Roger Zimmermann

Don't worry, Pat...Sometimes people are overreacting!

Absolutely! It seems that I'm not the sole fool!

With the body still on the frame, it's easier to check for proper gap between frame and body. I did more or less that when I restored my '56 Cad Biarritz: without a sound floor, taking a rusted convertible body away from the frame could lead to a disaster...

Recently, I was busy with the shock absorbers regulating system. It requires a lot of small parts, an annoying job. Of course, that system will be static on the model with most parts soft soldered to each other. As some holes must be drilled on the frame, I will have to remove the steering system and the engine; maybe the suspension can stay undisturbed. Some clevises have a small tube which is silver soldered; I had to find an unusual method to perform the job: a tube was turned on the lathe, then soldered and finally cut from the stock. The tube alone was so short that I found no other method to solder it with a relative precision.

What a project! Good luck with it, you deserve it.

Pat, on some elements like wheel "bearings" and steering gear have some grease or oil. This will be washed away during the paint process, but I will again lubricate all moving parts after that process, like I did on the other models.

It seems that this system was used also in Switzerland/Europe. I believe that they are not allowed anymore due to the contaminants in the exhaust gases.

Thanks Randy! It seems that you are forgetting a major difference between Gerald Wingrove and me: yes, he did models at scale 1:15 which eliminate details possible at 1:12. However, the main difference was that he did models for a living, but not me! You can estimate the price I should sell the Mark II to have a decent income for 9 years...

Another interesting project to follow! Those Nash coupes are not to be found at every corner...

The steering system is basically finished. The last piece to be added was the steering connecting rod. A straight bar? Oh no, it would be too easy! This bar or rod is vertically and horizontally curved. Looking from above the curve is obvious: to clear the way for the tire during a left turn. But why horizontally? I don't know. Maybe to clear the rear shackle from the front spring. At both ends, I have a ball stud, two shoes, a spring and a treaded plug, however much simplified compared to the original set-up. This elaborate system is allowing to have no play at the joints during a normal effort. I still must add a dirt/grease shield over both joints. As my assemblies are without splines, I had to add something to index the Pitman arm and steering wheel on their respective shafts; I did that with a 0.5 mm diameter rod inserted between hub and shaft. Totally not visible when assembled, but allowing a disassembly if needed.

Pat, there are also "nubs" at the underside of the rim, like most steering wheels. The upper ones were maybe needed to have a better grip as power steering was not yet born. Maybe it was just a decor...

Once the rim was done, I trimmed the hub and prepare the spokes. They were silver soldered to the hub; the trimming coming after this operation. Once the spokes were trimmed, I soft soldered the rim to them. I also added a small decor to the spokes, somewhat simplified compared to the original steering wheel. Now, I can do the link between the steering box and the steering lever. I had to buy tap and die for that job; I had nothing as large (3 mm) in my tool store...

For the moment, the rim is ready. Maybe I will try to lower the ridges when the steering wheel will be assembled. On the other side, if they raise in proportion the same as the original ones, they may be unnoticed...

With a completed steering box, the model now is requesting a steering wheel. It's not the first I'm doing but this one has an annoying characteristic: on top of the rim, there are small ridges in addition to the usual rim's shaping at the underside. How to do that? I did a tool to soft solder the rim to have the correct inside diameter. The I did the 60 slots with a milling tool. The idea is to silver solder tiny brass bits. With the proper trimming I may be able to replicate the shape. We'll see soon... The attached pictures are showing an original steering wheel, machining the rim, the slots and the soldered brass bits.

Well, with the time the brass is getting darker, not always nice. Paint also is hiding some small defects...

The steering box is ready and installed on the frame. As I expected, there is a tight fit between the steering column/box and the exhaust pipe; in due time, I will slightly modify the exhaust pipe to have a more comfortable space between both elements. The various pictures are showing the involved parts; on the right, I installed a rough steering wheel hub. As you can see, there is also a complex part made with two flanges: the one to close the steering box and holding the pitman shaft and another one which is the attaching element from the unit to the frame. When I was in Germany more than three years ago, I had the good inspiration to measure the steering tube length and the distance at its end to the frame. Those dimensions allowed me to do a temporary fixture for the steering box; with that, I could locate exactly the flange attached to the frame before silver soldering it. Unfortunately, that steering box will not be without play because the worm's bore is not exactly concentric (Made in USA is definitively not as precise as Made in Switzerland!). The result: some hard spots, but not at the right place and, in between, some play. As its indeed a static model, this unwanted characteristic is not that bad. Now, I will do the connecting rod to have a functional steering. And then, the steering wheel to complete this chapter.

Thanks! It's not yet totally over, but I'm OK now.

For different reasons, the steering gear is coming slowly as expected: first, I realized that the worm and sector must be a reverse set. Thanks to a scale model forum, I could order the appropriate set. This was just before our autumn vacation, so I expected to have the gears at my return. They were there, but I came back with Covid's! Thanks to the vaccine, the illness was not too severe, but I was "out" for a good week. Anyway, I could begin with the steering gear's partial body, the tube and shaft. I have now to make the sector shaft and its body and connect it to the main body. The whole will be a tight fit as the exhaust tube is very near from it. I hope that there will be no conflict...

Nice experience with the exhaust installation. Nice too to have the car on its roof to show the nice tubes(!). Welding stainless steel is requiring a specific equipment if I'm right.

It's also what I' thinking. Congratulation!

No, it's not what I suppose it to be. My answer tomorrow!

While doing the steering gear arm, I noticed "ears on the side. Suddenly, I found the reason for those ears. Do you have an idea about their purpose?

Thanks Randy! There was a fuel strainer at the pump and another one at each carb. I can imagine that the fuel at that time was looking like what we have now as petrol. Way different than the gasoline used today.

Ah! Summertime...Not the best season to build scale models! Anyway, I added some details to the tank, like the draining plug and the fuel outlet. Then I began doing 3 attaching points to be soldered on the tank. I evaluated their dimensions according to the pictures I have from Johan; I'm sure they are similar to the real thing but inexact dimension wise. I added also fake rivets to the straps. Two minor pieces must be added to the tank: the fuel sender and next to it, another round cover I have no idea about his function.

The gas tank is now almost ready; the side plates were not flat but to simplify the stamping, I just soldered a convex smaller element. Missing are the tiny details: the three brackets to attach it to the frame, the draining plug and the filler tube which will not be easy to shape.