Lotus 32B from Resin Joker 33 kit - long story

[absmiami]

So the engine components are made from sections of Evergreen bar and sheet with some bolt detail - both plastic and metal

[absmiami]

These castings were done by Scalekraft’s Guido Fiew (sp?) years ago - over ten years ago - the resin is brittle and in tight spots - tears - so not ideal but usable .  I’ve also gotten Norman Veber to make better castings in his standard cream colored resin - which is much more forgiving when drilled .... so now you’re supposed to ask me why/how I had Guido , who lives half a planet away from me ,   cast this engine ....  ....

[OldNYJim]

Why / how did you have Guido, who lives half a planet away from you, cast that engine?

[absmiami]

Guido / Scalekraft lived in South Africa.  If I recall this correctly we were exchanging faxes and I had purchased a couple of his curbside kits and/or body castings.  The internet was an infant ...  he was making some castings for one Or two of the Cooper GP cars and I expressed my interest in a kit with a detailed chassis and engine.

 I mailed the master parts that you see here To S Africa. - and a month or three later - back came the masters and some castings.  But before the project was completed - I lost contact with him - as apparently a number of other modelers did also ... and that was that ...

 the castings I’m using for the body of the Cooper F3 -  Cooper Barn Find  -  are Guido’s. Years later I’ve read/heard nothing but rumors or speculation of Guido’s fate ... ...   Do we have any forum members from that distant part of our planet ... ?? ...
I’ll post some more of the Cooper castings later this weekend ...

[absmiami]

The suspension / transmission bulkhead.   The light resin color kit piece is scrapped.  The gray resin bulkhead is from the resin parts box and is modified with some evergreen plastic, files, and

sanding sticks to mate with the ends of the monocoque.  This took several hours - but this part has to be right - all of the susp parts and the transmission will be bolted to it.  

[absmiami]

Engine mounts and the cradles for the mounts glued to the chassis.  Everything made fr  Evergreen strip and bar and rod

[absmiami]

The suspension uprights need some love.  In the first picture is an upright from the old white metal Finecast Lotus 25 kit - pretty accurate size and shape .  On the left is the upright in the Joker kit -

which appears to be a knockoff of the uprights in the Heller Lotus 49 kit.  The upright on the 32B is close to the 25/33 upright - with tabs at the top to widen the profile of the trailing arms.  So I gotta fix these. - when I’m done they’ll look a lot like the Finecast uprights- and the U joints are too big.  So they gotta go ...

[absmiami]

Uprights - hub carriers - disc bells - brake discs. -  the kit brakes are resin cast knockoffs of something - definitely not Girlings - which is what Lotus used in the sixties -so what was there Was modified with evergreen to make some Girling disc brakes ...

[absmiami]

[absmiami]

Some of the components remain a mystery  -  the 32B competed entire ‘65 season with the same engine [cue those were the days rant]. So ther are only a limited number of contemporary photos... so some of the work on the engine is based on limited info - example - I’m winging it on the engine mounts at the rear of the engine ...

[absmiami]

Accurate or not  -  I know they are

there - so here are some pix of the installation ...  once again - these parts are made from evergreen strip, bar, and rod ...

now I can work on a flywheel cover and mate the ZF transaxle from Mad’s Indy Ford kit ...

[absmiami]

The bell housing on the ZF is designed for the V8 Ford engines used In the GT 40’s.   The housing for the Climax four is much smaller....  so the housing comes off and is replaced by a part made from .40 evergreen - with locating pins .  This part is glued to the ZF transaxle while the part is lined up with the help of a rear wheel and axle mock up.  The body is sitting on a sanding stick - so that the 1/1 ground clearance height is about 5 inches - and that’s pretty close to scale accurate.  Part is glued with epoxie so I can tweak it’s position while the glue sets.   Next I’ll create the mounting for the transaxle - which is pinned by two bolts onto the bulkhead ...

Still some lingering questions about some chassis details -

such as whether the engine used 2 or 4 engine mounts - does anybody have Team Lotus mechanic Bob Dance in speed dial ?? ??  No.  I’m serious ! ....

[absmiami]

Yes I think my wife saw it but I haven’t yet ...

assigned times

To pee ????

[absmiami]

that's what happens when you let an old guy use an I phone - above was intended as a text to a friend ...

oops ...

I guess I could remove it - but hey - we need a laugh, right ?

[absmiami]

On top of the ZF is a steel plate that serves as the mount to the bulkhead - it appears to be welded to the transaxle top cover.  So I’ve carved the plate from .188 x .188 evergreen stock and drilled the bolt holes on the top cover - then epoxied the plate to the top of the cover and mocked up the rear suspension to locate the bulkhead bolt holes.  That printed ZF is really great -  and it will stick out of the engine cover - so you can’t miss it ...

[absmiami]

Perry’s Resins [Oh Canada ...] made some very nice rubber Dunlop’s years ago - they are just

the right dimensions for this project - a little more accurate than the Joker kit tires - so I’m using with the kit wheels  -  the 32B raced with the same wheels as the Lotus 33 - so they are fine - but I enlarged the inner rims - and all of the wheels need bolt holes for the lug nuts . 

[absmiami]

Incidentally - the restored 32B wears great looking wobbly webs - but I have decided to build the car as raced - and all of the Tasman season photos show this car with star shaped wheels ...

working on the rear brake disc and rotor assemblies - Girlings ...  modified kit parts with evergreen strip and rod and tube ...

[absmiami]

Using this evergreen strip to make the U joints.  Notice that it cost just over 2 bucks a package 16 yrs ago ...

[absmiami]

8 parts

the joint is glued to a .40 rod that slips into an .80 tube 

[absmiami]

Well. Actually 20 parts. Plus the brass knuckles ...

file. Sand. Drill. Sand some more saw.  —   Rinse and repeat ...

[absmiami]

The ZF transmission uses a compact linkage assembly for the gear shift rod - in the Ford GT 40s. It is well represented on the printed trans.  But Lotus used a different assembly for it’s ZFs ...

It features a steel plate and one or two forks that hold the gear shift shaft out away from the side of the trans casing.  So this was made from some evergreen stock this part will be attached with some brass pins. The part will be somewhat fragile. I’ll place it late in assembly.  

[absmiami]

Roll bar. The joker lotus 33 kit comes with an ok white metal roll bar  -  the 32B used a matt black roll bar that tucked inside the engine cover - the restored 32B has a taller - safer - grey roll bar - since I’m making the car as raced in the ‘65 Tasman Season I modified the white metal part and made left/right attachment bases in the monocoque. Just enough room left for the radiator return pipe on the left and the distributor on the right  -

 I think  ....

probably time to make the engine accessories  -  like the swirl pot and return water pipe ...  and per the last picture. Works been done on the windscreen and the mirrors ...

[absmiami]

Work on the cylinder head and the coolant/water return pipe

as usual - drilling grinding sanding. And some more drilling - pegs are drilled into the block so I can position everything ...

[absmiami]

The engine mounts were epoxied to the block and came off while I worked on the block  - better now then later ...  the fronts were re-attached with .020 plastic pegs and re-epoxied. They’ll stay put now.  
 looks like there is room for the distributor. Which will be attached later ...

[absmiami]

Water pump

swirl pot

starter 
carb intake pipes

next ...