Building the Pocher 1/8 Lotus 72D, Emerson Fittipaldi 1972

[KeithAnthony]

22 hours ago, JohnPlayerSpecial said:

so I just hope I don't mess it up.

If I can do it so can you.  Keep the tap clean (I use an old toothbrush) and never use dry - always a spot of thin oil. Use in drill press and try and keep straight. Gentle pressure and if it gets tight back off. The holes in the castings are perfect for a 1.6mm tap. Good luck - becomes more model engineering !

[cmatthewbacon]

 

 

 

The wheel carriers fit straightforwardly. As usual, it's easier if you put all the screws in before assembling, take them apart, and re-assemble in position. I used rubber-reinforced CA to hold the boots in place. It you want the steering to articulate fully and turn the wheels with the steering wheel, you need to rotate the universal joints so the axes at both ends are vertical. It's easy enough to do before you fix the suspension arms and rubber boots, and if your steering isn't working over the range you'd expect you can still rotate the main wheels after you've put them in place but it becomes more of a trial and error process. To get the outer boots in place, grab the shaft with tweezers or pliers inboard of the boot and squish it as far towards the hub as you can. Then you can work the outboard edge and it will pop over the hub. Just make sure the edge is not caught by the axial pin in the far end of the shaft. The boot material is very flexible, so be merciless with the tweezers...

 

 

The brake line (J-1) locates into the two recesses in the front faces of the callipers as shown above. It's springy, but will clip into place before applying super glue.

 

 

Fixing the front subframe brings a lot of parts together. The screw heads in the rear face of the subframe locate into gaps in the front faces of the body sides. It takes some squeezing and flexing to get them in and the location holes (B) lining up. The two tabs on the frame fit into slots in the body baseplate (C) which really help locate the frame. Those struts which I thought were brake lines (A) aren't; they are structural reinforcements and the open ends fit over a couple of stubs on the body baseplate.The pins on the bottom of the pedal box locate into the holes immediately behind the forward screws (B) and can be fixed with superglue.

 

 

 

 

Which brings us to the end of Page 28... and I couldn't resist:

 

 

It really is a big beast. There will now be a short hiatus while I build some MUCH smaller cars for a magazine...

 

best,

M.

[Natter]

Looking very, very nice Matt. Do tell which magazines you are building for so the articles can be perused on publication.

[Schummie]

Some pictures of my effords. Thanks to this forum I was able to avoid a lot of problems.

My front bake disks are bolted to the frame. I used allen screws, so a angled tool could turn the bolts.

 

 

Some removing of paint.

 

 

They will later be located to the underside of the gearbox.

 

 

 

 

The front calipers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ans some paining of parts that are not in the right colour.

 

 

 

Also the torsion bars which had some very visible mold lines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will apply some wash to bring the details a bit up.

 

[PatW]

Yes I also didn't realise that Hornby in Margate, Kent had bought the rights to Pocher (Now pronounced POKER)! I'm watching their latest series on TV at present where they go to see Colin Chapman's son who now runs 'Classis Lotus'.  In the programme they go over this 'model' of Lotus taking all of the necessary measurements, pohoto's, etc to produce this fantastic kit!

[Griph]

13 hours ago, Schummie said:

Some pictures of my effords. Thanks to this forum I was able to avoid a lot of problems.

My front bake disks are bolted to the frame. I used allen screws, so a angled tool could turn the bolts.

 

Great work Schummie, As Matthew said previously the supplied screw heads go straight through the holes, so I ended up using some similar screws from my 917KH build that had larger heads but same size threads to fix the front brake disks to the subframe. Sorted the problem!
 

However, the bigger problem came earlier! I misread the order and completed the assembly of the disks and shafts, only to discover the disks would only fit into the callipers on their own. I’d glued the disk to the disk carrier, so there was some consternation as I couldn’t fit them.  Luckily I’d only used a small amount of CA glue, so the careful use of a scalpel was enough to separate them! So now fixed properly!  Will have to be careful.
 

