1924 Fiat Mefistofele

[Cato]

  Here ya go Cato. The Video shows it clearly.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/motoringvideo/8566579/Goodwood-2011-the-mighty-Mephistopheles-returns.html

Most appreciated Ed and a great reference for Harry. Great vid and I read the whole article.

Duh- I should have known; being an aero engine it is 'propped' just like old bipes and such in the day. Pull though to clear the cylinders, set advance and fuel and turn the prop (which turns the crank) only here it's about a 4' pipe cranked by the restorer. Even though only 4.5 compression ratio, the internal friction from BIG parts is huge. Great fun.

[Ridge Rider]

That is one beautiful engine Harry.  With my level of patience and effortless ability to lose small parts this would be shelved already.  Thanks for sharing.

[plastic-mechanic]

http://web.ipmsusa3.org/content/fiat-mefistofele

[Harry P.]

I've put the engine aside for the time being and started on the chassis. It builds up like any other typical '20s-'30s chassis... open channel frame rails and various crossmembers. Nothing unusual here. The chassis also includes eight friction shocks (two per wheel), which assemble pretty much like real ones... individual leaves sandwiched between an outer disk and a metal "star." These shocks were adjusted by either loosening or tightening the star, to control the damping rate.

Here you can see how they look when assembled...

[Harry P.]

Notice the red circled items in the instruction book page above. They show the rear springs hanging from the shackles, while the upper ends of the shackles are screwed to the frame rails. This was typically how rear springs of cars of this era were attached, so I thought nothing of it and built and installed the rear springs as shown in the instructions. But when it came time to add the radius rods/chain guard assemblies,  I was getting interference between parts, and the tops of the chain guards were on a weird angle that just didn't look right. Something was definitely wrong, but I couldn't figure out what. I checked and re-checked to see that I had built and installed the rear springs as shown in the instructions... and that was the problem! The instructions are wrong. On the real car, the rear leaf springs do not hang down from the shackles as shown in the instructions... the shackles are mounted the opposite way, as this photo of the real car shows...

Luckily, the rear springs and shackles in this kit are all assembled with screws, not glue, so it was easy to just unscrew everything and mount the springs and shackles the right way. Now I no longer had any parts interfering with other parts. But a pretty stupid mistake in the instructions of a $200 kit if you ask me.

[Harry P.]

Here's the assembled front end of the chassis... typical of the era. You can see the friction shocks installed here...

[Twokidsnosleep]

That is a tasty piece of information for the future!!

[Harry P.]

And here is the rear end of the chassis. You can see how the leaf springs and shackles are mounted correctly now. I also drilled lightening holes in the control levers, per my reference photos.

[sjordan2]

I think it's amazing how long those primitive friction shocks were used. Same design on my 1937 Jaguar SS 100 kit.

Edited July 22, 2016 by sjordan2

[bobthehobbyguy]

Nice work. You were lucky it used bolts. You would not have been a happy camper if you had glued it.

[Cato]

Italeri obviously hired some very old, senile Pocher chassis design guys...

[Harry P.]

After I finished the chassis, it looked sort of "blah" to me... so I took off the front and rear suspensions and wrapped the springs for a little more visual interest and detail. There are several stories as to why they used to wrap the springs... to keep them quiet, to keep grit from getting in between the leaves, etc. Some cars, like Rolls Royce, had leather "gaiters" that completely covered the leaf springs. So since the real car has them wrapped, my model now does, too. The wrapping is heavy-duty carpet thread that I detailed with a wash of acrylics...

[Harry P.]

As you can see, the real car has wooden floorboards, and they aren't exactly super precise as far as fit between the individual boards...

And this is what passes for "wooden" floorboards in the kit...

Obviously this will never do. As I always say, "nothing looks more like real wood than real wood," so I cut a bunch of strips of basswood and stained them. I used the kit floorboards as a template to cut a new piece out of thin cardboard...

The wooden floorboards were then glued to the cardboard base...

Next I will trim the boards along the edges of the cardboard base, and add the brass nail heads to each board.

[Harry P.]

Once I had the floorboards trimmed, I laid out the positions of each brass nail and drilled a hole for each...

I think I was able to improve on the kit pieces...

[Ramfins59]

Yeah Harry, you certainly DID improve on the kit parts.  Great work as always.

[Nacho Z]

Holy cats!!  Love the floorboards!  Not to get off-topic, but this is something that model builders and contest judges need to understand.  Real, raced, race cars, especially as you go back in time, more often than not, are not these super spotless show machines.  They have all sorts of warts and blemishes on and in them.  Not all the body panels are precisely lined up.  The paint was not miles deep and ultra glossy.  I could go on and on but you get my point.  Do not try to build an accurate replica or people will think you are a terrible modeler.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Love the real wood floorboards, light years ahead of the phony kit ones.

I was hoping you were going to do the basswood trick and then the brass nailheads are the icing on the cake.

Reminds me of those cool WWI aircraft cockpits with wooden floors, wood props and other neat retro details.

[bobthehobbyguy]

That wood floor looks great.

[kpnuts]

Superb work as always harry

 

 

[Dann Tier]

so far, 12 of 24 spark plugs installed and wired into the brass wiring loom tube...

simply, WOW!!, Harry. Q:what brand/type of copper paint did you use here?   -and I hope your pain goes away soon

[David G.]

I always enjoy watching your progress on these specialty kits Harry. As always, one looks great. Thanks for sharing it with us.

David G.

[Foxer]

As you can see, the real car has wooden floorboards, and they aren't exactly super precise as far as fit between the individual boards...

That must be one big screwdriver used to assemble this beast! 

[Ace-Garageguy]

You're going the extra mile, as usual, to improve or replace the kit parts to give the model a very realistic feel. As always, inspiring.

The actual truth about the spring gaiters used on a variety of cars is as you mentioned; the spring leaves were lubricated so they'd slide over each other more easily, giving a more predictable action. Dry leaves can bind and be jerky, and even in these relatively primitive cars, predictable handling was very important to race drivers. The grease between the spring leaves was, obviously, a magnet for dust and grit...and could also be washed out by water...so gaiters were employed both to protect the lubricant from road debris and to keep it dry. Well, relatively dry. 

We recently had a '41 Packard in the shop, and when it was on the lift, I was surprised to note that it retained its original gaiters.

Jaguar used gaiters on its rear-leafspring cars at least as late as '57 (that I know for certain), and possibly later. They were provided with laces to make the periodic maintenance of cleaning and greasing the springs a little easier.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Not to get off-topic, but this is something that model builders and contest judges need to understand.  Real, raced, race cars, especially as you go back in time, more often than not, are not these super spotless show machines.  They have all sorts of warts and blemishes on and in them.  Not all the body panels are precisely lined up.  The paint was not miles deep and ultra glossy.  I could go on and on but you get my point ...

Yup. I've grown tired of going to shows and seeing nothing but over-restored cars that NEVER looked like they do now. To me, nothing beats the appeal of an old machine that LOOKS like an old machine that was actually USED. A lot of race cars, even Ferraris and their ilk, were very rough around the edges. Speed and reliability were the name of the game, and impressing spectators with pristine paint and finish was rarely a primary goal for those building and preparing cars...though some took appearance much more seriously than others.

[Harry P.]

simply, WOW!!, Harry. Q:what brand/type of copper paint did you use here?   -and I hope your pain goes away soon

I use Rustoleum "Specialty Metallic" #1937830 Metallic Copper, comes in an 11 0z. can. I don't remember what it cost; I bought it several years ago to use on my 1911 Christie pumper..