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Messages - AC Ventura

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1
Not sure if this is off topic, but I redesigned and had made new spring perches, as my original Koni’s had stripped. These are stronger, designed fur an 80mm C Spanner and give 6mm more lift too. Happy to share drawings if you confirm thread outside diameter.

2
I redesigned mine with a ball bearing.

3
Uwe, you know the steering rack ball joint, has a collar each side to adjust wear?

PM me if you need the name of a UK reconditioner.

4
Will be easier to swap cars with a UK Mk IV owner who has LHD. Otherwise you have to make moulds in the car and lay the glass fibre up in situ. I’ve moulded new footwells, but you have to know what you are doing.

5
I don’t know where to get the bearing, but undo the connections both ends and you can remove the link shaft. Mark the steering wheel position relative to the column before you do anything.

6
Other respondents are correct, the ball joint is a Saab part and should be easy enough to get. It is tricky to change though. If you have my experience, you will have to modify a spanner to get into the recess and stop the unit rotating, as you try to remove it.
 You will need a ball splitter. Mine is very heavy duty, but despite extreme force, the taper would not release. As a last resort I carefully used a blowtorch to force the unit to expand, while the splitter was in place. Shortly after, there was a loud noise as the two parts finally separated. After which the repair was straightforward.

7
Very easy to repair a radiator pin hole with RADWELD.

8
Success! A fine spring day in England and perfect conditions to properly test the new improved half tonneau. I like a half tonneau when driving solo. They reduce in car buffeting and make it much quicker to cover up the car when parked. Trouble is, the one supplied with the Mk IV flaps like a dimented bat, even at 25mph.
 So I had a trimmer, first split the tonneau into two halves, then sew in a full length sleeve underneath, next to the zip and into this inserted a 1/4” dia rod, which protrudes at each end of the passenger half tonneau. Between the mirror base and the front scuttle is a barely visible aluminium plate with a hole in that locates the front end of the rod. At the the other end, the rod drops into a recess and simply held down with a cord. No tethers required and it barely moves, even at 70 mph.
 A simple, inexpensive and worthwhile upgrade, with no storage issues.

9
 I concur that the ClubCobra US forum is an excellent knowledge source. I certainly have a lot of friends on there and they helped me extensively, engineering-wise, when I was converting my car. By the way Tom, most of my comments were tongue in cheek, so don’t take them too seriously! Most of us own and/or admire other great cars. Anyhow, I think you’ll find a SPF, ERA or Kirkham an excellent choice, if you are not in the market for a Mk IV. Regarding other choices, you can find/run a Corvette with little effort or commitment. But nothing makes other people’s day, like a Cobra.
 Incidentally, by the time the Mk IV arrived Autokraft was the manufacturing arm of AC Cars. The cars were registered as AC’s once they had acquired the brand from the Hurlock family. However, the model name Mk IV was it seems never officially registered, despite its appearance on the company’s literature. But is how the model has generically become known and distinguished.

10
Sorry guys must dash, I’m off to the Superformance Forum to ask what everybody thinks about the Autokraft Mk IV and then decide that actually I’d prefer a 390 GT Mustang, but definitely not one with leaf springs 😜 

11
That’s great, why don’t we turn this in a Corvette forum now? In case anybody is confused this is supposed to be the AC Owners Club forum.

12
Now it’s the aluminium big block car that Shelby and Ken Miles said they always wanted to build. I would have liked to have been able to show them how sweetly it handles with the ultra lightweight engine. I think they would have been as pleased as everything worked out particularly well in the end. I hope I’m not coming across as immodest, but I think it’s simply sensational in every department. It’s far from the disappointment everyone told me to expect. Some old men are not so wise.....😜

13
The engine bay after it was remoulded 76mm wider and the foot boxes shortened 150mm to expose the wing vents. Also the crossmember here is new after the Mk IV one was cut out. Luckily I discovered some genuine Shelby 427 chassis drawings. The Mk IV is comprised mostly the 427 chassis already, but a few mods were required. The big block in a RHD car is much more difficult than LHD, so meticulous planning and engineering are required. The scoop for the exhaust You can see here, I later decided to redo so O could enlarge the footwell. The exhaust now runs in front of the footwell not next to it, where it would get uncomfortably hot.
The original Autokraft engine bay finish was restored, regardless of the effort and complexity. Here I have made the replacement mirror finish bulkhead from scratch as the original one was no longer wide enough.

14
I designed and CNC’d my own super secure engine mounts. Todays repro original type engine mounts are poor quality. Some people have had the entire engine rip out and the bonnet with it...

15
Custom headers have huge 1 7/8” dia primaries to help run cool. Everything was optimised I hope. Tuned length not possible, but doesn’t matter...

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