Messages

61

General Forum / Mws wire wheels

« on: August 22, 2011, 20:07:35 »

Suffering from some confusion. MWS recommend 195 60 R15 or 205 70 R15 for the Frua.
   Longstone recommends 205 VR15 particularly it's own pirelli cinturatos but with same size Avon textile as an alternative.
   
   Owners all suggest 215 plus with Avons popular the ultimate being CR6 ZZ 215/70 but these require 6.5pm rims which MWS do not offer.
   
   Currently running Avons 235 rear, 225 up front.
   
   Further advice needed.

62

428 Frua Forum / Frua Registry

« on: August 08, 2011, 18:32:37 »

Andy Shepherd is the 428 registrar for the Club. Classicus has the register of publicly known models with photos. Is your proposal to record who restored what, how and when? If so then equally the totally unrestored and original cars should be mentioned.
   It would certainly be nice to see the original supply details from AC - who were the first owners with what options etc.

63

428 Frua Forum / What no brakes!!

« on: August 07, 2011, 17:13:41 »

Looking for something else I came across this old thread and thought I,d update it. Just for the record the fluid was being sucked back into the ancient servo. When removed both servos were sloshing with fluid. Past Parts provided replacements and problem solved.

64

428 Frua Forum / Frua roadster boot layout

« on: August 04, 2011, 13:42:29 »

Emmanuel, Damiens boot looks completely re-done. Mine is (I think) completely unmolested but currently away at the trimmers (for new hood). From memory it's all finished in shallow ribbed black carpet (which matches the original interior carpet)with two removable panels that cover the spare wheel etc flanked by wells to each side.Fuel tank/rear of car is covered by a flap of material.
   
   Car is due back tomorrow or early next week where upon I will post some photos.
   
   Cliff.

65

428 Frua Forum / 1969 AC 428 Fastback manual for sale.

« on: July 04, 2011, 23:50:54 »

How much is being asked?

66

General Forum / Membership fee payment

« on: June 23, 2011, 23:04:21 »

Well said all those who support the forum. It is without doubt the most interactive element of the Club. Action is great for content but let's face it a printed magazine is outdated and over expensive compared to what could be published online. So Publish Action online and then by all means (preferably paypal) charge an annual fee to use the forum and a higher fee to receive the printed copy. Anyone with the meerest of intent will be happy to pay say £20 to access a years bulletins and club info. Those that want a printed copy can have one printed off from a PDF and posted out. The saving on commercial printing costs would more than cover the cost of a decent printer.
   An alternative view is that as the club is in funds and currently self-financing, if the dinosaurs insist let them have
   their way and  stick with the printed Action but don't let the luddites spoil the club for future generations by scrapping the current set up of the forum which is clearly so successful. After all if they don,t like what they see they don,t have to look at it.
   
   Meanwhile if anyone wants to pay their subs but is dissuaded by the costs of currency conversion, cheque fees etc then I,ll pay your subs on receipt of a paypal transfer:
   club gets it's subs you get your mag, simple as that???

67

428 Frua Forum / AC 428 Driver handbook on E-Bay

« on: March 22, 2011, 10:38:33 »

From memory club reprint price is £15 or so. I have one which clearly states that it is a reprint so I imagine that yours is a desirable original.
   I may have to bid for it[:p]
   
   Good luck with the sale.

68

428 Frua Forum / AC 428 Driver handbook on E-Bay

« on: March 21, 2011, 10:21:59 »

Re-prints of the original handbook are available from the Owners Club. IIRC from the librarian not Acedes.

69

428 Frua Forum / Rear Wing for sale on ebay

« on: March 11, 2011, 08:07:29 »

The plethora of responses to my mention of spares encouraged me to plough through my back issues of ACtion to find the remembered article.
   
   In the March 2009 edition the full list of AC spares was published by Acedes Spares Ltd (the clubs own holding company) the then spares co-ordinator was the given contact. Most of the parts listed are for the earlier models with almost nothing for the cobra. The 428 listing under the heading Frua is exactly as follows;
   
   T-shift handle £5
   Chrome side brackets for tilting front seat each £3
   Body panels: prices negotiable
   Roof panel
   Early RHD dashboards
   Early LHD dashboards
   Convertible boot lid
   Fastback complete rear ends (inc wheel arches)
   Convertible complete rear ends (inc wheel arches)
   Tail rear panels (light apertures to and including rear valence
   Convertible rear wings
   Convertible rear wing
   Fastback rear wing
   Pair s/h chrome fill finishers (not very straight)
   Fastback lower back light rails
   Fastback front windscreen top panels
   Convertible hood fixing squab panel
   Convertible lower front screen panels
   Pair fastback B pillars (behind door window, in front of rear window
   
   That's the lot. Further mention was made of 'Useful Spares People';
   Rod Briggs
   Colin Dunn - Vintage Connections
   Brian Eacott
   John Sichel
   Brian Taylor
   Robin Woolmer
   
   I believe that only Vintage Connections and Brian Eacott have 428 related parts. Brian holds a varied stock of useful bits such as indicator lenses (front), panels switches, hoses etc.
   
