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Pocher Bugatti T50 Coupé de Ville: a resurrection


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12 minutes ago, Roy vd M. said:

Looks like a nice lathe set, congratulations. I think the PD230 is an excellent choice. 

 

Meanwhile you've been working very diligently, in my view. 

 

32480310533_3549625503_c.jpg

 

Now you're just polarizing :D 

 

You're right, @Roy vd M., actually my posts are very exhaustive :)

 

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With polarizing I meant, having people favor your own part by comparing it to Pocher's part, and having people depreciate Pocher's part by comparing it to your part. 

 

It's an unnecessarily difficult way of saying "what a great job and what a difference it makes". 

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1 hour ago, Roy vd M. said:

With polarizing I meant, having people favor your own part by comparing it to Pocher's part, and having people depreciate Pocher's part by comparing it to your part. 

 

It's an unnecessarily difficult way of saying "what a great job and what a difference it makes". 

Thanks @Roy vd M. for this explanation...My english is so bad that I didn't understood what you meant ! shame on me !!

And I answered you, playa=ing with words, melting english and french senses with "exhaust"

Many thanks however for your compliment :)

 

 

Edited by CrazyCrank
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Very grateful thanks to @PROPELLER for his outstanding contribution to my rear exhaust pipe

As everyone here knows, my solution for this strongly bended tube was rather wobbly, and I havn't yet the needed tools to scratch a correctly bended tube.(It will be made since a few weeks, with my future lathe :))

 

PROPELLER did it for me, and I have no word to thank him as he deserves it.

 

Dry fit to show you..The mounting bracket on the fuel tank will be modifed (scratch built probably)

 

33371613931_c30b7b21f9_c.jpg

 

 

33116883440_2fcc0c30d1_b.jpg

Edited by CrazyCrank
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Hi chaps

 

Finally, I got yesterday my old lathe Proxxon PD230, 

600 km to get it near Paris :o

 

It need a good cleaning and greasing, and for that, I have to unmount it entirely.

There's some pressure points while turning the knobs by hands, due  - I think - to the accumulation of dust, old grease and metal particles in the mechanisms.

However, while using the self-feeding, there's no pressure point neither strange noise.

The 3-jaw chuck turns evenly.

A quick test turning a brass rod to reduce its diameter, and make its end clean and flat has been succdessfull

 

Contrary to what I thought, looking at the pictures of the sale advertisement, it doesn't come with as many tools I wrote a few posts ago

 

So I have these extras: 

 

- A 4 independent jaws chuck

- A gear 10 mm drilling chuck MK1

- 8 collet ER 20 set 

- A non-conventional home-made centre turning attachment

- A fixed steady for long pieces

- A set of pignons for threading

- A set of replacement belts

- Several drill bits

- Shims and flanges

- a dozen of cutting and threading tools HSS Steel, but not all 8x8 mm

- It lacks the usual and more used cutting tools, and centre drilling bits

- There is a lot of non-conventional tools or devices  whose usefulness  Iis unknown (by me at least )

 

I'll take some pictures to show you, and if anyone here would have an idea of the purpose for which they were made, I'll pay him a beer :)

 

So, I've ordered yesterday evening: 

 

- A five-piece set Proxxon 24530 of usual cutting tools 8x8x80 Cobalt HSS Steel

- A three-piece thread cuting set Proxxon 24540 

- And a six set of centre drilling bits

 

I need too, and will buy later

-  a radius cutting attachment 24062

- A die holder for round dies  proxxon 24082

 

To be continued

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I had to take apart my lathe too. Old grease tends to form a plaque so I cleaned the threads and the guides of the support, cross support and top support, making sure that all old grease was gone.

I bought a big jar of grease and greased everything that needed grease.

Don't know how Proxxon documents it, but the Emco manual of my Compact 8 was quite clear in what needed to be greased and what needs to be oiled.

I also cleaned all the belt wheels as there was a lot of black goo on them and consequently on the belts (which should not be there).

Lastly i removed all gears that drive the feed and cleaned them.

Afterward I greased the teeth lightly. Reminder: if you install them again, make sure that you put a piece of paper between the teeth, otherwise you might push the gears too much against each other causing unwanted wear.

 

If you take apart the supports, at installation time you need get rid of the play on the supports and the handles. The documentation should tell you how you can do that.

