I know that these newly released engines are NOT DCC ready. I was wondering if these engines can be separated ( remove the shell from the motor and frame) and use the shell on a different engine that is DCC ready. I have a P2K GP 7 engine (missing the shell) lying around. I wonder if the GP38-2 body would fit on the GP7 motor.
I am interested in doing this because Athearn just released a GP38-2 in the bicentennial paint scheme for the B&M. I’d love to add this engine to my collection, but I’d like it even better if it were DCC.
I dont think the frame swap would work, not knowing if the wheelbase is even the same P2K fills most of thier shell with weight. So you would end up cutting the nose down in order to fit the low-nose GP38. I think that process would be more work than just installing the decoder yourself. An athearn is a very basic install, there are only 2 things to remember.
Make dead sure the motor is isolated from the frame, pop it out, break the little “feelers” off of the brass strip on the bottom. And for good measure I always cut a thin strip of electrical tape and put it in the slot where the motor was contacting.
Don’t use the original light bulb, its grounded on the frame and it doesnt look that great to begin with. However, the mounting bracket for the bulb has power to it. You can solder a wire on that for (left? cant remember) track power. The other side you can get from the metal tabs on top of the trucks that contacted the big metal stip inside before you removed it.
Other than that its just soldering. If you do want to try it yourself, me and other posters here can help you