Roger Zimmermann

I like the cats! They seem to appreciate what you are doing!

Well, it was like I was afraid: something was not correct with my dimensions. Fortunately, some people at the Mark II forum helped with, I hope, a correct diemension. The forward part of the door's post was too much forward; I had to remove it. The parts did not survive the removal process, I will have to do new ones. Fortunately, they are quickly done. I did most holes on the cowl before it was soldered to the structure. However, not all holes were done as I missed at first the holes for the fuse box. There is also an horizontal brace which is crewed on the structure; I had the drill it when I was more or less sure about it's position. Due to the "legs" (the inner rocker panels), the drilling was somewhat complicated: I had to improvise with a can as you can see on the first picture. It was not very stable, but I manged to perform the drilling without damage! The other pictures are showing the cowl almost ready. Missing are the tunnel aperture and the pivot for the emergency brake. The holes for the hood's hinges are not yet done; they will be drilled when the hinges are done. You will certainly notice the 6 captive nuts for the emergency brake lever...

Chris, if one bolt is damaged, you have to replace it. I'm sure that you can find a good used one; the other people dealing with Avantis will certainly be of help! Thicker head gaskets are used to lower the compression ratio; however, I don't know to what extend.

Lately, I did a lot of verifications about the dimensions. Some are acceptable, some are probably not. Oh! it does not go in inches, but 1 mm on that scale is not good. As long as I can correct errors, I'll do. In short: the "ears" you can see on the previous pictures (they represent one face of the door's pillars) in probably 1 mm (0.04") too much forward. This element will be hidden by the front fenders but I may have a clearance trouble with the hood's hinges. I hope somebody from the Mark II forum will help with a dimension I asked. I continued with the flat part of the cowl; most of the apertures are already done because it's easier to bore on a piece laying flat on the tool than later with the flexible shaft when the part will be soldered to the main structure. I could not resist to install temporarily the brake booster!

Some progress was done lately with the cowl and floor. The inner rocker panels are soldered with the cowl's sides and I added a strip of stainless steel on the inner rocker panel as the flexion between the cowl and the floor could be critical if the model (in fact the doors) is getting heavier as expected. I closed also the bottom of the floor at the cowl's side. The back of the floor will be polyester, as explained earlier. The last addition to that inner structure is both lower heater core cases. The first picture is showing how I fixed them for soldering in an attempt to have them in the same plan. The whole construction is not cleaned as more soldering will occur. The front of the floor is attached to the frame with 4 bolts. The inner ones will not be a problem, however, I will probably not be able to screw the outer ones from inside the body as they are very near from the cowl's sides. There is a chance that I can install the outside bolts through the apertures of the heater core. This concern was also one more reason to add the steel strip. Steel is way more resistant than brass, but much more difficult to work with, especially stainless steel.

Welcome back Ben! Yes, sometimes, I wish that the construction is going faster, especially the last few days with that damn cowl. I spent hours to check and reckeck the dimensions according to the drawing I did. Some points were OK, some were not. At the end, I had to choose a compromise and could get further. The way I'm forming the panels you can see up to now is very simple: the small wise which appears from time to time on the pictures and a small hammer...Sometimes a pattern done with scrap brass when curves are involved. Of course, this primitive method cannot produce accurate parts. I will soon solder the cowl's side panels to the inner rocker panels with the hope that I will not be too far away from the ideal dimensions!

Yes, the car is good looking with those nice wheel covers! Be careful not to scratch that nice paint job by instaling the bumpers... You did the same as me: first install the easy parts; it's good for the soul! And, in my case, the parts slowly leaved our second lavatory!

My intention was to assemble something to both cowl's sides. The logical was to go with the lower front part of the floor. But stop! It's not so easy: first I have to do both channels (or supports) at the bolts # 1. And don't forget the recess for the brake pedal! Once all was soldered, I noticed that I should have soldered the floor to the sides and then the front supports to the assembly (that's the logical to perform the welding at the factory). Well, I will find a way to overcome this error... Now, there is at least one piece of the floor which can be screwed to the frame, even if it's only temporary. Now, I have to trim the sides of the lower floor to adapt it to the cowl's sides... You have probably noticed that there is for the moment no provision for the tunnel. It will be done later, when the upper part of the cowl will maintain the whole assembly.

Thank you! Work of art? Abstractive, very abstractive art!