Considering so far that this was the only time Pocher had given the installation sequence I kicked myself for a while until I fixed it! 😂

[Noel Smith]

This thread is getting interesting as a number of builders are offering their experiences building this kit on here.

Upon reading Ron and Keith's posts about taps, breakages and lubrication, taps of sizes such as ISO 1.5 or 2mm thread sizes need to be used with care.

Regardless of whether expensive ones or not using very small diameter taps like these are prone to breaking if not careful.

Tallow used to be the engineers choice for lubricating a tap, but more available in a domestic situation candle wax rubbed down the cutting edges will help lubricate them.

Also, look up engineers charts and ensure that the correct hole size is drilled for each tap size.

There is a small engineers pocket flip over reference referred to as a Zeus book by most engineers that model engineers suppliers will probably have available.

It was mentioned that white metal can bind on taps. After all it is very soft and of a lead like consistency.

Softer grades of aluminium can also bind to a lesser extent

[cmatthewbacon]

I don’t think this is white metal. It’s diecast Zamac, which is harder and stiffer. White metal is a tin-lead alloy, which I had plenty of experience with building the Finecast Silver Ghost. This stuff is hard, and as I discovered will break if you try to “re-align” it…

beat,

M.

[Griph]

32 minutes ago, cmatthewbacon said:

I don’t think this is white metal. It’s diecast Zamac, which is harder and stiffer. White metal is a tin-lead alloy, which I had plenty of experience with building the Finecast Silver Ghost. This stuff is hard, and as I discovered will break if you try to “re-align” it…

beat,

M.

Agreed Zamak is family of alloys with a base metal of zinc and alloying elements of aluminium, magnesium, and copper. 

[JohnPlayerSpecial]

On 03/03/2023 at 20:28, KeithAnthony said:

If I can do it so can you.  Keep the tap clean (I use an old toothbrush) and never use dry - always a spot of thin oil. Use in drill press and try and keep straight. Gentle pressure and if it gets tight back off. The holes in the castings are perfect for a 1.6mm tap. Good luck - becomes more model engineering !

Well I will give it ago, and keep my fingers crossed 😬

[Schummie]

38 minutes ago, JohnPlayerSpecial said:

Well I will give it ago, and keep my fingers crossed 😬

Well, I use allen bolts, steel ones. M1.6. 
I did not tap the holes in advance. What I do is just turn the steel bolts in the holes before the installing. This way I tap. More or less “self tapping”. This is possible because the relative soft metal.
Works great. It’s even possible to replace the M1.6 with the original M1.5 screws included in the kit.

That was nessecary because the heads of the allen bolts were to big for installing the front suspension to the chassis. 
 

[Noel Smith]

It the metal being tapped is Zamac then I would definitely go down the road of running a recommended tap drill size through the holes first before tapping as that follows basic engineering practice.

Using steel screws to 'work' a thread in a hole is possible as they are hard in comparison to white metal, plastic and zamac, so basically a thread is being formed by compression in this process rather than being cut by using a tap.

[JohnPlayerSpecial]

18 hours ago, Schummie said:

Well, I use allen bolts, steel ones. M1.6. 
I did not tap the holes in advance. What I do is just turn the steel bolts in the holes before the installing. This way I tap. More or less “self tapping”. This is possible because the relative soft metal.
Works great. It’s even possible to replace the M1.6 with the original M1.5 screws included in the kit.

That was nessecary because the heads of the allen bolts were to big for installing the front suspension to the chassis. 
 

Thanks for the tip, i'll give that a go and see which works best for me.

[Dinky]

Manual 2, Page 17

There are 3 braided lines/hoses which are flat. If you put a little metal wire inside it looks much better, especially the corners.

 

Manual 3, page 31. You should be using A screws for the silver parts but they are too long. I used V screws from the Pocher Panigale because I could not find fitting ones with the lotus. 

 

Update on the updated manual, follow the blue lines and not the red ones. 

