Cato

Continued... Seen from the back, you can see some slight overlap of the plastic ring to the steel inner and outer. The best solution I figured by the third wheel was to sand the ID of the plastic to just get even with the steel. A word about those spoke nipples (hubs as Pocher calls them). They are 2mm long and 1mm wide. they are near impossible to grip with fingers or tweezers. They have slag on the open ends. They fly easily and you fidget constantly to place them. My plastic rings were all brittle and I cracked several on the first wheel, from trying to 'push' them in place with screwdriver tip. The solution is to melt them into place with your pencil soldering iron. So a hot device in one hand, a wood stick to hold their position in the other and just the right amount of 'touch' to keep from making a melted mess. All the while the pressure from the spoke crossover trying to dislodge it from your delicate positioning...BTW, NONE of this is imparted to you in the Pocher 'instructions'. They are simply exploded-view drawings which are near impossible to read. You need the Koo material and some help like this from a recent assembly project.http://http://http://http:// Thanks to me, there won't be a run on eBay Pocher Classics. I'm sure you are thinking 'he's nuts to do this or a really bad builder'. You're certainly right but don't let that stop you from building one. I b****** and carped a ton but let me tell you-it REALLY is all worth it if you love museum-style classic cars. Despite all the supplied flaws, Pocher tackled an enormous model engineering project and got MANY things right. The more resourceful of you can overcome the flaws with gratifying results. I just look at the completed standing chassis every day while grappling with the details and it inspires me to keep hacking away. I'd love to be doing (and showing you) the completed shiny parts (that seems to be important here), but I slug away on the minutia knowing I'd be satisfied with the complete whole. Finishing the last two wheels (replacement part from Marvin for the spare) and then onto the engine. Will try some additional details there with reference supplied by Harry and Skip. It's great to have 'Pocher Friends'.

The wheels: Pocher's dirty little secrets (in bold)... Probably the greatest challenge in building this car, the wheels as supplied by Pocher are a constant struggle to deal with and stay a step ahead of. And again, I did this once before in the '70's with the Alfa's wheels-without any experience or the great help of Paul Koo's CD. They were probably terrible... First off, I made a jig for the jig. Pocher gives you a round hoop plastic jig with a center post to keep things in relation to each other. It's warped so pick the best one of the 5 given and use it for all wheels. Realizing it was nowhere near stable enough, I epoxied it to a FLAT, rigid 1/8" aluminum plate which I then epoxied to 1/2" pine. This lets you handle the assembly and rotate it as needed. Also lets you have a solid base to press against as some of the spokes need quite a bit of force to seat - no matter what you do!. http:// Each rim is composed of 3 plastic rings and 4 plated steel rings. They assemble into a sandwich with the plastic rings carrying the spokes. NONE of these is concentric with the other. They are also slightly different thicknesses. You need to keep the assembly as narrow as possible so the tire fits correctly. That turns out to be 18mm wide between the outer bead rings. So truing flat on sand paper and emory (for the steel) is vital. http:// The center hub assembly is another minefield. Here are the component parts, numbered as they fit together: http:// #1 is the central shaft which is threaded on the bottom. #2 assembles onto #1 and is the slot housing for the last (outer) row of spokes. #3 is the outer shell, the upper and lower edges of which want to overlap the spoke slots-which is VERY frustrating, no matter what you do. Sanding true doesn't help, the diameters are too big. #4 is the internal spacer which keeps 2 and 5 apart. #5 is the lower slot housing. #6 is the steel bottom plate which goes over the threads on #1. #7 is the threaded nut which captures the whole assembly. This is the most critical part of the hub assembly. You must NOT tighten this nut, which compresses the whole unit. You must leave clearance enough because when the spokes are pushed in place, they need space to fit vertically. Too tight and you can't get spokes in. Too loose and the spokes you've placed can slip out-which makes you tear your hair out. Notice the razor saw on the right? I used that to clear out each of the 80 slots per wheel to (hopefully) get the spokes to insert easily. The overhanging steel parts thwart that good intention. The hub in place on the jig. Here the lower and middle rows are in place, awaiting the top row. Because all spokes cross over each other, they exert pressure on each other. Makes it hard to place them in slots and hold while heat-sinking in the spokes into the plastic rings: http:// The last row, in the clockwise direction, in place. Still waiting the counterclockwise spokes: http:// Continued below unless you can't take anymore...

Point well made Eric! Nice job and you even got the waving privileged family! Yes with care the tires dismount and mount easily. I'm sanding all the wheel edges as I make them. I just completed the third wheel and started the fourth, that's why no recent posts. But I'll have a bible on the wheel construction to show soon. Harry and Rich are right, they are very rewarding when done correctly. But man, they kick your butt on the way to perfection... You still studying the eBay RR market Eric? I hope so.

Hmmmmm. I getting a hint here. Yes mark is right-when I get the big pieces colored (sometime this decade ), that will be the go-no-go. Seeing tires, painted wheels and body parts in paint will decide. But yes, the black is handsome but the white is so immaculately done by MMC....

