If you want to ask me any questions, you can reach me at pocher_rolls@yahoo.com.
As I was making progress in the assembly, I was wondering how the transmission was supported in the chassis. Here is where I discovered that I had assembled the front part of the transmission incorrectly. It turns out that there is a lip on the bell housing of the transmission and there is a ridge around the edge of the clutch plate that fits in the opening of the transmission that meets with the lip of the bell housing. These two items (the ridge and the lip) fit into a groove that is recessed in the inside radius of the rear opening of the engine.
Once again, the instructions do not indicate anywhere how the transmission was to be mated to the engine, only that it was (one drawing shows the parts separate and the next drawing shows them mated). In order to mate the two parts together I had to partially disassemble the engine. I made sure the bolt ring (I think it's # 72694-25-A) was slipped over both the edge of the bell housing and the little ridge that's just a few millimeters behind the edge. Then I had to remove the oil pan and the crank shaft bearing caps to move the crankshaft down and maneuver the end of the crankshaft into the hole of the clutch plate (part 7266-23-A). Once the crankshaft was slid into the hole of the clutch plate, the "lip" made by the clutch plate and bell housing went right into the groove on the inside of the block. The second little ridge on the bell housing should be snug against the back of the block on the outside of the engine assembly. Next was the reinstallation of the oil pan and finally the bolt ring being moved up against the back of the engine. Once they were properly mated, it was a very sturdy assembly.
Here is another view of the engine and transmission assembled together. Also note that the ring with the bolt heads that fits over the bell housing of the transmission should be rotated so that the bolt heads line-up with the bolt castings on the back of the crankcase.
Now that I was done with that, I had to return to the front and rear axle assemblies. After the leaf springs were assembled they were attached to the axles (a more elaborate discussion about this approach during the assembly of the chassis). The rear axle was pretty much straight forward.
Assembling the front axle was a challenge all it's own. The steering linkage needed to be lined up so the front wheels would be parallel to each other while they were pointed straight (forward). This entailed some bending of the steering arms. All seemed well until I attached the springs. The cross steering tube was seriously binding up against the leaf springs. This required more bending for everything to work smoothly and look tidy.
Now it was time for the brake linkage on the front axle. Pocher certainly knows how to create a kit with lots of detail but I have to question the wisdom of their engineering. Trying to put the nuts into the little hole seen below was more difficult than I care to mention. About the only thing I could get in there was a very small screwdriver. I don't know if I was the only one with difficulty here but if there is a better way to tighten these nuts on that pivoting rod, I would like to know it. Also in this photo, you can see the manufactured leaf in the spring assembly.
The brake linkage that goes from the axle to the backing plate is all flat and when tightened, the front wheels resist pivoting which would allow for steering. The photo below may be able to illustrate this better. I suppose the long strip (the one that goes from the top of the backing plate to the pivoting rod) is meant to flex as the front wheels are steered. The bigest trouble I can see here is keeping the nuts and screws from loosening up during use. I think I may have an easy solution for that. I'll try it later and let you know what it is and how well it works.
