Roger Zimmermann

Never heard about this "procedure". As the friction surface will be smaller, this rescue process can only be used when the engine will not be used to a large extend. Am I right?

People are full of good ideas! As far as I know, the rear body of the Mark II retractable was not identical to the one of the standard cars. There are some pictures or drawings available, would be that sufficient to create such a model? I already gave up the idea to do a Mark II convertible (wich are existing, hello Barry!) as I prefer to stick with the regular production model.

Bernie, what is the paint used on your car? If it has to be let dry for so long, it's certainly not a modern formula. About the time you are using to restore that Packard and the hint to the ones for whom it's too long, I could write the same sentence on my post as the expected duration was calculated to be 10 years! (and will probably be that long)

Thank you John for the compliment. The next one? When this one will be ready, I will be about 75 year old...If I still can work then or/and for how long is just a guess! A Skyliner like you have would be a challenge to have the roof working as intended by the manufacturer. Or a convertible... Sorry to disappoint you, an Amphicar is a cute little car/boat with you certainly have a lot of fun, but it's a no go for me as a model...

Is that an illusion or the car was once red?

Dale, the Toronado has a weight of 2.45 kg (5.4 pounds) and the Avanti is 2 kg (4.4 pounds) heavy. It's hard to tell why the Avanti is that much lighter. OK, the Toronado is a little bit larger; one factor for the weight is the electric motor for the traction and the 6 electric motors for the windows, front seat and hide-away front lamps; the Avanti has nothing electrical. The Mark II will have also electric windows (even the vent windows) as electric windows were standard on the real car.

A hammer, small or large, is the best tool in the workshop! Glad for you that the drum said OK, I'm out!

Thank you pontiac1953 and longman for your wishes; I hope that you will have an excellent year 2012! (the other readers too!)

It's not a fancy one: I managed to do 2 pieces: the A/C pulley and the compressor's cylinder head. Next year will see the birth of the compressor's case. Happy New Year to all!

Interesting car, John! Quite different from an Avanti; both are special vehicles!

The drive shaft required a lot of machining to do the universal joints. As you can see on the pictures below, there is a central bearing. At first I did it solid, the shaft turning into a large brass part. Then I realized that the shaft is not parallel with the frame, but the outer shell of that support is squarely attached to the frame. The only solution was a rubber insulator which allows the drive shaft to be at an angle. If the drive shaft would transmit some power, I would need another manufacturing method, as the shaft now is not quite turning true!

I have another point of view about the demise of Saab: I'm almost glad they are gone. Outch! I will have lot of ennemies! My explanation: it was probably a company which was complicated to deal with. Cadillac sold in Europe the BLS which was a Saab model with some modifications. I heard from Swiss dealers that the car itself was quality wise not bad, but GM went the wrong route with the marketing. The model is discontinued since 2009; parts availablity is now real bad as done by Saab suppliers. The warranty system, even if it was a "GM" product, was all Saab system. Either GM was not able to persuade Saab to have the same system as Opel or GM (now there is at least an unique system coming for all brand over most of the world) did not care. It happens that I'm doing the warranty admisnistration for some Swiss dealer. Each time I have a warranty work to submit for a BLS it's a nightmare and it pays almost nothing compared to GM products. Many years ago, Saab was a make in Europe for individualist and strange people. Obviously there were not enough such people to let survive that make.

The scenery is more or less the same as it was many years ago. There are new buildings down to the village; however, the Jungfrau-Victoria Hotel is still there, still magnificent. Another greetings from Switzerland! Despite my name, my monther tongue is French...

In fact Steve, I appreciate the inputs. They show me different ways to do things as one alone cannot know everything. Your suggestion about plating is tempting; it's always a risk to have parts outside, they can be lost or whatever can happens when no more under our own control. This forum has so many people from different horizons; the various knowledges are shared to the benefit of all!

John, paint is expensive. If you let it paint for $ 2000, you will regret it; this is a quick paint job for resale and good to see at 10 feet! I'm glad you choose the other way; your car deserve it. Merry Christmas!

It seems that there is a conspiration that I have to do my plating myself! Thank you Matthew for this info about the transformer!

Thank you for comments and the link Steve. I know that Eastwood is (or was) selling a kit to "chrome" parts; I'm always a little bit sceptical about the results and durability. A test would be fine, but spend more than $ 200.00 to find that the end result is not acceptable is questionable! The next hurdle is that we have 220 volts, USA 110 and the system is certainly not available for 220 volts. Anyway, I'm years away to chrome other parts for this model; I will keep your suggestion; who knows, maybe something similar is available in Europe. By the way, the plater I'm giving my chrome parts is giving a coat of copper for better adhesion and quality of the chrome .

Thank you for your comments Larry. There are activities from people in this forum which are beyond my abilities too; to each his own skill or talent! Merry Chritmas to you and to all from this forum!

Now, imagine the shipping costs for those 6 boxes to Europe (or Australia)! For 2 days, I got back 2 carbs from a good rebuilder in the USA; shipping costs were about $ 150.00...

Thank you straight shooter for your comments and doing your first post to this thread! Have a prosperous year 2012!

A braking from 60 MPH would be difficult! What is the max. speed of such a vehicle? I'm totally ignorant of those very antique vehicles... About thermal expansion: which metal expands more? steel or bronze? The fact is that the steel will get first hot, less than the bronze partly due to the limited thermal conductivity between both. A sleeve into a drum has not such problems but an external sleeve may effectively be a difficult task. The positive aspect of it: you could choose a better lining material. If I can correctly interpret an old technical book, bronze expansion is more important than steel: the expansion value for bronze is 17.5 and the one for plain steel 11.5. Something to study...

It will be no more original, but a solution would be to modify the brass drum with a steel sleeve.

Thank you Frank and jdome. Google had a good search result with woods metal; wismuth leaded to bismuth which is the base metal for the woods metal. I even found a store in Switzerland where I can buy it.. Not cheap, 100 grams for about $ 90.00. I will give it a try; I may use that metal for other applications for the scale model. Everyday there is a chance to learn something!

Interesting what is coming on this forum! Could you please tell me more about that wood's metal? It could be the solution to fabricate the exhaust lines of my Continental scale 1:12. Don't tell me that I can buy it at this or that store, I'm located in Switzerland...

This week-end, I could temporary install the rear axle on the car as the rear springs were done. However, I may replace them: the spring steel I used is a bit too thick and, for the moment, there is just one leaf each side, like Novas and Toronados had in the past. If I'm adding 7 other leafs with the same material, the suspension will be too stiff! As I have no idea regarding the weight when completed, I'm keeping for the moment the rear suspension as is; if I have to do new springs it will just add a couple hours to the project, not a big deal. What next? The drive shaft is in the pipe-line!