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Good feedback, thanks.
   
   Solex most likely used a single mould of the throttle body housing and the hole may or may not have been drilled through the port as the housing made its way down the production/supply/logistic line, depending on engine application.
   
   As decades of use saw carbs wearing out and ultimately needing overhauls that in some cases may have required replacing the throttle body housing for any reason, it could be that drilled housings were mixed up with non-drilled ones depending on what carb rebuilders had on the shelf at that moment.
   
   Would be interesting to hear from other owners, to see if we have a trend.
   
   Now to get back on topic, an open side port would be useful to measure vacuum when synchronizing the carbs.

I got confused and for some reason assumed that the Solex carbs on the Ace Bristol engine were 32 PBIC when they are in fact 32 PBI-6, which is actually just what's already mentioned in the AC owner manual (I know, RTFM and all that...).
   
   The only difference I could spot between the two is the separate throttle body housing on the PBI-6 mating to the actual body of the carb with a 4 bolt pattern.
   There does not seem to be picture on the Internet of PBI-6 carbs, but this illustration of the 32 BI shows a similar construction, and suggests that the vacuum port should be plugged with a screw plug labeled number 16.
   
   
   
   Looking at the PBI-5 as used on some Jaguars, the vacuum port seems to be left open :
   
   
   
   So what is on your engines, gentlemen?
   
   Are your holes plugged or not? (pun unintended)

Thanks for the helpful replies so far.
   
   

quote:Originally posted by MuffinIf you drill the spacer below the carbs and fit small brass tubes

   
   Upon reading different period documents from Solex it would appear that 32 PBIC carbs feature a vacuum nipple hidden behind a screw plug on the throttle body housing, and that this vacuum nipple should be connected to some vacuum pipe on engines where ignition timing is vacuum-driven.
   
   Could that plug screw be the one just below right of the plug for the main jet hex plug on the picture below? It seems way too small for hiding a nipple of some sort...
   
   
   
   I do not have access to the car right now to check for myself.

Good morning,
   
   Very interesting work.
   
   Have you considered 3D-printing some structural parts instead of remaking them in wood?
   Plastic may not rot over time (!)

I went through the same issue with the forum I used to administer, and I spent 4 whole days re classifying the existing forum into ... 6 different sub forums.
   As as I have expressed in this very topic specific requests (privacy + two separate public/private sections) I am happy to volunteer if any task is required to do any reshaping work, as fastidious as it may get.

How can you feel concerned with breaking something that has never really worked from the start? [:o)]
   
   Joking aside, what kind of issues did the Cobra/428 split raise?
   
   I was a forum admin for about 10 years and I would agree that it represents a lot of spare time... when you get between about 100 and 300 posts per day, which is not really the case on here. Perhaps I am giving here another one-sided view, so please bear with me.

quote:Originally posted by MkIV Luxdefinitely not conclusive enough to modify anything on this subject

   
   Couldn't we equally say it is not conclusive enough not to modifty anything on the subject? Not sure why changing a few bits would matter to the majority who does not seem to care anyway but may matter to a minority willing to be more active if a few modifications were made?
   
   Like with many other public forums, the reason why the majority of forum users may not "care" is because they most likely consist of profiles that are barely used or even not used at all. Keeping such profiles is irrelevant as we do not know what the actual majority consists in, and is a flaw of keeping a forum completely public. User profiles that have not been active (at least one connection) for say 6 months should be erased, for example.
   Keeping all those profiles is a bit like getting hundreds of people confirming an invitation to a social event while only a few folks actually turn up, yet all those others who had confirmed they'd come just lurk from afar, and the forum being publically readable without any kind of registration obligation makes this is even worse.

Hello,
   
   Here is a suggestion on how a revamped homepage could look like.
   Please note the Public area vs the different members areas, the latters being accessible to ACOC members only. (Do not click on the links, I just did this dummy homepage as a sample) :
   
   http://mapage.noos.fr/tjmm/ACOC/Homepage_TEST.htm
   
   As for the public vs private acces debate, there are several ways to skin a cat.
   Firstly it could be made that none of the forum could be made visible to people who are not already logged in.
   Secondly, depending of forum user credentials (ACOC member, non-ACOC member, Partner/Sponsor, etc) different types of access can probably be implemented.
   Again, food for thought.
   
   

quote:Originally posted by dkp_cobraI am one of these guys you address: non-member, user of this forum and happy if it will be an open forum in the future. Will I become a member if this forum would be non-public? No, I wouldn't. There is nearly no benefit for me to become a member. Same reasons as Hobo wrote already. If you live outside of UK you do not participate in the social events.

   
   I am also outside of the UK and would think that supporting the Club as a member is a first condition to be able to use any of the tools or facilities it provides. If I cannot participate to club events as much as I would like, then tough luck. FYI there are club representatives pretty much everywhere in Europe, it's up to local sections to organize social events, and a good reason I think for owners genuinely interested in getting the ball rolling to become full ACOC members.