Usually, cowls are flat and vertical. This is a good starting point to build-up the other elements. Not on the Mark II as the cowl in inclined towards the rear. I did few progresses as I had difficulties to decide with what to continue. I did a lot of planning in my head; maybe something will result from this smoking head! When I understood how the inner rocker panel was done at the front of the body, I could form it partially and solder it to the main inner panels. I continued with the side panels of the cowl and attached them with screws to the inner ends. Then I realized that this was would lead to nothing as loose parts are hard to measure. The idea came to attach the inner panels to a piece of flat sheet metal. This way, I can verify angles and dimensions. As the whole construction is still unstable, I will continue by attaching permanently the front part of the floor to the inner rocker panels. I took the decision to do the back of the floor with polyester. The tunnel has a complex form; I could certainly do a mock-up with wood and bang some brass on it, but the necessary work is a non-sense as the tunnel will hardly be seen from under.

Not all the time: the central bearing for the prop shaft on 57-64 Cadillacs is...metric.

Bernie, according to a wonder booklet, the shrinkage for bronze is between 0.8 to 1.5%. Years ago, for my '56 Biarritz, I let cast fin mouldings in bronze as good parts were not available. I overcame the problem by cutting the defective moulding at the edge, and elongated with bondo. When the casting parts came, I could adjust the length on the car and braze both halves together. The picture is showing where the brazing was done.

Bernie, don't forget that there is shrinkage when cast in bronze!

Ian, it depends the sense "Roger will not be too impressed"... Thank you Bernie for the report. Now, the truth: the meet I was vendor is in fact more a US-car meet, with possiblity to sell goods relative or not to cars. There are usually about 1000 cars coming that first Sunday of May with a lot of people. I began to sell material at the meet in 1995 with success. At first, I shared a place with a friend for some years until he resigned. As I wrote, the space is about 5 x 5 meters (5.5 x 5.5 yards) and I paid CHF 350.- for that space. This amount represents today about US $ 380.00! You have to sell many things to break even...By chance, I had with me many owner's manuals I rescued from GM Suisse. At CHF 25 each, you have to sell 14 pieces to begin to make a small profit! For 2011, the price inceased to CHF 400; I decided that it was too much and I went as a visitor for free. I went with my '57 Brougham; I'm the guy at the back with white hair...

Bernie, I used to sell a few parts and literature (Owner's manuals and catalogs) at one of the largest meet in Switzerland. The last time was 2010, because they increase again the fee. I'm wondering what you paid at this swap meet? Then I'll tell you what I paid for a surface in the open air, 5 by 5 meters, till 2010.

There is nothing very exciting to report. I should continue with the exhaust system, but I have first to measure the angle of the pipes at the manifolds. I believe that the way I did the manifolds, the pipes would go down too "fast". This check will be done during spring time. This week, I began to study the cowl and floor of the car. I have some drawings and many pictures; I'm trying to put all the info's on a piece of paper. As you probably know, the cowl on this car is basically a large flat piece of sheet metal. Alas, the brass I have in various thicknesses has been extensively used and I don't have enough for large parts. I will get some at the end of next week. To kill the time, I'm doing the smaller parts I'm more or less sure of shape and dimensions. On the second picture, there are the inner rocker panels, 2 pieces to reinforce the cowl and 2 parts which are coming on the side of the cowl. All parts are unfinished.

As a matter of fact, paint applied on the same plane but not at the same time can have a different aspect, especially with metallic paint (I don't know if your color is metallic). Considering this aspect, I understand the painter.

John, you wrote that you cleaned the trim parts with acetone; does this product not harm the vinyl? I'm sure you had a respiratory mask as the vapors of acetone are agressive...

It seems I like to ask stupid questions: why the whole firewall was not painted, say till the end of where the hood will rest?

Yes, it's possible! It depends the condition of the vehicle at starting point, what and how it will be done (polyester instead of sheet metal to repair rust for example) and the expected standard... Usually, those "restored" cars are a disaster!

This material is far superior than the vinyl tapes. With the time, this tape is getting very stable unlike vinyl tape. I would not either put mag wheels on that Packard!

That's good looking, Bernie! You are right, the restoration of a car (or whatever) is the addition of many steps, like the building of my model. As a whole, it's discouraging, but bit by bit, it's douable. You cannot eat an elephant in one mouthful! It's certainly not correct for the era, but I would use shrink tubes in place of the black tape, it's more stable with the time.

I had the same experience many years ago with a '57 Cadillac Eldoorado Brougham wiper motor. They send it back with a little word that they have no spare part for that. Could be true, I don't know. I took it apart, redid the seal at the paddle with a similar product as original. Now, for about 20 years the motor run well, even if it's not like an electric one. We have to be a little bit creative when we are involved in older cars...

I'm glad to see that I'm not alone to make sometimes basic errors! It must be very disconcerting turning the wheel on the right side and have the car going on the left...I know that you are still not driving this car, but imagine if you never check that!

...And don't throw away the old manifolds as long as they are not broken, you never know!