Pocher Alfa 8C 2300 Monza

[Pocherphile]

Some of the replacement parts came today. Is not eBay a treasure find for Pocher builders....
Rick

[DominiqueBeerts]

Nobody said you cannot build a beautiful model without scratchbuilding half of it. I know someone who has won 'best of show' building a Tamiya kit straight out of the box...
Succes (and most of all: have fun) with this one!

[Pocherphile]

Nobody said you cannot build a beautiful model without scratchbuilding half of it. I know someone who has won 'best of show' building a Tamiya kit straight out of the box...
Succes (and most of all: have fun) with this one!

I hope I did not give the wrong impression. I whole hearty agree with all you have said. I was trying to hopefully encourage those to build for the pleasure and completion of that Pocher kit tucked away. I am one of those who count every nut and bolt as well.
I completely enjoy the prototypical builds and learn much from them too. Many times you read the comment I could not nor dare try. My goal is to show as you have pointed out, OOB builds can be just as impressive and again, as I can attest, not get overwhelmed and burn out before that project has reached completion. You have a completed project here I drool over. I have started one like it three times and have as yet to complete.
As always welcome any and all encouragement from you sir.
Rick

[Pocherphile]

A foot note.....as you can see, this is not a straight OOB build either......some Model Motorcars Parts such as the most excellent front axle will be used! The one that was on this build has already sagged. But I as promised will do my best to use as much of the kit as I can.....! I purchased the frame parts and body shell because of serious warp and stripped attachment points.
Rick

[Pocherphile]

As you can see, this side of the engine blocke required a tad of attention with putty .
The cylinder head had damaged spark plugs from forcing the brass eyelets into place that pretty much crushed the tops in.
So out came the chisel and sand paper. Yes MMC spark plugs will be replacements, but only because of the damage and this part was not available from eBay!
Rick

[Haddewade]

So it was you ho snapped this away in front of my nose , the price that it go for was really a steal, have fun with it.

[Pocherphile]

So it was you ho snapped this away in front of my nose , the price that it go for was really a steal, have fun with it.

Sorry, but as you know, even already built, aged and abused Pochers are starting to command higher prices. I personal refuse to pay what some are asking for this same model kit. I do have a NIB Alfa Tourer stashed away and a RR I purchased with engine started. The one I keep trolling for is the Black Mercedes, but will only buy if at a reasonable price. So, as they say, you snooze, you lose....and many there be I snoozed and regretted letting them slip by.
Do you have anything on the building board my friend.
Rick

[Haddewade]

Yeah I do look for the fiat f2.

And I was just kidding you, my day will come that a reasonable priced alfa will be mine, I completely agree that the asking prices are completely out of this world. The average price that I feel comfortable paying is arround 200 to 250 euros for a builld one and about 75 euros more when nos. There is one on ebay now from poland the guy was asking 700+ at first placing, and after less than 20 days he already drops 100 euro. So I keep pushing him some more but when he don't come to his senses I'll look further. It's a hobby and not an investment.

[Jo NZ]

The trouble is the boxed and unstarted ones are regarded as an investment. The price drops a lot when it's been "started". I picked up a Mille Miglia recently (with screws put into jars - hence started!) for about 500 euros. (and yes, I want to build this one accurately, which involves an awful lot of body chopping....)

[Jo NZ]

As you can see, this side of the engine blocke required a tad of attention with putty .
The cylinder head had damaged spark plugs from forcing the brass eyelets into place that pretty much crushed the tops in.
So out came the chisel and sand paper. Yes MMC spark plugs will be replacements, but only because of the damage and this part was not available from eBay!
Rick

While you have those bits on the bench, you may want to fabricate the correct steering box mount, and also add a spacer into the blower drive/gear housing. I'm not sure how thick, it's between 2 -4 mm. If you remount the blower you'll see what I mean - it's on an angle.

[MODEL A MODEL]

Hello Rick,

-like Jo was mentioning, the steering mounts were completely forgotten by the fine people at Pocher. If you do not create the mounts your steering box is just sort-of, floating at the end of the steering shaft?



There are more than a few details wrong with the kit, and certainly you can weigh the need to correct them versus the enjoyment of just putting together a kit and enjoying the process, as well as the satisfaction of having an attractive model when your done.

I have as my screen saver, a picture of the 2300 engine, and I have had this arrangement for maybe half a year now, but just the other day I noticed an error with the kit that is an easy fix. (And with the exception of the few people who have scratch built the engine whole, I do not think that any of the "kit" builders have noticed.)

It involves the fins on the air inlet manifolds from the super-charger. It is a small thing but if you would like to "correct" something about the kit that seems to be missed by most?

The shape of these parts are wrong, and the length, or better the width of the fins is too abrupt, easily fixed with some epoxy putty , or strips of plastic. Yes, I know this is a small thing, but it is a feature of these engines that most of us find interesting, and is certainly a part of their "character". (There should also be two parts)





Just my two cents. (I did check a few scratch-built engines, Mr. Wingrove and others, and they got it right, and in smaller scales.)

-Don

PS- in the Build Forums, Classic & Vintage, Normal Threads, you will find many builds of these kits, and as a reference for just the engine, I have collected a few photographs in the gallery ALFA ROMEO 8C 2300 Engine Model. I hope this helps! Good luck! Have fun!

[Pocherphile]

Thank you all for your helpful info and the photos. I have never opened the holes to correct the rear engine mounts? What size and what size tubing to install?
From the great photo showing the steering mount, what do you add to the steering housing to match the mounts. Any help would be much appreciated, as I said, during all the other builds, I have never corrected these two areas.
Rick

[Pocherphile]

Wow Don, great photos. Has anyone ever used the gasket diagram and photo etched....any takers on that. Now you got me going in a different direction.
Rick

[Pocherphile]

While you have those bits on the bench, you may want to fabricate the correct steering box mount, and also add a spacer into the blower drive/gear housing. I'm not sure how thick, it's between 2 -4 mm. If you remount the blower you'll see what I mean - it's on an angle.

Thank you for your suggestions. I have in past added the spacer and agree, it greatly improved that area. Look forward to any other helpful tips or suggestions. As I browse the builds, it is obvious much has been done to improve this ole racer. Thanks
Rick