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Pocher F40 with Autograph transkit upgrade challenge build


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As promised in Sam's thread on the Gurney Eagle build, I am now back on the F-40. I think the six month break and going back to work has given me a little different outlook on this build. Anyway, I'm not going to say a lot about what is going here other than to say, it took me a little while to reacquaint myself with where I left off. I managed to make some decent progress on the engine today and finally glued everything together with the engine and transaxle. I've done some weathering on the whole thing mainly because this is going to be a weekend racer and it gets a little dirty and grimy from the road surface. It's easier to wash the body off than to get under it and detail the engine and transaxle. At least that's my explanation and I like the way it sort of brings out the detail and shadows. Now that it's essentially in one piece the rest of the engine parts will start getting added to the main assembly. 

I also pulled out the painted body parts and rear frame so I could get a better idea of how it's going to look as it starts going together. So, here's today's pictures. 

 

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Thanks SJ. It’s good to see that there’s still some guys out there that haven’t given up on my thread! I was just too far along to not keep going with it but, as I mentioned back in June, I went back to work full time after being forced into retirement five years ago with a work injury. I decided after a few months of work that I really don’t want to work full time and I was fortunate enough to work out a deal with my employer to be more of a consultant. By changing my schedule around to essentially a half time work load I now only work 20 hours a week; 4 days a week 5 hours a day. This is now the perfect scenario for me and it gives me enough extra income and plenty of free time to get back to working on my models. As I mentioned to Sam, I’m also building a Pocher Alfa Monza. It’s got most of the MMC aftermarket Alfa parts on it like, the springs, shocks, front axle and a bunch of small parts as well. It’s probably about a third to half done but, I don’t know if I’m going to start another thread on it or not. 

Part of the problem has been waiting on the paint for it. I ordered quite a bit of Zero Paint for it and other projects back in the beginning of October and I still haven’t received the order so, it’s kind of stalled until I get the paint. When I get the paint order and get some color on it I might change my mind, we’ll see. So, for now I’m going to see how much progress I can make on the Ferrari. 

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Thanks guys! I must say that I am pretty surprised at the response this post has received since last night! I want you all to know that I appreciate your response and support. With that in mind, I sat down this afternoon and did some more work on the engine, mainly the cam covers. i think that each one has 15-17 pieces including the 0.8 mm brass hex bolts on the back of each PE brass back plate. They all had to be drilled out with a 0.9 mm drill so I could just drop in each 2.5 mm long bolt. I also realized that I had put the rear bracket on the transaxle on the wrong section and had to remove it and move it forward one section. I did permanently attach the braided line on the side of the transaxle to the oil pan. Anyway, most of this stuff was pretty fiddly work and just because it was so small and precise type work it took a good three hours to just get this little bit done today.

Well, here are the pictures of today's efforts and hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to get some more done. I do have a dentist appointment tomorrow so, we'll see how I'm feeling afterwards. Oh, as I was posting the pictures I noticed a couple of things regarding the cam covers. They have some damage on the plastic; remember that this kit was a used salvage kit that I took apart to build this with the transkit. I still have the metal engine but, I'm thinking more along the lines of a display engine for that one.

 

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Here is where I moved the rear bracket. It used to be behind the rear engine mount and now it's in front of the rear mount.

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Back in the frame to check the fit. I'm probable going to need to do some light weather on the front covers to it matches the rest of the engine

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Hopefully, more tomorrow

 

 

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I guess all of us are just happy to see a Pocher kit being either started or resumed. It's a joyful moment I guess, especially now that you've come so far last time. Several modellers I know will grow tired of a model kit pretty soon and will simply open up another kit as that's new and exciting. I know I have had that sentiment more than once. So this Ferrari being put back on the workbench is good news. It doesn't hurt that you did a clever job leading to a solid base for the car (engine bay construction) either. 

 

Beside that, it seems you just continue from where you left off, being not always easy as you'll have to remind yourself of several things you were busy with when you last touched the model. You're definitely not the only one there. 

 

Good luck! 

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Agree with @Roy vd M. - I'd have been tempted to do a quick job just to get it finished and then start something else. It takes willpower to keep on and I know it will be worth it in the end. I have a similar 'willpower' issue with a Matchbox 1/32 Tiger Moth at the minute, so it's boxed up and waiting for the right moment (whenever that is)...

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Thanks Roy, SJ, Harvey and Dan! I see that we all have had the same experience at one time or another. I was getting a little bit overwhelmed at the time and I was kinda losing motivation and momentum. Then out of nowhere I got the job offer and I realized that I wasn’t going to have a lot of time to keep working on it and work at the same time. So, I decided that I was at a good stopping point and I packed everything up in plastic containers.

