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Ok, so I have changed many couplers, but I just changed some that really got me crazy. My son has an Athearn 75458 PFE set of reefers.
Well, my son accidentally knocked his train of the rails and all 5 of the cars suffered broken couplers.
No big deal right?
These are the style where the coupler box is attached to the underframe of the reefer and the then a metal cover plate goes over it.
For the life of me I could not get these off without mangling the plastic on the underframe in some way!!!!
I finally got them all on, but some of them will definitional not stand another changing without breaking completely.
Apparently most of my coupler changing has been the screw kind.
Although I have several cars with these cover plates, this has been the first time I have had the displeasure of changing them.
Am I missing some sort of trick to getting these off in one piece or is this just normal for this style of coupler box assembly?
If these are HO and the cover box has a small plastic nub from the car on each side (older style cars) , I gently insert a very small headed screwdriver into one side and then even more gently twist it a bit until the cover pops off.
If these are HO and the cover box has a small plastic nub from the car on each side (older style cars) , I gently insert a very small headed screwdriver into one side and then even more gently twist it a bit until the cover pops off.
Yes, this is HO scale.
This is what I did, but the side walls just collapsed on some of them. I see they provide the parts for them, so it should not be a big deal to replace them, but I was definitely surprised to see that.
I have several newer Athearn cars that have a two-piece undercarriage that provides the housing for the coupler.
I'm not sure if this is specific to particular cars or just a newer-style as opposed to an older-style type of thing.
Oh, Well. I guess I should check the coupler box style before I buy from now on.
I 've changed bunches of couplers on the Athearn cars with the metal clips. I use a very dull #11 x-acto knife, slip it in between thecoupler pocket and the metal clip, and give a very slight twist, making sure the force is against the solid part of the coupler pocket. The clip usually comes right off.
I have more trouble putting the clip on than removing it. 
Rotor
I use my exacto underneath the metal clip, between it and the coupler itself. I then twist slightly, and it will usually pop off.
An option is to replace these with Kadee draft gear boxes. Then you get the benefits of screw retention.
I use my exacto underneath the metal clip, between it and the coupler itself. I then twist slightly, and it will usually pop off.
An option is to replace these with Kadee draft gear boxes. Then you get the benefits of screw retention.
Problem with doing that is if the car weight extends all the way to the end of the underbody - it makes it difficult at best to drill through for a solid mounting of a Kadee box. Been there, done that - you either have to shorten the weight or use a drill press with a sharp drill to drill the necessary holes.
The only real problem with the old Athearn system is if you routinely do hard couplings because the couple cover can come off if not seated properly.
I was actually thinking of using Kadee. I have some #158's on order and a few of the boxes.
Good to know about the weight, I will check the diagram to see if it shows anything. Thanks!
It just takes practice. Athearn is phasing out the clips as they retool their cars, but there are some still out there with the clips.
Don't worry about breaking the clips. They are flexible and will bend. You can always bend them back into shape or buy new clips (I get them at the LHS for $3 a dozen). There are two different widths to the clips though (the wider metallic ones, and the narrower blackened ones)
Problem with doing that is if the car weight extends all the way to the end of the underbody - it makes it difficult at best to drill through for a solid mounting of a Kadee box. Been there, done that - you either have to shorten the weight or use a drill press with a sharp drill to drill the necessary holes.
The only real problem with the old Athearn system is if you routinely do hard couplings because the couple cover can come off if not seated properly.
An option, then, is to change the weight's location, or the weight itself.
On my older Athearn Blue Box kits that have some warping to the floor or underframe (causing the coupler boxes to be too low), I've moved the weight to inside the car or changed the weight to Pine Car weights.
The floors can be straightened out as can the weights.
The floors can be straightened out as can the weights.
That depends if the plastic floor has taken a set. And what causes that bend is a warped weight sheet. Sure you can take the weight out and use something else, but not if you're running flat cars with no load.
If you've built many Athearn blue box kits, dealing with the underframes, the weights and the coupler boxes is standard fair.
As others have noted, if you need to remove the metal clips, a dull #11 xacto blade gently wedged along one side can be used to pry off the metal clip. Once one side is bent out a bit it will clear the plastic nub and pop off. You can use a pair of needle nose pliers to bend the metal clip a little tighter to put them back on so they fit snug and will hold the coupler in place. I've used KD#5 to replace the stock horn hook. I've found you need to tweak them often because the metal clip will sometime be a bit too tight to let the KD#5 to swivel and center freely in the box. I'm glad Athearn is doing away with these as they are less than ideal.
I've also found that most of my blue box Athearns need height adjustment for the KD#5 to line up with the heigh gauge. A comination of adding a KD washer to the bolster and gently bending up the end part of the under frame will usually get it about right. I shy away from using more than one KD height washer on the bolster because the wheel trucks get a little too sloppy if you have more than one. I also file off the top most lip of the bolster so I can snug the scew down and make the truck swivil without rocking.
Yes, the weights are sometimes warped so I'll try to bend them straight before mounting.
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