Pocher Rolls Sedanca

[sjordan2]

Great to see this going again.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Glad to see you are feeling well enough to do some work on this.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Great to hear you are feeling well enough to jump back into your magnum opus...baby steps

Wishing you the happiest of New Years and one of good health first and foremost

Scott

[Cato]

Thanks guys. I hope a little sanding today.

[Cato]

Here's why...

Here's my method to get really flat paint. It's a messy, time-consuming process. But to me, worth it. The primer (Duplicolor Perfect Match) and guide coat (any flat black) seen above is now being wet sanded to reveal the low spots.

I set up near a sink filled with dish soap (a couple drops) and warm water. I soak 400 grit in that with a foam sanding block. I make these blocks from dense garage foam floor tiles, cut to the shapes I need to get into all tight places. This one is is narrow to fit into the space at the rear just above the wheel arch.

I spray water onto the body surface and sand, frequently resoaking the paper to clean it. Working carefully with medium pressure, you can see the black remains in the low spots. These spots are too shallow for putty so they require the build up of primer. Blow off any water in nooks and crannies with shop air and wipe the dry area of work with isopropyl before re-priming.

When the black stops coming off, that's where you've cut enough primer to flatten quite a bit of the surface. The next step is a repeat of this process with 2 fairly good coats of prime (to fill those low spots as much as possible) and a spritz of flat black to find the remaining shallow areas. When all is well a final light coat of prime will be shot overall  and sanded with 600 for the first color coats. So if you want concours paint on large surfaces this method works well for me. Just don't expect overnight results...

 

 

[GTJUNIOR]

Good to see you back on this. Beautiful work as always. 

[Cato]

Small progress...

Bondo and primer for a smooth area under the 'screen and on the cowl sides which meet the side cladding:

No gaps and a light press fit:

The third application of primer and guide on the rear quarters drying tonight for sanding tomorrow. Should be as good as I can get it then.

 

[GTJUNIOR]

Good to see you back on this. Beautiful work as always. 

[Cato]

Resolving problems / making better progress...

Seen here in an earlier view, the door is hung and alignment of all the elements is very good. Harder to see is that the front upper edge (where the latch will engage the cowl, has the door slightly ajar. This is due to the fact that the Sedanca cowl pinches inward quite a bit from the rear main body:

After considerable hot water bending the door now meets the cowl perfectly at this area and will latch with no tension. The other door is seen with a clip to hold it closed - needs the heat treatment too. The door handles are fragile and would not last long otherwise. Note that the heat treatment has not loosened or damaged the beltline or sweep cladding:

The cowl and windshield frame are now perfected and sanded to 600. The rocker panel will come shortly:

If anyone doubts the effectiveness of the previously shown guide coating process, here is the proof. The main cabin area has been finished with the final prime coat after the low spots were filled by the process. It is flat and sanded to 600. Continuing work on the body will be done using thin soft foam as protection for the skin.  A lot of work - yes - but for me the only way to concours paint using lacquer on large areas:

Moving ahead, attention to the doors is next. Here, their edges have been shimmed with strip stock and blended to fit the openings. Paint clearance will further slim the gaps for a smooth look. The window frames and latch are next to be mounted and fiddled with:

The near finished door skins. These will also get guide coats for priming but are smaller and stiffer than the main body area was so are mostly already very flat. These are sanded to 400 right now; they will be primed in gray upper (under the dark red) and white lower as discussed below:

An important and exciting (for me) test of the color for the body sweep. Three spoons are tested. One has the regular gray primer, the second has no primer (the raw spoon is white plastic) and the third has white primer. All are shot with two coats of color (called Krylon Sweet Cream) and two coats of clear. Note that the first is a weak, diluted color because of the gray base, The second is a truer color  but note that it's a dull finish. This is because the lacquer is too hot for the raw plastic and etches the surface. The last is the solution; white primer / color / clear. A hard high gloss. Final polishing will improve it further. All are shown resting on the unpolished but cleared trunk lid. Take the time to test your ideas to avoid disappointments. The two colors are just what I hoped they'd be.

Edited January 9, 2016 by Cato

[sjordan2]

Wow. Nice work on bending the door to meet the cowl.

[Belugawrx]

Very Nice Cato.

The colours are beautiful together...

You really have your masking and spraying cut out for you,(no pun intended, but, implied)

Looking forward to more.

Hope all is well with you and your's....

Cheers

[Codi]

What a treat to have you back on your build Cato.  These are all significant updates and I really appreciate your detailed photos and descriptions as you progress. Many lessons to be learned here.  And you have phenomenal taste as well.  Your chosen paint colors are just sublime and will really compliment the car.  Well done sir............it's obvious you're having fun with it.  cheers, tim

[Cato]

You guys are absolutely the best medicine. Sincere thanks for your encouragement and support.

My Rolls is also good medicine because having to plan and concentrate on it takes mind off the bad stuff. Unfortunately the bad stuff will continue a while longer. More doc and hospital visits in the cards. I've learned that this is not a one-shot fix situation.