When I got the kit it was a used, dusty and somewhat assembled mess and it didn’t have the kit box and I bought two pretty big containers and four 13”x13”x3” flat containers to store all the PE sheets and all of my excess leather and interior parts and other miscellaneous parts and put it all under the card table next to the workbench. 

When, I was working on it before I stopped, I was having a problem with the instructions and sequence of the transkit assembly as it relates to the actual model assembly. This was the single biggest frustration that I was having with the build. I just couldn’t get my head around what was going on and when things should be done. So, I decided to rewrite the transkit/model instructions in a more sensible manner and one that, I could follow and accounted for everything that needed to be done in the actual order it needed to be done and not just hinted at in the Autograph instructions. I took each page of the Autograph instructions which actually contain three steps per page and only with brief explanations and small pictures with only exploded parts photos. It is not very detailed and leaves a lot to interpret. The time spent to redo each page with written instructions that take me through each step one at a time as I thought about it has been instrumental in getting me back up to speed quickly. Had I tried to remember everything that, I had thought about 8 months ago, I’d still be playing catch-up. It’s probably the single smartest thing that, I did during the first part of the build. I have enough written instructions for the next 6-8 steps beyond where I am now and, as I work my way through those and get my head really back in the build, I’ll get back in the book and continue to write the instruction sequence to continue all the way through the build. Part of the reason why I did this in the first place was that there are other steps that needed to be done earlier than the Autograph instructions show. As you well know, with any Pocher, you need to account for and make modifications to account for something that comes later in the build. The last thing you want to do is go back and take something apart to modify or add to that should have been done already.

 The other thing that you bring up about starting another kit and leaving one lie is something that I did do but, for any particular reason other than to have something simple to do and keep mildly busy. I built a 1/24 McClaren P1 for fun but, it wasn’t very satisfying. So, I decided to pull out the Alfa Monza and putter around with it. This is the kit that I was going to build before I started on the F-40 conversion. I had already acquired most of the MMC parts for it so, I decided to do some work on it which, because of where I was in the process of that kit, made it easier to work on. 

Then my hours at work changed and the road block on getting the paint for it allowed me to go back to the Ferrari. I had intended to work on each going forward anyway. Even though I don’t have a thread on it, I do have all the pictures and some documentation for it should, I decide to post. As with the Ferrari and any Pocher for that matter, I don’t want to start another thread only to have it stalled out for months so, better to hold off until I’m closer to finishing it while continuing to work on this one.

Anyway, I feel pretty good about being able to start this one back up and continuing to make progress. Hopefully, I’ll have something more interesting to post later today with pictures, lol! 😬

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Thanks Ron. I just got back from the dentist and the Novocaine is wearing off and things are starting to hurt so, I'm going to take a break tonight. I did take some pictures of my Instructions though. They're not much more than what was written by Autograph but, they are in an order that seems like a step by step instead of a run o sentence. I also make notes for myself where appropriate and in the first picture, you will notice that the number sequence does not follow Autographs sequence but, are the more logical progression of the build. This is where redoing it has put the build sequence the correct order to avoid taking things apart to do the next section. You see that I went from the step 14b sheet which ends with step 15a to step 24a and then the step 25 pages go to the step 37a

pages. Anyway, it works for me and keeps me from flipping back and forth making sure that, I won't have a problem later on. 

 

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This is an example of one set of pages that represent one page of the Autograph instructions. I have good reference and with a more organized step by step for each picture, I can check things off on a page that is big enough to read rather than having it all crammed onto one 8 1/2 x 11" sheet of paper that's really too small. This has made it easier to get going again and I thought that by seeing what I was talking about you guys would get a better sense of how I'm having to work on this upgrade.

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So great to see you back with this and not have it consigned to the Attic of Doom - the fate of many Pocher projects.

To your great credit Wayne, you wanted the utmost in accuracy and complexity and discovered 'complexity' was really a disorganized scramble of parts and pages, nearly impossible to integrate  into the base kit. You needed a secretarial staff to make sense of the instruction material provided. And you being an engineer, tackled that chore alone to resurrect this beautiful car.

There are a number of advanced, cutting edged builds here like this right now which is wonderful. We all learn so much more from the guys that are out of their comfort zones and displaying incredible thinking and fabricating skills.

For various reasons we lost some other incredible big-scale builds that were in progress here over the last year or so. My hope is that what is being done now will encourage those to blow the dust off and return to our screens.

