Pocher Rolls Sedanca

[Cato]

Finally, getting somewhere...

Taking advantage of 60F weather and dry conditions, I prepped, primed and painted the floor unit. The bottom in satin black and the inside kick panels in the cream. When dry and unmasked, I went for broke; attached the carpet with double side adhesive, the 'wood veneer' the same and before attachment, bolted the floor down using the 4, 2mm studs previously installed.The toe board and metal slots for the pedals were also installed.

No more mock up - this is it for better or worse. The seats are in on their sliding mounts and easily removable. Very relieved and satisfying. The main body unit comes down easily and then 'clamps' in place under the doors. Could never have done this much work for so long with the original Pocher screws in plastic holes.

Nice for me to see the colors come together and although a lot of details to come in the cabin, great incentive. The finished dash will do a lot for visual detail but that will be after the full body paint.

[Codi]

Cato, please consider this the most sincere of compliments.  If I didn't know better that this is a model, from certain perspectives and your photos, I would think it's the REAL, 1:! deal.  Hope you're smiling right now because that is quite the accomplishment.   Kudos to you sir, Tim

[Kit Basher]

Wow, that interior is spectacular! I particularly like the pedals, even tho they're a tiny detail. The seats, carpet and everything came out great. Rock on, Cato!

[Ken Gilkeson]

superb Cato  ;-))

[bbowser]

Wow, it's really starting to come together!  All your hard work and persistence is paying off.

[Cato]

You guys are very kind and I feel your excitement too, matching mine. Watching a long WIP of bits of the puzzle without seeing some eye candy like shiny paint or the whole stance can get boring.

Endlessly making sub-assemblies is a two-edged sword I learned. On one hand you get to make a LOT of scale models, complete unto themselves. First you make sure they all fit correctly. They're things like seats, the axle, the carburetor, the radiator and so on. Then you make them and store them safely awaiting final assembly as a whole. But you need to keep in mind what you want that whole to look like.

But then comes the excitement of taking a few out and actually assembling them in final position the final time. Like this interior coming together. Still have miles to go but sure feels good to lift the cover off and see some finished work joined together...

[Cato]

Getting silly - er...

Stitching courtesy my Resident Seamstress.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Oh, I really like that leather work

Some fine modelling there Mr Cato 

[Cato]

Techniques for Pocher Rolls builders...

Since I've now finally assembled a major element in the car's construction, I thought I'd make clear some of the methods that have proven beneficial for me. These apply to the Sedanca, Ambassador and I believe the Torpedo. They may be helpful as a guide for other makes as well. There are certainly other ways that builders may solve these problems but I have now found that these work. Some of the advanced techniques incorporated here were developed and shared by David Cox.

I will present the material in two posts of eight pictures each and there's a lot of explaining that goes with them. Hope they're beneficial to a few of you.

As I've often repeated in the thread, the Pocher screw system leaves a lot to be desired; especially if you trial fit frequently and definitely if you modify many things. My car has a chopped roof and windscreen, a body that is lowered and moved aft, cut down doors and a host of changes to the chassis to accommodate them. The biggest failing in the stock kit is the three tapping screws per side which join the main body to the chassis. They are good for a very few trial fits only before thy won't hold anymore. To correct that, designed a system to clamp the parts together and be easily removable over time.

Shown here is the floor pan, inverted, and the clamping system. I made a sturdy  clamp from 1/16 thick brass (modified from an earlier wood version which proved not strong enough) and three, 2mm studs which went into the original locations for the Pocher screws. The studs are larger diameter than stock, tapped and epoxied in place. There is a lip on the bottom of the body which inserts into the edge of the floor. There are three slots in that lip which the screws are supposed to capture and hold to the floor. Evident here is the slotting of the floor bottom so the floor can be lowered onto the chassis. More on this later:

Here is the bottom edge of the inverted body. On the right side of the photo is the lip with slots in it. i added additional kerfs to allow the warped and brittle body to better conform to the curvature of the edge of the floor::

Now here is the chassis showing how it attaches to the floor and the modifications needed to lower it .250 to better resemble 1:1 Gurney Nutting Phantoms. Each of the major chassis crossmembers needed to be cutdown or rotated slightly to allow the floor to sit flush. Cutting on crossmembers is not for the faint of heart and must be done with diligence, especially on a heavy thing such as this. You will see that the hours of detail I put in on the transmission months ago were later ground off or down, again to accommodate the lower floor. Priorities changed for me as my research revealed how they really looked. And Pocher apparently could not (or would not) design the model with appropriate clearances so they chose the expedient method of adding a .250 spacer under the cowl to raise the body. If you want an accurate, lower body, DO NOT follow the book or Koo and incorporate it. You want the body cowl right on the firewall top and the floor flat on the frame. To complete that modification, you need to raise the rear step of the floor by .250 at the chassis rear kick up. More on that later:

Along with those changes, the front lower edges of the body get screwed into cast on plastic bosses of the frame rails. But having moved the body aft to center the rear wheels in their fenders, that won't align; plus the wonky Pocher screws again. My solution here was to make brass angle locators which are drilled for an 0-80 bolt and nut through the body side at the lower front corner then bolted (0-80) and epoxied to the frame. Locating these points with the body in place hiding them was a long, frustrating job:

Continued on the next post...

