can someone offer tips on how to take the engine shell off please. did a search and can’t find anything that helps. Thanks.
oh, finally saw it…the one screw that holds the shell on, I highlighted it in the drawing. good to go now.
OK, where is that screw or the drawing showing its location? [:)]
my mistake, I meant the drawing that came with the engine. It’s underneath the steam dome about center of the boiler. screw #10188 and steam dome #002033 on the bachmann drawing
nyc4me,
What did you use to pry the steam off of the body? Mine unit seems to be a quite tight fit.
Jon
I would use a standard size hammer. One good solid blow should do the trick!
cf7
jondrd, I lifted and wiggled side to side and it came up, but you’re right it’s snug. I didn’t want to go under it with any type of tool for fear of marking and once it moved it was aha, fingernail to the rescue. to be sure we’re thinking the same dome, the one with the whistle.
good advice cf7 but my fingers wreck enough without having to resort to tools. they sure do pack detail on today’s models compared to yesteryear I think.
I bought a sorry one off ebay, going to modify it. It is very snug. You may also find the cab handrails a bother also. Mine had a problem with the rear drive torque transfer fitting was loose, rear driver did not run. Its going to be redone to narrow gauge 2-8-8-2…D&RGW planned some versions, never built, but I will attempt a freelance style… 8-D MDC 2-8-0 mechanisms.
nyc4me,
Yes, same dome. After your initial post I checked exploded view drawing and could see what you were talking about. I suspected the only way to get dome off was manually, appeared to be no way one could use a tool without marking either the dome or the boiler body.
You have any drive problems with engine? Mine has what appears to be driveline lash that sometimes requires a move backward before you can go forward, once underway there’s no problem. Putting decoder in made a much better performing engine but no decoder can overcome bad mechanicals.
Jon
no mechanical problems yet and from the looks of that thing i think i’m pretty darned glad i don’t. maybe that note from dinwitty would help. I think mine is probably one of the best running engines I’ve got. I’m changing my headlight to a bulb, well thinking to go that way, I sorta blew the led by mistake. i’ve got a bulb in but trying to decide the best way to handle the pigtails. I’m also going to put a backup light in the tender while i’m at it too. I think I can do something like that ok. your dome come off finally? Maybe before you get too far into it, have you thought about sending it to bachmann and see what they say? I haven’t been stung by any warranty yet so you never know, just might come out in your favor.
nyc4me,
I’ve read on the forum where Bachmann is very good about warranty and from what writers here say most of the time they just replace the engine rather than repair. I don’t know about this approach with HO 2-6-6-2, it seems to have had its day and I don’t know if it’s even currently in the Bachmann catalog. I’ll check and mull over approach to take with the driveline lash problem. Glad to hear you got a good runner-it’s a nice looking engine.
Jon
Micro-Mark are currently taking reservations for sound equipped Bachmann Spectrum 2-6-6-2 's, with estimated time of arrival November, according to the on-line ad (this month). I have one reserved, their confirmation advised that they hoped to ship by year end. [:)]
nyc4me,
As noted previously I got the steam dome off. The bloody body after removing screw under steam dome seems as tight if not tighter than the steam dome. What did you do? I think I’m missing something when I look at their exploded view.
I’ve been fiddling around trying to tweak it as much as possible but I think I’ve got to get “under the hood” to resolve operational difficulty.
Jon
had to take cab off first, didn’t mention that, apologies, just thought it was straight forward. I don’t know how it’d be if I hadn’t done that. the cab has a tab right in the center that goes into the boiler top. the cab comes off by rocking side to side and lifts up. unhook the hand rails in the back first. I also broke off the cab to tender apron, two small glue spots just gave out. it’ll be easy to fix. the thing that really irritated me was the cab windows fell out. the inside of the cab is painted with some green paint and then the glue they used didn’t attack the plastic the way I think it should have. spent some time with tweezers and very very small bits of glue to hold them back in place but - done good.
nyc4me,
Thanks, I’ll try the cab removal then boiler approach. I will also be careful with handrails. Bachmann sure made this one tough to maintain. To my senior eyes it looks like you have to approach gear train lube from top that means off comes the boiler(arggh!).
If I get everything off OK I’m hoping that I see something fixable. Unit runs fine once it gets going(OK, there is some gear noise but…) although it does seem to tolerate rough track when in reverse rather then going forward.
Again, thanks for your help.
Jon
Adding to this thread since I just was working with one. the cab does not need to be taken off, but be sure to release the lower connection of the handrails from the frame part (seems typical of Bachmanns). Also on the fireman’s side, the air cooler piping has a pin that stabilizes it against the lower part; gently pull this out and free that part of the upper shell. Then just gently rock the boiler, first near the cab, and it’ll come free.