AC Owners Club Forum
AC Owners Club Forum => Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum => Topic started by: fastpace on July 20, 2021, 04:16:31
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A couple weeks ago my wife and I visited my father-in-law and worked through things we could do to help him downsize. As part of that, was to go through the cars he owned which included a 1964 Cobra 289 Rack and Pinion car in pieces, a 1968 GT500 which he's the original owner, and a 1959 AC Ace.
I have been working through a bit of info an history on AEX-1010. He bought the car in 1976 in a running driving state as you see it in the pictures for $5500. The car is green with black interior with a SBC swapped, but is listed in the registry as White with Red interior. I have reached out to the previous owner who knew the owner prior to him as well and they used the car for hill climb races in the Northeast US particularly in Pennsylvania. He mentioned he always knew the car as green with black and the SBC conversion was prior to his ownership. He of course was quick to offer to buy the car back, he said he currently owns 30+ cars including lots of exotics and has owned over 300 cars since this car but it was one he would never forget owning. He's checking to see if he has any information or pictures from his ownership.
In addition, I have gotten in contact with the grandson and son of the original purchaser. The original owner was a painter who travelled and practiced around the world. They're also checking for any information or records on her ownership.
As the car is in over good condition, the plan is to see what it will take to get it back on the road. Detailed inspection on the driveline and suspension to make sure everything is intact and serviceable. If all is good, we will continue on with making it road ready. If not, we will reassess for restoration level. Long term, I would like to review bringing it back to an AC powered car and return to original state.
I have already become ACOC member and ordered a few different books, but are there any key resources I should know of to learn the details and ins-and-outs of the Ace? Any help is appreciated. Also, I have tried to reach Allison as the registrar, but the email was returned is there updated contact?
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Fastpace.
Welcome to the AC Owners Club.... :)
Great to learn of another AC Ace that has survived and is back on the ACOC Radar and that your father in laws AC Cobra chassis number ? Has also survived, even if stripped down in preparation for full rebuild.
Really good to learn of your long term intention to return AEX1010 to AC power, The ACOC are there to assist in spares and information, just ask. ;)
Allison Hildreth the AC Ace Registrar email address, as below :
allison@hildreth.plus.com
Good luck with your quest for early history, I am sure Allison will be pleased to receive any information on the History of AEX1010 to update and complement the AC Ace Register. :)
Keith
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Wonderful story, and a very, very nice place to fit the radio ;D
Best of luck for all your efforts! I'm sure the club will help in many things!
Chris
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Dear Fastpace,
As regards reference books for the Ace and the Cobra you should definitely try and get hold of a copy of Rinsey Mills’ book “ Original Ace & Cobra: the Restorers Guide” .I found it invaluable when restoring AEX146.
When, and if, you come to replacing the small block with an AC engine I’d be happy to pass on the lessons I learnt. It’s certainly doable but you do need a high pain threshold!
Kind regards,
Ben Morgan
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A Really nice find, just a pity it was converted to a V8!
The Weller engine is i believe a good balance for the Ace & even more so now good engine parts are available to satisfy extra performance.
Robin
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Dear Fastpace,
As regards reference books for the Ace and the Cobra you should definitely try and get hold of a copy of Rinsey Mills’ book “ Original Ace & Cobra: the Restorers Guide” .I found it invaluable when restoring AEX146.
When, and if, you come to replacing the small block with an AC engine I’d be happy to pass on the lessons I learnt. It’s certainly doable but you do need a high pain threshold!
Kind regards,
Ben Morgan
Thanks Ben for the recommendation, have already purchased, received, and read Rinsey Mills book it was quite a great read and I will definitely be referencing back to it later. I'll keep you in mind as I work through the car and potential conversion back to the AC Engine. It can't be nearly as painful as what the Cobra and GT500 restorations are going to be!
A Really nice find, just a pity it was converted to a V8!
The Weller engine is i believe a good balance for the Ace & even more so now good engine parts are available to satisfy extra performance.
Robin
Thanks Robin, yes it seems like there quite a few people building them now and are somewhat available to a decent bump in power. This is part of why I'm strongly considering the conversion back since it would be back to original but also a nice power level to really enjoy it.
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Hi,
I am in the process of converting AEX53 from Ford V8 back to Ace power and am located in Virginia. It sounds like you are somewhere not to far north of me. Happy to share my contacts, lessons learned, and helping you anyway you need it. Your car looks like it is in much better shape than mine when I started.
Phil M.
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Fast pace, where are you and the car located?
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Fast pace, where are you and the car located?
I'm located in Texas, but the car is in Pennsylvania. I'm making a trip back up to the car next week and will work to get it out of it's current resting place so that I can get a better look over the details of it. If all looks well then hopefully a trip next month could help bring the car back to Texas.
Hi,
I am in the process of converting AEX53 from Ford V8 back to Ace power and am located in Virginia. It sounds like you are somewhere not to far north of me. Happy to share my contacts, lessons learned, and helping you anyway you need it. Your car looks like it is in much better shape than mine when I started.
Phil M.