Hey, quit boosting my view count! Fenders, boards, hood top and cowl; deep maroon (seen on the front tray) which is either dark claret or burgundy (for you the wine expert). Body and hood sides and wheels a light cream / yellow / tan - it's tough to call it just one. It's got character but not overwhelming, like a 'school bus yellow'. Inside of fenders possibly a darker version of the maroon or dark gray; I'm not there yet in plan.

Since you may be the only vote, I'll take that under advisement.

The thin door roof pillars in either kit don't help. I sanded inside edges on the 1/16 and while taped tightly to the body, sanded the roof / door mating surfaces flush. If I only could have gotten the warp out it would have been a perfect clamshell. There's almost no good fix for this-unless you cut and rejoin the warp out.

This is your best chance. I tried epoxying the warped outer door panel (after some heat treatments) to the unwarped inner panel and taped to a jig to dry. The outer panel pulled a warp into the inner. In place on the car it was a bit better but it was still raised above the roof.

Most of the wrinkle and high heat coatings rely on 1:1 engine heat to 'activate' them. May not work on plastic models. Test on spoons first.

Wheel #2 complete. Open for preferences of whitewall or blackwall tires. Remember the wheels will be a 'butter cream' color and a dark gray / black brake drum behind: http:// http://

No Skip-it's CSX 3133, not a replica. The owner just made it over in a scheme and with parts he prefers. Many do.

Forgot you were doing a customer car. His is over-restored but that's his privilege.

For your next one-the letters are not actually white. They are a light tan right from G'year and they turn a darker tan color immediately from heat and use. They're sprayed on and pretty sloppy with overspray.

Thank you David.

Yes, that's what I meant. I might wipe the kit tires with iso or lacquer thinner for prep.

Do you think fabric spray will adhere or buy Marvin's? Now there are 6 of them........

SHOW ME THE PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A beautiful museum piece-again- Harry. Those guys had big brass ones running an exposed fuel line next to a flailing drive chain! I'm impressed that you have a photo box big enough to get good overall shots. Wish I did-I'll have to shoot the finished shots (whenever that is!) outdoors. Hopefully this will bring Pocherphile Rick and Frank back on board. Now you promised; where are the Sedanca progress shots????????????????

The moment of truth. Both halves rejoined and mocked-in place to test. Steering box complete, all parts unfinished. The steering arm is concentric which is a miracle considering how I did it: http:// All finished in black, graphite and a little corrosion: http:// The steering box in place seen from the engine compartment side: http:// All dressed-up and in place: http:// Seen from the front, the axle steering arm is the stout curved bronze piece. The wheels pivot freely side to side with no rubbing: http:// So why the dumbazz award?? In the second pic in the previous post you see the two cut halves, with the 'Z' bend going upward. Well...........that bend should be downwards; to clear the shock damper tower. Thankfully everything does clear. But I was so worried about getting a true cut and join, I fell asleep on the direction to join the front end. I considered making another cut on the arm and turning 180 degrees but decided not to press my luck. And again, yes Harry, you can see all this stuff... That's my dirty little secret; thankfully there are very few of you to laugh at me.

How to win the dumbazz award... No matter how careful you try to be, you can cross yourself up. Here is the assembled steering box, steering lever and arm, all connected to the steering arm on the front axle. This simple MML bronze arm required modification to the kit steering arm. It changes the mounting of the kit arm from through the top opening to the side, as the 1:1 was located: http:// To do this, MML has you cut the steering arm and rotate the forward end 90 degrees so it bolts correctly to the front arm. Once cut, you must drill into each half and insert stiff wire then rejoin the halves. Without a Sherline and the brains to use one, I was very apprehensive as to how to do this. I cut the arm using a steel V-block for parallel edges. I marked two lines (90 apart) on the pre-cut side so I could rotate it 90 degrees accurately. This is a top view: http:// Again from the top, you can see that the forward attach point (right of picture) is turned 90 to the rear one: http:// Using a .039" drill and clamped square in the block, I took my best shot and drilled about 3/8" deep: http:// I made a .010" styrene shim to make up the kerf from my razor saw to keep the arm the correct length and inserted the wire. Looked straight: http:// Continued below...

Will try the black side out when i complete the next wheel. Might look very good with the cream colored wheel. Installing he forward brake rods and connecting the dampers now. Steering box, linkage and column after that. The chassis will be essentially done after that. Then wheels and engine.

Endurance racers get scruffy too: http:// http:// http://

This is only a test... http:// Front axle in place. Wheel / tire and fender mocked-up for relationship with each other. Wheel is correctly centered, ride height very close to what I hoped. Completed weight should settle it a bit more. Everything seems to be playing nice with each other. Will post the axle installation soon. Also gives a ton of incentive to continue down this rabbit hole. It looks gorgeous and big in person-beyond my dreams. I will now happily continue hitting myself in head with this hammer...

:lol:

Poker.