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Hi Andrey1976b - I own Ace Bristol BE1175 and live in NZ - do you have the contact details for the owner of this car - it was listed in Facebook marketplace along with the Bristol type 403 in the photos in the background but the listing has expired.  My best contact is glen at wbb dot co dot nz    Many thanks 

Hi Larry.  I am based in Auckland and own an AC Car and my family own a number of Bristol Saloons  - I drive through Whangarei every few weeks on the way to Oakura.  When you have a moment can you send current contact details to email address glen at wbb dot co dot nz     

Andrew - have just sent you an email to three contacts in the USA that should be able to assist.  Regards, Glen

Hi all - if anyone is interested

Link is as follows

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/5029956460406890/

Or send me an email and I can forward screen shots from facebook marketplace - my email address is glen@wbb.co.nz

This is not my car and about 350km away from where I live. Would be sad to see it cut up....

Cheers all, Glen

Hi all - if anyone is interested

Link is as follows

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/5029956460406890/

Or send me an email and I can forward screen shots from facebook marketplace - my email address is glen@wbb.co.nz

This is not my car and about 350km away from where I live.

Cheers all, Glen

Hi there and greetings from New Zealand.  I am sure that you will get responses from some of the more technically minded members of the ACOC but you will be pleased to know that the Bristol 100B2 engine was fitted as standard to a number of Aces from new- mine included.  I am not sure when the engine in my car was last reconditioned but it has given me 20000 miles  of trouble free motoring over the last 15 years - some things just get meaner with age...... Engines are basically the same but you would want to check re gearbox 1. Ratios (particularly first) 2. The 405 will have overdrive gearbox and I am not sure if these will fit into an Ace that did not have factory overdrive fitted without adjusting the gearbox tunnel- my car had overdrive fitted at the factory.  Others will be able to tell you on this one.  Either way it won't be difficult.    If you are going long distance touring then overdrive makes sense.  Diff etc I don't think are interchangeable but let me know of you get a surplus 405 diff as my dad has a Bristol 401 that could do with an overdrive diff.  Wishing you lots of enjoyment driving your Ace when you get it on the road.    If you are in the Burbank area in the US then Shawn Thomas would be a good starting point to talk to - let me know if this is the case and I will email contact details. Cheers, Glen

Hi all,

I had a spare Ace Bristol non overdrive gearbox that we have fitted to an early Type 401 Bristol saloon.  In test drives the car goes very well (spare BS head has also been fitted that would have raced in the New Zealand Grand Prix back in the 1950's that my dad had under the bench in garage for the last 40 years) but is a bit of a challenge to get underway due to gearing.

My questions are therefore is anyone able to tell me:
1.   The gear ratios for the gears as fitted to a standard BWCR12 gearbox
2.   The Bristol part numbers for each of the gears fitted to a BWCR12 gearbox.
3.   Whether the gears are interchangeable from a Bristol saloon 403 gearbox (BWCR5) into a BWCR12 gearbox

Many thanks

Glen Smytheman

Thanks for that Peter - greatly appreciated.  This is the same company we were looking at for the body - they are a little slow responding to questions.  We have a number of parts that we can fit that are spare to my Ace including aero screens, guages and steering wheel so we will see if we end up with a body and build it up.  All other suggestions greatly appreciated.  Glen

Hi all and Greetings from New Zealand - summer is finally coming down under after a long winter and two lockdowns - I intend putting some serious miles on my Ace this summer and my thoughts are with other AC owners elsewhere in the world at this time.

We have an AC Ace Bristol and a number of Bristol saloons in our family and as a result my 11 year old son is dead set on a getting a himself a scale kids size Cobra.  He is very keen and pretty capable – he assisted removing Bristol 2 litre engine from a type 401 saloon at age 8 and is now helping reinstall the engine and box now it is finally reconditioned – kids with this level of enthusiasm should be encouraged and we are keen to get him some experience behind the wheel of a small Cobra as he is already making noises on wanting to drive the other AC in our household.....

We have found ¾ scale bodies for sale on Alibaba as per this link – and were looking to mount the body on a chassis (enlarged go cart or similar) – exact detail is not required as I expect that is will be raced rallied (but hopefully not rolled!)

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Large-3-4-Scale-427-shelby_60730417516.html?spm=a2700.details.deiletai6.2.d4644963qvj8FB

I am willing to be that there are others in the ACOC that have looked at building scale Cobra's for kids and would be interested to see what has been completed already.  Any information greatly appreciated and on the off chance that anyone from NZ is reading this and has a "kids cobra" that has been outgrown that could be for sale please get in touch.

Thanks all

Glen Smytheman

Thank you very much for that.  I confirm that shocks have been ordered and paid for and are heading down under.  One less thing to worry about - its getting to the stage where the weakest link in the trip will be the driver - we are driving up to 640km a day which is a lot in NZ where the people that built our roads appeared to be paid by the corner constructed (and made a lot of money)...... Best Regards, Glen

Hi all from New Zealand.  I am doing some work on my Ace Bristol prior to a planned 3500km Road trip over Easter (Auckland to Wanaka in South Island for Warbirds over Wanaka Air show and back) and hit a bit of a snag yesterday. Yesterday I finally got around to fitting a set of new rear Spax shocks which I had purchased some years ago only to find that 4x front shocks had been dispatched down to the colonies............. Brian Eacott has come back saying that Spax may make to order so there may be some waiting time.  I will call Spax Monday but wanted to see if by any chance:

A) There was anyone that has a new set of new rear Spax shocks in stock ready to airmail (anywhere in the world fine).  Reference is G623 in spax catalogue or Brian Eacott says G623EA.

