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I am trying to put together a 2 Litre saloon that has been played around with previously, at one stage having a sidevalve Ford V8 in it and later a Jaguar. Iknow the whereabouts of the original motor but the gentleman who has it does not want to part with it even though it is only his second spare engine for an earlier car. I have part of another motor but to put an AC motor together is going to cost me more than the car would ever be worth so I figured that a Zephyr was the next best thing. I was curious about the gearbox the factory used. It would not be easy to adapt the Moss box to a Zephyr even if the Jag input shaft was used to get a spigot or a piece was made to bolt to the back of the crank. I work part time for a company that makes bellhousings so will probably fit a five speed conversion. I cannot image the company going to the expense of a Mays head on a saloon but did they use triple carbs or just a stock Zephyr? I was also hoping to find something about how the engine was mounted. I have a set of 1& 3/4" SU's and will do a bit of work to the motor so hopefully it will go well. Perhaps you could sent me a message Larry with details of the meeting you mentioned? Many years ago I did a lot of work on 221 Ford V8's as we were running Stock Cars which had a 240 c i max limit. Cheers, Ian.

Further to my previous post the other alternative I would suggest is the Toyota Celica five speed. I am currently fitting one of these to a Ford to put in to my 2 Litre saloon. They are a bit cheaper to buy than the Supra and a bit smaller but still plenty strong enough to take the power of a six cylinder. I am doing this one with an adaptor to an original Ford bellhousing. Cheers, Ian.

I do not know about Stateside boxes but a company I used to work for shipped several Toyota Supra five speed box conversions to the States and Australia for AC's and Bristols. I remember machining the bellhousing casting to adapt the Supra to a Ford Zephyr 2.6 in an Ace. Have a look at www.conversioncomp.com The advantage they have when shipping from New Zealand is tha $1 NZ only equates to about 55c US so even with the shipping the cost is not too bad. Hope this helps, Ian.

Jay, if you want to enquire about other conversions have a look at the website www.conversioncomp.com and send a question through the site to Colin. When I was working for him I know we made up a bellhousing and a clutch kit to adapt a Toyota Supra five speed to a Ford engine for an Ace in Australia and he has also made various housings for Bristol engines. I am putting a Zephyr in my saloon with a Toyota Celica box using an adaptor plate. The Supra is a great box but the Celica is fine for a road car if you are on a tight budget like me! Hope this helps, regards, Ian.

The spare chassis I have is EL1592. This car has been completely dismantled for spare parts and the body scrapped. I know the whereabouts of the engine and will try and establish the number of it. Regards, Ian.

My car is Chassis EL1519 which was originally fitted with Engine No UMB1522. I do not have that engine but know its whereabouts. I have parts of engine No UMB1736. In Southwards Motor Museum is a complete car Chassis No EL1598 with Engine No UMB1602. I know of another owner who has a complete and running saloon and an imcomplete drophead. I will post those numbers when I go to look at the cars but that will not be for some months. I have heard of two other cars that are in this country, one was possibly EL1034/UMB1036. I have a spare chassis but have yet to find a number on it. Will let you know anything else that comes to hand. Regards, Ian

Thanks for that, they are readily available here. I work part time for a company that does five speed conversions, most of which get sent to Britain, Europe or the USA but we often see Moss boxes taken out and I am sure I could persuade a customer to do a trade. I had even thought of looking for a Moss box with overdrive. It all depends what I do for an engine which needs to be sorted first. Cheers, Ian.

Thanks for that. Since first posting I have managed to find an original manual and two more incomplete cars. There is a complete car in an auto museum but it is a bit far away to go off and check things every weekend! Most things are progressing well, the woodwork was done before I got it so it is mostly just mechanicals. I have found all the websites with 2Litre stories interesting and will post again if I get stuck. Cheers, Ian.

Hi, How have you got on with your gearbox and O/D? I work for a company which does modern five speed conversions but it would not be difficult to cast a bellhousing to adapt the Triumph box to the AC engine. I have a block and bellhousing and the company has Triumph casings and bits for developement purposes. I thought I had read somewhere that AC had made their own gearbox casing to suit the Triumph gears but that would be a lot more work. Have a look at www.conversioncomp.com if you want to contact us. Cheers, Ian.

I would love to put an original motor in it and have everything needed excepted motor, bellhousing and mounts. I would be interested in your motor, the delay is no problem as I an working on the rest of the car but I suspect freight would be a killer. The other bits may help as I know of an incomplete motor. Please email me at ianverrall@paradise.net.nz Thanks, Ian.

Greetings, I have watched the forum for some time now and participated occaisionally but have never seen any postings about people restoring late type Greyhounds. Are they not popular or were there not many made? The model history on this site shows one photo and just says that they were the family mans version of the Aceca with the same choice of engines. Does this mean they were made with AC, Bristol and Ford engines? If so I would like to know more about the Ford engined version. Particularly which gearbox it used and did it have the Raymond Mays head etc? Any links to other sites with pictures of Greyhounds would also be appreciated. Thanks, Ian.

Does anybody know if there is a company in the UK manufacturing replica hubcaps for 2 Litres? I was told there was but cannot find any reference to them in either the printed media or on the net. Any suggestions on good suppliers of these and/or other parts would be most welcome. Cheers, Ian.

In the lower photo on page 54 of the Leo Archibald book a 2 Litre Drophead is shown with what appears to be a short straight gearlever almost back at the front of the seats. Does anybody know whether this was a factory fitted option and what the box is? I understand that the Moss box fitted to Mk5 Jags was similar to the box in an AC (except for the spigot) and the Jags have a remote so perhaps it is one of these? Cheers, Ian

Greetings, I have acquired a partly rebuilt 2litre saloon (1950) without motor. So far I have not had any luck tracking down an AC engine for it in this country so I am contemplating powering it with a Zephyr motor. Has anybody done this and are there any difficulties? What about diff ratios? I work for a company that specialises in 5 speed gearbox conversions so making a bellhousing is not a problem but I also wonder whether I should replace the Moss box with a 5 speed and make a nice touring car out of it and disregard the originality aspect. We have recently made a conversion for a Ford powered Aceca in Australia. If possible I will do it in such a way that I can return it to original if the original motor turns up. Any input or suggestions welcome, Thanks, Ian.

Greetings, I have recently purchased a 1951 2 Litre Saloon (in New Zealand) and am looking for information about them. Also contacts for suppliers of bits. Postings about what to look out for, what problems they give and even how they go would also be a great help. I ordered the book by Leo Archibald through the Practical Classics mag website and it arrived in rural N.Z. in less than a week which I thought was very good service. It will be a great deal of help when it comes to detailing the car but I was hoping someone could tell me about any factory manuals or handbooks or any other books which deal with rebuilding the mechanicals. If anyone has such information for sale or is willing to have photocopies done I will gladly meet all costs. Thanks, Ian.