Pocher Rolls Royce 1:8

[paddy]

So this is a bit of an odd build because i start by dismantling it   Let me explain....these things cost a small fortune now and I wouldn't pay the going rate on principal even if i had that sort of money to waste on a kit :-)

So this was an e-bay purchase. it cost me £135.00 or about $160 usd

The guy listed it as 50% complete so no one bothered with it but what he meant was it was 50% completed which is quite different. 
He started to build it about 35 years ago and either got bored or it beat him..who knows, anyway its been pretty poorly part assembled, no paint at all and no cleaning up of joints or seams etc.





as you can see above, its not good






anyway the plan is to strip it back to a pile of parts, straighten all the bent bits, ultrasonically clean it all and try and put it back together
 with a little more finesse.

[paddy]

I am 100% assured its all there in the box but if not you can get spare parts at a price still














This is going to take a while. As soon as anyone see's Pocher they immediately expect something a cut above, to the Pocher guys its almost a religion. I hope i can do it justice and save it

[paddy]

One of the first things i wanted to do while i work out a plan of attack is see if the chrome is salvagable because if not i need to get it sent off .
A rolls is only a Rolls because of its badge and grill. A rolls without these two essentials......is a Bentley.

The radiator surround was looking very tarnished and worst of all its badge had been soldered on crooked with some splatter.







I had my doubts this was chrome however a magnet and a scratch about on the inside confirmed it was definitely not polished stainless.
I managed to unsolder the badge and clean the area up and put the lot, slats and all in the ultrasonic for 10 mins then polished with some tamiya finishing paste, painted the badge and fixed it back with super glue.







anyway back to stripping.......

[armornutii]

   I have always wanted to try one of these big kits. Like you I have other subjects to spend my money on. 
    I did receive as a gift a Pocher 1/8 Ferrari Tesstarossa, it was a new kit and while very cool the kit detail was NOTHING like what I see here. Makes me wonder if it was o knockoff kit and I just didn't know any better. As a side note I built it without instructions...none...just box art. Not bragging, it has nowhere the detail yours does. Bookmarked

[moparman18064]

Paddy, the radiator came out beautifully! I was a few dollars short from buying that kit for $42 at Kmart when I was a kid. I really wanted that one. I ended up getting the Alfa Romeo Spyder for $37 instead.( They were both selling for well over $200 at the time.) Anyway, I now have a new sealed Spyder again, trying to decide on colors ahead of time, as they are so labor intrusive kits. I love the fact that there are many nice upgrades available for them now, but steering wheels starting at $135, ouch. I am sure you are going to make a masterpiece of this one, so I am on board!

[moparman18064]

Nov 8, 2024 19:08:28 GMT -5 armornutii said:

   I have always wanted to try one of these big kits. Like you I have other subjects to spend my money on. 
    I did receive as a gift a Pocher 1/8 Ferrari Tesstarossa, it was a new kit and while very cool the kit detail was NOTHING like what I see here. Makes me wonder if it was o knockoff kit and I just didn't know any better. As a side note I built it without instructions...none...just box art. Not bragging, it has nowhere the detail yours does. Bookmarked

The Pocher factory burned to the ground in the ‘80’s I believe. They did return years later and started doing kits like the Testarossa again. They were not quite the same, but still brought the big bucks. The latest kits, like the Lotus 72 that they are producing are much higher quality now. I am sure yours was not a knock off.

[AussieTJ]

I know this isn't everyone's 'cup of tea', but rescuing an old junker kit like this adds another level of skill to a build.
Luckily it doesn't look too bad, just lazy work by the previous owner, I'm sure you'll make this shine (Like that radiator shroud!!!) and give this lovely kit the life it deserves.
keeping an eye on this one .....

[jeaton01]

[bronco67]

Wait the engine block is complete with a crank shaft? that radiator grill came out awesome. bookmarked.

[paddy]

Nov 8, 2024 20:31:44 GMT -5 moparman18064 said:

Nov 8, 2024 19:08:28 GMT -5 armornutii said:

   I have always wanted to try one of these big kits. Like you I have other subjects to spend my money on. 
    I did receive as a gift a Pocher 1/8 Ferrari Tesstarossa, it was a new kit and while very cool the kit detail was NOTHING like what I see here. Makes me wonder if it was o knockoff kit and I just didn't know any better. As a side note I built it without instructions...none...just box art. Not bragging, it has nowhere the detail yours does. Bookmarked

The Pocher factory burned to the ground in the ‘80’s I believe. They did return years later and started doing kits like the Testarossa again. They were not quite the same, but still brought the big bucks. The latest kits, like the Lotus 72 that they are producing are much higher quality now. I am sure yours was not a knock off.

