Ace carpets

[pjbowman]

All - were the original carpets supplied in Aces made of wool? I know they were edge-bound in leather, and am assuming they were wool, but can find no authoritative reference confirming this. Are pattern carpets available, or do they need to be custom made? My Ace is getting it's paint now after my little mishap last year, and it's looking so good other areas are looking shabby...

[GSouthee]

I know the original 2 litre were wool, I guess the early aces were too. I got my carpeting from Coverdale who do 3 types a synthetic, a wool mix and an all wool one. The pile is a little deeper than the originals at 7mm I think the 2 litres were 4-5mm thick. Coverdale also do all the fixings, under felt in various grades and a choice of edgings. Very reasonable, if you send them your sets they will copy them, or your can do it yourself as I am doing.

G

[AC Ace Bristol]

I know the original 2 litre were wool, I guess the early aces were too. I got my carpeting from Coverdale who do 3 types a synthetic, a wool mix and an all wool one. The pile is a little deeper than the originals at 7mm I think the 2 litres were 4-5mm thick. Coverdale also do all the fixings, under felt in various grades and a choice of edgings. Very reasonable, if you send them your sets they will copy them, or your can do it yourself as I am doing.

G

.
.Peter

The Carpets were Wool edged in Leather,
As each Ace is hand built, no two are 100% identcal regards  measurements.
you will need  8 metres of Rubber backed Wool Carpet to trim a Ace including covering the  boot shelf and the rear bulkhead behind the seats which is part carpeted and part leather.
I can confirm price and supplier in UK but exporting to USA  make sit very expensive, suggest you find a  local supplier.
Can post you a sample of what many of us in UK have used in our Ace / Aceca restoration /retrims.

Good Luck

Keith

[pjbowman]

Thanks gents! The local shop that is 'refreshing' my Ace can make the carpets to fit - as mentioned, with the repair work to the door and the repaint, I'm getting the rest of the car to match - rechroming the overriders, and even the grill, which won't be cheap! The way the grill is made is 'unusual' and will require a lot of manual labor to disassemble, rechrome, then reassemble properly. If anyone has had the grill on an early Ace taken apart and rechromed in the US, would love to hear your experience.

[AC Ace Bristol]

.
Peter.

Tim Isles has had a couple of Brass Grills dismantled, repaired as required , re chromed and re assembled,  by Chris at BrassCraft.

I believe the Bill was in excess of £1000.00. per  (brass) grill.   Sounds a lot,  But when you consider the hours of labour involved  and tooling / Jigs , it
puts things in perspective.
Then consider the value of your Ace.
Did Ron Leonard in Durago ever have Brass Chromed Grills made ? or were they the later  Aluminium version.?

Ron Sold all his  AC stock  to Jim Feldman last year or year previous, Could be worth giving Jim a bell.

Keith

[pjbowman]

Thanks Keith, and you are right, a lot of labor involved in this. I’ve been told it could run up to $5000USD, but with the repaint done, the grill would let the car down, so off it goes. Will let the group know how it turns out and the final cost, and will post a few pics of AEX127 as it progresses. The shop also has a few other Aces in progress, including the LeMans Ace, which I think is BEX205 if I remember correctly. Took a few snaps of it also to follow the progress.

Cheers!

[AC Ace Bristol]

.
Peter

Before restoring your old grill,  How much is it for  a new  Chromed  Brass grill from Brasscraft or local supplier ? Then sell your old grill on .

Just a  idea, could workout cheaper ??

Keith

[pjbowman]

Yes, could be cheaper, but I’d be worried about fitment- Like with the carpets, with each car being unique, any new grill may not fit properly. But something to consider, I’ll hve to check pricing.

Thanks Keith!

[markn]

Grilles are tricky, once its apart and you have the old chrome stripped off its a process reassembling it back into the jig etc.

[AC Ace Bristol]

.

.Markn & Peter
.
Every Picture is worth a thousand words.

Helps justify the skill and labour involved in the process of restoring a Chrome on  brass AC Ace GRILL.

Keith

[pjbowman]

Mark, thanks for the note and pictures! Sure shows the work involved - surprised AC didn't/couldn't find a less labor-intesnsive way to make the grill. Are grills from other period cars (Ferrari, Aston Martin, Maserati, etc,) made the same way?

[markn]

Thanks Keith. Yes I agree PJ these early grills are damn labour intensive. Some of the other car makes are just as intensive but these early ace brass grills have an added degree of difficulty because of the vertical leaf-bars, they are difficult to fabricate/duplicate.

[AC Ace Bristol]

Thanks Keith, and you are right, a lot of labor involved in this. I’ve been told it could run up to $5000USD, but with the repaint done, the grill would let the car down, so off it goes. Will let the group know how it turns out and the final cost, and will post a few pics of AEX127 as it progresses. The shop also has a few other Aces in progress, including the LeMans Ace, which I think is BEX205 if I remember correctly. Took a few snaps of it also to follow the progress.

Cheers!

.
Peter

$5000.00  US to rebuild and rechrome your old  brass Ace grill  is blooming expensive,  Could be cheaper to  Fedex  or USP  ( Track) your old grill to Brasscraft  i UK and they will strip, repair re-chrome and re assemble your origonal grill and airmail it back far cheaper.

Worth having a few words or  exchange of emails.

Fire a email to Tim Isle,s who has employed Chris at Brasscraft a few times, He has a very high standard of workmanship and is reliable.
 He manufactures dozens of grills for the Cobra and Cbra replica market,  the main supplier/manufacturer in UK possibly Europe.

Good Luck

Keith
.

[markn]

Good on you Peter for wanting perfection. I've been lucky with the ones I've done as it was a simple process of disassembly, de-chrome, re-chrome and reassembly, some always need a repair here or there. Once your tooled and jigged up its all good. I'd happily make the aluminium ones all day long though!

[ctpearce]

When Jon Sichel had my grill rechromed he used a radiator rebuilder (I don't have the name) as they are used to taking these sort of things apart and rebuilding.