You know, any questions about these can always be answered by THE expert...Jim Stokes Workshops in Waterlooville, UK.
He has one of each at least. Indeed a Monza was being delivered the day I was there. It had just been for testing by Willie Green, who loved it, but trashed the gearbox.
I was only delivering a V8 Maserati sump for a friend, but Jim gave me the guided tour which included his Alfa 2800 HALF TRACK!!!
Honestly. It is completely and gorgeously original with its Citroen System tracks on the back. Now what a Pocher chop that would be, eh?
Google them, I'm sure they'd help.

Martin

Rubber Hits The Road...

Tires have been mounted to the painted rims. I used the time-tested method of placing the tires in sub-boiling water for about 30 seconds to soften them for installation. I was sure to place a small saucer on the bottom of the pan to avoid burning the tires. It is amazing how the tires transform from hard as Granite to pliable in just a few seconds! The tires were dulled with sandpaper and 0000 steel wool . The treads are still a bit shiny...they will need some more light sanding . Anyone have a nice technique for dulling the area around the embossed logo and text on the sidewall?

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The front suspension is minimally assembled for the initial build. The linkages will be added after painting.

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Some views of the rear suspension and differential:

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Many thanks to the fellows who did research into the Muletto's parts and upgrades. I have decided to display the car as a chassis with the tank in place, with the body on lifts to the side. I would like to fully wire the chassis- can anyone help with wiring diagrams?

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Great looking wheels and tyres. wiring scheme?? Don't know if the Simon Moore books say anything about it.

Just cottoned on to this thread...fantastic!

Have you wandered around in scalecargarage.com?

Tons of photos of a Pocher Alfa build.

Ron

This is the first that I have seen of this wonderful thread...,great build! I would like to make a comment that I don't think was mentioned. When you are making "antiquing" washes with slow drying oil paint and linseed oil, you may use a SMALL bit of Japan Dryer to your mix to speed things up a bit. Available in small jars at art supply stores, or quart cans at hardware stores.

I have never heard of such a thing...Japan Dryer! I'll have to give it a try. Thanks for the tip.Doug

New Shoes!

The standard Pocher Monza kit included the street tires (oddly), but since this is a short-chassis racing build, the Corsa tires are a must. These racing tires will replace them.

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Firewall Modification

The full scale prototype has cowling formed from aluminum and the sheet material has been rolled around the edge. To better represent this, I am creating the cowling from brass sheet (a bit more sturdy than aluminum in this scale). Using the original plastic part as a template, the brass sheet is cut slightly larger. The brass is annealed with a blow torch; it becomes a darker color at the proper temperature.. The material becomes a bit more malleable after the treatment. I then used the edge of a wood block to slowly form the rolled edge. The vents still need to be punched, but I will need to make a tool first.

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Firewall and Control Panel Modification

Andy Marks did a fine job on his Alpha display chassis (viewable at www.scalecargarage.com ). My firewall assembly construction resembles his. The firewall is trimmed to fit into the body so it better resembles the prototype construction. The firewall is clad with aluminum and bolted into place. Small aluminum feet have been bolted to the underside; the firewall will be bolted onto the chassis.

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Control Panel Support Structure Construction

The plastic Pocher control panel support is recreated in brass and the structure members are soldered into place.

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Aluminum Floor Construction

The Alfa Monza Racer has a floor fabricated from Aluminum, so this 1/8th Alfa will have Bauxite as well! I have purchased a very nice stainless etch kit which covers the Pocher plastic floor. This kit is made in Germany by Tremonia, and is available on eBay. A few associated parts are thrown into the etch kit, such as pedal covers, shifter trim, and assorted metal straps. This kit is very impressive and even includes miniature rivets for an amazing scale appearance.

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Since this Alfa will be a display chassis, the bottom of the floor is clad with sheet Aluminum, trim is added to the joints, and scale bolts hold the parts together.

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Here is a view from under the chassis:

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Next, the Stainless etched parts are test fit:

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I am still working out the details of mounting the floor and firewall assembly...

A Joy to see this build Doug!

Firewall & Flooring Finale!

Again I have used the original Pocher part as a structural member to allow the use of actual materials from the prototype. The Pocher floor is sandwiched between the stainless steel upper surface and the aluminum lower surface. The plastic part is a very nice substrate, since it holds threaded bolts securely.

Pedal slots are cut in the aluminum...

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...which match the pedal slots in the stainless steel. Miniature rivets add very nice detail to the upper surfaces.

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The original floor was attached to the chassis with tabs. I removed the tabs and added aluminum flanges which will bolt to the chassis.

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Designing & Building Internal Alfa Tanks

There seems to be little or no documentation on the construction of the Alfa 8C Monza gas tank. I found this image from the book "Alfa Romeo Argentina," of a later Alfa racer and have made the assumption that the construction of the 8C gas tank is very similar; inner tanks are skinned with aluminum and a small tail cone.

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Using SolidWorks, I have modeled the Pocher rear fuselage in 3D and then the internal tanks (this insures that the internal tanks will fit into the body.) The tanks are plotted to scale and templates made for creating the tanks (I can post these if there is any interest.) Since two tanks were nested into the rear section of the Argentina racer, I am assuming the same for the Monza. The front and rear profiles of both tanks are soldered with a support beam between them, then the brass skin is wrapped around the profiles and soldered. A bottom cap was cut and folded for both tanks.

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Here is the assembly:

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Transparent tape is applied to the tanks, then the positions of the rivets are marked with a Sharpie pen.

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Small brads are used to simulate rivets. They will be sanded to a lower profile before final mounting.

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Next I will mount the tanks into the chassis and add spouts.

Awesome Job Doug!

Installation of the Fuel Tanks

The tanks are joined together with a brazed angle...this allows the two tanks to maintain a gap between them as on the 1:1 inner tanks.

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A three-point mounting system is being used- one contact on the rear chassis tube, two on the square member at the fore end of the tanks.

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The outer skin fits over the tanks...see the tanks peeking out from underneath!

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Some overall views of the chassis:

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She is getting more beautiful every day!

Thanks for the encouragement Ton. I think you may be the last person following this thread!

Doug

Not true, Doug.

Some of us follow in silence.

Thanks for sharing your work.

Ron

Originally Posted by RonOC

Not true, Doug.

Some of us follow in silence.

Thanks for sharing your work.

Ron

Absolutely! This is one of my favorite threads here.

Originally Posted by Dougritt

Thanks for the encouragement Ton. I think you may be the last person following this thread!

Doug

I know that feeling Doug ....but the view count always shows the opposite

We are the silent majority Doug.
We are with ya all the way.