Pocher Rolls Sedanca

[Cato]

_{It's comforting for me to know that I'm not alone in the world with my freakish obsessions for detail & "correctness" in my work.}

No you're not alone seeking accuracy or scale operation but you're clearly many levels above most of the rest of us. You and Mark Jones are about in a class of your own.

[Cato]

Good / Bad news...

Resuming the fender mismatch, I decided to try a non-destructive course to rectify. I pinned it down with a bit of stretched tension, just past the 1/8" I needed. I weighted the edges and applied 1000 degree heat from my trusty Milwaukee gun - very quickly ard carefully so as not to melt it.

It worked but too well, I misjudged and got a whole 1/4" out of it. Not an exact science.

At least no damage and the curve is intact - fits the body opening fine. Now I'll just reheat and close it down a bit.

Had finally made the subfloor. It's actually two laminations of sheet; .020 below with slot for the center crossmember to poke into but not above and .010 on top of that with no slot - just a flat floor.

Here is the carpet flat on the floor, just placed, not glued. It will lay flat and cover all those edges. Will get to the doors now to cut them down and and remove the beltline. Then the brass frames for the side windows:

[Twokidsnosleep]

The carpet looks great and lays superbly. Interior is going to be as gorgeous as that engine!!!

[Cato]

All better now...

[bobthehobbyguy]

I knew you would find a way to fix the problem. Another hurdle crossed. Keep up the good work.

[Belugawrx]

Nice work Cato

Keep it up man

Cheers

[Cato]

Plastic - surgery...

A major attack on long-overdue work today. The doors got trimmed lower and slightly curved and the door posts removed. The beltline has been removed completely:

Door on the left completely done. Grits of 150, 220, 320 and light clean-up with 600. This after a light dress down on the belt sander. Door on the right shows the first hit of the belt sander. Seen prominently is the 1/2" gray foam floor mats from the box stores. Cut to size they make excellent sanding blocks and supports under the work piece::

Fairly close in size, maybe a hair more tweeking on one:

Finally, where we're going with this. The lower door line will connect the cowl (missing here) and the rear door jamb. The silver dots represent where (probably) the new location for the lower edge of the top will be, similar to the original shape. But remember that the top is 13mm lower in front (and 6 in the rear), it's quite a change. Not just yet but a newly shaped and thickness beltline will be created. Also note that the bottom edge of the body has been trimmed 5mm. This will add visual length when the running boards are added because they will be closer to the door bottoms.:

[Cato]

Showing you the door...

Continuing onto the inside, the earlier-assembled inner door panels had to be cut and shaped to match the new outer skin. The door post will be removed too. The lowered and curved top edge is evident here:

One done, one remaining:

New 'veneer' top caps made with the proper height and curve. The pleats, frame and carpet are all separate bits but mocked in place with a dab of double stick. The addition of the beautiful MMC door handle and window winder will brighten these panels up. I may add a map pocket when done with the major body work. The veneer is a hair oversized (on purpose) and will be trimmed for final. Any ripples, bulges etc will lay flat with no gaps when fastened. Before that, the brass side window frames will be made. Now the inners match the door skins:

Or I may fabricate a new sloped trunk before that. Been trying new shapes and am close to a decision...

[Harry P.]

Nice work on those door panels.

[Cato]

Nice work on those door panels.

Thank you sir. Feel free to pick my nits. They're still not as good as your seats.

[Harry P.]

Thank you sir. Feel free to pick my nits. They're still not as good as your seats.

I'm not sure if I should be flattered or worried that you complimented my seat...

[Cato]

I'm not sure if I should be flattered or worried that you complimented my seat...

Be flattered - they are so neat and simple, they are REAL.

[Plasticfanatic]

SUPERB project and technics in fabrication, detail and corrections, the fact that you are adding the weather/time effect to this Rolls and not doing a concourse de elegance car, is even more interesting because the scale and how convincing to the eye have to be, you have nail it to the perfect balance.

The interior seats look great and again with a magnificent age patina, the "wood techniques" for dash and interior panels are indeed an ingenious idea and approach for a pleasant visual look.

The time and effort you are putting on the body corrections and finish will yield a superb looking model, a thousand miles apart from what one gets building it out of the box, which usually with the original Poches where average to "nice". ..but quite far from scale accurate body shape, as you have shown, attention to original measurement and details in coach works....a much, much better and accurate result will be achieved. Looking forward for more updates on this very special project, have enjoy every single step, technical improvement and innovate ideas...and about time it takes...do not worry...the BEST things in life are those that are made with a lot of care, patience, expertise and commitment to archive the best that one can do to reach the final goal...and in my personal opinion, you are getting there.

[Cato]

Fred,

Thanks for your support and taking the time to write some thoughts.

This has become a project of research, learning, measuring and pushing past the edge of my rather ordinary skills. But as you say, I didn't want another 'nice' Pocher. Many are pleased just to have accomplished a box-build of this car. Only to discover many Pocher compromises to the 1:1's. I learned them as I went and and became determined to not fear major alterations to correct them.

Harry also, is working a very advanced Rolls build and between both of us, tentative Pocher classic builders should lose their fear and awe and learn it is possible to alter them heavily with satisfying results. Follow his build too and see that there are several ways to skin a cat. At the very least, both of our builds will expose the flaws and trouble spots of Pochers and be beneficial to new builders to correct them.

