Rock and Roll

[B.P.Bird]

Ace owners will be familiar with the anti torque damper fitted to limit the engine and gearbox rocking about in the chassis. Many car designs include something similar and indeed A.C. also used  damping devices on Acecas and Greyhounds. These  devices differed depending on engine and chassis variations.
On most Aces, with the Weller designed SOHC six and Moss gearbox, there are two brackets, one on each main chassis tube and a mounting pad on the under side of the bellhousing. A simple 'bridge' joins these points, using rubber insulating 'bobbins' on the chassis brackets. A simple and effective anti torque brace. So far so good, but later, in the last years of Ace production the A.C. Lightweight gearbox was introduced. This gearbox had a different, lighter, bellhousing and the mounting pad for the 'bridge' was deleted.
Question is how was the torque damping achieved ? Perhaps the halving of gearbox weight changed the dynamic and the 'rocking ' did not occur ? Perhaps stiffer engine mounts were specified ? All this seems unlikely and indeed, in the case of the Greyhound with CLBN A.C. engine and using the Lightweight gearbox, the damper is neatly reduced to two small 'snubbers' one each side of the cylinder head and anchored to each battery box. Of course it would be simple to look at a later production Ace with the lightweight gearbox and see the answer. Sadly such a beast has not  come my way in a couple of years of looking. I wonder if an owner of one of these later Aces (or late Aceca with Lightweight gearbox) could explain what the works fitted ?

Barrie