B) Has anyone any experience of timing for Spax to dispatch shocks

On the flip side if there is anyone out there that needs a set of new front spax shocks for an Ace or Aceca (Spax reference G624) at short notice I can help......

Thanks in advance for any assistance

Glen Smytheman - PS you can also email me on glen@wbb.co.nz

Hi all and greetings from NZ.  It has  been a super summer for driving in NZ for the last two months and we have hardly seen any rain - albeit that it looks like this is about to change this weekend.....

A big favour if anyone from anywhere in the world can assist with the request below which is the the last item required to get a Bristol which has been off the road for more than 20 years back on the roads of NZ where it belongs.

I need a set of piston rings for 66mm dia Mahle pistons as fitted to 6 cylinder 2 litre Bristol engines.  Top 2 rings are 2mm wide.  Lower oil rings are 5mm wide, but must be 3 piece or preferably 4 piece for better control of oil consumption.

Any assistance greatly appreciated.  You can also email me on glen@wbb.co.nz

Wishing everyone safe driving for the year ahead

Glen Smytheman

Hi all,

Greetings from New Zealand.

A few items needed to get two Bristols back on the road in NZ as follows:

1. Timing Chain Cover for large nose crank Bristol Engine
2. 3 x Solex 32PBI Carbs - I can get these for approx GBP50 each down here which I suspect is probably about the cheapest available but thought I would check in if anyone new of anything for sale at a sensible price.

The above will get two additional Bristols back on the Road down here.

If anyone can assist please send me an email to glen@wbb.co.nz

Many thanks in advance

Glen Smytheman

Rob,  Many thanks for posting this article.  This is also a big THANK YOU to all those in the AC Car Owners Club (and Bristol Owners Club also) who made me so welcome when living in the UK, and helped me out when I was looking to buy a car.  Watch out for my son Callum who is on the last page of the article - he will likely be following the well trodden path of Kiwis to the UK in years to come and is likely to want to talk to anyone driving an AC whom he meets over there.  At age 7 he has already helped remove the engine and gearbox of my fathers Bristol 401 and is turning into a pretty handy mechanic.  Hope that you enjoy the read.  Glen Smytheman

Hi all - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from New Zealand.
   
   Please see response from my father Lane who is doing the suspension work on my Ace Bristol BE1175. I hope that this may help others throughout the world - the forum is such a great resource.
   
   Happy motoring for 2012.
   
   Glen Smytheman
   
   Re: The ACE Forum and discussions on king pin bushes
   
   
   
   I agree with BEX1151 - and can understand his confusion.
   
   After some consideration and in order to progress BE1175  ( with disc brakes - out of interest ) I ended up drawing up the front  front stub axle complete with king pin and bushes. The accurate location on the king pin as determined by the position of the cotter pin located in the front upright showed the grease groove(s) in the king pin were about 12mm from the INNER faces of the stub axle - not in the centre of the bush.. This ACE is a 1960 model with 11/16" king pins.
   
   You will note that new replacement bronze bushes have the main grease entry hole about 11mm from one end of the bush.
   
   If you look on page 48 of the AC Bristol General Instruction handbook you will see that the stub axle lower grease entry hole is shown much closer to the thrust washer end of the bush. In reality on BE1175 the reverse is the case and it is closer to the outer end of the stub axle lower face.  I would guess that most stub axles may be drilled that way.
   
   Therefore either the grease entry drilling was not done correctly as originally intended ( which seems unlikely ) or presumably was changed on production. - Who knows what was intended  50+ years later, irrespective of how the original bushes were/are fitted.
   
   My logic tells me that yes, the thrust washer needs adequate lubrication, and not just any leftover grease that may possibly escape upwards from the lower bush - particularly  if  there is a fairly tight clearance with newly reamed bushes.The thrust washer has grease grooves both sides so obviously it was intended that grease would get there ( somehow ?)
   
   Therefore in order to progress the restoration of the ACE without any further doubts or indecision  I have  slotted  the lower bush grease entry hole towards the stub axle drilling and inserted the bush with the initial hole 11mm down from the thrust washer face so that the grease will adequately lubricate the washer.
   
   The upper bush I have inserted also with the hole 11mm  up from the inner face of the stub axle , adjacent to the front upright.  With the bush grease entry hole in this position it will almost line up with the groove in the king pin. However we have turned the bush around so that the hole faces outwards towards the wheel. The grease from the top of the king pin heads out of the pin towards the engine. Therefore the grease ( in part ) has to go to the other side of the pin before it can  escape - mainly because the pin groove is larger than the bush grooves.  The bush could also be inserted  with the hole towards the front or back of the car. I admit that the location of the top bush is not so critical.
   
   That way the non thrust top of the stub axle will also be lubricated  - stopping grease going to waste by easily escaping upwards with the bush installed the other way around ( or some may say the correct way ). Out of interest the top of the upright was fitted with a shim to reduce any excess vertical play. Glens car is a low mileage car in very original condition so I assume that this may have been originally fitted even though it is not shown on the factory assembly drawing.
   
   To me  the new bushes allow new grease to escape too easily ( if installed with the hole towards the top and bottom of the stub axle) and so may not push old grease out of the grooves and therefore not fully or adequately lubricate the king pin, bushes and thrust washer. Long term the assembly may therefore suffer from excess or accelerated wear.
   
   So, for better or worse,  that is what has been done and the reason behind  the decision. This way I am more than confident that the assembly is adequately lubricated.   I am sure this is likely generate further discussion.
   
   Lane Smytheman.