Ace Overriders

[AC Ace Bristol]

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Progress Report ...  05/01/2019

After receiving photographs of tooling, first pressing , welding of internal fixings and plating,   a series of emails were  exchanged regarding standards and specification took place, Resulting in  a sample (Pair ?)  being despatched for inspection and trial fixing  by Brian Horwood to his early Ace.

I have had a pair of early style over rider brackets fabricated  ( Front and rear brackets have different predrilled  bolt hole centres for securing to bodywork), 
These have also been despatched to Brian for inspection and trial fixing.

Once  Over riders have been  approved, We can increase the  quantity ordered and pay final invoice ,   Please note the club will stock 3 sets only, So if you
are still contemplating placing your order, You have little time to join this one off venture.. As stated earlier,  It will not be viable to produce a second batch.

A quick thank you to all those who have paid their  deposits  and supported this Venture .

Keith

[B.P.Bird]

Latest information: Brian Horwood has received the first production sample and run his engineers eye over it. The pressing and general construction are assessed as being to a high standard. Some aspects of the plating are also good, but a problem with the pre-plating polishing has been identified. This is is in the area of weld penetration where the mounting plates are welded in. After plating some striations from the linishing were visible. Rob Hendriks will discuss solutions to this with the factory. The opinion of the team is that procedures to obviate the problem are not difficult.

[B.P.Bird]

Latest Information: Rob Hendriks tells us that the new sample is in transit. We hope to see the plating now up to our required standard. I should express my thanks to all the overrider participants for their support and patience. Further news shortly after Brian Horwood has conducted his appraisal.

[B.P.Bird]

Latest Information: Two more samples have been submitted and Brian Horwood has been looking at them very closely. We are delighted to say that a high standard has been achieved and Brian summed up his findings by saying he would be pleased to fit them to his AE 24. The Club is proceeding to order the production batch of 20 car sets and this quantity will then be fixed. If anyone contacts me with a deposit and order within the next 48 hours I will increase the order, this is however the absolute last chance.

[B.P.Bird]

Production Update:
Here are the latest pictures of a batch of production overriders part way through the process.







We are working on the suggested list of fasteners and will publish that shortly
Barrie

[nikbj68]

They do look fantastic!
It's been an epic journey, but the results appear to justify the efforts. Can't wait to see them in chrome, and fitted to an Ace!  8)

[B.P.Bird]

Hello,
Here is the latest: We have been discussing the acceptance process and the Overrider Team felt that inspection/acceptance should be carried out prior to delivery. This does mean a short increase in delivery schedule, but has so many advantages in terms of quality control that we have elected to accept the delay and small extra cost per unit, which will be accounted for in the final payment. Accordingly Rob Hendricks will be conducting the final inspection on or about June 20th.
As soon as possible after that we will do the final accounting and let you know the final payment amount. Shipment will follow thereafter.
In the interim we will be giving details of:

1) Fastener recommendations and sources
2) Mounting bracket ordering and cost information
3) Distance tubes ordering and cost information


Barrie

[B.P.Bird]

Some encouraging pictures which give us optimism that the inspection/acceptance referred to above will go well.




Here is the information I promised on the fasteners required, but first a word of caution: We have looked at a number of early Aces and as you might expect there is a considerable variation in fasteners. Obviously the passing years will have seen accidents, removals for racing, modifications from standard, fitment of the later type, lost fasteners from careless maintenance or simply because of the ravages of corrosion. All of this means that there will be cars which might now require longer or shorter bolts and screws. So you will need to take a careful look and spot any differences.
All the fasteners are BSF except the first item on the list. This is UNF because originally the early overriders came with square shanked  captive nuts which dropped in to the rectangular mounting holes. These nuts were UNF which, at the time, was being promoted as the standard industry thread. Some of these nuts and clips have survived in early cars and they may swop over in to our reproduction overriders. The rest of us will have to make do with ordinary UNF Aerotight  nuts.

8 off 5/16" UNF  ¾" underhead with ½" thread 

4 off 5/16" BSF  1¼" underhead with ¾" thread

4 off 5/16"  BSF  2 ¾" underhead with 1" thread



8 off Aerotight nuts 5/16" UNF (unless you still have the special nuts)

8 off Aerotight nuts 5/16" BSF

16 off 5/16" plain washers



There are many suppliers of suitable fasteners and I hope experienced readers might make their own recommendations, here is a company who tell me they have the sizes, although some bolts may have to be replaced by screws:

https://www.namrick.co.uk/

With regard to early Aceca fasteners I cannot be be too helpful, we will have to await feedback from the those who are carrying out the fitment. The variations here are complicated by the tubular bumper bar situation. I am sure that the cars without single or double bumper bars will be identical on the front to the Ace. On the rear the mounting bracket is different, but might well use the same fasteners.
I have noted Aerotight shake proof nuts above, but ordinary nyloc nuts will do the job, albeit they look a bit modern. I suspect that the original works fitment might have been plain nuts with shake proof washers and there would not have been a stainless steel fastener in sight either, although I shall use stainless in the interests of longevity.
Turning to the brackets and distance tubes this is what an Ace will need:

