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Have to say that when I left the car on Friday night I was a bit despondent. The gearbox was out, the sump was off and to remove these the exhaust headers had to come off too.
Yesterday I started to sort the sump out, and fitted a neoprene gasket with some silicon goo, also changed the oil seal at the rear of engine, John turned up later and we managed to get the gearbox back in, and while we had the front in the air, changed the offside front spring. Ride height has certainly gone up now so looks like I guessed right with the spring size. Fixed the gearbox breather leak by fitting some fuel hose, it's a bit tight but will do the job. So tomorrow we'll try and get the prop back in and the exhausts re-fitted and take it for a spin (I hope) cos Monday is the day the Fat Lady sings, and I want her to be singing the right song eh

John and me both put a lot of hours in this weekend, and managed to refit the gearbox, sump, prop-shaft, headers, and all with the aforementioned problems resolved. Engine started up no problems, but then was stopped suddenly by me shouting ' ***kin ell, there's no oil in it ' fortunately no damage done. Just goes to show that rushing the job causes mistakes you wouldn't normally make, that's also how we ended up with the sump pissing oil out.
Took it for a spin and there appears to be a number of issues that need to be resolved before it would be ok to drive any distance.
The engine has a serious misfire at constant speed, it's fine when you accelerate, but normal driving is a nightmare.
The alternator has decided to give up the ghost and has a permanent glow to the warning light, it also makes a bit of noise.
There still seems to be exhaust gas leaking into the car from somewhere, not good for the health.
And the final nail in the coffin is that I need to fix a couple of things on the Pug if we take that instead.
So the bad news is, I won't be going in the Marcos after all
many thanks for all of you support, but the task has beaten me
To look on the bright-side, I will still be going, and will have some track laps available, I did give Quiffy first option on these and unless someone comes up with a fairer way of passing them on, he can have them for what they cost me

And just to add to the negativity, John has said he's not coming now. So me and Mrs Eztop will be traveling alone. He's just as disappointed as me but said he only really wanted to come to see the Marcos get there + I promised him a lap of the circuit, can't thank him enough for all the hard work he's put in but the Gods were against us this time.
Told him I'd try and re-coup some of the financial loss for him, so anybody want to buy a Club Pass for next weekend ?
It covers full entrance to the track for all days + access to the Paddock, and also includes a parking pass for the Bugatti Enclosure (Marcos Cars Only). I will check the price but I think it was around £40 all in.
My email from this Forum doesn't seem to work at the moment, so if interested contact Mr Quiffy, he can give you my Mobile number

well regardless of the disappointment in the car not making it, we had a bloody good time, met up with the mob staying at The Morrison's and various other places and drank some decent wine and beer. Just need to get the car finished now eh
Spoke to a French Martina owner who was there and Quiffy gave him the Forum details, he also had a 2.8 fitted and 16 inch wheels, but the language barrier got in the way of too much discussion. Also saw a couple of other Martinas which I hadn't seen before but there were so many cars I didn't get to look at all of them, now you won't heard that said too often

I've given the car a bit of a miss of late, mainly because it's pissed me off, but with the weather the way it is it wouldn't be much fun to drive round in. Anyway, did a deal with a certain well known German Marcos owner who outbid me on ebay for a grey leather interior. Turns out he didn't really need all of it so I've had it and and he's had my old one to do with as he wishes. I've been doing a bit of renovation on the leather as it's been in an attic for 10 years but it's in quite good condition, just a shame I bought some grey leather a while back
The chap selling it has a complete Mantula but his wife informs me that he is only prepared to sell the interior, bonnet, boot and doors. He wants to keep the tub in case he decides to rebuild it at a later date, figure that one out if you can. All that's missing is the engine and interior and I did make an offer but alas no use.
I've been trying to source some tubular wishbones for the front and change the suspension, but looks like I'll have to make em myself, ho hum.
Will try and drum up a bit more enthusiasm, wish the sun would come out, bet those bloody Frenchies have nicked it again

Well it's been a weekend of decisions, after all the trouble with fitting the 2.8, it has become obvious that trying to shoe-horn a V6 Cosworth in was a no-go ! so I sold it to a nice young chap off another site and made a few quid into the bargain. Most of this was due to the Gasket set I also sold him which Ford sell for the nockdown price of £250, as I got it off ebay for around a tenth of this we were both happy with the deal. He travelled all the way down from York picking up his mate in Stoke on the way. Turns out his mate was at the Le Mans Classic as a member of an MGB Race Team and was telling me how pleased they were when their driver overtook Rowan Atkinson in his lightweight E type. so what eh, thought he usually drove a knackered Mini.
Anyway, as the weather has taken a turn for the better and there's talk of an Indian Summer I decided to renew my aquaintance with the old girl in the garage.
Started her up (eventually) and yup she still ran like a bag of shite. I had to get the old girl out of the way as the engine I was selling was tucked away in a corner next to my old Ducati and numerous English Rose Kitchen Units (another bloody job for me to renovate) drove her round to the house spluttering and farting all the way (the car not me for once) and left her on the drive after giving her a good wash.
Today I had to get her back again as the promised Indian Summer looks over by tomorrow so decided to try cleaning the jets in the carb to see if that helped. Took the filter off and using an elastic band to hold the choke on, I fired her up. Still ran likea bag of shite so thinks I'll do the old hand over the chokes to try and clear the jets. The imediate effect was quite supprising, so much so that I quickly fitted a seat and roared off up the road with a big grin on my face and the music of a rumbling V6 behind me.
So, where to now then, well because of all the rush trying to finish it for France, I didn't bother replacing the old fuel filter that was fitted and just removed it as it looked well naff. so that's the first thing I'll be getting, then I'll try tuning it all up and hope 'job's a goodun'.
BUGGER BUGGER AND TRIPLE BUGGER ah well, we live and learn.
time now to put things into perspective