Messages

31

Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Re: AC Ace steering box?

« on: June 29, 2022, 10:40:08 »

Jonas,
Do bear in mind that the cam is machined to give more clearance to the peg in the straight head area. This is the reason why the peg must not be set too close - it will bind as lock is applied
Barrie

32

Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Re: AC Ace steering box?

« on: June 24, 2022, 00:38:07 »

Jonas,
The Ace is not prone to tracking or tramlining, neither are Michelin X tyres.
I wonder if you have lost the caster self centering action by over tightening the adjustment  on the peg ? There should be some play at the steering wheel rim.
The cam doesn't wear like the peg and I would fit just a new peg and adjust the clearance to allow the wheel to self centre as soon as you relax your grip on the steering wheel whilst turning.
Fitting the front uprights on the wrong side gives you reverse caster angle and some epic directional excursions - I hope '31 has not suffered this insult.
Barrie

33

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: A Six in the Monte

« on: June 14, 2022, 17:58:55 »

Wonderful photo's and an intriguing story. I too speculated that the hood arrangement looked Heath Robinson. Thank you for sharing with us
Barrie

34

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: Car No 6199 1921

« on: May 17, 2022, 19:05:46 »

Great looking machine, she will be loads of fun
Barrie

35

Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Re: SU H2 hydraulic dampers

« on: May 10, 2022, 21:59:20 »

Jonas,
Would there be a special reason why you want the hydraulic damper ?
Barrie

36

Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Re: SU H2 hydraulic dampers

« on: May 08, 2022, 15:53:35 »

Jonas,
I am sure your carburetter specification is correct: AE 22 came with original carburetters and they do not have the hydraulic dampers. I wonder if there was a change later with the CL, CLB & CLBN sixes ? For that matter I wonder why SU introduced the hydraulic dampers. I could speculate that it was more about comfort than performance - you can see the dashpots responding to the inlet duct pulsations and this does make a characteristic noise as the dashpot pistons and springs dance merrily up and down. Perhaps the addition of oil damping to air damping was  simply to introduce a bit more civilisation ?
Anyone out there know their S.U. history and can educate us ?
Barrie

37

Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Re: Ace Boot Lid Catch

« on: April 24, 2022, 18:09:44 »

Gentlemen,
This has confused me a little as I thought there was only one size of budget latch, as originally supplied by Wilmot Breeden and have fitted one to an Ace or Cobra on several occasions. However going back to source and looking at the WB brochure I see that there is indeed a choice:

3/16200-1 Hooked Bolt. This has 3.68" mounting centres or
3/10844-4 Bridge Type. This has 3.0" mounting centres

It is this last 'Bridge Type' that is correct for our cars. The problem being that non original suppliers may now be making copies and you need to check which one is being offered. Visually the two are very different, but only when viewed from the side; the 'Hooked Bolt' type is flat whilst the 'Bridge Type' is stepped up and mounts clear of the the sheet metal bracket on little folded legs There is also the complication that there is another part which is identical except it is left hand. We need the right hand one as above.
Barrie

38

Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Re: Speedometer

« on: April 21, 2022, 15:12:40 »

Gunnr,
The 130 MPH Speedo, without clock, would be for a late, say 1961 on, Ace Bristol, Aceca Bristol or Ace 2.6, Aceca 2.6. However, being A.C.s there might well be variations to this rule with clock bearing speedos being found on some later cars and retrofitted non clock speedos on earlier cars. All part of the charm
Barrie

39

Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Re: 1960 Aceca Radiator

« on: April 21, 2022, 15:00:23 »

Lev,
Forgot to say you should really be posting on the Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum
Barrie

40

Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Re: 1960 Aceca Radiator

« on: April 21, 2022, 14:57:23 »

Lev,
Best wishes for your journey with the Aceca Bristol. Not sure where you are, but in the UK I believe the best people for special radiators, oil or water, are Serck Competitions department at Park Royal.
One route to an original water radiator is to start with a 2 litre saloon radiator. They are basically an identical unit, but on the saloon incorporate a a flange that seals the space around the radiator. This flange can be removed to make it like the Aceca or Ace. Be aware that the later Ace/Aceca and Ace/Aceca 2.6 used a Greyhound pattern radiator which had a more rectangular header tank.
You will find many photographs in various publications, for example Rinsey Mills' 'A.C. Six Cylinder Sports Cars.'
Barrie

41

General Discussion / Re: 2022/23 Renewals

« on: April 01, 2022, 15:01:19 »

Spot on Bobby, Terry produces a cracking  magazine every month. The only problem being that once delivered the morning's work gets put on hold whilst ACtion is read cover to cover.....
I could not imagine making much progress on my A.C.s without the Club
Barrie

42

Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Re: Aceca poor steering lock

« on: March 22, 2022, 13:00:43 »

Chris,
Start of your long journey of discovery about the A.C. Car: The Ace and Aceca do have adjustable steering stops on the front uprights and there might be room for a little more lock, but probably not as the tyres will likely contact the inner wheel arch panel. All part of the charm. The turning circle of cars in the fifties was not, generally, as we would expect from a modern vehicle. There were exceptions, of course, like the London Taxi and, later, the Triumph Herald, but not the Ace or Aceca.
Happy Motoring with your Aceca and do keep us informed how you progress
Barrie

43

Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Re: Annoying Little Whatsit

« on: March 16, 2022, 14:00:10 »

Keith,
The soldering required is at the base of the bulb holder where there is a poor joint with the mounting arm. A small length of earthing braid joining he two makes for a reliable earth.
Meantime I came across these. Not many available, but an aircraft quality part which takes the same bulb as the Smiths original part. You do need to straighten out the 90° bend in the mounting arm. The problem of the poor earth has been solved here by providing a separate earth tag and not relying on the mounting arm for an earth:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313&_nkw=hh+smith+aircraft+lamp+bulb+socket+holder+p%2Fn+1910+&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_odkw=HH+Smith+Aircraft+Lamp+Bulb+Socket+Holder+P%2FN+1910+%28lot+o...++HH+Smith+Aircraft+Lamp+Bulb+Socket+Holder+P%2FN+1910+%28lot+of+6%29++&_osacat=0

In another happy twist to the story an anonymous enthusiast has sent me some original type bulb holders. Thank you so much
Barrie

44

Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Re: Annoying Little Whatsit

« on: March 03, 2022, 11:34:09 »

The mystery deepens - Graham Stuart sent me this:



 It would easily convert to the A.C. application and is obviously from the same source, just a slightly different mounting arm. Graham thought it might come from an early Land Rover, does it look familiar to anyone ?
Barrie

45

Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Re: Annoying Little Whatsit

« on: February 24, 2022, 14:52:02 »

Well I have been digging for the last day or two without much joy. There are other lighting brackets to be found on other period cars notably Austin Healey. This link takes you to SC Parts, see items number 8 and 14 on the exploded diagram - use the magnifying button which makes things clearer:

https://www.scparts.co.uk/sc_en/british-cars/austin-healey/austin-healey-bn1-to-bj8-1953-1968/electrics-ignition-system-heating-and-dashboard/instruments-bn1-bn2-bn4-bn6-bn7-bt7-and-bj7.html

However their prices are astronomic.......

Then there is this which I found in one of my boxes. Not original, but a better engineered solution, but where did it come from ? You might suppose Smiths themselves ? Any ideas anyone ?



Barrie