 

Do you have a quick exchange tool holder? That makes life so much easier. You can change from one tool bit to the other without having to think about tool height.

If you don't, you might want to look into acquiring one.

 

 

 

 

 

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Ad promised, a few pictures of a set of extra non-conventional tools, whose usefulness isn't clear...

 

First: this one ....

 

33430722771_1a15bfd5b0_z.jpg

 

Would it be a home-made centre turning attachment ?

 

Second, this one...

 

32716057614_262154c016_z.jpg

 

33559352425_d400007f3b_z.jpg

 

Would it be a home-made "four-jaw " chuck ?

 

Third, this one:

 

33402791312_af18b72668_z.jpg

 

I've no idea !

 

Fourth, this last one

 

33402791122_cc2eab05c1_z.jpg

 

No idea !

 

If anyone here coud help me, it would be much appreciated :)

 

 

 

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I think the second might be, as you say, a home-made four jaw (four bolt) independent 'chuck'. 

 

The third thing is, I think, another chuck. It could be a home-made holder for a cutting saw. Not a bad idea! If you want to cut a 1m. long piece of brass or aluminium into workable parts of 10cm. each, you'll need something to cut them with. 

 

I guess the previous owner found a cutting saw blade with four holes where the bolts are (or he drilled them himself). 

 

Edit: another possibility of #3 is that of a manually driven thread cutter, to be mounted on the tailstock. That only applies if it fits the corresponding thread cutting disks.  I mean these:

 

$_3.JPG?set_id=2 

Edited by Roy vd M.
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I can do some guessing but frankly, I have no idea.

All parts have a "neck". Does this fit the tailstock?

If the holes on the upper left part of number 1 line up with the mounting holes on the 3 or 4 jaw chuck (or any other clamping device that is available for the Proxxon), it might be that the previous owner wanted it mounted free running on an adapter for the tailstock.

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I wouldn't spend a lot of time trying to figure out what those items are. They look to be specially made for certain procedures and the reasons may not be understood by other machinists. I can see no good use for them , the " 4 jaw (BOLTS) chuck" could not be that, if you put something in that and fed a tool bit into it it would tear out pretty much immediately.

Looks to be made with care , by someone who thought they were making useful tooling with the best of intentions  ,but may have been mistaken. The best way would be to ask the person who made them if possible.

Work is ongoing here in a stellar fashion.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi chaps, exiting my silence

 

Have bought

- 11 cutting and threading Proxxon tools

- 6 Centre drilling bits

- A quick tool exchange universal  holder (for cutting tolls up to 10 mm) with adjusting height

- A Proxxon 24062 Radius cutting attachment

- And a lot of Brass and Alu round rods and hex rods (spark plugs, for instance...)

 

Quite ready to work now, but I've before to unmount my entire lathe and clean and grease all its parts.

 

Simultaneously, I've to manage my son's weddings, the relocation of my medical office, my tax returns, and a lot of personal and familial difficulties.

 

That, to explain you my silence on the forum and my very little modeling activity of these last weeks, and probably of the next 3 or 4 weeks.

For that, I want to apologize, and thank those of you guys, who PM or email me recently.

 

 

To let you know that I'm still alive and working, some pictures below of my recent work :

I'm making new clips for my front leaf springs, following PROPELLER's work and our probably common ref. pictures

So, there's 4 clips at the front of each front leaf springs on theT46 and T 50 Bugattis

I'd made only 3, with a 0.3 mm gauge alu sheet, and they were really  too smooth  and a bit out of scale and unaccurate too.

 

So, I've made a try with my milling machine and a 0.5 mm gauge brass sheet, and 0.8 mm brass nails

 

32918028784_91f1979771_z.jpg

 

33376469330_8979d7e448_z.jpg

 

33632088021_8e6ac6f8e7_z.jpg

 

After soldering, and before cutting  the exceeding length of nails, I got that:

 

33632090951_7a5cd844e8_z.jpg

 

After cutting: 

 

32948198883_a73fde3a8f_z.jpg

 

And the whole set, before adjusting the length of each clip according to its location, and before rounding the 2 ends of each clip previously to its fixation on the springs

 

33376473810_2af63ecea1_z.jpg

 

33720253876_9a5c74250b_c.jpg

 

I'm too tired tonight to continue working on my springs, so....to be continued !

 

Stay tuned if you like, and thanks for watching

 

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No need to apologize CC. Family is much more important than we are. You just take your time. 

