MOD: 10232 Palace Cinema Limo

[bootz]

So we all know the car that comes with PC is rubbish as it stands. IMO the only positive aspects of the design are the hood and trunk, the rest being oddly proportioned. So being the car nut that I am, my first thought upon seeing it was to modify it to look like an actual car and not a giant skateboard. If I'm not mistaken, I'm the first to post a modded version of it here. I added larger doors, added height to the rear fenders, and swapped out those awful bumpers.

Original

Mod

And finally here it is with my lightly modified fire truck from Fire Brigade.

Edited April 6, 2013 by bootz

[Henchmen4Hire]

Spiffy, looks a lot better! Should raise those mirrors though.

LOL @ giant skateboard

I was tinkering with an 8-wide version of this, I just sometimes don't bother posting because no one likes 8-wide lol. It's essientially what you did here, just wider with bigger wheels.

[lightningtiger]

Better modifications but still those wheel arches are still too big....though changing a flat would be easy I guess !

Brick On Cruise On by......'bootz' (must be a 'Bolt' model ) !

[bootz]

I like 8 wide Doc, especially your creations. They just don't fit in a town. But it's ok, I feel your pain. My 4 wides get overshadowed by all the excellent 5 and 6 wides here. Like my little pride and joy Python here.

And the wheel arches wouldn't be so bsd LT if they hadn't stuck this with such dinky little wheels.

[ER0L]

There are already some MODs of the car over on Flickr (in Sweden there even seems to be a contest concerning this subject), but it's the first I see here. You did a nice job by adding height at the sides which is very important. Your fenders are much better than the original ones, doors are very well made, too.

What I'd try to do would be to set the front axle one stud forward, even if the wheel arches must be omitted then, and to enlarge the wheels, if possible. Anyhow it's way better than the original, keep up the great work!

[bootz]

Thank you EROL, I'll have to head over to Flickr to check them out. Its a good design you just have to put some work into it.

And I agree about ditching the wheel arches, I was thinking of doing that because the wheels still just don't look right. It really needs some white wall tires.

[Werlu Ulcur]

That looks quite good!

What about suicide doors? I think it could look pretty nice on a 30's car like that.

[bootz]

Please excuse the crappy light box. I'm going to have to make a better setup but this will do for now.

Edited April 9, 2013 by bootz

[Missing Brick]

Looks great until you see the minifig next to it. Looks a bit too big with those wheels. The chauffeur can barely see over the bonnet. Perhaps small wheels plus wheel arches would be better? Or perhaps 5-wide?

Edited April 9, 2013 by Missing Brick

[bootz]

The wheels that come with it are too small and I don't have any others that look right on it. TLG needs to make slightly smaller wheels than these for these axles. Cadillac's V16 is similarly massive.

[EvMan]

Hola!

Looking good, Bootz. The bigger wheels look great.

I think your current lightbox is doing a bang-up job, as the new photos shows some of the details of your limo that were not quite as clear in your earlier photos.

EvMan

[LegoSjaak]

I would also suggest wheels that are an average of the original small wheels and the wheels you used.. I'm currently looking for a modification on the car, because the original model is really bad.. The wheel-arches tear down the design of this car, IMO.

Anyone a nice building instruction for a 6-wide MOD, with the parts that are available from the original model? I would definitely be interested!!!

Greetz,

LegoSjaak

[ER0L]

Car is looking very good now, but, as others have already said, it's too tall. Wheels are too big, the original wheels are too small. So why not build some wheels of your own? You could e.g. take these white-wall tires:

They are considerably smaller than the ones you have used, and whitewalls surely would look cool on a car like this. You'll need those rather rare old small white tires for them, but as long as you don't have any you may take the black ones instead.

Second suggestion would be to try to omit that tile on the hood which makes it too tall, and to lower the windscreen for at least one level, too. Maybe the backend must be lowered after that, too, but that seems possible. Sorry for all this stuff, but, as you might know, I'm quite interested in the subject ...

[bootz]

So that's how you make those white walls. I don't have any in white but I have a ton in black and my motorcycles won't mind donating their tires haha. That should fix the height issue. It's a shame TLG doesn't make a wheel for those tires that allows for an axle.

And thanks for the comments everyone.

[Missing Brick]

Hi EROL, I'm very interested in the 'compound tires' you describe because I've often found the standard lego wheels either too big or too small.

I think the standard limo uses these 17.5 x 6mm tires http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=51011

The next size down appears to be these 14 x 6mm slicks http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=50945

I'm not sure about the next size up, but I think it might be these 21 x 6mm motorcycle tires http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=50861

I think it's possible to combine the latter two tires to fit the palace limo hubs as shown here:

But I'm not sure. Can anyone please confirm?

[ER0L]

Hi EROL, I'm very interested in the 'compound tires' you describe because I've often found the standard lego wheels either too big or too small.

By combining tires or stretching them you can have nearly each diameter you need.

I think the standard limo uses these 17.5 x 6mm tires http://www.bricklink...tem.asp?P=51011

The next size down appears to be these 14 x 6mm slicks http://www.bricklink...tem.asp?P=50945

I'm not sure about the next size up, but I think it might be these 21 x 6mm motorcycle tires http://www.bricklink...tem.asp?P=50861

I think it's possible to combine the latter two tires to fit the palace limo hubs as shown here:

http://www.flickr.co...in/photostream/

But I'm not sure. Can anyone please confirm?

You're right. It's a tad smaller than the wheel I've proposed since the whitewall is stretched a little. I'm not too fond of those kind of rims, but maybe it's easier to obtain.

Anyhow there are lots of possibilities: You may even combine http://www.bricklink...tem.asp?P=50945 and http://www.bricklink...tem.asp?P=30028 (which is not so easy), but you get a nice wheel like this:

[Missing Brick]

Wow - that combo looks cool. Must be a tight fit. I guess bathing the tires in hot water first might help with stretching them.

Many thanks the info. I will definately be adding a selection of different tire sizes to my next Bricklink order.

[bootz]

Well this thread has become very informative! :)

Here is yet another version. This one I'm pretty happy with, and of course props to EROL on the tire method.

These pics didn't come out as white as the last set, not sure why. I'm still tinkering with how to place the lights outside the box to get the best lighting inside.

Edited April 11, 2013 by bootz

[ER0L]

Well, I can't take credit for the tires, since this is definitely not my design, and I think I prefer the front wheel arches of the second version, but you've done a great job here, the whole thing looks much better than the original car.

[bootz]

Well a hat tip to you for giving me the idea lol. And the wheel arches not being symmetrical really bothered me.

[antp]

the whole thing looks much better than the original car.

Indeed, that's already much better.

I do not know which wheels would be a better replacement though: the bigger ones are too big.