   I did contact the then spares co-ordinator who pointed me in Shep's direction (so sorry to Shep if I incorrectly implied that you were sat on a treasure trove of 428 parts) but did not pursue it as I did not wish to undertake a rebuild. It is typical of the club to be charging such modest prices (£5 for the shift handle!!) so who can say how much of that list is still available, given the eccentric nature of Acedes they may all be present. I would hope that the spares remain as a pool for those truly in need rather than getting bought up and hoarded by individual owners. Perhaps the club should only sell panels to club members who can prove their need?
   
   Michael - congrats on the windscreen/seal work this is a great breakthrough (and exactly the sort of thing that the club should be doing - but then I guess not enough 428 owners are members so our voice is small). If there is interest I would be happy to commission new door seals but I'll put it up as a separate post.
   
   Finally there was mention last year of the club commissioning new front badges along with talk of a cache of 428 spares being acquired from the German guy who runs the Pietro Frua website (who sold me and a number of other owners the wing badges a year or so ago. Perhaps we will hear more in due course...

70

428 Frua Forum / Rear Wing for sale on ebay

« on: March 09, 2011, 13:56:38 »

IIRC a stock of original panels for the 428 still exist. Last time the list of available spares for the 428 was published by the owners club both front and rear wings were available for coupes and convertables. I did enquire a couple of years ago (out of curiousity and also with the idea that spares are never a bad thing). The ACOC parts co-ordinator told me that he had all of the listed parts available except for the body panels which belonged to Andy Shepherd. I'll see if I can find the back issue to retrieve the list of parts.
   ACOC Membership is a modest £40 per annum, surely worthwhile for 12 magazines and early notification of parts/cars for sale?
   
   Cliff.

71

428 Frua Forum / Road Test

« on: November 27, 2010, 12:49:10 »

Brian Eacott is your man for the Clear Hooters switches. 02083978472 (no email as far as I am aware). He has all as new old stock available but for the wiper switch. They do come up on ebay (often triumph related on canadian ebay) from time to time but do check the exact size as the majority are smaller than those that AC used.
   
   Cliff.

72

General Forum / Radiator hose connection on Bristol engine

« on: September 21, 2010, 13:04:24 »

   
   Second attempt

73

428 Frua Forum / CF9

« on: July 28, 2010, 11:25:43 »

All sounds like good advice to me. CF25 runs a large aluminium rad and edelbrock water pump but original expansion tank. In the current hot weather even with roof down my feet get heated so I guess one day I'll get around to an Emmanuel style heat proofing exercise still it's nice in the winter. The water temp was getting over 100 degrees so on the advice of Thunder Road I added 'water wetter' which has dropped things by a good 10 degrees or more.
   BTW Thunder Road did a great job for me on sorting out some rather dodgy old electrics and fitting Hawk Cars new shocks along with a  complete suspension refurb/re-bushing. Getting to the point where the car is almost reliable..
   Oil temp still goes well over 100 degrees so a cooler is next on my list of improvements.
   
   Happy motoring
   
   Cliff.

74

428 Frua Forum / Sting in the tail CF 64

« on: July 05, 2010, 09:49:12 »

I had a similar situation with mine. Removing the heater box is entertaining, it's a tight fit and the difficulty depends on how your central console is fitted (mine had the original heater control cables which have the knobs moulded onto the cables requiring them to be removed at the engine bay end). Once the box is out the matrix is easily removeable. I had mine rebuilt by a radiator specialist (Brighton Radiators) for a fairly reasonable £70 or so. Reconnecting all the cables is tricky, one of mine broke and I've yet to bother re-fitting it.
   
   On the subject of reasonable (and typically after you have bought) Brian Eacott has almost all of the Clear Hooter switches (lacks windscreen wiper) - he kindly sold me a near set of mint switches for a tenner each.
   
   Cliff.

75

428 Frua Forum / CF41 For Auction

« on: June 04, 2010, 10:56:52 »

Sale records for recent years posted below;
   
   Date   Vendor   Model            Price   Comment
   
   
   Jul01   H&H   CF62           £12,200   DLX55J
   Jul02   H&H   CF24 conv   £33,000   MNB681G
   Sep03   H&H   CF19 conv   £23,000   BGC517G
   Sept06   Bonhams Gdwd   ? conv.   £41,100   lhd
   
   
   Apr07   Bonhams Henley   CF25 conv.   £37,800
   Aug07   Bonhams Gdwd   CF12           £70,800
   Jun08   H&H           CF59           £38,500   JYY779J
   Jun08   H&H           CF38           £65,000   VGC, unsold. 9848AC
   Jul08   Bonhams Gdwd   CF78           £49,628
   Apr08   USA dealer   CFX54 conv.   $90,000
   Aug09   Oldtimer   CF78 conv.   £95,000
   Oct09   RM London   CF66           £100,000
   Oct09   JDClassics   CF12 conv.   £120,000
   Dec09   Coys           CF44           £102,075
   Mar10   Historic Classics CF12 conv.   £175,000  For sale
   Apr10   Bonhams           CF56           £65,300     Reg AC428 £7400.
   May10   RM Monaco   CF65           £100,800
   May10   Eclectic   CF51           £89,975     For sale
   May10   Coys           CF41           £67,000