Messages

1

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: Forgotten Vintage

« on: April 18, 2024, 18:12:01 »

Yes, it is really odd.

I remember this car being on Ebay in 2016. Apparently, some years earlier the chassis, with transaxle, was removed from under wrecks in a scrapyard. The new owner, working in the restoration business, started to build a body from drawings but stopped due to ill-health. The engine was not AC, it was from a Nissan, and there are many other things not right e.g. wheels, dashboard, electrics, steering wheel. The body is wrong in places e.g. windscreen design but there was, at the time, the possibility of either having a usable car or restoring this to being more original. I don't believe it had a V5, so chassis number would have been important for the DVLA.

First couple of photos, below, taken from the video and third photo the car as advertised in 2016.

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Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: At auction

« on: April 09, 2024, 09:32:00 »

Didn't meet reserve. Highest bid of £40,000. It's worth more than that. A few years back, I supplied a new and unused original cylinder head for this car.....

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Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: Transaxle

« on: April 01, 2024, 12:10:10 »

Hello Jock

No, not any modification that I'm aware of. That is a known leaking place as there is a leather seal there, Being leather at some point the oil will get through, even by saturation (or conversely lack of use and the seal dries and cracks). The part is no longer available and if, at some time in the future, you remove the axle it is very easily made, to pattern. I have made this seal for my own car but after a season or so it was back to leaking - now I live with it...but it is getting worse again.

For interest which car is it that you are working on, can you advise the Reg or Chassis Number?

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Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: Transaxle

« on: March 27, 2024, 11:10:02 »

Big Col ,the gearbox Jock refers to is on a vintage car, not a PVT, and he correctly describes it as a transaxle.

Jock, you are correct, there are two drain plugs - one for the axle, the other the gearbox. There is one filler which is on the rear axle diff casing. You have drained both units. The method is to fill the back axle to overflow point. You then have to take the car out (or raise it and run it, on axle stands or ramp, so that the axle is in use and back wheels are turning). The crown wheel works a bit like a water-wheel in scooping oil and depositing it in the gearbox top, it goes through a bush filling up the gearbox which has holes for overflowing and return to the axle when filled. It will take about 2-3 more pints.

I know it seems odd to be running the car with no oil in the gearbox but this is the method described by AC in the 1920's. If the car is on stands you can monitor the oil going into the box and top up as the level goes down. If taking the car out, take an oil pourer with you and I would suggest stop, firstly after say 3 or 4 miles and top up (so, some oil now in there), next stop say another 6-7 miles. This method normally requires c.3 stops to ensure the axle reaches overflow and the gearbox is full. The oil has to also travel down the half-shafts to the hubs and also down the torque tube (axle casing to universal joint, meeting the propshaft) - so a final top up could be required. Usually, the total oil is about 6+ pints for the transaxle unit. 

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Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Vintage Register

« on: February 16, 2024, 17:27:27 »

It's 10 years since the last one! What's the chance of another issue???

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

« on: January 30, 2024, 20:31:53 »

It's coming along Jonto!

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Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: The sports 6

« on: January 28, 2024, 18:15:38 »

Hi Jonto and Jam2

December 1927, the Bruce’s returned from Montlhéry to much acclaim. They had broken the 10,000-mile record and had driven 15,000 miles at an average speed of 68 mph.
The original Montlhéry record car was sold to A J Mollart, who was the toolroom manager (correction to my earlier posting) at AC, Thames Ditton. He trialled PK6322 extensively throughout 1928 and 1929 before the body was removed for a lighter, fabric design in readiness for the Brooklands Double Twelve. This was the link above to the photo of PK6322, now carrying a tourer body.

In 1929 Ray Morley heard of the liquidation of AC and rushed over to buy a car and he purchased the old coachwork of the Bruce’s car, mating the two together. His new AC Six was registered as PH 8013, and Ray and the car continued to collect an outstanding number of awards, including on the first RAC Rally in 1932. Ray Morley subsequently traded PH 8013 back to the factory for £25 against an ex-works 16/80.

So, in summary, the Montlhéry car was PK6322. The body was removed and PK6322 then competed with a lightweight tourer body. The original body of the Montlhéry car was fitted to PH8013, competed by Ray Morley, now owned by David Hescroff who has had the car for more than 40 years.

Final part of the story is the original chassis from the Montlhéry car was used to construct a special in the 1950’s by John Vessey, a Lancia man, and was likely scrapped around 1960.

8

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: The sports 6

« on: January 27, 2024, 23:08:46 »

Hello Jonto, haven't heard from you for a while. I hope the restoration of the vintage four-cylinder proceeded as planned (finished maybe? If so, how about a couple of photos?)

The photo of the Sports six-cylinder (Montlhéry) was taken by Bill Brunell, who took thousands of photos of cars in the 1920's and 1930's. A few years back the Motoring Picture Library at Beaulieu acquired his entire collection. He accompanied the Hon Victor Bruce on the successful Monte Carlo run in 1926.

