I asked for these knowing I’d have to do some reworking on the trucks. The lighting kit for these comes with 31" metal wheel sets for $17 per car. (not a problem)
Is this the best way to go? Does anybody have a better plan?
Does anyone know the right way to get the roofs of these cars before I mess one up trying?
Thanx-Loathar
To get the roofs off, you have to push down on the tabs at the bottom of the cars. The side windows and roof are one piece. I use a flat bladed screwdriver to pry the tabs toward the center of the car and push down at the same time, one at a time, until they are released. Then the top and sides can be pulled out of the bottom part of the shell.
I don’t put lighting kits in IHC passenger cars; only interiors. I chage the wheelsets to InterMountain 36" wheels, but since you’re going to install interior lighting you probably can’t do that. I also put body-mounted Kadee couplers on all of them, using the Jay-Bee coupler mounting pads. I don’t know why IHC uses 31" diameter wheels because I don’t think that’s what the prototype ever used, but that’s what you’re going to be stuck with now.
It’s also highly advisable to add weight to the cars while you have them opened up. BBs or lead shot can be glued into the cavities in the bottoms of the cars before the interiors are installed. I fill the cavities with lead shot and then pour Elmer’s white glue on and let it set for 24 hours. I then glue strips of solid-core solder into the center sill area on the bottom after the cars are turned upside down for truck and coupler installatioin. I use super glue for this. The more weight you can add, the better the cars will stay on the track.
I have a pair of IHC cars.
I didn’t add any interior to them as I plan on “tinting” the windows.
I did add IHC’s metal axles to the existing trucks & also added weight according to NMRA’s suggestion.
Gordon
Try this
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=13026
I bought three sets of IHC cars a couple of years ago and am just not starting to work on them. I also bought all of the corresponding interiors to go with them. But I am have trouble putting them together. Since I didn’t want my interior bright pink or seafoam green or powder blue I decided to prime with flat gray. Now the pieces won’t fit together. It says in the instructions that if you want to paint them do so before assembly. At first, I thought I was the way they were mold so I filed down the bottoms of the pieces flat to fit on to the floor. Then I used two different forms of ZAP CA to try to stick them to the floor and they just wouldn’t stick. I was having more luck sticking my fingers together than getting the model put together any thought on what I should do? A different adhesive? No Primer? Different Primer ?
Railfan2882
INTERIOR’S: Best to paint them. I like a ‘Forest green’ with white ‘headcloth’s’ on seat’s and tablecloth’s in diner’s.
LIGHTING: glue aluminum foiI to ceiling.
WEIGHT’S: in vestible’s and car end’s to NMRA 6.75 oz.
BACKING UP: Body counted couplers.
RUNNING: 36" wheels NEM axles on some, (NMRA on other’s). JayBee makes.
SIMPLEST: IHC metal wheelset’s solve many problem’s, Are pricey but roll well, pick up track voltage for light’s, get’s rid of ‘crummy’ plastic truck’s and add’s ‘unsprung’ weight (all good).
PROBLEM is MENTAL: buying $20 truck’s for a $7 car.
THOUGHT for the day: A Popsicle stick will roll well with good truck’s, and the IHC body is nothing more than a piece piece of painted plastic. A painted ‘Popsicle stick’ . Truck’s do all the work.
Rivarossi, Rivarossi-made AHC, and IHC use 31" wheels because they need room for Talgo trucks to operate. IHC’s passenger car’s are cheap imitation’s of Rivarossi’s cars, and come with horrible talgo truck’s (couplers, wheels and sideframes.
Replacing these, and adding weight’s, makes a huge difference. IHC truck’s can be found at $ale prices . PS They hold up,as well as roll…
I contemplated buying some of those trucks for my cars, but one of the big problems I had was figuring out how to mount the couplers. Do I use a McHenry or Kadee and if I use Kadee do I mount them onto the car or the truck and do I use a Swing Bracket any further thoughts in this area?
One tip: when you get the roofs off, take a snap saw or something similar and remove the end ‘tabs’ that snap down into the floor to hold the roof on. It makes it easier to get back into the car, plus you don’t really need them, the roof will stay on without the tabs under normal usage.
I’ve heard of people fitting Athearn trucks to IHC and Rivarossi cars. Body-mount the couplers, fit some 36-inch wheels and all is good 
I put some weight in them already (about 6oz/car) and some 33" proto wheels and that helped a lot. I know I have to go to the 36" wheels but I had some extra 33’s laying around. The IHC 31" wheels where the worst I’ve ever seen.[xx(]. I need to get cash for the interiors and light kits.(I like that tin foil on the roof idea, thanks Don) I may just go with the McHenry truck mount couplers and say good enough.
Thanks for the tips!
I’m in the same boat with my IHC cars. Here is what I’m planning to try: replace the wheels with Reboxx 36" and use Kadee #508 conversions for truck mounted couplers. Since my smallest radius is 22", I looked into Walthers swinging body mounted coupler boxes but there is a clearence problem with the IHC trucks. Also didn’t seem worth the cost/effort for $7 cars. I also plan to remount the trucks using #56 screws instead of the friction pins they come with. Hopefully these mods with some extra weight will make a difference.
if one doesn’t use the recommended 31" wheels, which I agree don’t all that realistic, and you really wanted to light the inside of your IHC Passenger Cars is there any system or wheelsets that you would recommend?