I have a brand new model,only the chassis has been run to test for cracked gears-changed them for Athearn one’s and it runs sweet as a nut.I come to put the body shell on,never been out the box before,and after a lot of messing around and swearing it appears the frame is bent,the shell just won’t sit level;if it’s level one end it’s a good 2mm or so off the other.
Has anyone ever encountered this before,this is the model before Walthers took over-I have another which I can’t find at the moment,I’ll have to check that one out,I know it needs a gear change and I can’t remember if the body shell is on the chassis.
It’s been a while since I’ve had the shell off my GP-7s and I did decoder installs and gear changes on all of 'em. If your frame is bent so much as to not let the shell sit flat I would think it would crack in two.
I’d look somewhere else for your problem. Wiring, PC board… something like that.
Later tonight I’ll take a look at my geeps to see if I can see anything.
Some of my P2K diesels had very short screws fore and aft of the fuel tank (I don’t remember if the geep 7 was one of them) make sure that hole is lining up.
Yep,checked wiring,PC board and the screws that secure the shell are long enough,they go thru’ the coupler box and screw into the shell-well they should,if you get one end secure,you won’t get the other!
I’ve had/have several of the P2K GP 7/9s and of course changed the gears on all of them. Your misfit problem is likely 100 percent due to just not fitting it on properly - meaning something is in the way of it happening.
Check out the tabs and slots for the proper fit, and also the window glazing and wiring that may be in the way. It doesn’t take much to give it a hard time.
I’ll tell you what is catcing - the uncoupling lever. Look at the end that is sticking, you will see that the uncoupling lever is jammed between the underside of the platform and the buffer part of the draft gear box. After having mine apart enough, I’ve pretty much got it down using the side of a #11 blade to guide the uncoupling lever over the draft gear as I lower the shell.
I wonder if the headlight bulb is sticking out of the housing? I have squashed a few when the lucite box in the photo hits it!
There are the bosses that should pass through the holes in the frame…
If they don’t pass through then the coupler boxes won’t fit into the pilot openings. Don’t forget to lift the long handrail on the pilot out of the way of the draft gear boss before you shove it all the way in.
The frame should be dead flat… have you checked it? Maybe you DO have to tweak it a bit. Was the engine ever in the concrete chasm?
That’s all the help I can offer… maybe others will chime in with some ideas.
As per the above suggestions, I’ve found a few of them had a bit of flash in the two holes of the chassis - the ones in the middle where the two bosses under the walkway fit into. This prevents the two bosses from fully seating down into the holes in the chassis causing the body to not sit down tight onto the chassis.
Clean the holes out with a small round file or drill them out with a bit that is slightly oversized.
Since the engine is brand new and never has had the shell mounted on the chassis, this problem goes un-noticed.
You can only put the shell on…one way. A screw behind each coupler pocket and two under the fuel tank on each side of the frame. Chassis should fit flat on bottom of shell, unless something inside is stopping it. If it had a bent frame, You would have found that out before You took the shell off. I have six of those and replaced crack axle gears years ago and the frame is all cast. Something in the cab could not be seated correctly.
OP said this unit was new, and as such, the body would have never been on the chassis yet. Remember the body and chassis were packaged separately in the box.
I had forgot all about that…It’s been 12 yrs for me. I was not thinking straight, trying to work three sites at the same time to pass on news about Jeffrey Wimberly’s passing this morning.
Thank you all for your advice and condolences to Geoffery’s family.
Well,I found I had two more,both of which I’ve changed the gears this afternoon,and after messing around with the different body shells,it’s definitly a bent frame-it sits O.K. in the middle but sags both ends,so to speak,by about 3mm.I showed it to my wife (not a modeller) and for the first time this year,she agreed with me.
Now,here’s the next question-if I take all the weights off and the motor etc can it be straightened-will it crack if I do try?
Thanks again
Steve
P.S.-these models are brand new,they came from the time Lifelike was selling their clock,as the flyer in the box says.I have only just reached the stage where the layout is operable.
There are some ways of straightening a bent cast frame, but they must be done slowly and allow time for the casting to rest. One drawback will be, you have to bend it past the point of the bend, so it will retain it’s shape when pressure is released. I have done so with a large bench vise with the chassis in a jig made of pine wood. Each end of the chassis sits in a cradle, measured precisly to the point of the needed bend and then a little more. I then made a sort of cover that covered the whole chassis, but in the center where the bend would have to go, there was a measured block of wood the same as the bend needed to be. Then put in vise horizontally and slowly turned the handle until the chassis would start to move, then stop for awhile and let the casting try to adjust. I would do that about three times, until finally I could close the jig with chassis touching all my measured pieces. I then left it set a couple days and it worked. There is a faster way with heat, but I never tried it, but vaguely remember it.
I have seen this same problem in my P2K gp7’s. The h/ls are probably ok if they sit in the spot set up for them. The frames on two of mine were also bent, and I had a heck of a time getting the units’ shells attached to the frames. I did this: I very carefully bent the frames to as close to straight as I could. They didn’t straighten completely, but were pretty close. I was careful because the metal frames beyond the fuel tanks are pretty fragile. When I reassembled them, I slid the shell down onto the unit and worked it down as far as possible. It was very close, but a tiny bit of frame was still visible below the body sill. Next I started screws on the ends of the units, but didn’t draw them down tight. I started the small screws in the center of the frame, but left them untightened also. Then I alternately drew down the end screws a little bit at a time, so the shell sort of teeter-totted down until the shell was snug, but not real tight. Then I lightly drew down the small screws at the center. This resulted in a really big improvement. Hope it helps.
Thanks again for all the advice,I may try to straighten the frame otherwise I have an expensive round house queen or an instant source of spare parts for the other 2!