We'll be here whenever you can share a bit with us.

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A little progress this afternoon: I've put the clips on the right front leaf-springs

 

First one:

 

33794105105_9d28b3e019_z.jpg  33753319416_6b5d2fee1e_z.jpg

 

Second one:

 

33409687440_c4a6f4983a_z.jpg

 

33638014282_646c376d7b_z.jpg

 

Third one:

 

33409688780_ae42e6b7f4_z.jpg

 

33409685800_be77bc7db8_z.jpg

 

Last one:

 

33794108815_d36ea75fe4_z.jpg

 

33664670721_f0fac3dd4b_z.jpg

 

33794103235_1018edae2f_z.jpg

 

33664659151_8e3986ef19_c.jpg

 

 

Pity, the lot of work and time needed to do this will not remain visible after painting:

 

33664671031_46fbf3df07_c.jpg

 

33794098485_feab567b2b_c.jpg

 

33641160692_7796a5ba21_c.jpg

 

 

Well, this was a pleasure and a challenge to make these clips and, overall, to install them on the leaf-springs without unmouting all the front axle.

 

I'm rather happy with that :)

 

It remains to do the same thing for the right side of my "Lady"

 

Stay tuned if you like, and thanks for watching

 

 

Edited by CrazyCrank
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6 minutes ago, CrazyCrank said:

Pity, the lot of work and time needed to do this will not remain visible after painting:

 

That is indeed a pity for you, but I can tell you I thoroughly enjoy watching all this progress. The chase is better than the catch, even if the catch will be (nearly?) perfect. 

 

It's an utter joy to watch all this work evolve. 

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13 minutes ago, Roy vd M. said:

 

That is indeed a pity for you, but I can tell you I thoroughly enjoy watching all this progress. The chase is better than the catch, even if the catch will be (nearly?) perfect. 

 

It's an utter joy to watch all this work evolve. 

 

I'm deeply moved by your kind words, @Roy vd M., particularly when I certainly need comfort actually... Many thanks to you :)

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Yet another great added detail to your Bug! Just looking at the front corner of the front end reveals so much added detail on this build. The shock cable, brake chain, added lower radiator shell, spring clips, under engine shield and that's, just in a small space! Great work Thierry!

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15 minutes ago, larchiefeng said:

Yet another great added detail to your Bug! Just looking at the front corner of the front end reveals so much added detail on this build. The shock cable, brake chain, added lower radiator shell, spring clips, under engine shield and that's, just in a small space! Great work Thierry!

 

Thanks a lot for your kind encouragements, Wayne :)

 

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3 hours ago, CrazyCrank said:

I'm rather happy with that :)

And you should be. It really does look good on the car.

Thank you for showing us how you made these.

I fully agree with the remarks of Roy and Wayne.

Lovely details leading to an outstanding result.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi Chaps and Gentlemen.

Like awakened out of hibernation, here is the milling machine's and soldering iron's  come back, and soon the begining of lathe work...

 

As my followers know, I've been through a difficult time in terms of parent's health and care, business difficulties  with the relocation of my medical office (not yet achieved, in fact...) etc.

Have'nt had any hour nor willingness to build anything, and only have read from time to time your posts.

 

But today, May 1st, Labour day in France, I awoke early (5:30 AM) and some ideas I've had begin to take shape.

 

According to all my T50 Bugatti's reference photos that proof they exist, I've scratchbuilt with 0.32 mm thick brass sheet,  brass 0.8mm nails 1.33 mm/0.8 mm gauge brass tube, M1 brass bolts, two clamps for the rear leafsprings of my LadyBug.

 

The milling machine has been used to make two brass straps 25 mm length, drilled M1 at both ends and center.

The brass nails and soldering iron have been used to simulate the rivet,of each clamp.

The brass tube has been used to cut two spacer sleeves 9 mm lenght. 

