Molnar is a nice guy and a real professional.
Molnar, Summerfield and a few others in the U.K. are doing a really good job for the Manx Norton right now. Over the last 15 years I have bought many Manx parts from Molnar and McIntosh both, and in that span of time McIntosh has gone down hill while the U.K. guys have improved in almost every way.
I have talked on the phone with the Summerfields a few times in the last several years and they were really nice and helpful with information.
At his point in my life I am pretty much done acquiring any new projects, but if I was going to build a new Manx from scratch or buy parts to fix up an old one I would go to Molnar and Summerfield first as I think they can supply the most traditional and authentic parts if that is what someone wants, or they can supply the super-duper improved Manx parts to make the engines that are much more powerful than they ever were historically.
Molnar and Summerfield have first-rate machining capability, much better than McIntosh ever did. There is a guy in the U.K. selling Manx engines in which most of the engine has been made with new technology, CAD and CNC etc., and it really turns me off as it is just one more step taken away from an authentic Manx and towards erasing and re-making history.
I have an original old short-stroke Manx I am fixing up which has all matching numbers and will be pretty much as it was last raced in the 60s when I get it bolted back together, and I know it would not be competitive against any other Manx Nortons because of that. Almost without exception these days all original and replica Manx Nortons that have made it back to a race track have had improved parts put in them that makes them more powerful and reliable than they originally were.
Just switching to a modern con-rod, a needle bearing big-end and coil valve springs will let a standard short-stroke Manx run 1000 more rpms than it could have in the 60s with the standard roller big-end, con rod and hairpin springs. And that is the bottom of the barrel, after that they bring in different cams, bathtub heads, big-bores and plain bearing big-ends that turn the bikes into something that never existed back in the day at all.
A rich-man's game for sure.
