Roger Zimmermann

Or the engine is sucking air from the wrong place: bad gasket at the intake manifold or the intake is warped; gasket at the base of carb.

It seems that the lama is quite interested by that construction!

Thanks Keith, my3buicks and Randiego for your comments! '56 Continentals had 2 underhood lamps; '57 models only one (they did spare already!). I will probably do the lamps, but not functionnal. Only healamps and taillamps will illuminate. The other lamps could be done, but for me it makes no sense. I hope that the hood will not be heavier than 3.5 ounces. Not because of the tires but simply because to keep it open the springs will be critical. I would not be happy if I need a rod (a miniature dirty broomstick?) to keep the hood open! A detail about the weight: it must be compared to the same part on a real car. A hood weighting 100 gr will be in real life: 100 x 12 x 12 x 12 = 172'800 gramms or 172 kg (380 pounds). Now you may understand the problem with the springs for the hinges...

Thanks Barry! Let me finish this one; I doubt that in 5 years I will have the courage to begin another one...

As the hood will be heavy (about .1 kg), the hinges must be able to bear that weight. After doing a sample with cardboard, I began with the easy parts: the links and upper support. I did larger rivets than for the trunk lid and a trick during the construction is eliminating most side play. The rivets are not riveted to the upper support but silver soldered. The trick is to have the links still free to move. Up to now, I succeeded. Now, the lower support is to be done. As the spring will be rather strong, I'm doing the lower support in stainless steel. The heat to silver solder the rivets is annealing the brass rendering it too soft for this application.

You are welcome! You have to take in consideration that the factories are not building cars to last 100 years...Anyway, when I restored my cars, I applied also more paint than the factory and they will certainly survive me!

This car will get more paint than the factory did! Nice job.

Looks like it was once opened and somebody used some blue silicone sealer. I hate silicone sealer.

For years Peugeot had a bronze worm for the rear axle and they used a specific lubricant; the last model to use it was the 404 in the seventies. This is also a way to explore.

The exterior shape was quickly done; the inner side is more time consuming. Fortunately, front fenders and radiator cradle are ready and I can check for interferences when doing the inner front end. I should continue with the sides; they are important because the hinges are attached at them. As it's easier to adapt the sides to the hinges than the contrary, I'm continuing now with the hinges for the hood.

Unusual car Barry, even in Europe! I see that you are embarking into a new adventure!

Thanks Dave & Bowlers! Yesterday was full of doubts. When I cut the large piece of copper, I really wondered if I could obtain a decent hood: Some hours later, the doubts are still present, even if the shape is at mid-way from what I expected: At the end of a long day, the relief: Sure, there are still some pits and irregularities but from that, I can go further with trimming and doing the side reinforcements as well as the front panel for the lock.

I'm amazed that such sheet metal parts are reproduced. Imagine if you had to patch all the rusted panels...You had a lot of work, but dealing with fresh parts is really a huge advantage.

The plan is that the hand brake will actuate the rear shoes. However, the system on this car is difficult to scale down; not to fabricate the parts, but to install them. The hood may not be that easy (this is the reason why I began the dash to push away the difficulty!); it will be formed on the wook buck like the other body parts.

Yesterday, while I was doing the front fenders assembly, I wanted to shift them on side and, unfortunately I pushed on a front wheel during that correction. I heard "tick" and the steering was loose! The screw I used to locate the Pitman arm to the steering gear shaft (I cannot do splines) broke. Result: I cannot take the broken screw out of the shaft; I'm doing a new shaft...

Thanks John Byrd and keiser31! cobravii: one of my "fan" or better said, on of the viewer from this thread is preparing something similar. Initially, he wanded to do 2 books, one for him and one for me. Maybe he may do more than 2 and sell the other ones. Randiego (who is coming from time to time here) may decide about that. Who knows, he may become a publisher!

For a long time, I had no clue how I would attach the glove box to the dash assembly and how I could install the lid check arms. The attachment point for the console was a concern too... While doing other details it was slowly clear that I had to assemble it to the dash prior the installation into the car. In fact, I don't understand why I had to study such a long time to find an easy solution. Open: More or less side view: In an unusual way for me, all the parts constituting the glove box door are soft soldered, with the exception of the "catch" which could be more refined as it is now. I did not build a real lock...Too small! The attachment point for the lower console/glove box are also provided with 2 studs soft welded to the floor. The chromed lock for the door will be done at a later point when I have dimensions and location. The next step: install the dash to the car, install again doors and front fender. The work at the dash is not complete, but I have enough for the moment: I will begin with the hood.

Does Ernest get better food at your place than at the neighbor? For the building, I can, like most of the others, just dream about it!

It's not the first hand brake module I'm doing, but certainly the one which gave me the most headaches! I did one almost 50 years ago for the Avanti model. Crude, but it was OK. This part, like many others, was no more used when I restored this model. Unfortunately, I throw away all those unused parts some time ago, so I could not "copy". The second brake module was for the Toronado which is activated by the foot (with a finger on the model) and this one is working perfectly: each time I'm taking the Toronado out of his stored place, I have to use the emergency brake because, as the wheels are on ball bearings, it rolls very easily. The third hand brake was for the reconstructed Avanti; worked perfectly before installation; never used since because I should do a tool to catch the lever which is located at the right of the steering wheel. Even by looking at it, I could not see how I did the spring or pawl. I tried several possibilities, all failed. That emergency brake will maybe never be used once installed, but at least I want to say "it could work"! Finally, I did a device more complicated as intended, but reliable. The lower tube is held with 4 screws at the firewall; on the model, 2 screws will be fake as the space is too tight to install them... A picture from the original module: My interpretation of it: I cannot install the cable at the end of the rod because it is to be soldered to the handle and the whole will get chrome plated first. Once this is done, the cable will be installed.

exbcmc, dont' try to understand: I fell on my head when I was 15.

Nice, Pat! Maybe in 3 days it's all gone!

Randy, it's not yet decided. I just know it will be a metalic color as I like that!

Most people who buy such models have not much interest for the underside; even some owners have no clue about frame, suspension and so on!

Lately, I did the light switch which is located on the small pod. That switch may be overkilled, but I hope it will be reliable because, if it fails when the car is finished, I will have to remove the windshield to take the whole dashboard out. I also did the radio (no, it will not play); to insert it, I had to modify the central support for the console. Yes, it was a bad planning! Just for the fun, I assembled the knobs to the dash; they are attached with a 1 mm nut. The radio is held by the radio knobs; due to the light weight, no other bracket is needed! The decor is installed at the small pod; I still have to do the one for the larger pod.

Ken, thank you for looking at my thread. My activities at GM were mostly in Switzerland, with some "adventures" in other European countries and GM training - train the trainer- for some weeks in the US. I'm afraid that I don't even know Ray Koenig, sorry.