AE23 History- Some missing parts

[Dale W]

Hi All. We're just finishing up on AE23 to get it back on the road and have come up against a bit of a quandary. As most know, AE22 and 23 were the first Aces off the assembly line and were shipped to America to be raced. We've got period race photos of AE22 thanks to Barry B and they show AE22 with a side exit exhaust. We presume AE23 had the same. What makes us think this is the exhaust manifolds on AE23 are different from the manifolds we have from AEX162. They've been cut short and angled differently. This would make sense as this would align with the exhaust setup on 22. Since the car will be driven periodically we're not sure a side exit exhaust with no muffler is what we want. Presumably it had some other exhaust on it after it was retired from racing. Has anyone got any historical photos of 23, prior to when it was restored? There are lots of post-restoration photos floating around but we'd love to see some earlier shots. There are also some missing blocks of history on the car. We'd love to fill some of that in if we can. Thanks!

[nikbj68]

Keith has this photo of AE22, and they have very kindly lowered the exhaust so we can get a good look at it!!!
   
   
   
   OUCH!  That's not going to buff out!

[AC Ace Bristol]

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   .
   Dale
   
   Glad to hear that AE23 is nearing completion and will soon be on the road.
   The picture kindly posted by Nik is of AE22 not AE23,  Like Barrie I assume that as both these early Ace were raced they would have been built to the same basic specification.
   
   
   For general road use  especially on a long trip with a passenger, I would fit a silencer as it really makes for a more comfortable  enjoyable journey.
   Long trips with silencer and  Le Mans style exhaust exiting in front of rear wheel is torture for the passenger then grief for the driver for the next 24/48 hours..[B)]  ( Keep a few earplugs in the door pocket.. )
   
   If you speak to Tim Isles or Tony Bancroft, they will confirm discomfort levels as they both run Le Mans style side exit exhaust system and often have a passenger[;)]
   
   Keith

[B.P.Bird]

Dale,
   The exhaust system pictured on AE22 is not the one fitted by A.C. and is most likely one of Gene Spaulding's racing mods, perhaps in conjunction with Hap Dressel who was the importer for '22 and '23. I have the exhaust manifolds that were fitted and they are standard primary pipes but the down pipes have been cut off at the 3 in to 1 welded joint and a slightly larger bore down pipe welded on instead. As you see in the Fairfax crash picture these down pipes then merge to give one side pipe. So the layout became 6-2-1. Possibly this could work very well, but would not suit a road car, being without a silencer, which being the case, '22 is being reassembled with the standard twin tail pipe system which is how she and her sister '23 were first supplied by Thames Ditton.
   The transparencies which came with '22 are crystal clear and maybe the reproduction above, by Nick, is from a book ? Anyway here is a copy taken from the original transparency which shews things a bit more clearly:
   
   
   
   This is one of the pictures I have of AE23 in California, at the start of a restoration. Apparently she is not in racing trim. Annoyingly none of my pictures shew the exhaust, but I think it likely that the Thames Ditton standard system was in place.
   
   
   
   If '23 had the same system as '22 I do not believe it was a Thames Ditton competition part as it was so early in Ace production that there was no competition development - maybe Ken Rudd had something developed for his first competition Ace by the end of 1954 which might have been reproduced and sent over ? Anyone got some pictures of the exhaust on AE35 in period ?

[nikbj68]

Wow, Barrie, that trannie is really good!
   Here are a couple of photos that Keith received from Steve Gray of Ken Rudd's Ace AE35:
   
   
   
   
   
   Whether or not they help with the exhaust question, they are some great period action shots. [8D]

[B.P.Bird]

Certainly are evocative. This looks like the standard system, but maybe Ken Rudd included the exhaust in later developments ?