Alfa Romeo Coupe Elegant 1/8

[Codger]

43 minutes ago, PROPELLER said:

Sorry Poul, but I don't agree with the size  these clamps! Too thick...

They should be with the same thickness than leaf springs!

 

Dan. 

Although hard to criticize brilliant work, I must agree with Dan. And with other reasons too.

You use a through-bolt to retain the clamps but that puts the clamping force horizontally and bolts may not survive that condition. The conventional method has  the clamps threaded at their ends and a steel plate slid over them then nutted in place. That puts the clamping force vertical against the spring.

Here are my Rolls stainless springs from MMC but they use the stock Pocher clamps, retainers and nuts.

Like yours Poul these springs required more clearance of the slots for the clamps.

Here's the complete assembly requiring only shortening the treads closer to the retainers. Hope this helps:

[Pouln]

Hi Dan, thanks for the comment. I can still thin them down without a problem. 

[Pouln]

OK. thanks for your input, Chas. It appears that I shouldn’t have copied the clamps that were molded into the Pocher parts. 
I will have a look into this issue. Should not be a big thing to change it.

[Pouln]

2 hours ago, Codger said:

The conventional method has  the clamps threaded at their ends and a steel plate slid over them then nutted in place.

I checked reference picks. I guess that The Italians weren’t that conventional.

 

And also:

 

 

 

[Codger]

1 hour ago, Pouln said:

I checked reference picks. I guess that The Italians weren’t that conventional.

 

Since I am full bred Sicilian, I can attest to that. 

Please accept my apologies and always go by your references. You need never heed my word again...

[Pouln]

57 minutes ago, Codger said:

Since I am full bred Sicilian, I can attest to that. 

Please accept my apologies and always go by your references. You need never heed my word again...

Don’t bang your head on it, Chas. Most of your comments and critics are spot on, so vent them whenever you feel like it. We will help you whenever you get off track😜

 

Since you are a full bred Sicilian, you probably know what Regolatore a distanza means. My guess is that it means Distance regulator or remote control. However knowing that these cars didn’t have cruise control, what are these blue knobs for? I’m quite sure that they are after market devices, because not all reference pictures show them (actually most do not have them).

 

 

This picture also gives a clear view on a part that is missing on the Pocher kit. That trumpet horn on the bell house. It’s a vent, but I’m not going to include it on this model. Whenever I’m ready to build that detailed chassis, I will include it. 
 

[Codger]

2 hours ago, Pouln said:

Don’t bang your head on it, Chas. Most of your comments and critics are spot on, so vent them whenever you feel like it. We will help you whenever you get off track😜

Since you are a full bred Sicilian, you probably know what Regolatore a distanza means. My guess is that it means Distance regulator or remote control. However knowing that these cars didn’t have cruise control, what are these blue knobs for? I’m quite sure that they are after market devices, because not all reference pictures show them (actually most do not have them).

This picture also gives a clear view on a part that is missing on the Pocher kit. That trumpet horn on the bell house. It’s a vent, but I’m not going to include it on this model. Whenever I’m ready to build that detailed chassis, I will include it. 
 

I fail you again my friend- sadly I do not. But I know who to ask and will have an answer possibly tomorrow. I'd take a wild guess at brake bias regulators (for vintage racing) but am sure I'm wrong.

[Codger]

To atone for my sins - here's your answer Poul:

They adjust the shock absorbers by tightening the bolt that squeezes the discs together.  They are attached to the lever on the shocks, and pulling the lever tightens the bolt, squeezing the friction discs together.  One knob per pair of stocks.

-Compliments Dave Cox who's built probably dozens of Alfas.
 

[Pouln]

Thank you so much, Chas. And thank David too. This being a luxury car and not a race car, I don't think I will add this, but it will be a treat for the detailed chassis.

[Pouln]

In the mean time, as per the comments of Dan, I have thinned the clamps to make them much less clunky.

They are primered in black so it might not show too clearly (forgot to take a picture before laying the primer).

 

 

[PROPELLER]

Well, it's much better! When you have to work on brass leaf springs, you should use a burnishing product, not paint. With paint you lose the different leafs...
You can see here the difference, more realistic to my eyes:

 

 

 

And in the real life, paint on leaf springs is an aberration, it's just for Pebble Beach...

 

Dan.

[Pouln]

40 minutes ago, PROPELLER said:

And in the real life, paint on leaf springs is an aberration, it's just for Pebble Beach..

Got it. This model is not for PB. Thanks for the tip. Easy to get the primer off and I have the burnishig fluid, to treat the leafs. 

Will do that.

Actually, looking at the first ref pic I included yesterday, I shoud have known 😊

[Pouln]

Followed Dan’s suggestion and removed the paint. Used burnishing fluid to colour the brass.

Just need to clean up the clamps and paint them. 

 

[Codger]

Excellent advice and result !

[Pouln]

One more picture of the result, which shows that Dan's comment about the visibility of the individual leaves is spot on.

