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rjfk2002

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Everything posted by rjfk2002

  1. Vidar, I'm a newbie to the Pocher classic kits too. I can tell you that while the melting method looks scary it is actually really easy. Just slightly thread the screw, enough for it to stand on its own. Put the hot soldering iron on the other end of the screw and after a minute the screw will slowly slide into the part. It's really easy and spares a lot of drilling or broken parts.
  2. Your paint job is outstanding! Did you paint the fenders or is that a clear coat? Same with the yellow is that paint or the natural color? I am really impressed and would appreciate any painting advice! I am really scared of the eventual paint job on my build...
  3. I think I will take a pass on the brakes. Codger you summed it up. It would be a massive undertaking to get all those brake parts to work. I am tinkering with the steering and think weight is definitely the issue. The steering staft and gears will move the steering arm on its own but not when attached to the front wheels. I may try to grease the rods holding the front wheels to the front axle and see if that helps.
  4. I have to second your comments on Peter. He has been tremendously helpful with parts for my Bugatti. He has been a real pleasure to do business with. Looking forward to your future Torpedo build! I have one of the recent issue kits stashed away myself. I heard the silver plastic fenders are much nicer on the older version.
  5. Thanks the melting method did the trick! I had used it before for screws that were open on the other side. This is the first I tried on close holes and it worked. Also the 3mm die was able to scrap off enough plating to get the steering arm. assembled. I ended up cutting some extra threads on one end and scratching it up a little but it will not be noticeable in the final model. This being a pocher kit, as soon as I fixed one problem a new one popped up. It seems like I don't have enough torque from the steering rod to actually translate to turning the wheels. I need to take apart the steering gears and see if there is some slop to clean up. Could be another application of the telson tape that Codger recommended previously for the rear differential. After that I will look at the wheels to see if I need to loosen up some of nuts or grease any metal to metal contacts. Out of curiosity has anyone successfully got the brake system to work on a pocher classic? I am looking ahead and wondering if I should attempt it.
  6. The 3mm die is on order and should be here in a few days. Hopefully that takes care of my issue. I picked up some Model Motor Car parts for the interior, I should take a look and see how those are mounted as you suggested. While I wait for the die, I've started work on the fire wall. I'm painting and fitting everything now. I'll post pics once I've made more progress. A word of warning to other builders out there - the black parts on tree 15 are quite brittle. Normally the black plastic in the Bugatti is very hard and known to break screws easily. Tree 15 parts are the opposite. Be very gentle as screws and pressure crack the parts easily. Fortunately they seem to be repairable.
  7. That is good to know. My 3mm measurement came from the micrometer. I have the die on order so will see if that takes care of the issue. I have the 2mm already but haven't had to use it yet. In the meantime I will start working on the firewall
  8. OK great I will have to bookmark that part of your build for future reference! Right now I'm struggling with the steering arm. The plated rod has two threaded ends where two eyelet-like parts are supposed to screw on. I think the plating is preventing me from screwing the parts on. I need to figure out how to thread the rod. The rod measures 3mm wide but I'm not sure if that is die I need. Any suggestions for how to handle?
  9. Not to worry, the Bugatti is no where near ebay! Progress has been a little slow over the last few weeks on account of some end of summer travel. Also I unfortunately discovered how frail the Pocher PE parts are. One bend is fine, but any adjustments after that snap the part and lead to a crash course in soldering. In case you are wondering use at least a 40 watt iron, below that it doesn't seem to warm the part/solder and instead scorches your work area! The "magic arms" frame with alligator clips and adjustable arms is a must too along with thin solder with a rosin core. Spare yourself the trial & error I went through... I will write a more thorough update later. So far I have the engine installed and am pondering how to ensure the front and rear axles are level. I don't want to get to the body stage and discover my 1930s era car looks like a hot rod/low rider!
  10. The windshield and spot lights look great! Have you made any decisions on how you want to handle the interior? Will you be using some of the MMC upgrades?
  11. Made some more progress. The front axle is assembled. I must admit that the quality of materials in the old Pocher kits is unbelievable. The plating on the front axle is really well done. It's a shame that newer kits like the Aventador don't have these types of beautiful parts... I have attached the front axle to frame. The next step is getting everything level. I think the left and right leaf springs need some fiddling to get lined up evenly; and then I'll have to deal with the front and back axles.
