[marsh]

Thank you gentlemen - that gives me some food for thought!

When the car is hot, I'm getting pretty much nothing; certainly little signs of combustion - the starter is churning away merrily with no discernible firing and only after very aggressive pumping of the accelerator will it finally catch. In terms of cranking speed, my gut instinct is that the battery may not be long for this world - it's kept on a conditioner and appears to be ok, but from past experience of V8's, It would be better to be sure and invest in a new one.

I've only had the car for a month or so and am now getting used to it; it is due to go over to my mechanic in the coming weeks for a full check over and he's going to take a proper look - I'll obviously keep you posted on progress.

I've yet to join the BOC, but just for reference, my car is a 408 Mk 2, chassis number 408/7214 which I'm given to understand is the penultimate one made. It now carries the registration number VEW408, but was originally KPG675C. It was fully restored between 1997 and the early noughties by previous owner David Rowlinson and remains in lovely condition.

Best regards

Lee Marshall, aka Marsh