Urgent clearout - space needed! Loads of 2L brake drums, various types, some back plates, steering bits, complete back axle and separate diff. Please contact Rod Briggs on 01458 273476 or ac6rod@gmail.com.
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#2
Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Vintage clutches
July 02, 2019, 18:38:43
If anyone needs a steel clutch plate for a vintage AC engine we have an opportunity to manufacture a batch. The cost will depend entirely on the number ordered but five is the practical minimum. Expressions of interest asap please to Rod Briggs on 01458 273476 or acrod@tiscali.co.uk. Best wishes one and all.
#3
General Forum / Lost contact
June 28, 2019, 16:56:49
Would the gentleman who bought a load of Two Litre spares from me a while ago please contact me as I have mislaid his details. He came here in a rather nice blue SUV type of vehicle that I admired. I think it was a Mazda. Anyway, I have turned up a load more parts and as promised, he has first refusal. Rod Briggs 01458 273476 or acrod@tiscali.co.uk.
#4
AC Weller Engine / She'd gone and blown again. but hope was at hand.
June 10, 2016, 14:02:46
Hello Gary,
I appreciate your not wishing to embarrass me in public - that was very thoughtful. As I cannot recall the 8thou bit - perhaps I missed that or just wasn't listening - I won't argue although I feel certain that I would have expressed concern because we build all our engines (over sixty to date) to 20thou for a lot of very good reasons. One of these was because in around 2003 I quite deliberately built an engine for my own car with 9thou protrusion just to see what would happen. And what did happen was that all was well for a short while and then the engine started misfiring after ticking over and eventually went down to five and then four cylinders and the sump began filling with water, so I reset the liners at 20thou and cured the problem. By the way and in case anyone wants to try this trick, I did this with the engine in the car with the head off and by pulling the liners off the pistons and then refitting them on top of thicker fig-of-eight gaskets. Good fun if you've nothing better to do and don't mind wrecking your finger nails whilst feeding the rings into the bottoms of the liners!
I would definitely contest the matter of AC's stated correct liner protrusion because, although this figure is given in some of their literature (I've just looked), over the years they issued several different and gradually increasing figures, eventually arriving at an astounding 30thou. And no, just in case anybody asks me to prove that, I am not going to because I can't remember where I saw it.
However, all this is likely to prove fairly academic ere long as, after much protracted experimentation, we hope to have our new, low cost, re-usable head gaskets in production soon. Hopefully Robin's gasket will have done the trick and you won't need one.
Best regards,
Rod
I appreciate your not wishing to embarrass me in public - that was very thoughtful. As I cannot recall the 8thou bit - perhaps I missed that or just wasn't listening - I won't argue although I feel certain that I would have expressed concern because we build all our engines (over sixty to date) to 20thou for a lot of very good reasons. One of these was because in around 2003 I quite deliberately built an engine for my own car with 9thou protrusion just to see what would happen. And what did happen was that all was well for a short while and then the engine started misfiring after ticking over and eventually went down to five and then four cylinders and the sump began filling with water, so I reset the liners at 20thou and cured the problem. By the way and in case anyone wants to try this trick, I did this with the engine in the car with the head off and by pulling the liners off the pistons and then refitting them on top of thicker fig-of-eight gaskets. Good fun if you've nothing better to do and don't mind wrecking your finger nails whilst feeding the rings into the bottoms of the liners!
I would definitely contest the matter of AC's stated correct liner protrusion because, although this figure is given in some of their literature (I've just looked), over the years they issued several different and gradually increasing figures, eventually arriving at an astounding 30thou. And no, just in case anybody asks me to prove that, I am not going to because I can't remember where I saw it.
However, all this is likely to prove fairly academic ere long as, after much protracted experimentation, we hope to have our new, low cost, re-usable head gaskets in production soon. Hopefully Robin's gasket will have done the trick and you won't need one.
Best regards,
Rod
#5
AC Weller Engine / She'd gone and blown again. but hope was at hand.
June 07, 2016, 18:15:36
Hi Gary,
I've just noticed your posts on the AC forum and reading through them I believe that the trouble you experienced was caused by inadequate liner protrusion. 7 to 8 thou is totally inadequate to maintain a seal and blowing of the gasket is only a matter of time. 20 thou is required with a conventional gasket such as the one that we supplied to you.
There are two probable reasons for your low liner protrusion. The first is that the protrusion was set incorrectly in the first place and the second is that if your engine has the original AC short liners with a thick sandwich of figure-of-eight gaskets beneath them, the gaskets and the sealant between them have compressed, thus allowing the liners to drop. This is a very common fault that probably caused the demise of countless AC engines and is still bringing others to a halt today.
The bottom line is that the material of the copper/pretend asbestos gaskets that we supply is perfectly adequate and is well up to the job. For the record, I have used the same gaskets for many years including on my racing engine, which is now in its third competition season since its last rebuild, has a compression ratio of around 9.0:1as opposed to your car's likely 6.5:1 and is frequently revved to nearly 6,000rpm when the red mist comes down. I have never experienced the trouble that you record.
