1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Spider Touring Gran Sport model project in 1/8 scale av Lars Wahlström 1 (31) In the mid 70's I built Pocher's 1/8 scale 1932 Alfa Romeo Spider Touring. The kit contained over 1950 parts and was, at the time, considered to be one of the finest kits ever. Pocher had previously released 3 kits on the same scale; 1907 Fiat 130 hp Grand Prix de France, 1932-34 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza and Rolls Royce Phantom II Drophead Sedanca Coupe. The Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Spider was manufactured between 1931 and 1934. The number of cars manufac- tured was a total of 188, many of which still exist. In 1932, 68 cars were made. The chassis, was made in two different wheelbase lengths, Corto (2.75 m) and Lungo (3.10 m), was equipped with bodies from different manufacturers and equipment depending on the buyer's wishes, so all cars were different. Many were distinctly racing cars and were successful on both tracks and road races. Pocher's former Alfa Romeo Monza was a typical racing car. My model had a body made by Touring and had a more sports car character. Many parts were common between the different models such as the chassis and the engine. The chassis number 2111046, which can be seen on the model's small manufacturing plates, turned out to belong to an Alfa Romeo Monza from 1933 that still exists today. However, I have not found the original of the kit, except for a similar one from 1934 which is in the car museum in Torino (see page 26). The material of the kit was mostly plastic, but also metal and genuine leather in the seats. The wheels were spoked by hand and the engine contained a movable crankshaft and pistons. Most things were put together with screwes. Suspension, steering and brakes worked authentically. However, several details were a bit awkward, such as the radiator grille and the windshield. In the 1970s, the opportunities for research were limited. I borrowed a book from the library, but the limited illustrations was far from enough to make the extra detailing I had wanted. I built the model with a few small improvements, but basically as it was, straight out of the box. The fit was quite poor on the large plastic parts. Eg. the two spare wheels did not fit when the cover with the wing was mounted. The plastic parts of the body were cast in color, so I never bothered to paint them, but just polished the surface and felt, at the time, reasonably happy with the result. Nowadays, the Internet offers totally different opportunities to do research, so I decided to give the model an update. The work started in April 2021. I had saved Pocher's assembly instructions, which were reasonably detailed but there were no names on the details and there were ambiguities. But at least I got the model together when it went. The details that I mainly intended to review were mainly: • Radiator grille with better detailing • Painting of the body and fenders as well as additions to the body in some places. • The cover over the spare wheel needed to be adjusted so that it could fit 2 spare wheels. Luckily I had saved the wheel which did not fit. • Nicer rear bracket for the exhaust pipe. The kit's was disturbingly ugly. • Surface treatment of the chassis' existing struts and rods. The brass had oxidized ugly. • Fix chassis inaccuracies. • The oil cooler needed to be repainted more nicely due to my previous mistakes. • The cabin floor had been given a felt mat and a cover over the gearbox. This needed to be converted to the correct appearence. • The tire treads needed to be roughened up a bit to look realistic. • Detailing of the engine. • The windshield with brackets needed to be redone to look realistic. If more things should come up, then maybe this was also fixed. I started the research work. There was a lot on the Internet. I also looked at various model building forums and saw the most amazing rebuilds of Pocher models. I got lots of tips. 2 (31) This is what the model looked like before I started. Since most of it was screwed together, it was quite easy to disassemble. I loosened the floor and the tank as well, but then it stopped because I had "secured" the frame and rod screwpoints by soldering them. The engine could be cleaned on some details, but not all. In my research work, I soon discovered that there was no one car that was similar to the other. All seemed specially adapted and had not only differences in the body but also in how the engine was equipped, diffe- rences on the dashboard, placement of battery etc. And, since they were made, each car has had its own history for almost 90 years ... 3 (31) Since I did not find the exact original for my model, I decided to try to stick to models from 1932 with body by Touring. I could see that Pocher's model offered a number of inaccuracies and simplifications. I soon discov- ered a website in the United States, https://www.modelmotorcars.com, which offered a variety of newly ma- nufactured authentic details that could replace many of the faulty ones. It was e.g. tempting to get the front suspension correctly with authentic spindles, spring packages and brake rods. Had the model been unbuilt, I would probably have fallen for that temptation. However, I decided to wait, but I ordered a photo-etched Alfa Romeo emblem for the radiator grille. It would probably have been possible to file out the existing, but, no, it did not feel so fun. In further studies of other model builders' creations, I learned that Pocher used the same chassis beams on all their 6 diffe- rent Alfas (K71 Monza, K73 Spider Touring, K78 Muletto, K81 Mille Miglia, K89 Coupe Elegant, K92 Coupe Dinner). The origi- nal Monza version has 120 mm shorter frame beams at the front than the Corto chassis, and Pocher's successor, the Spi- der Touring, thus received 15 mm too short frame beams with subsequent incorrect proportions between the front axle and engine. Several of the high skilled model builders at http:// www.scalemotorcars.com remade the entire frame (and more) from scratch due to this and other shortcomings offered by the kit. I let go of the idea that my model would become a master- piece. An update had to be enough. The front of the Monza (upper pictures) is 120 mm shorter than the Spider Touring (lower pictures). The Alfa Romeo 8c 2300 originally had the accelerator pedal in the middle and the brake on the right, which was not unusual at the time, but several have chosen to rebuild their cars with the accelerator pedal on the right (picture to the right). 4 (31) I started by making a stand that held the model firmly in place both upright and upside down. Then I did research and started with the chassis, which on the Pocher kit turned out to have several errors. I managed to find drawings, or at least fragments of drawings, that were useful. Maybe I could get more help via forums on the Internet. In any case: The crossbeam of the frame under the seat was too far back and the crossbeam just in front of the differential was missing, as was the strut from this backwards towards the tank. A floor was also missing between the crossbeams under the seats. Strange that Pocher missed these de- tails. I decided to remake them, but not move the existing crossbeam. I removed the faulty floor mat and sanded the floor surface, which in reality is made of profiled aluminum sheet. It closes tightly to the gearbox and has open- able hatches at the service points. I had already extended the floor back to the crossbeam, but it was not so nicely done, so I remade it. Strange that the length of the floor was correct in the kit, but not the placement of the beam. It was already noticeable how much Pocher had neglected. It's easy to lose inspiration when so much is incorrect. I understand the model builders who remade everything, but since I decided not to do a complete rebuild, I made a lot of compromises. I guess only experts will notice. 5 (31) Then I made new "plates" on top of the floorboard I made the floor behind the crossbeam new from after looking for good models of the original. There scratch of plasticard. The picture shows before were several different variants of the floor's rib pro- sanding and painting. It was difficult to find pictures file, probably due to alterations and repairs made that showed what the floor would look like, but on a over the years. forum I found a picture of a crashed Alfa Romeo Actually, the floor should be at a lower level be- Monza that was lying upside down. tween the frame beams, but I decided to use the kit's floor slab as a base for the new floor. However, I supplemented the underside with the folds and ribs to which the floorboards are attached. To be able to get the floor there, I had to make a joint at the pedal bushings. The middle hatch is in reality to access the clutch housing. The front floor in place. The gear lever groove for the gear positions is incorrect, but I was content to "chrome" the grooves with a Molotow pen.