Messages

1

Ace 'Brooklands' Forum / Hood Cover

« on: February 03, 2021, 19:52:53 »

Hi Everybody. I have a hood cover surplus to requirements if anyone needs one. It's the later type with width 17.5 inches from front edge at lock catch to rear of cover.

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Ace 'Brooklands' Forum / Re: Convertible hood

« on: August 03, 2020, 22:19:17 »

Out of interest what sort of changes do you have in mind?

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Ace 'Brooklands' Forum / Re: Front Suspension Mods

« on: January 30, 2020, 22:07:31 »

Hi AcemanToo

Although repairing Jaguars was my business for 20+ years I can’t say I ever looked at the Ace front suspension and thought those ball joints look like Jaguar, but that maybe because I’ve always been deeply involved fixing other things when working on the suspension!! But aren’t they Ford Mondeo/Sierra or similar?

Thinking about it I don’t think they are Jaguar, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be adapted. The distance (pitch) between the two mounting bolts is the critical measurement (the ball joint width could be adjusted either by machining or shimming). Pitch according to XJ6 workshop manual is 1.75 inches (44.5mm). (Wonderful things old time Jag manuals – gave all possible info necessary to fix the cars. Not like modern manuals that give away nothing of use!!). The bolts are 3/8 diameter (10mm), whereas from memory Ace joint uses 12mm (1/2 inch) bolts. This could be overcome by boring out holes joints to 12mm or inserts in wishbones or machining up bolts and nuts with shoulders.

Hope this helps.

P.S. I do have a Daimler Double Six sitting in the garage alongside Ace, but getting wheel off for detailed comparison would be a lot of hassle (too much junk in the way!!).  Let me know if distance between bolts is same (1.75 inches).

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Ace 'Brooklands' Forum / Re: Radiator Top Hose

« on: January 22, 2020, 22:51:04 »

Hi David. Have you had a quote for the hose? I have the same style top hose so might be prudent to have a spare if price is reasonable.

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Ace 'Brooklands' Forum / Re: Convertible hood

« on: December 22, 2019, 18:45:06 »

Hi David,

Pleased pics are of some use and hope RW Racing are able to come up with a half reasonable price.

Another problem you'll have is the seals round the windows. They weren't sourced from a car maker's parts bin, but made especially for the Ace. I was given to believe I had the last set available way back in 2000 when my hard top was trimmed out as part of deal to buy car.  COH -Baines can make them but their minimum run rate make it pricey for one set.

Max

 

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Ace 'Brooklands' Forum / Re: Convertible hood

« on: December 21, 2019, 23:44:38 »

I hope the above helps.

Max

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Ace 'Brooklands' Forum / Re: Convertible hood

« on: December 21, 2019, 23:41:09 »

More pics

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Ace 'Brooklands' Forum / Re: Convertible hood

« on: December 21, 2019, 23:34:46 »

More pics

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Ace 'Brooklands' Forum / Re: Convertible hood

« on: December 21, 2019, 23:27:12 »

Hi David,

As requested, some pics of hood frame in various positions when being lowered. To help make sense of the pics I've tried to put them in some kind of sequence and how the various parts move as the hood cycles.

I don't know how many pics can be sent in one hit, so have sent four at a time.

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Ace 'Brooklands' Forum / Re: Convertible hood

« on: December 18, 2019, 22:18:22 »

Is there anyone out there with an Ace who has neither hood nor hardtop?

My Ace came with a hardtop when originally purchased, but was lucky in that I was in  the right place at right time to pick up a complete hood couple of years later (although paid lots for it!). Consequently, hardtop just sits in the garage unused, so might be persuaded to part with it.

Regards making a hood, having experienced in distant past the difficulty making a factory supplied hood fit and work, to make a frame from scratch would IMV be a project thwart with problems/frustration, even if armed with very accurate measurements.

Max

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Ace 'Brooklands' Forum / Re: Convertible hood

« on: November 21, 2019, 18:31:29 »

According to the story I was told back in 2001 when I bought my car without hood from Duncan Hamilton the German supplier went broke because AC didn’t pay for the hoods supplied. If correct think you’ll draw a blank with Detec.

I was lucky. My Ace came with all hydraulic & electronic equipment still installed, but minus hood and frame. I managed to pick up a complete hood assembly from contact up North. But as is the way with low volume, hand built cars, frame didn’t fit.  To get good fit and operating properly took many frustrating manhours. 

12

Ace 'Brooklands' Forum / Re: Front Suspension Mods

« on: October 02, 2019, 21:45:47 »

Paho. For some reason when posting reply some of my response wasn't included: -

.... who also stock the required 16/12mm reducers. However, I wanted maximum lateral bearing movement within subframe brackets to increase caster angle, so machined up slimmer reducers to suit my setup.

Over the years I've done a number of mods to the suspension & steering geometry.

Max 

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Ace 'Brooklands' Forum / Re: Front Suspension Mods

« on: October 02, 2019, 21:37:35 »

Hi Paho

They are rose bearings fitted with rubber gaiters to keep out the elements. I used 16mm bearings as I felt 12mm bearing to match the 12mm fixing bolts weren't sufficiently beefy. I obtained the parts from McGill Motorsport    https://www.mcgillmotorsport.com�

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Ace 'Brooklands' Forum / Re: Front Suspension Mods

« on: September 28, 2019, 17:09:04 »

Hi Graham

Reassuring to know my mod’s in line with “official” AC practice, although in reality using rose bearings was the only practical solution. The nail biting part was deciding where along the tubes to cut off the metalastic bushes  – the rose bearings didn’t come with overgenerous threaded section. (I have track record for measuring twice, cutting once and still getting it wrong!!)

Agreed – caster can be changed by lengthening/shortening the two wishbone legs relative to one another by means of the rose bearings. But using that method means each adjustment for camber will throw out the caster angle and visa versa – bit of a pain. So I decided to adjust caster using shims to reposition wishbone assemblies forward/back within the original journal mounting brackets, thus leaving camber unchanged.

Like the front suspension my Ace doesn’t have any geometry adjustment on the rear and came from the Factory with wildly negative offside rear camber. But I fixed that years ago by repositioning the upper wishbone relative to the rear hub carrier. Its always baffle me why AC didn’t provide the Ace with front & rear geometry adjustment.

When purchased from Duncan Hamilton in 2000 the handling was so bad, thinking something was wrong I stopped and had a butcher’s underneath after a couple of miles. There wasn’t – just poor design. It’s been a challenge, but after numerous mods over the years for handling and ride car is finally a joy to drive.

Max

15

Ace 'Brooklands' Forum / Front Suspension Mods

« on: September 24, 2019, 23:00:58 »

As forum seems to have gone very quiet of late I thought I'd post info about mods I did to front suspension earlier this year, which I originally posted in reply to Shamea2 "Back on the Road" topic in case anyone was interested.

The offside camber angle on my Ace was set at 1.5 degrees negative resulting in uneven tyre wear. However, the suspension on my car had no adjustment for camber. So I cut off the upper wishbone metalastic bushes and replaced them with rose bearings and set both camber angles to 0.5 degrees positive.

The rose bearings, being much narrower than the original bushes, also enabled an increase in caster angles of around 1 degree, which totally transformed the handling!!! (In my original post I said ride was harsher since fitting the rose bearings. However, I subsequently discovered the locknuts were not tight enough.)