Two off Front Brackets

Two off Rear Brackets

Two off Short Distance Tubes

Two off Long Distance Tubes

I believe the Aceca will need the specific Aceca bracket on the rear, which may be identical to the later overrider Aceca bracket and may use the front bracket where no tubular bumper bars are fitted. I hope we will get the feedback already mentioned.
These brackets and distance tubes will be available via Keith Lessiter's existing bracket scheme. Remember to specify front or rear brackets when ordering less than a full set as the mounting holes have differently spaced hole centres. As an aside I suspect that some chassis will have left the works with the mounting holes at a different spacing, all part of the charm and not a problem as the bracket holes can be elongated to suit, should anyone find hole centres which were drilled by a more artistic employee.....
Keith has the details of his scheme in the back of ACtion or you can email him:

keith.lessiter@gmail.com


Further news after the inspection is complete

Barrie Bird

[B.P.Bird]

Inspection Report:
Good news and less good news. The good news is that our decision to inspect prior to delivery has turned out to be the right one. The manufacturer presented two thirds of the order for inspection and Rob Hendricks was able to pass all of them. The less good news - one third had been rejected by the manufacturers own quality control. One supposes, given the chronology of the situation, that this was as the result of the pressure applied by having to submit to our inspection. Whatever it does reflect some credit on those involved in that they are determined to achieve a first class job and had the courage to reject some overriders. The rejected one third are being replaced asap and obviously not at our cost.
Rob did make one observation, which equally applies to the original overriders: The polishing and plating process is not as robust on the backside of the overrider as it is on the front. This is simply a product of the concave surface and the shielding effect of the mounting plates. He suggests that, before fitting, a clear protective lacquer might be applied to the rear surface.
As to timing we faced a decision on shipping the approved batch immediately, or waiting for the complete order. Given the time scale of this kind of project we have decided to make one shipment when all is complete rather than accept the cost of two shipments, two customs clearances, two agents fees and so on. I can only say thank you for your patience and point out that making only one shipment will minimise your final costs.
Barrie

[B.P.Bird]

Up to date information: The production is now complete and we have instructed agents to get the consignment air freighted to London.This should be achieved very shortly and we will then work out the final costings and let everyone know the balance of their remittance and their postal/freight costs for delivery to their address.
Always unwise to allow excessive optimism to overcome wise caution - but we do seem to be approaching the end of this particular saga
Barrie

[B.P.Bird]

Our overriders have now been delivered to the A.C.O.C. and I will shortly be sending out requests for final payments and destination addresses. Just sit tight til you get my email
Barrie

[bobbylangley]

SWIFT/BIC: LOYDGB21126

[B.P.Bird]

First batch has been posted today. As payments are cleared further batches will be posted. A 16 month wait, but nearly at the end now, as ever thanks for your patience
Barrie

[B.P.Bird]

A picture's worth a thousand words: This is what was delivered to me just now. Brian is working down the list and further batches are going in the post - thank you Brian.



You can clearly see how different the early overrider is compared to the more common later type



I am, of course, biased, but the quality of these is so good it makes the long wait worthwhile. Another pleasant surprise is the below budget final price, especially given the small batch size.
I do hope we can get some feedback from those fitting these overriders to their early Aces/Acecas.  It will be a while before mine will be going on AE 22, although that moment is getting closer thanks to Steve Gray and his team at A.C. Heritage:






Something of a miracle given how badly the poor old body had been knocked about, Steve reckons they have rescued about 85% of the original alloy:




Barrie

[B.P.Bird]

See here for some much needed photographic evidence of Aceca fitment of the correct early overrider:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1955-ac-aceca/

The full post is on this Ace, Aceca & Greyhound Forum. If you follow the link you can see several pictures clearly shewing the rear brackets which, as we guessed, look the same as the later cars used. That is to say the later Aceca continued to use the same rear mounting bracket when the Standard 8 overrider was introduced. The front overriders, missing on '502, but available from the A.C.O.C., would use the same bracket as the Ace. This Aceca not having the complication of tubular bumpers.
This does mean that fitment of the correct overriders for owners of the early Aceca becomes a lot easier and clearer. I think Keith Lessiter's overrider bracket scheme can supply the correct rear Aceca bracket.
Let's hope the new owner of '502 gets the front back to original
Barrie