Pocher has been owned by several companies which is why the quality varies over different periods. The current owner is Hornby in the

UK who own airfix, Corgi cars, Hornby trains and Scalextric slot cars so the new models like the Lotus72 are pretty good again..

[paddy]

What had been assembled has now been stripped into basic sub assemblies. This for example is the engine broken down to its parts






I have started to repair the Chassis rail that was cracked around a suspension mount..






And to give you some idea of the scale of this thing.. This is my recent Big Scale Tamiya Ferrari 1/12. along side a single Pocher chassis rail..

Maybe Tamiya need to rethink what they call big scale

[adt70hk]

Now this is different.....will try to keep an eye on this. Good luck with the project!

Andrew

[benb]

Cool, a 1/8 scale frame off restoration! Brilliant work so far!

Ben

[paddy]

all the engine parts have now been through the ultrasonic cleaner.




so this is them now, shiny and new ;-)

[greg]

Truly looking forward to watching this, Paddy. Seems an insurmountable task to me, but I already 'know' you well enough to be confident you will approach this methodically and purposefully and I expect to learn plenty from this thread.

Of course, I already have a couple of questions.

1. For the plastic parts that have been glued, how are you getting them un-glued?
2. Out of curiosity, what are you using in the ultrasonic cleaner on this mix of materials?

Good that the former owner didn't paint anything, saves you some trouble, doesn't it.

The restoration work on the grill and emblem/badge is a good indicator of what we can expect.

Thanks for posting this thread and keeping us up to date!

[handiabled]

Your the right man for the job of doing this rebuild! I'm on board for this for sure! the radiator surround turned out gorgeous!

[paddy]

Any good Doctor, Mechanic will tell you about the importance of carbs.

Well its no different for a Rolls Royce.

Bare plastic



White primer shows up all faults




Sprayed aluminium , holes for screws opened up



Miniature brass fittings added and some mesh in the air filter.


very blingy

[paddy]

Greg
I never find plastic glues work that well and certainly by 30 years old they have set to a sort of brown sugar consistency and part just pull apart. The old glue then just crumbles into a dust as you ping it off parts with a scalpel...
I think in fairness its not just the glue, i think plastics are pretty poor quality.

[benb]

That carb looks factory fresh! Beautiful!

Ben

[dupes]

Wow. That is a STEAL for a Pocher kit! Have you inventoried it? Do you think it's all there?

[paddy]

Its hard t say. The guy assured me its was all there , you dont get a parts list like modern kits and in any case i think i read there are over 900 parts.  time will tell but there are people breaking these for parts on ebay so most parts are available at a price.
The real problem is identifying parts from pictures because somer of the metal links for example all look the same but might vary in length by mayne just a couple of MM's

[kyledehart5]

Ahh!! This is so cool. Awesome work so far. I love the carbs

[tcoat]

[greg]

Nov 11, 2024 15:31:24 GMT -5 paddy said:

Greg
I never find plastic glues work that well and certainly by 30 years old they have set to a sort of brown sugar consistency and part just pull apart. The old glue then just crumbles into a dust as you ping it off parts with a scalpel...
I think in fairness its not just the glue, i think plastics are pretty poor quality.

Thanks, Paddy! Your input is truly appreciated.

You carb is looking great. Actually, it is looking real.

[paddy]

The inlet manifold is separate but its flanges to mount it too the head are part of the head, so you need to be very good at masking or good at free hand painting. I chose freehand painting

[handiabled]

I would say your are excellent at freehand painting! I really like the addition of the brass nuts, bolts and screws around the carb.

[kyledehart5]

That is one exceptionally nice looking engine

[TJ]

Just going over the back story has me hooked on watching you resurrect this.

[paddy]

This week i made a brass conduite and some brackets to carry the ignition leads and painted it red/brown to simulate Bakelite. Got to make one for the other side now

[greg]

This just keeps getting better and better.