Hi from the great Pacific Northwest. This is my first post so I hope it’s not too stupid. I’m trying to remove the shell of a SD40.2 model by Kato so I can install a decoder (never had those in 1960 when I last had a layout). It says to press gently on the sides but I’ve pressed as hard as I can with no luck. I also have a Kato AC4400 which I was able to disassemble after considerable effort but have had no luck with the SD40.2. I’m about to use a hammer on this model if no one has a better idea. HELP!!!
Hi Intalco,
Welcome to the forum!
Try squeezing in on the sides and holding the fuel tank (or the frame under the fuel tank, if it comes off easy) and pulling it away from the shell gently. There are several manufacturers that use this type of mating arrangement, and it sometimes takes a little persuasion to get it apart. Make sure the end pilots and/or coupler boxes aren’t restricting the removal of the shell. Sometimes these must come off first. Be carefull around all the tiny parts! Good Luck.
Mark C.
intalco,
If you decide to take a hammer to it, send it to me first. I’ll send you something that you can pound on to your heart’s content, and I’ll figure out how to get the shell off the Kato. No refunds for trades.
Mark C.
Most manufactures have the tabs so you press the shell to squeeze the tabs away from the frame. Kato (GP35, SD40, SD45) are opposite. The tabs are on the outside of the frame so you have to use a small screwdriver and pull them out away from the frame. Look under the loco, are the tabs inside or outside on the frame, that will be your clue.
intalco:
There are tabs on each side of the hood just over the power trucks, pressing on the hood near the running boards in the middle under the dynamic brakes and using a rocking motion will release the tabs so you can remove the hood.
I demonstrate working on a Kato unit in my upcoming DCC video to be released on July 22. Here’s a still from that video where I remove the hood from a Kato diesel. As a still captured directly from a video, the image exhibits some video scan lines … but otherwise you should be able to see how the cab is removed.
(click to enlarge)
Once I get the hood off the Kato, I actually file the tabs down so they are much flatter and have less of a ridge on them. It makes it easier to remove the shell in the future.
Wait until you try to take the hood off their NW-2! That one has dimples built up on the sides of the frame that go in holes in the hood. When I finally got the thing off I filed the dimples off so I wouldn’t have to go through that again.
Absolutely awesome Joe.
It’s a great contribution. I too have an SD40-2 but never bothered with the removal.
Thanks for all the advice, especially the still pic Joe. I knew there were tabs per the Kato instruction sheet (I like the way they show the added details in red) but couldn’t get enough pressure to release them. I was about to use a couple of C clamps when the cab started to move. I wish I had read your post about filing the tabs down before I installed the decoder and reassembled the shell. Oh well, it runs good so maybe thats the last time I need to take it apart.
Thanks again,
Wayne.