Messages

91

Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Ace Tire Pressures

« on: April 12, 2008, 03:29:49 »

Wondering what other Ace owners are running for tire pressures?  The manual calls for 22 front and 24 rear.
   
   I have Michelin Racing Radials 5.50 x 16.  With 22 front and 24 rear, the tires seem uninflated.  There is lots of rolling resistance and the side walls get warm, but the handling is OK.  Pressures of 28-30 front and 30-32 rear seem to work better.
   
   Are current radials that much different from the vintage Michelin X?

92

Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Ace Boot Panels

« on: March 07, 2008, 15:09:48 »

While apart for repair work, I took the opportunity to make drawings of the interior boot panels.  I have six preliminary drawings, the left and right sides, floor, bulk head, top and access panels.  If someone needs these for a restoration, I can finish the drawings and send them.  Otherwise, I will put them aside and complete them later.
   
   Peter Stanwicks

93

Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / AC Ace 2.6 For Sale

« on: March 06, 2008, 18:22:36 »

I found this ad:
   1962 ACE 2.6 White, new Zephyr engine, 3000 miles ago, Alloy head, tiple Webers, Koni's, Borranis, Excellent condition throughout £750.00
   Autosport 1968
   
   There's also a '66 Ferrari 275GTB Lightweight for 3800

94

Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Suspension Mount Cracks

« on: January 16, 2008, 00:43:26 »

In the process of repairing the lateral tube above the differential, another issue was encountered.
   
   The rear lower control arm mounting points also have cracks.  These are difficult to see as they are cracked at the top in a weld.  Only the rear mounts have cracks and not the front ones.
   
   I would like to insert a picture, but can't seem to get the "insert image button" to work.
   
   I don't know if this is unique to my car but, a check of the rear suspension mounts couldn't hurt.

95

Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Body and Chassis Flex

« on: November 17, 2007, 13:19:32 »

I've heard of the Ace body cracking around the doors, but never heard the root cause or the accepted fix.  I've also heard that occasionally chassis welds in the rear structure can fail.
   
   I noticed a lot of movement in the door openings.  I did a thorough inspection of the frame, outriggers, differential structure and surrounding tubes.  I didn't find anything.
   
   It seems the chassis design has the most flexibility just in front of the rear bulkhead.  In this area, there are no bracing tubes, only the main chassis tubes.  This flexing may be a characteristic of the design.
   
   The Ace has only 24,000 miles and always stored indoors in a dry heated garage.  It hasn't been in the rain in 25 years, so there is no corrosion or degradation of the chassis structure.
   
   Is this normal?  Am I too accustomed to moderns?  Is it me or the Ace?

96

Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Bristol Centrifugal Ignition Advance

« on: September 10, 2007, 15:42:53 »

In tuning my recently rebuilt Bristol engine, I found a problem with the centrifugal ignition advance.  It was stuck at an intermediate setting at all engine speeds.
   
   The advance mechanism has two springs, a light and a heavy one.  The heavy one is 0.054” wire and a little longer.  The light one is 0.027” wire.  This arrangement intends to produce a fast advance rate initially with the light spring.  Once the slack in the heavy spring is taken, the advance rate slows.  In my distributor, the light spring was stretched and had no “spring”.  The heavy spring is so heavy that it didn’t move at all.  I set total advance at 35 degrees BTDC at 3000 rpm, but had 35 degrees at all engine speeds.  I don’t know if these springs are original.
   
   I purchased a set of springs from Moss Motors for a Triumph TR2.  There are five of springs in the package for $27.  It’s a little pricey but the only source I could find.  I used the 0.028” wire and the 0.035” wire.  I stretched the 0.035 a little to give two advance rates.  Now the engine has 8 degrees BTDC at idle and about 30 degrees at 3000 with more to go.  The mechanism has 30-34 degrees of possible advance.
   
   Performance is vastly improved.  The idle is much smoother even with a cam that is more radical than the Bristol Sport Cam.  The low and mid range torque is great as a straight six should be.
   
   If you are setting the timing by the engine speed method in the manual, you may want to check out the centrifugal advance.  The same problem could occur.

97

Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Solex Carb Tuning

« on: June 29, 2007, 20:48:46 »

I am having trouble tuning the Solexs on the Bristol engine.  The engine won't run smoothly at an idle.  It randomly spits back when crusing at steady throttle.  It accelerates well but deceleration has occasional small pops from the exhaust.
   I syncronized the carbs using a Syncrotune tool (measures air flow through each carb).  The volume control screw is a half a turn.  Main jet was upped from 125 to 130, but all other jets are standard size.
   Plugs look good (slightly dark brown).  Compression is good.  Ignition points are new and set.  Valves are all set correctly.
   
   Any suggestions?
   
   Peter (BEX 375)