a layup are to cure the problems caused by the layup, for example getting the damp out that seems to have snuck in. But I did all the really badly misted up stuff the day before, and by Saturday the problem had 'evaporated' (or at least any misting was easily handled by either a heated front screen or the Octopussy ducting a previous owner had added). I had a lot of misfire problems on the test run on Friday, but I was sure these were water in the tank going through the fuel injections, and sure enough they have gone after a shot run.
So the car is sweet, the engine is at least ticking over now at junctions, and running on all 8 when you open it up, and being very loud, and you remember the nice runs of last year
.Then there is condensation in the gauges - goddam, I will sort this eventually. The gauges are hot, I think my heater vents leak heat behind the dash, and the fuel and temperature gauge also heat up in their own right - and as a result condense water on the inside of the glass because the inside of the car is cooler (so bag them is the easy answer, but I think I realise at last why they do it).
Then there are the blue flashing lights - lots of people coming the other way being stopped by the police - they have a unmarked Vectra, and bikes, 4 or 5 marked cars. In fact more coppers than I have seen in ages, but somehow I slip through the net, and out to the A50. See signs on M6 - A14 is closed J23 to J24. Tricky - the highway people want me to pick up my map to see how this affects me, but I am on the M6, I can't stop, and a Marcos can cross three lanes if you sneeze ! I wait til I am on the A14 - and then stop in a layby - my map doesn't have junction numbers for A roads - thanks million dollar overhead signs for nothing !
Eventually I hit it, the zero mile an hour snarl up from hell, at Huntingdon (car is as good as ever in a snarl up - it is the driver that gets overheated), and eventually head south on A1 and escape via Royston and blam! into Norfolk. However a succession of roundabouts on the A11 throws up a mechanical problem from last year I had forgotten. A clack-clack-clack from the rear drive-shafts coming out of roundabouts. This car had all new CV joints recently - amazing if it has eaten them already.
And on the way back the trip was sweet, although hoping to find a Lotus in Norfolk, they were all in hiding, but I did see one on the A50 when I stopped for juice, but really not many sports cars out there. The A14 problem is East-bound only so I have a straight run, apart from torrential rain for the last 100 miles, and in-spite of using some stuff designed to be good for my screen (called Vision for Demon Tweeks) it looks like it has been waxed. Having a better screen clearance goes high on my list.
And ao, proceeding in a brisk manner up the A50 I see lots of blue flashing coming down the slip road behind me, and move over and let the boys in blue past, and they do, mmm. Those guys had to drive so fast in dangerous spray conditions,.I am so glad I was keeping my speed sensible.
So 500 miles up this year and a rear IRS drive shaft problem looms, but I didn't say the best part of the trip - on the M1 - a guy in the fast lane pulled over to let me by, wound down his window and gave me the thumbs up. Ain't that nice !
Steve
ECU over fuels engine , dilutes the oil by washing cylinder walls and getting down engine bores, may cause flooding making it difficult to start next time round , also forms condensation in engine, gearbox and exhaust system which if it doesn`t dry out leads to a whole can of worms . If you are gonna get Marcos out of garage to re-organise the usual collection of toot we all accumulate, use it as excuse to go for a 30 mile blast and say sod the tidying up !!
At least it it gets the wheels moved to a different position. I always find that they go a bit square at the beginning of the season.
If the government invested some of the £millions it screws out of motorists on highway improvements and repairs instead of on wars we don`t need to be involved in , our roads might be in better shame. Around where I live was bad enough before the ice and snow but now its like driving on the surface of the moon . I`ve just recently reported the worst pot holes to our local authority for all the good it will do.