Thanks again and drop in as often as you can.

C

[Cato]

Here's a tidbit...

For any hopefully wanting to build a Roller. You will need to assemble and disassemble the body / floor unit literally countless times for fitting purposes. Much frustration led to the idea to get 'extra help'.

A simple 'truss rod' can be made to hold the big parts in proper relation to each other. When you find the correct width the body wants to be on the chassis, mark a location on the lower rear of the body, aft of the wheel well. It won't be seen after completion. Drill for a 2mm rod but no bigger.

Seen here is how to make an adjustable rod to hold the left and right sides correctly. Snip 1" of all thread 2mm rod. Insert part way into 1/8" styrene tube also an inch or so long; make 2. Slip those into an aluminum tube about 1 1/2" shorter that the spread of the body panels. Use CA to secure each telescoped piece:

Seen here in place, it doesn't flex and you can screw the end nuts tighter or looser to adjust the width, The floor must be bolted to the body before this work. Now the center roof panel can be fused to the body sides. First one side gets joined off the frame, then the second added while the rod holds the correct distance:

The front section of the body at the cowl must be joined this way using 2 truss rods. There the body sides must be drilled and can be filled when the rods have completed their job. The forward body is under tension to spread out as it narrows there. Adjusting rods will pinch it in correctly ao the upper cowl can be fused to the body sides. I'll illustrate that when I get to it next.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Neat tip.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Oh, I like that

[Cato]

Oh, I like that

You'll have plenty of chance to use it on your Pocher collection.

[Twokidsnosleep]

You'll have plenty of chance to use it on your Pocher collection.

.

And in a number of smaller builds....that will help with frame alignment when I solder the Bug up

I like your tube cutter as well. My little plastic one doesn't cut squat, especially small diameter tubes we use

Ps I was fondling the Pocher Testarossa kit just last night

The engine detail upgrade needs an engineering degree to figure it out

Edited June 24, 2015 by Twokidsnosleep

[Cato]

And here it is...

The cowl pinches down to 130mm at the front and 146mm at it's rear edge. Because of the crazy angles and curvature of the cowl top, there's no comfortable way to clamp or hold this while cements dry. My wacky truss rods seem to be the answer. These are stronger than the rear, being made the same way but of 5/32" steel brake line tubing. The body tops want to spread out and must be kept under tension to mate to the cowl sides:

It is imperative to get a good, lasting join here. I am using Plast-I-Weld to wick into the seams. Then, I think, epoxy and Micro ballons laid into any gaps with a gauze carrier. There's no room to glop anything over it because the firewall corners are right in that nook when the body is mounted. The pics are self-explanatory:

Pocher wants you to use screws here which you can if you keep the body Pocher height, because the cowl is well off the firewall. With the body channeled near 3/8", it's right on top of the firewall, thus this drastic solution.:

Tip: (among all these others); cheap black electrical tape sliced thin makes a dandy and pliable tape clamp to hold fore and aft position. Stretch it slightly as you apply it tightly and it's better than rubberbands:

[sjordan2]

There is a reason why I flunked every course required for what you're doing, except for Art.

[Eric Macleod]

I learn something every time I take the time to follow your progress. While I don't think I have enough years in my life to attempt a Pocher, your techniques will certainly help me with aspects of my other more modest modeling attempts. I enjoy myself every time I look at another aspect of this most entertaining thread. Keep up the good fight.

[Cato]

What I wound up with...

Here is the joined cowl in place and how it situates the hood line. The whole new force arrangement of the body lines is evident here; channeled body over frame, lower roof, door top, windscreen and hood line;

Compare to early mock up before all the cutting and hacking. Note the ride height, gap between cowl and firewall and if the hood top was in place, the forward, downward slant from the cowl to the grille:

A clear view of the cowl flat against the firewall; a major and satisfying change:

[Cato]

PS -

I forgot to mention that the firewall itself has been lowered by .250" then the body by .375". Those are the main contributors to the level hood line.

Also the body bottom edge has been trimmed by 5mm to shorten the height to the door bottom. The fender will be trimmed when the running boards go on. This all contributes to the streamlined look.

[Cato]

The look...

A mock-up yesterday to check progress and look for any flaws in design. Everything just sitting in place, no fastening.

Seen here is the lowness of the main body, cut-down door, roof and windscreen frame. Having the fenders in place is visually important to assess how the lines flow and the tire gaps.

Evident in the side view is the shortened body bottom edge. Both fenders will need to have their bottom edges trimmed to not extend below the running boards. As stated earlier, one change affects several adjoining areas. It's all got to be made consistent to work. An important element yet to be added is the raised beltline which will run from the grille shell to the trunk. It will define the lower edge of the roof covering. That will add sleekness if I get it right. But before that, the doors will have to be hinged and hung in their correct position. See? One step depends on the other. Another example is the hood sides; the fenders must be in place to set the bottom edges. Then, the louvers must be aligned to the cowl's by adding or trimming side panel material. Then the cut lines must be squared to the grille shell and cowl leading edge. Lot of juggling and they are a whole separate project unto themselves.

Today, the roof center section got permanently joined to the body sides, 3 layers of filler in the seams and sanded. The whole body structure got very rigid with the sides now joined by the cowl and the roof.

I began alterations on the trunk to slope the rear and change it to its new lower height. More work tomorrow and pictures....

Edited July 1, 2015 by Cato