Thanks for the offer Phil, will definitely reach out.
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Fastpace,
Let me know if you need any help with getting your Ace back on the road. I am in the middle of restoring BEX239 and there are many people that have been helpful.
Bert Brown, Danville, California
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Okay this is going to be a massive photo dump, but I'm interested to get feedback and info from the collective knowledge of the group. Spent the last week cleaning up the garage and digging the car out and then got the chance to jack it up to check out the frame and suspension. Please comment or let me know if you see anything critical, incorrect, or just interesting/good to know from the pictures.
Some things I know (which is minimal):
- Converted to a SBC
- Front support bent and broken at weld
- Added radio and speakers
- Car is listed in the registry for being white with red interior, so green overspray isn't surprising
- The classy 2x4 bumpers aren't original :D that's a result of my father in law moving the car, denting the front end, getting mad at himself about it so he added the 2x4s for protection
- Battery has been moved to the trunk
- Rear shocks are some sort of air assist shock
A few questions that I have:
- Do I have original Weller mounts?
- Does it look like the footbox panels are correct on the interior?
- Any major damage to be concerned with?
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I am not an Ace expert but I think the wood bumpers are not correct ::)
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Hello Fastpace, You have a very interesting project. I have available a completely new rebuilt CL AC 2 litre engine which I now do not need, this might be of interest to you if you want to bring the car back to original. Let me know if you would like further details.
Leo
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A couple weeks ago my wife and I visited my father-in-law and worked through things we could do to help him downsize. As part of that, was to go through the cars he owned which included a 1964 Cobra 289 Rack and Pinion car in pieces, a 1968 GT500 which he's the original owner, and a 1959 AC Ace.
Why didn't I have a father in law like this? I am so jealous. The car looks fantastic. Good luck with the restoration (s)
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Hello Fastpace, You have a very interesting project. I have available a completely new rebuilt CL AC 2 litre engine which I now do not need, this might be of interest to you if you want to bring the car back to original. Let me know if you would like further details.
Leo
If Fastpace doesn't have interest I'd like some further details on your engine
Thanks in advance
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A couple weeks ago my wife and I visited my father-in-law and worked through things we could do to help him downsize. As part of that, was to go through the cars he owned which included a 1964 Cobra 289 Rack and Pinion car in pieces, a 1968 GT500 which he's the original owner, and a 1959 AC Ace.
Why didn't I have a father in law like this? I am so jealous. The car looks fantastic. Good luck with the restoration (s)
Yes I have been quite lucky, but it has actually worked out great for both of us. His 2 kids and wife never took interest or supported his car interests so it was something he kind of did on the side, but never had the time to dedicate himself to as he spent it supporting family activities. So now he has someone in the family also interested, so when I visit he gets to the chance to tell all the different car stories and just talk about the different evolutions of the industry. It's really a side he has kind of had to keep to himself for the last 50 years, and now having the means and support to the hobby is a bit new to him.
Hello Fastpace, You have a very interesting project. I have available a completely new rebuilt CL AC 2 litre engine which I now do not need, this might be of interest to you if you want to bring the car back to original. Let me know if you would like further details.
Leo
If Fastpace doesn't have interest I'd like some further details on your engine
Thanks in advance
We're not in a position to take on the conversion of the Ace back to an AC engine at this time, so please feel free to engage for your usage. It will likely be at least 1-2 years before we would consider conversion back as we keep primary focus and funding towards the Cobra restoration first.
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Ok, keep in touch and lets see what happens.
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Looks v original with the exception of the engine. I couldn't see engine mounts to comment. I also tried to work out what the triangular bracket bolted underneath the rear wishbone was??
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Dear Fastpace,
Thank you for posting the photos of AEX1010.
Just to try and answer you questions:
1. The overall condition of the car looks good and it doesn’t look as though there’s any serious damage to be concerned about. Clearly there’s some rust on the chassis tubes but it doesn’t look serious. From my experience the main chassis tubes can sag in the middle and this causes the bodywork around the doors to crack but t doesn’t look like you have that problem. Indeed the bodywork looks in pretty good shape.
2. As regards the foot boxes: I am pretty sure they would have had to be altered to get the new heavier-duty and wider transmission installed. The fact that the battery has already been moved to the boot/trunk is a plus in my opinion because it makes space to extend the foot box and move the pedals back a few inches. People are a lot taller than in the 1950’s and the foot box on an Ace is quite short.
3. Engine mounts. Photo 27 looks as though it might be a Weller engine mount but then I presume some adapter plate has been made in order to fit the Chevy small block. If it is a Weller engine mount you may see the chassis number 1010 stamped on the top face.
Kind regards,
Ben
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Dear fastpace,
the engine mounts seem to be ok for the Weller engine. The foot boxes must have been expanded to fit the V8. Same as with my car AEX 201, where they tried to fit a Corvette engine. The mounts for the original Mossbox seem to be in place as well, but the accelerator pedal is not original. And there is a strange stiffening plate in the middle of pictures 9 and 10 on the inside of the rear wishbone?
Chris