AECs and Albions

In their day the AEC V8 was a top power motor and the usual gearbox in the Mandator was the (also under developed) 10 sp semi auto. A prototype was put in fleet use in Aus. The shortcoming came about because the big ends were too narrow and needed changing shells every 30K miles. The other issue was over heating and this was addressed with the later larger bore version which had thinner liners. Both problems were brought on by having a compact motor designed to fit between chassis rails under the low Ergomatic cab. In England AEC bought back most of them but the 20 odd that came to Aus/NZ stayed Here. Some V8 motors were used successfully in Sabre buses in Western Aus. (Not in Clippers) The gearbox weakness was simply through not having a pump served oil cooler.

Mammoth,

Thanks for the heads up on the V8 AEC engine, tried to find some reference to SABRE BUSES W.A. but I'm not all that brilliant on internet research. OK, so the V8 WAS used in bus/coaches (but as you say, NOT Clippers), can you remember if they were underfloor mounted, rear transverse mounted or simply a normal front engined job? Looks like I may have originally been given a bum drum re Clipper/V8 AEC combo. Maybe they were also tried with the underfloor engine laying on it's side a la AEC route buses?
So was Sabre a coach body builder similar to CCMC or Properts etc? I do remember early days when it wasn't uncommon for a body builder to utilise many engine/chassis units. My late father drove buses when he first came home from WW2 and still remember Mack, White and of course, early Brit stuff, Leyland, Albion, AEC etc. Probably should be writing to our cousins in the bus/coach sections.

Thanks again, Dave 64

IIRC, Sabre was the AEC chassis name.

You might get some assistance on the WA buses from the guys on Bus Australia forum

There is also Australian Bus Fleet lists. Each state has a different collator, and must lists don't go very far back.
Here is the WA link: www.perthbus.info/index.php .
Generally, I get no response from collators, but I did from the WA one.
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor

I remember seeing a coach with the AEC V8 motor in it, with the engine undergoing some sort of repair,at the Total truck stop at Marsden NSW in the late 60's or very early 70 's, and I recollect that it came from Wagga Wagga,possibly Fearnes.

That coach of Fearnes from Wagga, I seem to recall it doing shuttle work from Sydney to Kapooka in the late 60,s, taking the troops down to IRTB.

Tried to get onto 'Bus Australia's' website only to be denied because I was considered a 'spammer'?? (Maybe they just consider me as an 'undesirable').

Would have liked to have found out a bit more about these V8 AEC's in Australia, like Foden two strokes would imagine they would be pretty rare.

Seeing as there seems to be a bit of interest in these large English lorries and their many types, also remember a single drive GUY, working out of either Brimstone or Valley Coal in the late sixties. Had a 4/71 GM pulling a bogie trailer on coal. Same bloke who owned it also had an 8 wheeler AEC flat top, Armstrong steering, bit of a handful in traffic. Used to do kegs out of either Tooheys or maybe it was the Kent brewery in Sydney.

Dave 64

As a taster here is the link to V8 workshop manual
middx.net/aec/units/v8man_b4.htm If you click the home button you wil go to home page of AEC Society and there is a button for bus stuff....

I made some enquires on ATDB on your behalf, and got the following response from a relaible knowledgable sauce:

There was just one AEC Sabre which was bodied by Denning in 1971 for Sandgate Black & White. It passed to Briscoe's in Adelaide then to Deveson's in Melbourne, then to Endeavour, Geelong. AFAIK it was sold for a camper from there. However for most of not all of its life it was fitted with a GM engine rather than the AEC.

I believe another Sabre bodied as a bus was somewhere in the Middle East, possibly Saudi Arabia.

Thanks, Beaver.
And so the plot thickens, seems the more rocks you kick over, the more surprising things are found.

Cheers, Dave 64

Bear in mind that the Sabre was a heavy duty front engined truck chassis. Any bus/coach needing that sort of grunt would be underfloor or rear engined. The example mentioned would have been rear engined, hence the likelyhood of having the GM from new.