Edited March 14, 2016 by Cato

[Cato]

More techniques...

For any not dozing off yet..next is how I attached the floor to the chassis. This is vital for a square, sold model. I installed my favorite 2mm studs directly into the chassis at four points shown here then drilled the floor pan for the nuts. The forward ones near the seats have a .015 shim to act as a countersink so the nuts don't protrude above the floor.

Fashioned early in the build when I put the chassis together, were these ply panels stained and made to resemble the boards under a prototype. I lavished time and rivets all along the edges for the sake of accuracy. Then the fever to alter the look of the car took over and I decided they wouldn't fit. But I dug them out and realized with mods, they could be salvaged.  Here seen inverted in the chassis (finished side down) you can see how they and the floor pan seen earlier had to be slotted so the crossmembers would not protrude above the chassis rails top edges:

Here is the complete finished chassis, floor and wood boards attached. You can see how little is truly visible. A good lesson about obsessive detail; ask yourself how much will be seen. The last shot shows how big the car is going to be; 27" with body attached. I hope a few of you find this of value, especially if you plan an advanced build. But even if not, the superior method of fastening these big parts will prove helpful:

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[bobthehobbyguy]

Nice work. Glad to see the jigsaw puzzle coming together. The interior is gorgeous.  

[Zoom]

Your detail works are amazing!

[vintagercr]

It is coming along beautifully!

[Belugawrx]

Ok Cato, you have inspired me to take out my WR1 again and start massaging those body panels into shape,...

Very interesting update, Thank you 

Cheers

[Cato]

Ok Cato, you have inspired me to take out my WR1 again and start massaging those body panels into shape,...

Very interesting update, Thank you 

Cheers

Didn't know you put it away but missed seeing it. By all means carry on - love that project!

[Cato]

Another off my list...

--of things I haven't done before. A luggage rack for those cross Continent trips . Design it, make a jig, a little brass rod and tube, silver solder and a bunch of hair-pulling hours. The grid shows it's reasonably square. A little tweek will get all four feet to touch the compound-curved trunk top. Now polish 'til you drop and send it to the chromer's shop. Back to the door latches now...

[Harry P.]

That shifter boot is a real nice touch. As well as the luggage rack. You never cease to amaze!

[Twokidsnosleep]

WOW

Those are some seriously hard solder joints, BRAVO 

  How did you keep the parts stable and perfectly aligned, juggle the heat source and solder, still keep everything square and most importantly not overheat and have the neighbouring bit you just finished unsolder off??

 I am interested in seeing the jig you used for it....or are you part octopus????

Sending stuff off for chrome plating is big league cool modelling as well.

And he asks if we are asleep yet during this build 

[Zoom]

Always nice to see yours updates.

I´m also interested in how you managed to solder that rack.

[Cato]

I just wrote a one HOUR response to Scott on how I did that and got a 404 ERROR. When and IF I calm down, I'll try again.

[Twokidsnosleep]

I just wrote a one HOUR response to Scott on how I did that and got a 404 ERROR. When and IF I calm down, I'll try again.

Just put a bit more effort into it this time, I am sure it will work 

Take your time, no worries and thanks in advance

[Cato]

Just put a bit more effort into it this time, I am sure it will work 

Take your time, no worries and thanks in advance

Maybe tonight. Working on stuff just now to calm down....

[LaughingIndian]

Cato, your excellent design, methods, and execution are obviously apparent, but your mantra of "Get it right" is making me a better modeler ... bravo sir, and thank you.

 

 

[Cato]

 

Cato, your excellent design, methods, and execution are obviously apparent, but your mantra of "Get it right" is making me a better modeler ... bravo sir, and thank you.

Thanks Mike but it's not for everyone. Patience is my curse, not my virtue.

 

 

[Cato]

Trunk rack II – trying again...

A streamlined reply to Bo and Scott's request for soldering and jig-making for this part. I'll leave out the sizes of parts that I had yesterday.

I've found that making an accurate jig gives a much better part so I take a lot of time with that. Basically using ¼” MDF and styrene sheet made to the thickness of the part tube ('hoop') is key. You want to sandwich the plastic between the MDF – but the plastic must be to the shape and inner dimension of the hoop. And it must be smaller than the outer MDF so the tubing is held in place. You'll see here; The sandwich jig is screwed to a wood base that is held firmly in a bench vise. This allows you to press the tubing tightly against the form. BE SURE to anneal the tubing first:

As far as silver soldering, you're right Scott; stuff wants to desolder if you're not careful. I used 2mm brass washers as 'feet' on the legs. I make the legs a little longer than needed, drill holes in the solder mat and put a washer into the leg rod in the hole. This holds it upright for soldering. Trim and file to size only after all are complete. Got them done OK but the tricky part was soldering each leg to the main hoop. I was lucky; three went on fine but the fourth desoldered the washer – FOUR times. Lot of bad words then. The 'floor' rod elements went on by a groove filed in the hoop at each location and no problems.

If any of this confuses or is incomplete, PM me with questions.

EDIT: i HAVE NO IDEA WHY THE PICS WON'T UPLOAD NORMALLY - AFTER NEARLY 700 PICS IN THIS THREAD. I'VE HAD IT WITH THIS SITE SOFTWARE.

Edited March 25, 2016 by Cato
BD SOFTWARE