So I have to lay off the more complex stuff, like the inner door supports for the windows and latch bolt system. To be covered by the pretty stuff, assembled nearly a year ago. The door outer skins are covered with soft foam so as not to scuff the prepared surfaces.

I was just up to that after much planning, but med stuff caused a speed bump yesterday. Hope to work on less taxing stuff like seats, carpets and building up of the cabin floor.

I'm amazed so many of you continue to follow at this snails pace I'm working. Harry would have had it idling in the driveway by now. He is good AND fast - something I haven't mastered.

 

 

 

Edited January 14, 2016 by Cato

[Zoom]

Very nice!
I hope you get better soon.

[bbowser]

Good trumps fast any day.  Glad to see you haven't lost interest through all your troubles.  Your body work is amazing!

[GTJUNIOR]

Rather slow and precise than fast and possibly sloppy. I  for one am an extremely slow builder, if it's not right,I'm not happy with it. I suspect that you are the same.  I trust that you will have a speedy recovery and complete this masterpiece. We are quite content to wait for you to build at a pace that is comfortable for you. I will continue to follow this build with great interest as there is so much that I can learn from you. 

[Cato]

More preparation...

Still unable to go 6 hours a day on big stuff (and will be that way for a longer while yet) I manage to sneak a few here and there to make the big stuff go together better. Study and head-scratching takes most of my time but here, I finally figured out a workable system for what was a long standing worry. I hope it's a valuable tip for you Pocher guys of all the classics.

The problem; get the rear fenders to mate securely to the main body and the trunk, with no gaps. The front half of the fenders-to-body has already been secured with my '2mm bolt' fix, which allows them to be removed many times for fitting purposes. That was shown earlier in the thread.

The overall sequence goes like this; floor bolts to chassis (on 4, 2mm studs), body clamped to floor (by fabricated rocker panel clamps also seen earlier), and trunk bolts to chassis (on 2, 2mm studs). So now to 'pin' the rear half of the fenders to the trunk and have a stable, solid coach.

The thought occurred that a very effective method explained by Paul Koo in his CD might work but slightly differently. Paul shows the 'melting method'; sinking Pocher screws into their holes with a heated soldering iron. This stops the break-out of screw holes because of their taper as the hot screw creates its own threads deep in the plastic and allows removal.

Because of the radical changes to my car like rotating the fenders, sectioning the trunk and the general relocation of the body, none of the original Pocher hole locations are useful. The inside wall of the fender needs to mate to the outside wall of the trunk, which overlaps the chassis rail. The simple solution is to run a screw straight through the fender wall into the trunk wall. But there's the old problem of just a few removals and you have a stripped hole which holds nothing.

So why not a bolt and nut solution?; I chose an 0-80 bolt, washer and nut for the strength. The key being to melt the nut in place (making it captive) on the back side of the trunk wall.

After much measuring and trial / error, the suitable location was found and holes drilled. The key is to thread the bolt through the trunk wall and nut and then apply the heat. This keeps hot plastic out of the threads:

Being lucky rather than good, this is how the bolt up looks outside. Fender tight to the trunk. DON'T overtighten the bolt; just get the parts to touch together with no gap and you're good.

For a bit of peace of mind, mix some 5 minute epoxy and CAREFULLY make a mound around the shoulder of the nut, taking care to keep the threads clean. The overall result and what you're after; hope this tip is of use to Pocherphiles:

[sjordan2]

Man, that is one great piece of work. But like the 1:1, wouldn't it make sense to fill in any gap between fenders and body sides with cord?

[Codi]

I learn something every time I visit Cato.  Thanks for sharing your solution.  Gotta love the creativeness you have as well.  Cheers

[Cato]

Man, that is one great piece of work. But like the 1:1, wouldn't it make sense to fill in any gap between fenders and body sides with cord?

My references showed some P II's with and without welting. Many of the Gurney cars had it or were restored with it. Can't be sure how many unrestored cars all had it. I have pictures of both.

But since I'm way off originality (to prototypes) I prefer the look of near perfect as I can get it coachwork. Don't want to add a distraction to the color sweep.

[Belugawrx]

Nice work Cato !

I am working on a similar fix on my F1 car,...ie; bolts thru plastic.

Thanks for the tips

Cheers

[Belugawrx]

Almost there...

 

The overall look so far:

 

 

 

 

 

Just had to bring this back up,,...

Stunning

Cheers Cato, hope all is well with you and yours

[Cato]

Thank you for digging out from so far in the thread; must have made an impression on you!   Glad you like.

I'm actually picking at some minor subassemblies while layed-up and will have a small update very soon. So much time has passed I'm actually redoing some things I've thought better of. Be back soon...and thanks for good thoughts.

EDIT: Here's one of the 'hot' side:

Edited February 8, 2016 by Cato

[Codi]

That's astounding detail Cato.  Appreciate the "dark side of the engine" shot.      Cheers

[Twokidsnosleep]

I thought those were reference pics of the real engine, wow, that is some great detail