 

 

and then on to the in situ pictures:

 

 

That's it for now. It will be some time before the next update is due as I will not be at my bench.

The stock springs appear to be too short and my scratch built springs are the same length.

When I build another Alfa, I will make these springs at least 5mm longer.
 

Thanks for watching.

[harveyb258]

They look damn good, though.... nice work, Poul .

[silver911]

13 hours ago, harveyb258 said:

They look damn good, though.... nice work, Poul .

I wholly concur...stunning work as always Poul.

 

Ron

[Pouln]

Thanks guys, much appreciated. Helps to stay motivated.

[Pouln]

Alright then. There's a certain person, I will not state his name, but he is well known for spreading rumours and facts regarding Pocher builds, who is requesting updates on my build.

Hope he is pleased with this update.

 

As I mentioned in another thread, I got terribly distracted by all kind of things happening here, but last week I restarted this build.

Anyway, I still have lots of little things to do.

 

If I would build the model as Pocher intended there is nothing that will stop the doors from opening to far. We cannot have that, of course.

So I scratched from leather and some bits n pieces bands that will limit the opening of the doors

 

 

 

Chromed and in situ

 

This picture shows that I need to tidy up the seams of the map holders on the inner door panels.

 

Then I had a look at the wipers. The plastic wipers provided by Pocher aren't really great so I undertook to scratch build them using thin brass sheet (0.15mm) and some other bits and pieces.

 

 

I was not really happy with the result, so I made a new pair

 

 

After assembling the pair a little comparison (mind you, first iteration was already "chromed" and painted)

 

 

I've shortened the blades a bit after I took this picture.

 

After chrome and paint:

 

 

Of course I need to have a wiper motor. The left wiper is mounted directly on the axle of the wiper motor.

On several pictures of 8C's I've seen a wiper motor that looks like the one below. What seem to differ from car to car is the actuating switch.

 

 

Here is how I created it, starting with some round tubing. This I heated a bit such that I could deform it, pressing it hard to create an oval form.

 

 

I cut 2 pieces from this. I guess that the thicker part contains the motor and the thinner part will probably contain the excentric gears (without that, the wipers would make 360 degree turns which would look quite silly) 😃

 

 

From PS sheet I cut 3 pieces that I used to close the sections and glued them in place

The switch to activate the wipers is mounted directly on the motor, but it needs a round housing.

 

 

Glued on top of the motor housing

 

 

After cleaning the edges it starts to show its final form

 

 

 

 

Primed in black as most of the motor housing will be black

 

 

And after painting

 

 

Looks pretty rough but the thing is just 8mm in width. In real life it looks pretty nice.

 

The actuator for the wiper motor:

 

 

This will be painted black too and then I will mount in on the circular surface of the wiper motor.

 

Some other bits and pieces that need to be chromed:

 

Gas tank filler cap:

 

 

 

Outside mirror:

 

 

Doorhandles. First the bezels

 

 

Earlier I simulated the black rubber surrounding of the windscreen, using black paint. I traced it with chrome paint to simulate the chrome trim. When the windshield is mounted, both the black and the chrome will mostly be hidden behind the windscreen surroundings.

 

 

Lastly I looked at the rear lights, which I 3D printed and painted some time ago.

I need to create mounting for these and I will add very small leds before the lenses are glued on. 

The wide lights each have 2 red and 1 orange lens. These will be mounted on the rear fenders. The round light will be mounted above the license plate.

Therefore it also features an opening in the bottom part for which I printed a clear lens. 

This will hopefully shine some light on the license plate.

 

 

[silver911]

Excellent work all around...I particularly like the door retention/limiting straps

 

Ron

[Codger]

I see you have lost no skills in your extended absence. The parts and sheer number of them are impressive. I shall search high and low to find that scoundrel that has bedeviled you with harassment !

Meantime, can you explain the plating process you are using for the bright parts?

[Pouln]

2 hours ago, silver911 said:

Excellent work all around...I particularly like the door retention/limiting straps

 

Ron

Thanks, Ron. Much appreciated.😀

[Pouln]

2 hours ago, Codger said:

I see you have lost no skills in your extended absence. The parts and sheer number of them are impressive. I shall search high and low to find that scoundrel that has bedeviled you with harassment !

Meantime, can you explain the plating process you are using for the bright parts?

Thanks, Chas.

 

Uhmm, the plating process. Yes, that was a tough one. Took hours but the result is there, isn’t it?

It is actually a secret recipe. 

 

 

All kidding aside. It is Molotow chrome paint on primer on brass (except for the pins in the limiting straps. These were alu that I chromed with Molotow). 

 

 

[Codger]

26 minutes ago, Pouln said:

All kidding aside. It is Molotow chrome paint on primer on brass (except for the pins in the limiting straps. These were alu that I chromed with Molotow). 

 

 

You get excellent results - you cheater!

[Pouln]

19 minutes ago, Codger said:

You get excellent results - you cheater!

Thanks Chas. I’m quite pleased with the results.