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I'm kind of embarrased to admit this, but in all the 12 years I've owned Kato diesels, I've never needed to remove the shell...
....until today!
I have a Kato GP35 that I want to remove the shell from, and replace with a RailPowerProducts GP35 shell that's been kitbashed into a road slug (the one in my avatar). So far, I've removed the couplers, but the shell is still solidly attached to the frame. I see two phillips-head screws on the bottom of the fuel tank, but before I loosen them, I want to make sure that they are holding on the shell and not the motor.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated (Josh B., do ya copy?)
Most of the Kato or Atlas units that I have messed with have had small tabs in the front, middle and rear of the unit that hold the shell on. Normally the screws in the middle of the unit hold the motor in. I can not tell you for sure but I don't think that there are any screws holding the shell on to the frame. I hope that this helps you out. You can go to the Kato web site and I think that there files for what info you need. May or may not be any help.
I had a couple of kato gp35's and I may be mistaken for a life like because it was a while ago but there might be screws on each end of the fuel tank and you kinda got to turn the trucks to see/get to them. hope I'm right.
Somebody across the street answered my question and his method worked exactly as he said. I'll post his reply here for the benefit of anybody else in this situation:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Do NOT remove those screws!
Are the handrails detached from the cab? If not, detach them.
Then there are two tabs under the rear radiators and two under the cab. Squeeze in at those places gently and pull up and rock back and forth and it will come off.
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