 

[KeithAnthony]

On 04/03/2023 at 20:35, Noel Smith said:

Also, look up engineers charts and ensure that the correct hole size is drilled for each tap size.

https://international.optimas.com/technical-resources/tapping-sizes/

 

In practice, the Pocher holes work fine for both 1.6 and 2mm taps.

[Noel Smith]

You may well be getting away with using both taps through the Pocher kit holes.

The 2mm tap will feel tighter going through the holes I should imagine.

It depends on the moulded hole size. It could fall in between the recommended tap drill sizes so would be a little oversize and loose for the 1.5mm tap and a little under and a bit tighter for the 2mm tap.

That may well be why  you can get away with it, and possibly also the material being tapped relatively soft too that would help. Taps of these sizes are all too easy to break so I would still be inclined to run a tap drill through the holes to take the 2mms screws first.

Also a little caution if using steel screws as it is very easy to strip these tiny threads by over tightening going into relatively softer material.

Edited March 7, 2023 by Noel Smith

[Bosco]

Hello, everyone. I'm "Bosco" and introducing myself. I've been modeling for over 70 years. I've finished the DeAgostini/Model Space Senna McLaren, Ford GT40, the LaFerrari. I currently have about 4 issues left to go on the IXO Collections Porsche 917. I currently do only 1/8 kits as my eyesight and hands are getting the best of me. I just got my 72 here about 2 weeks ago. And I can see this is going to be a challenge. Thanks to everyone who is ahead of me on building and finding mistakes and publishing them. I do think I'll need them.

Also I would like to let everyone know that you can save a lot of $$$$ if you plan on getting a display case for your Lotus 72. I was looking at the Pocher site for a case and they want 340 pounds. Go to IXO Collections. They have a display case for 99 pounds with free delivery. I have 2 now and will order one for the Lotus. They are very well made with a nice base. Here is the link:

https://www.ixocollections.com/en/accessories/64-display-case-porsche-917-kh.html

[PaulP]

With the help from Stuart at Pocher I have managed to solve the mystery of where Tu1 at the front of N1-4 (P16) connects to:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope this helps 😀

[cmatthewbacon]

@PaulP Thank you! Small label duly written and attached to the end of the last unknown tube!

best,

M.

[KeithAnthony]

12 hours ago, Noel Smith said:

The 2mm tap will feel tighter going through the holes I should imagine.

There are two hole sizes, to match the 1.5mm and 2mm kit screws. 

[Noel Smith]

That makes sense Keith, as I don't think you mentioned that there were two hole sizes before.

 

Thanks Bosco for the link to the IXO display cases.

The Pocher ones are prohibitively expensive for what they are. There are companies that can custom make them for less!

[Bosco]

To say the Lotus will be a test of patience is putting it mildly. And paying attention to your advice on the build is paramount. I already made my first mistake that thankfully was correctable. Parts N1-7L and N1-7S looked so close that I managed to put them on the wrong sides. Parts like these, I will put a drop of super glue on the inside so they won't fall out. So I had to break them free and install properly. Wonder what excitement will await me further down the road!!!

Bosco

[KeithAnthony]

2 hours ago, Bosco said:

Wonder what excitement will await me further down the road!!!

 

Just be sure before you hit the ca glue!  I got through it from the original manual so you will be fine. One thing I found is that if you look at a couple of diagrams forward it can be a helpful supplementary drawing to the one you are working from.

 

You might find Splash Baker's weekly reports helpful 

 

Edited March 8, 2023 by KeithAnthony

[Bosco]

On 1/9/2023 at 12:56 PM, elderly said:

I needed display cases for my 1/8th Pocher Bugatti and Alfa.

 

There are people who can make you quality made to measure acrylic cases for a fraction of what Pocher charge (£340?).

Try this site, they have a very reasonable price on a display case:

https://www.ixocollections.com/en/accessories/64-display-case-porsche-917-kh.html

[Griph]

4 hours ago, Bosco said:

Try this site, they have a very reasonable price on a display case:

https://www.ixocollections.com/en/accessories/64-display-case-porsche-917-kh.html

Yeah I have this already! 😀👍🏻