Still, if you have solved the problem with one of Robin's gaskets, all well and good and I hope that your troubles are over and that your trip to France will go well.
Best regards,
Rod Briggs
I've just noticed your posts on the AC forum and reading through them I believe that the trouble you experienced was caused by inadequate liner protrusion. 7 to 8 thou is totally inadequate to maintain a seal and blowing of the gasket is only a matter of time. 20 thou is required with a conventional gasket such as the one that we supplied to you.
There are two probable reasons for your low liner protrusion. The first is that the protrusion was set incorrectly in the first place and the second is that if your engine has the original AC short liners with a thick sandwich of figure-of-eight gaskets beneath them, the gaskets and the sealant between them have compressed, thus allowing the liners to drop. This is a very common fault that probably caused the demise of countless AC engines and is still bringing others to a halt today.
The bottom line is that the material of the copper/pretend asbestos gaskets that we supply is perfectly adequate and is well up to the job. For the record, I have used the same gaskets for many years including on my racing engine, which is now in its third competition season since its last rebuild, has a compression ratio of around 9.0:1as opposed to your car's likely 6.5:1 and is frequently revved to nearly 6,000rpm when the red mist comes down. I have never experienced the trouble that you record.
Still, if you have solved the problem with one of Robin's gaskets, all well and good and I hope that your troubles are over and that your trip to France will go well.
Best regards,
Rod Briggs
#6
Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Owners/workshop manual?
November 02, 2015, 18:18:24
Hi Gary,
Thanks for the encouragement re-the book and always glad to sell bits as well!
Is the word 'seal' missing from your last question? If so, the answer is yes but probably only if the engine is very clean. It is possible to prise the seal out and to fit a new one but in reality you are likely to get in a horrible mess and the sump and block seal housings have to be clean and in good condition for the seal to sit properly. You would stand a better chance if you take the sump off first. If you are fortunate there will be no grooves in the crankshaft caused by the seal.
If you need a seal, we've got plenty.
Best regards,
Rod
Thanks for the encouragement re-the book and always glad to sell bits as well!
Is the word 'seal' missing from your last question? If so, the answer is yes but probably only if the engine is very clean. It is possible to prise the seal out and to fit a new one but in reality you are likely to get in a horrible mess and the sump and block seal housings have to be clean and in good condition for the seal to sit properly. You would stand a better chance if you take the sump off first. If you are fortunate there will be no grooves in the crankshaft caused by the seal.
If you need a seal, we've got plenty.
Best regards,
Rod
#7
Vintage, PVT & 2 Litre Forum / Owners/workshop manual?
November 02, 2015, 16:09:49
In response to G.Southee's enquiry and the many similar that I have received, I can now reply that I have been writing just such a manual for quite some while now but have not said much about it as these things take ages, especially with a business (AC Engines) to run. However, progress has now reached the point where I can break cover!
To quote from the book's Introduction:
The purpose of this book is to provide the owner of an AC two litre, light six engine with the knowledge necessary to understand his engine, its design features, how it works and what to do about it when it doesn't.
This book is designed to de-mystify the engine and to cut through the mass of largely inaccurate techno-folklore that surrounds it and to provide practical guidance to the average owner who is reasonably handy with a spanner but who is not a trained or even self-taught engineer and who does not have extensive workshop facilities or special tools. At worst, the book will give the owner who never dirties his hands a much clearer idea of what lurks beneath his bonnet and what is going on when it cries out for attention.
Especially worth reading is the highly erudite History for which Tim Isles must take the lion's share of the credit. The book is being copiously illustrated with a selection of the thousands of photographs that I have taken during engine rebuilds over the last decade or so.
And when will it be finished? Very soon, I hope. And the title? 'Living with an AC Engine'.
Best regards,
Rod Briggs
To quote from the book's Introduction:
The purpose of this book is to provide the owner of an AC two litre, light six engine with the knowledge necessary to understand his engine, its design features, how it works and what to do about it when it doesn't.
This book is designed to de-mystify the engine and to cut through the mass of largely inaccurate techno-folklore that surrounds it and to provide practical guidance to the average owner who is reasonably handy with a spanner but who is not a trained or even self-taught engineer and who does not have extensive workshop facilities or special tools. At worst, the book will give the owner who never dirties his hands a much clearer idea of what lurks beneath his bonnet and what is going on when it cries out for attention.
Especially worth reading is the highly erudite History for which Tim Isles must take the lion's share of the credit. The book is being copiously illustrated with a selection of the thousands of photographs that I have taken during engine rebuilds over the last decade or so.
And when will it be finished? Very soon, I hope. And the title? 'Living with an AC Engine'.
Best regards,
Rod Briggs
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