Coupler changing


Russian

Saskatoon railfan
Hello, I'm having some problems changing a number of couplers, because I cannot open the "box" in which the old coupler is set. I can open such a box on my Walthers engine because it has a screw, but the same box on an Athearn has no screws.

Your help would be appreciated in this. I've recently bought lots of couplers and have been planning for weeks to stop operating, and get a large portion of my equipment standardized.
 
On Athearn, the clip is held on by small tabs on the top part that snap into the slots on the side of the metal covers. You'll have to spread the metal clip slightly by prying on it from the top edge.
 
kenw said:
On Athearn, the clip is held on by small tabs on the top part that snap into the slots on the side of the metal covers. You'll have to spread the metal clip slightly by prying on it from the top edge.
Don't forget to bend the edge BACK IN before you place it back on, so it secures tightly!!
 
Thanks a lot for the help guys.

Another somewhat related question... When putting an interior into a passenger car, do you remove the roof, then slide it in, or remove everything off the chassis and slide interior on it, then put the body back?

The IHC kits don't have any instructions for this, and I've never done this before, thus am lost.
 
Erm, well, i guess that depends, does the floor come off? Does the roof come off... I'd say taking off the floor works the best in this case! But thats up to you I guess...
 
On the IHCs, the roof should come off, with the window glazing. You should see tabs holding the roof to the body. But, the friction fit should be tight enough so that the tabs really aren't necessary in all cases.

If you are using the appropriate IHC interiors, make sure you align the slots on the side of the interior floor with the holes in the body. That's so you can get the roof back on. If you're scratching it, make sure you keep the holes clear.

Kennedy
 
Hi guys, I've teied to insert the interior, but it doesn't work - the roof won't come off!

I send an e-mail to IHC about it 48 hours ago and still have no responce...
 
Roman,

In some cases, esp with IHC/AHM/Rivarossi cars, the tabs on the cars bottom, are hard to release. Sometimes you have to break them. That is not a problem, since as was stated earlier, the window glazing is molded as part of the roof. Even if the tabs break, there is so much material left that the roof stays in place quite well. Use your fingers to squeeze the tabs toward the inside of the body. Start on one end and move toward the other. There is usually only three sets per side.
 
So I should break all the 6tabs on the bottom and then help the roof opens up??? Wish I knew this earlier before building and buying thes einteriors. It took quite a bit of work too. No wonder IHC didn't include instructions on how to insert them.:(
 
Sorry Roman, that time of morning I may not have been too clear. What I mean is IF you should break these tabs, it won't make any difference in the fit of the roof/window assembly.
 
If, after releasing the roofs via the clips and it's still tight, I just break off the clips entirely. They're not needed if the roof assembly is already tight. If it was loose, then I'd leave the clips on.

The roof is so shallow compared to the tops of the sides, if you grab the car normally, you probably won't just be grabbing roof, so the rest of the car won't fall off.

BTW, I have about 3 sets worth of IHC cars, they're OK for what I want them to do, and I have interiors on all the ones I've built so far.

Kennedy
 
HaggisKennedy said:
If, after releasing the roofs via the clips and it's still tight, I just break off the clips entirely. They're not needed if the roof assembly is already tight. If it was loose, then I'd leave the clips on.

BTW, I have about 3 sets worth of IHC cars, they're OK for what I want them to do, and I have interiors on all the ones I've built so far.
3 Sets? Wow, I just have 4 cars and waiting for 2 more.

This method works quite well indeed, except the middle two clips are sort of isolated from the rest, inside a box that's not reachable. Do you break off the box or still open it somehow?

Then once you get the clips to move, how do you keep them open?
 
Best way I've found to remove roof: Flip car upsided down, with trucks off. Use a small screwdriver to force the clip inwards; push down on clip using the blade. Repeat on opposite side of car.

If you're lucky, that end will be partially free. Repeat with the center pairs of clips, working towards the opposite end of car. When you're done, you should have the roof a few mm off of the sides of the car. Use the screwdriver to push further on the tabs from below until you can separate the roof of the car from the body with your hands.

Kennedy
 
HaggisKennedy said:
Best way I've found to remove roof: Flip car upsided down, with trucks off. Use a small screwdriver to force the clip inwards; push down on clip using the blade. Repeat on opposite side of car.

If you're lucky, that end will be partially free. Repeat with the center pairs of clips, working towards the opposite end of car. When you're done, you should have the roof a few mm off of the sides of the car. Use the screwdriver to push further on the tabs from below until you can separate the roof of the car from the body with your hands.

Kennedy
Good advice. I'll try it next weekend. Thanks for your help.
 
Passenger Car Sets

Russian said:
3 Sets? Wow, I just have 4 cars and waiting for 2 more.

I bought a lot of them when IHC had their cheapo sale. Actually, they still have their cheapo sale, it's been ongoing for years now.

I have one set of streamliners in the NP North Coast Ltd., one set of streamliners for the GN Empire Builder, and a few heavyweights in the Empire Builder scheme, but really aren't Empire Builder cars. They're for my 'railfan trip' trains.

Speaking of which, I also have a couple of Con-Cor cars, plus a set of Rivarossi smoothsides in Big Sky Blue. I also have some assorted Rivarossi heavyweights in CP, D&H, etc. and some streamliners in SP. The CP ones are closest to a (shorty) set, while the others are mainly 'here and theres'. All these are mainly for railfan trips; most steam trips these days have an assortment of cars in various liveries. It's prototypical!

:D

Kennedy
 



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