  12. Oops sorry for the mix up! Your Mercedes build has been incredible too. It's great to see all these builds happening at once. I'm picking up ideas by reading through and following. Yes I have the Paul Koo DVD. It has been incredibly helpful - I'm not sure how people were able to build these kits without the DVD or internet forums like this.
  13. Thanks Keith. I have been following your Mercedes build and am in awe. I'm planning on lifting the home-made bolt idea that you and Codger have been using when it comes time to fitting the body. I am making some progress on the front axle. The front leaf springs have a very tight fit into the front axle. With some sanding down of the plastic stopper and the top bracket I am getting everything to fit. While a few steps ahead, I'm already starting to puzzle over how to make sure the front and rear axles are level with each other. For now I'm hopping Pocher got the leaf spring angle right in the instructions...
  14. Thanks for the advice and encouragement. The frame seemed even so I dropped the rear axle in (will need to re-measure before adding the front however). There were a few points where I wished I had a third and fourth hand, but with some careful balancing and minor cursing I got everything lined up. The threaded rod which hold up the leaf springs needed work - besides the rough ends, the holes in the frame needed filing to create enough clearance. The paint on the brake shoes is still drying so I left them off for now. I also need to solder the joints in the photo etch parts. They seem pretty thin and easy to snap. I made an attempt to solder the other day but realized it was a losing proposition without any solder flux. I will need to pick up some over the coming days. Is there any brand/kind that people recommend? A few random notes: The MMC stands make an appearance in this pic. So far I really like them. I needed to flip the frame over to get at some screws on the bottom and the stands made it very simple to do so. They aren't cheap but I can see how they will make life easier going forward. Also on the fuel tank, if I could do it again I would put a layer of tape on the edge that meets the frame to protect the paint. Getting the tank in place using the straps resulted in a lot of friction. I scratched up the paint pretty badly in a few spots. I decided not to repaint as it will not seen once the body is on. Just a helpful tip for future builders
  15. I've made a bit more progress on the build. The frame is complete. Getting the gas tank in there took some fiddling but its done. I need to take some measurements to make sure the frame is even. The rear axle is close to done and will be dropped in next - hopefully tomorrow.
  16. A little more progress. The differential is complete and the rear axle is starting to take shape. Bending some of the stamped metal parts to right shape was a pain. Thank goodness the black, pressed metal pieces have some give. I bent, unbent and repent a few times. The PE parts, on the other hand, are one bend and done, the joints are too weak. I need to clean up that black tarnish on the brass. I think a dremel wire brush and maybe some brass polish will take care of it. One thing to note to other builders - the black plastic coupling on the gear shaft that attaches to the drive shaft needs to be hammered in tightly. Otherwise it bumps against the plastic with the two clevices next to it. I had to drill the black plastic a bit to get the gear shaft in. I started the rear leaf springs. Surprisingly cutting the medium leaf down to a smaller size was pretty easy with the dremel. Bending the leafs however has been a pain. The Paul Koo DVD calls for bending beyond the curvature of the instructions. That would be fine in the parts wanted to bend! I've tried brute force with little luck. I wonder if I should try heating them in warm/hot water and then bending?
  17. Thanks for all the tips. I tried some of the teflon tape and that seems to taken care of the issue! The gears are turning much tighter now and the flex in the tape is keeping it centered. Before the tape I tried to use sprue scraps as a shim and that caused the two halves of the differential to no longer line up. After I finish bolting everything together I will tackle the rest of the rear axle. The leaf springs look really interesting. Unfortunately Pocher mixed up some of the parts giving 3 medium pieces and one small instead of 2 and 2. I'm going to have to drag out the old dremel and hack one down. This is my first classic and I have to say its been a blast so far. Despite all the fit issues (literally no part so far has fit without some fiddling) the detail and complexity of the kit is staggering. Its a puzzle but so rewarding once figured out. I will post some more pics later this weekend after I've made more progress!