Welcome back Wayne...:worthy:

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Thanks Codger. On that note, I've spend what seems like an inordinate amount of time that last two days looking at a lot pictures and looking for the parts I need in all the boxes to complete a couple of steps. I wasn't sure what the very small pictures in the Autograph instructions were showing me i.e. is it a transkit part or a Pocher part? I think that, I got most of that figured out and in a couple of cases, I just made some bushings from hose. I hadn't planned on wiring up the starter since it's not really going to be visible when it's all assembled but, I went ahead and added them anyway. I'm almost done with the whole step 10 through 14b sections with the exception of the stupid hose clamps. There's a lot of them in this kit and they a PIA to put together so, I guess that I'd better spend some time figuring out the best method of put one together so, I can have process in place to assemble them as needed. I'm fully anticipating spending a while on trying to hold on to these small pieces and bend to shape. That's the hardest part, holding on the the tiny PE and working with it. Anyhow, this is today's meager offering.

 

Wires for the starter

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Shift rod with bushings

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Starter wiring in place, I might go back and change out the red wire for a black one or just paint it

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Getting a little head start on cleaning up the pieces for the water piping on the intake

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My nemesis, the dreaded hose clamps! I still am not quite sure how they are supposed to go together. Something is not right here. I'm open for ant explanation or suggestions. The MMC hose clamps are so simple and these made more

difficult by the lack of a clear explanation  

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Hopefully, I'll actually get some done tomorrow but, at least I'm getting through with and completing some of these steps and moving on.

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Nice work! I'd assume that the o-shaped bit should be bent at 90 degrees to sit atop the 'cylinder' you've already bent and that there would then be a bolt placed through the hole (or I'd just punch a hex-head from plastic card to save on those tiny bolts). As per Jubilee clips of old. However I've never paid any attention to F40 hose clips so maybe they aren't conventional clips.

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Thanks SJ, the hose clamps are just the standard screw type hose clamps. I took a closer look at them today and I think that I figured them out. I just need to get the hose ready to go on the engine and then add the clamp to be sure. I should have never taken the one piece off the long ribbed screw piece. It’s made to fold up and over as one piece. 

I didn’t get anything done today as I had planned for. We had about 8-10” of snow Saturday night and while I was outside cleaning it up, I twisted my knee pretty good and I can barely stand up or walk. After enough proper medication I spent the rest of the day with my leg propped up with an ice bag on it. 

It was this evening that I played around with the clamps and then I cleaned up the resin intake pieces and sort of mocked the assembly up on top of the engine. I should be ready to paint and work on the intake manifold, water pump, water pipes and so forth when I can get to the workbench and sit down for a while. 

Things are actually starting to move forward and I’m comfortable with getting the engine detailed further. I have some more pictures from today and will probably have more tomorrow. Pictures always tell more of the story than words so, until tomorrow.

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I've managed to get a small amount done but, my knee makes it hard to get up and down the stairs where the man cave is. I did figure out the hose clamps as I mentioned on the last post; it was kind of all in how you look at it and which direction the hole for the screw should be facing. I was over complicating the whole thing but, I'm good now. The first picture shows the one where I figured it out. I'm working on mocking up some of the upper half of the engine components to see how everything is going to fit and also doing some hand painting on a few parts. When I took a few of these shots tonight, the paint was still wet and some will need a light sanding prior to assembly. This is by no means the finished product on any of the add on pieces, more just part of the process so you can get an idea where this is all going.

 

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Once this water pipe assembly is dry I'll be doing a little more detail painting on the AN fittings and then gluing it in place. Next  

the water pump when it's painted and the hoses and clamps etc are installed. Then we can start building over the top of that.

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Thanks Roy! As I was working on some of this stuff last night, I realized when I was looking at the master book of instructions, shown in the last picture. When I was doing the rewrite, I still have one or two more pages to write. Each page has three steps and three small pictures to cover each of the steps. I’m going to have to go through all my reference pictures and make a bunch of copies of pictures to show what is contained in each step and then write my own order of assembly that is more detailed than the 3-4 sentences with pictures that have 20-40 pieces in each one and trying to make sense of it all. So, I’m going to have to spend most of today going through all this and then printing out the pictures before I go any further. I don’t expect to have anything to post for a couple of days when I have a better idea of what comes next. 

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I agree with Roy and pics will always tell a thousand words. 

A build of this nature is a complex beast, as we know. It's hard enough to create and assemble the parts, but documenting it all as well...and making it cohesive, is a different ball-game altogether. You're doing it marvellously!

 

Keep up the good work, Wayne.

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