I would not see the "lack" of activity, at least relatively to some other car forums attracting a probably "younger" and wider audience, as a negative point per se.
   Not everyone from the older generation feels comfortable using the www yet, but those who do, especially on here I believe, seem to post messages to bring significant content and/or make a point. There is probably not enough cars in existence and not enough general public interest for the brand for the forum to generate a traffic that would make it a several hour daily time-eater like some others forums are, and I personally see this as a positive point.

quote:Originally posted by nikbj68
   I don`t really see how cars spotted at events being stolen relates to photos on forums

   
   They don't, but promoting a forthcoming event publically can attract unwanted attention. This is not saying we should hide in bunkers, but using a public area to promote a club event is I think not ideal.

My comment regarding professionals comes from my experience in another club where a few privateers, who had built significant knowledge working themselves on their own cars and who offered disinterested support to other members who were a bit less handy, found out later that some other members would use what they had learned to sell it as a service to third party owners. Now while that kind of practice has never been unheard of in the whole hobby itself, I see no reason not trying to control it within a certain extent through the forum. It remains to members' discretion to proceed with their interest in the hobby however they feel like but I do not see why members should indirectly support possibly ill behaviours through a paid membership. To me it's a matter of principle, regardless of the values of the cars.
   
   As for outings, may I need to mention about some classics (not necessarily ACs) getting spotted at public events to later get stolen? The first time I heard of this I could not believe it but reading later again about it – and in the current edition of ACtion – I thought this point needs to be brought forward. I do hope that members who post pictures of their cars on the www blank their registration plates. Yes it's a sad world we live in and the www has become a useful tool for everyone, including organized crime.
   
   Nik, I appreciate your enthusiasm and even if I am only a fresh member I have had strong emotional link with ACs for several decades, but that should not prevent us to keep a cold-blooded approach and apply some common good sense considering the information the forum should or should not be displayed publically.
   In any case there should be enough technical solutions to satisfy everyone's needs with regards to the format of the forum, but as in the real world it should be shaped flexibly enough to satisfy the wide range of people on board, without necessarily feeling offended by the sometimes different expectations of its different members.

MkIV Lux makes a very good point about the privacy. I personally would never post my name or pictures of my Ace on a public www area.
   
   Regarding posting pictures I would however suggest to keep the technical discussions in a private area as there may be members who may wish to post pictures when discussing technical aspects they may want to share about with other members only. I would find objectionable that professionals who are not members may learn for free solutions/tips/tricks that non-professional members may have found by working themselves on their cars, but would be happy to share with disinterested members.
   For instance, on many other "car forums", known professionals are required to pay "sponsoring" fees if they want to promote their activity and/or have access to all areas.
   
   Just my tuppence worth anyway.

From a purely technical point of view, implementing a public access and a member-only access to the "forum" should be rather simple.
   
   We currently have a main forum labeled "AC Owners Club Forum" comprising 11 sub forums :
   1/ ACOC News and Events
   2/ General Forum
   3/ AC Weller Engine
   4/ Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum
   5/ Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum
   6/ Cobra (Thames Ditton) Forum
   7/ 428 Frua Forum
   8/ 3000ME Forum
   9/ Mk IV, Superblower & CRS Forum
   10/ Ace 'Brooklands' Forum
   11/ Recent ACs
   
   At this point all of this can be accessed publically, which in my opinion as a (fresh) member of the ACOC is really far from ideal.
   
   What I would suggest would be to add another main forum. We would then find oursleves with a main forum open to the public, and another main forum being restricted to paid-up ACOC members.
   What either of those two main areas may contain should of course be discussed, but I strongly suggest, for example, that any outing should be restricted to the members-only area.
   
   Here is an example of what it could all look like :
   
   1/ AC Owners club Forum (Public area)
   General AC news
   AC-unrelated car news
   Cars for sale
   etc
   
   2/ AC Owners club Forum (Members area)
   General forum
   The Workshop
   ACOC Events
   Members' for sale ads
   ACOC Partners, discounts, etc
   etc
   
   Having a functional breakdown structure of the forum would I think be more interesting and enlightening than having just a breakdown between cars where owners may not always read about other models, etc.
   
   Food for thought.

Hello Keith,
   
   Thank you for your message. I am in Europe.
   
   I have original Vokes filter assemblies, I was just wondering how to clean the grill holding the filtering "cloth" efficiently.
   I did it once already using domestic wash-up liquid but even after several and repeated attempts there is always a little bit of filth coming out, although they are now admittedly quite a bit cleaner than when I got the car.
   
   Should I just keep on washing them until no dust/filth whatsoever comes out or try something else?
   Someone near me suggested to clean the cloth with fuel but I am concerned that may be a bit too aggressive?
   The AC handbook is not helfpul on this subject.
   
   In the past I used to play with Porsche engines using alloy sleeves that are very sensitive to foreign objects, and I like the idea of air filters that work as efficiently as possible. I am probably overly-concerned though, as the steel sleeves in the Bristol block are probably tough enough to cope with the Vokes' filtering capability which I imagine a tad inferior to modern paper filters...
   
   Thanks,
   Thomas

It turned out it was just a loose wheel bearing. I still disassembled the king pins to give them a thorough clean and regrease and was not able to notice any play in them. Well pleased.