  18. Thanks Roy that is a brilliant idea! I will need to look into it. My home printer is pretty ancient so this may be the perfect excuse to replace it. Here is the "complete" engine. Like I said I'm still debating the ignition wire color but figure I'll wait until its closer to install the engine. Then I can figure out if I want yellow or black. It's hard to see in the pic but I sprayed the bell casing & super charger silver and the fan gun metal. The valve covers look a little wonky in the pic but are well aligned in reality. My attempt at BMF for a hose clamp on the water pump didn't hold. I need to find a sticker foil or perhaps I use an extra clamp from the Aventador build (but fear that is too big). I have assembled the frame but will save that for future discussion. I have hit my first roadblock with rear differential. I assembled all of the gears and of course in classic Pocher fashion the gears don't fit in the plastic housing. So I start shaving away at the slots (red circle below - though this pic is the starting point not the end) to get them to fit. I get everything to fit screw it all together and then notice some slop when I turn the drive shaft. I think I shaved too much !! In fairness the "slop" isn't too bad. I turn the axle and everything spins, but I get feel the shaft wobble up & down a bit. My concern is that after I hook the rear differential to the shaft and engine that sloppiness will impact the power transfer... The shaft appears to spin inside the brass ring so I'm thinking perhaps I glue the ring into place and that solves the issues. Anyone else run into this problem?
  19. Thanks I'm very excited about the build. I haven't decided whether to go with the "normal" black/yellow or if I should do a different combo like blue/silver. I will make the decision when I get to the interior/body stage. I was fortunate and able to track down a partially assembled K76 kit with the working differential gears for a really reasonable price. The engine had largely been built but everything else was on the tree or in the bags. I was able to get one of the stand along engine kits on the cheap and so between the two I had a completely unstarted kit! I also picked up the Paul Koo DVD which is outstanding I don't know how one would build these kits without either the DVD or infinite amounts of patience. I started with the engine and its been quite the learning experience. First off nothing fits and all screw holes have to be enlarged. No matter how many times I read about the fit issue on the forums I wasn't prepared for this. That being said, it has been a blast working on all the parts and figuring out how to get everything to fit. It's like a puzzle and with a little bit of work and thought the parts all come together beautifully. First up is the pistons and crankshaft: Next steps were the engine block and side panels. I have been using Tamiya spray cans for everything - first the gray primer and then either gloss aluminum or silver for the various parts (I wanted some variety in the engine). The Bugatti name plates came out really well - primer, then red and finally a sanding stick to take the paint off the raised edges. I decided not to try the turned aluminum look on the side panels. I thought it was beyond my skills and tooling. Despite that I think the panels came out nicely without the turning. Here is another shot with some more work done. The drive shaft isn't fully screwed in hence the droopiness. I still haven't figured out if I'll use the rubber kit wiring or replace with Model Motor Car yellow wire and a metal loom like the 1:1 pictures show. That's it for tonight. Next update I'll show the completed engine (again sans wires) and the start of the frame.
  20. After reading about all these great Pocher builds on this forum, I decided to tackle one of the Pocher classics - the Bugatti. I plan to post some pics over the coming days. I've build the engine and frame and am just starting the rear axle/suspension. My next few posts will catch up this thread to my build. This is my first classic (I've built the Aventador and Testarossa) and I'm looking forward to people's comments and advice!
  21. It's a beautiful build so far! I'm watching with great interest as my next build is also the Bugatti T30 (have to pull the kit out of storage and study the Paul Koo DVD first). Hopefully we can swap tips along the way. If I can get my act together I may even create my own build thread. Rich
  22. I haven't attempted the mod yet. I wanted to get the doors working first. The doors are on and I'll drop the forward body on tomorrow. If I can get all those panels to line up and I'm happy with the fit then I'll attempt the rear end mod. I know you have a step-by-step either on this thread or scale motor cars. Rich
  23. Thanks for the clarifying picture. I am using the flat head screws for that L-bracket (with the piston) and flat head screws to hold the hinge to the body. I took the screws out holding the sides to the cabin (A on the bottom and the hidden N screws for anyone else following) and now its pretty flush. I think that was the other problem - when I screwed the side panels into the cabin it must've warped the body slightly. Now it is almost completely flush! Thanks for your help.
  24. Thanks Roy. I swapped the screws out and still have the gap. I even gave up on the screws and glued the hinges to the rear deck lid yet it is still not flush (though better than when I started). I'm going to attempt to take the sides off and see if maybe the rear deck is sitting too high. Would welcome any suggestions you or anyone else have!
  25. Roy- This was an incredible build and inspired me to tackle my own. I have gotten all the way to attaching the rear body to the frame (step 28) and ran into the tail gate issue that you had - the rear lid/tail gate is not level with the roof. Which screws did you swap out the round head for flat? Was it the screws holding the hinges to the rear deck? Any help would be much appreciated. Given how fiddly the parts are I'm afraid to guess and check. Rich
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