Ferrari 250 LM: engine (I)

Internal engine components, which will obviously not be visible once it's all built, include pistons, rods, a built-up crankshaft, valves (!), valve springs (!!) made of white metal, rockers, camshafts and the gear drive for the cams. 

 

Lots of drilling needed too, bringing my nifty little drill press into use. Pistons and rods are now assembled with wrist pins made of 0.8 mm brass rod. 

 

 

For those interested, the bore is 6.4 mm, corresponding to the 3.3 litre motor in the 1965 Le Mans winner, but the pistons at 6 mm diameter correspond to the 3 litre 250 motor. So while it might turn over, I would expect some serious piston slap and oil consumption at higher RPM.

 

Some additional time was required to assemble the rods to the built-up crank along with 5 of the 7 main bearings. Sadly these bearings are cast as a piece and you can't just drop the crank into the block.

 

Next will be to prep and paint the engine block components, because I suspect the crank needs to go into first one side, then the other, with the rest of the block assembled around it. Stay tuned...   

Ferrari 250 LM: Introduction

Recently I was obliged to buy Model Factory Hiro's 1/12 kit of the 1965 Le Mans winning Ferrari 250 LM. (I already had the 1/24 kit of David Piper's 1968 car). What a monster of a kit! 

Clocking in at 2.6 kg, the package includes internal engine components which can be assembled, or not, as they obviously won't show once it's all buttoned up... pistons, connecting rods, a crankshaft made up of built-up sections, valves (!), valve springs (!!), rockers on little rocker shafts (!!!). Puts the Auto-Union cylinder heads to shame. 

So while waiting for rivets from MFH to finish up the Jaguar, I started putting the engine bits together. This started with drilling holes through the cylinder head and valve springs to fit the valves and the camshaft bearing caps.

Next I put the wrist pins (cut from 0.8 mm brass rod) through the rods and pistons, which all needed drilling as well.

 

I am currently attempting to assemble the crankshaft. Stay tuned!  

Jaguar XJ13: A riveting story

Ha ha. 709 rivets used, with an unknown number broken or lost along the way.

On to paint.

Jaguar XJ13: Chassis and dashboard complete

The chassis is now complete, mainly with the addition of various bits attached to the monocoque either side of the engine.

 

The opening oil filler cap is neat even though it will not be easily visible.

A fair bit of filing and cursing was required for the dashboard, but I am glad I worked through this before attempting to just slap the dashboard into place; it serves to tie the front and central chassis structures together and has to be right if body panels are to fit. 

 

 

Next: Bodywork and paint. This will begin with approximately 700 3D-printed rivets in 0.028" holes. Fun. Stay tuned! 

Jaguar XJ13: Monocoque and engine installation

The monocoque and front suspension is complete and the engine installed. Surprisingly this didn't involve too much drama, but it did require playing around with the assembly order.

Front suspension and the forward compartment are relatively simple. A lack of online detail photos make it hard to determine what should have been modelled here. 

This beast weighs in at 1258 grams so far; the little support legs underneath the chassis will be critical in keeping the white metal suspension parts from sagging from the weight as was the case with the Alfa P2.

As with the Abarth, the master cylinders are inside the footwell and this makes it relatively pointless to add any piping detail. 

Next is the dashboard and more detail around the engine compartment. Stay tuned!

 

Jaguar XJ13: Transmission and drivetrain fit to monocoque

The transmission, unlike the engine, is pretty simple. But there are two outriggers that connect to the monocoque, and two motor mounts towards the front of the block that carry the radius rods for the rear suspension. 

So I assembled the transmission, rear suspension and rear of the monocoque far enough to verify that it all lines up. A good thing too as there was a fair bit of drilling, filing, grinding, sanding, bending and general bodging necessary to get it done.

 

I also test-fitted the rear body section, leading to more drilling etc.

The instructions will not be followed to the letter as there are a whole lot of bits that should go on after the engine mounts have been lined up and finalised, not before -- you couldn't possibly see what you are doing otherwise. Of course I may live to regret this rash decision.

Next will be finish up the drive train, including the exhaust system. then complete the forward half of the monocoque while testing body fit as I go..   

Stay tuned!

Jaguar XJ13: Engine, Part 3

The engine is complete, except for the exhaust manifolds that go on once the transmission and rear suspension is assembled. This represents the first four steps (of 25) in the MFH instruction manual. A whopping 327 grams, and there is a fair bit of metal to come.

The fuel injection alone involved a huge number of bits:

Pump body (4 pieces) and 12 banjo fittings = 16 bits

12 trumpets, butterflies, injectors, throttle bodies, intake tubes = 60 bits

8 bellcrank mechanisms, 2 throttle rod support support legs, 1 return spring, 1 support plate per side = 24 pieces

Throttle cable rotating bit (4 pieces), 3 push/pull links = 7 pieces

Cut-to-length bits: 5 pieces of brass rod, 0.5 mm diameter, and 12 fuel lines = 17 pieces

Total (assuming I haven't missed anything) = 124 pieces

Next up: transmission and rear suspension, starting with test fitting, filing and sanding, drilling sockets and shaping dowels, etc. Stay tuned!

Jaguar XJ13: Engine Part 2

Fresh off finishing my first Model Factory Hiro 1/12 kit, the Ferrari 156 Sharknose, in December 2020, I tackled assembly of MFH's Jaguar XJ13 engine block and cylinder heads, including the camshaft drives which are now hidden (click here for the post).

After posting, I completed the distributor and wiring, then it got shelved as I realised I was in over my head. Since then, I have completed four additional 1/12 kits, three from MFH (Alfa P2 in July 2022, Auto Union Type C in January 2023, Abarth 1000 in August 2024) and one from Italeri (Alfa Monza in January 2023). So with that added experience under my belt, it's time to tackle it again. 

And the first step was to build up the heat sink for the electronic ignition module, consisting of 17 photoetched bits on a 5.5 mm square platform. 

This required making a little jig out of box-section styrene tube and dredging each successive PE bit in a little pool of slow CA glue. 

Next will be the plumbing for the Lucas fuel injection pump. The wire provided is very stiff and I may need to substitute something a little more forgiving. Stay tuned! 

 

 

Nissan Sunny Hakotora: Complete (#9 for 2024)

I realise I didn't write up the initial building and planning on this. 

The Hakotora is a pedestrian Nissan Sunny pickup truck decked out to look like the classic Skyline, possibly with the addition of a widebody kit instead of the rubber fender lips. 

C1 Models made two Hakotora kits for the Hasegawa Sunny, one with the rubber fenders and the other a widebody kit with a complete front clip. (The Skyline kit is for show only; no Skylines were damaged in this project, although I was tempted until I came across the C1 Models transkit.)

As the Sunny had a four, the standard upgrade is to a twin-cam, 16V Nissan 4, but I chose to stuff in the six from one of the Fujimi assortment kits. This in turn entailed moving the radiator to the tailgate as I did with my Subaru Brat WRX. 

Other bits came from the boneyard and parts shelves. The fan and shroud is a nice photetched set from Detail Master, for instance. 

 

What's next? No idea. Stay tuned!