Each spacer has been threaded M1 on both ends

Four M1 brass bolts have been sacrified and cutted of to fix the clamp on the spacers

 

34338042296_8e69a308ca_z.jpg

 

33569033633_384d94147a_z.jpg

 

33537417314_73fe1b94c3_z.jpg


33537414634_cb236a3013_z.jpg

 

34248422031_704fdaf352_z.jpg

 

34379266735_fa2ea5b0f4_z.jpg

 

33537417244_a4c0ec43bb_z.jpg

 

Clamp has been placed on the right rear leaf spring

 

34379255335_6b650e9d83_z.jpg

 

34338024116_94bd77e8ef_z.jpg

 

34338028816_37478bf36a_z.jpg

 

It remains to do the same thing on left side

 

I've begun too to place the clamps on the right front leaf springs

 

34220950302_85078a5df3_z.jpg

 

To be continued

 

Stay tuned if you like, and thank you for watching B)

 

 

 

Edited by CrazyCrank
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Thierry, I am most sad to read of your family, health and occupation misfortunes. Seems a growing number of us are subject to life's twists and turns.

 

But your work ethic and skills are a pleasure to see again. Your willingness to tackle the smallest scratch-built details is a hallmark of this build.

 

This Bugatti will be a marvelous presentation when complete and I look forward to its execution.

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7 hours ago, Codger said:

Thierry, I am most sad to read of your family, health and occupation misfortunes. Seems a growing number of us are subject to life's twists and turns.

 

But your work ethic and skills are a pleasure to see again. Your willingness to tackle the smallest scratch-built details is a hallmark of this build.

 

This Bugatti will be a marvelous presentation when complete and I look forward to its execution.

 

Thank you for all Chas, empathy and compliments.

I'll do my best to deserve them...

 

My second rear clamp (in fact the fourth, because two others were manufactured but I wasn't happy with them), I mean, the rear leaf spring clamp has broken when I've begun to tighten the outer bolt....

Pretty mortified, I've decided to work on other parts, for a simpler and funny job.

 

So, as I wasn't verry happy with my "enhanced" steering control arm: 

 

379.jpg

 

I've undertaken to scratchbuild another one, using the Proxxon milling machine with a rotary indexing table, my lathe Proxxon PD 230, and 5 mm and  8 mm gauge brass rods.

 

With the lathe and a 8 mm brass rod, I turned the cylindrical connecting part, simulating the mechanical coupling by a groove.

 

Using the milling machine, with the rotary tool, placed horizontally on the crossing table, first, I drilled on the outer face of this part, six 0.8 mm holes, spaced each other by 60°

This holes has then been threaded M1, and six M1 brass bolts have been  placed.

I got that::

 

34351187426_60ea9e4dff_z.jpg

 

Then I've placed the rotary table vertically on the crossing table of the milling machine, and I've drilled à 1.98 mm gauge hole on the periphery

This hole will be used later to crimp the steering arm.

 

34008248670_f234e52baa_z.jpg

 

This piece has been place in the lathe's chuck, and drilled M4 lenghtwise, without  exceeding the 6 hexagonal bolted outer face

 

34351205086_982c88deef_z.jpg

 

 

Then, the steering arm has been turned with the lathe:, using a 5 mm gauge brass rod:

 

First the 21 mm conical  section, turned with and angle of 3 degrees,,the thinner section beeing 2.4 mm and the thicker section beeing 3.4 mm

At the bottom end of this arm, a "nut" has been turned, 4 mm heigth, which will be later drilled 1.6 mm on the inner side and threaded 2 mm, to receive a M2 bolt, connecting with the tranmission lever.

At the top end, a 1.98 mm "nipple" has been turned, that will be later crimped on the hex bolted connecting rod

 

33550880604_3ef3e9cb80_z.jpg

 

Then a 0.8 mm hole has been drilled on the peripery of the cylindrical connector, using the milling machine and the rotary tool vertically placed on the crossing table, and this hole has been threaded M1. It will receive the M1 bolt that will block the connector on the steering shaft.

 

The conical arm has been crimped on the cylindrical connector and I got that:

 

33582822383_92cf1bea78_z.jpg

 

34262490231_406eaf076d_z.jpg

 

At its dedicated location:

 

34392841555_772039f1ca_z.jpg

 

33582807583_4bf0276052_z.jpg

 

34351193166_c73dd0dd7a_z.jpg

 

33550895324_42dc45a375_z.jpg

 

To be continued

 

Stay tuned if you like, and thanks for watching :)

 

Edited by CrazyCrank
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To me this is a great improvement. It calls for some before and after pictures which I hope you'll feel comfortable with:

 

379.jpg 

 

33550895324_42dc45a375_z.jpg

 

It looks magnificently... machined! I thought it was one the few remaining weaker spots of your model, good choice to tackle this part.

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