The photo above was taken on 1 June 1929 at Osterley Park Hotel, Isleworth, Middlesex. The cars were competing in the North West London Motor Club Trial. On the left a Salmson 1087 cc. Vehicle Reg. No. YF5128, Driver was Higgs. On the right, the AC Acedes Six. Vehicle Reg. No. PK6322. Driver recorded as: Freeman, but it appears to be A J Mollart of AC. I have one other photo of this car competing, shown below. There are many photos of the event itself, on the web, but most have copyright restrictions - try entering the search '1929 North West London MC' and you'll find a few.

This same car, PK6322, was driven by Mollart in the Edinburg Trial of 1929. He worked for AC at Thames Ditton, if I recall as Works/Service Manager, leaving when the company went into administration. He started his own successful engineering company in Thames Ditton which still survives today (under successful stewardship of three generations).

Interestingly, there is a photo of a different AC, late 1920's, that carried the same registration number. I assume some factory manoeuvres....

Click the link to see a photo of that car. There is a Montlhery at the side of the shot, but only rear of the body visible.

https://motoringpicturelibrary.com/index.php/mpl_images/ac-acedes-six-open-tourer-1929-1991-cc-vehicle-reg-no-pk6322-event-entry-no-27-driver-mollart-j-finished-4th-equal-of-17-place-bhmc-brighton-motor-rally-date-28-6-1-7-30

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Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: At auction

« on: January 20, 2024, 15:35:35 »

Sold today!

10

Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: At auction

« on: January 20, 2024, 09:34:35 »

Or, maybe easier to buy this one at 17,000 Euros!

https://www.prewarcar.com/455004-1937-ac-ace-16-66-foursome-drop-head-coupe

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Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: AC Car Registry

« on: November 17, 2023, 19:33:45 »

Whilst following up on AC cars in India, an interesting photo came to light. This photo shows the Maharaja Sir Vijaysinhji of Rajpipla, taken at his estate ‘The Manor’ at Old Windsor, UK, in 1927. Note his car in the background, an AC....clearly a man of taste. It was one of his stable of many cars, which included a number of Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts and Phantoms!

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Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: AC Car Registry

« on: November 17, 2023, 11:43:50 »

On looking at the photo again, it could be the car is still under restoration as no number plate, missing dampers, seat may be temporary (interior to be trimmed?) etc. It may be a six-cylinder and thus probably unrecorded in the vintage register. For gravity fuel tanks AC did not use a filler on the scuttle, but on the dashboard, so it may not be a petrol cap - it wasn't unusual to place a mascot or car badge here, especially if a calormeter was on the radiator, but can't confirm this as the photo pixellates when enlarging.

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Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Re: AC Car Registry

« on: November 16, 2023, 12:45:03 »

A very interesting car. A couple of vintage AC's are known to be in India and this restored car doesn't appear to be either of them. Andrey, were there any more details with this photo e.g. chassis number, owner, location? It does have a gravity feed fuel tank (so may be a little earlier than 1927) though does have front brakes. Also, appears to lack front damping so the springs would be putting up with a lot more effort, especially considering India's roads. Paintwork gaudy, but maybe representing India's flag? The steering wheel and the seat style are wrong for the car, but overall it looks restored well. Any more info available?

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Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / The Automobile - two vintage Sixes in this months copy

« on: September 16, 2023, 23:46:57 »

Chris Jaques 4/5 seater tourer is for sale. One of only two that survive it was restored some years back. Gavin McGuire has it on his website but no price is shown. It's a lovely vintage Six . For video, see here:

https://treasuredcars.com/classic_cars_for_sale/details/1928-ac-acedes-classic-cars-for-sale_3465

Also in The Automobile, the 2/3 seater registration Z1348 has resurfaced (Page 10). It was known to be in Ireland. An interesting car, likely a 12/35 on bore size. Here's my note from ACtion on it:

14330 (Z 1348)
There are comments in the vintage register questioning why this 1928 car has smaller capacity liners
(56mm cf. 65mm) within an orthodox two-litre engine and suggesting there has been a modification
for convenience, availability or taxation limitation. However, for 1927 and 1928 the factory offered a
12-35 hp six-cylinder 2-3-seater. The taxable horsepower being 12 hp, the engine size 1484 cc and the
bore size 56.3 (56x100). I suggest therefore it is highly likely that this car is a 12-35 model and that
outwardly it would show no differences to the 2-litre Six. Autocar wrote about the model in April 1927
and The Auto in November 1927. Registration number Z 1348 has not been seen for some time.

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Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum / Re: AC Greyhound for sale

« on: August 31, 2023, 11:30:29 »

That is a great looking car....the company also has two Ace Bristols for sale.