This is my first time posting to the form so forgive me if I have missed something.
I need some help. In an attempt to make my little H5 make a turn on some bad trackwork I bent the pilot truck’s link from the locomotive’s frame to the truck. In the process I stripped the little bolt that attached it to the frame. The metal link is very strong…don’t ask how I bent it… By now I have torn up the track rebuilt it so that other GN 4-6-2s work well. Is there any hope for the H5?
pat
Got photos?
In any case, would it be a safe assumption that you also stripped the hole into which the “bolt” went?
Not knowing the actual dimensions of the “bolt” and hole into which it went, my advice would be to drill the hole slightly bigger and use a larger tap. By the same token, you’d have to find a “bolt” that matches the re-tapped hole.
Here’s a link to Micro-Mark’s page where taps and tap drills are listed: http://www.micromark.com/SearchResult.aspx?deptIdFilter=0&searchPhrase=tap
Were I the one doing it, I’d stick with metric just to be remain consistent. You don’t have to do that, however.
Andre
Aw the marvel that is the Internet.
Found a pic of the underside of a PFM H-5: http://www.brasstrains.com/product_detail.php?p=010477 (page down a bit and you’ll see a couple of photos of the underside).
What I suspected about the manner of construction is true.
Did you strip it where the large (relatively) screw goes into the cover plate?
Do you know the size and length of the screw?
Andre
Pat,
If it’s the screw that you stripped, you can replace it. It looks like it might be a shouldered screw, so that makes it a good bit more complicated. The screw is metric. You’re going to have to do some investigating to find a supplier; but then that’s fun, right? You can make your best guess about the diameter and order that size, larger and smaller. One of them ought to thread in. Then you’ve got to make the shoulder. Brass telescopic tubing should supply you a start, though you might have to drill/ream the inside or file down the outside. Then it appears the head is rather a large diameter–a flat washer ought to simulate this. Eh, voila, you are done–non, monsieur?
If the HOLE is stripped, you basically do the above but with the next size larger screw. You’ll have to tap the hole (metric taps ARE available from Micro Mark). Look out for getting metallic bits from this operation inside the guts of your loco. You do have the option of going English (American) rather than Metric. It’ll certainly be easier to find the pieces, but it seems a bit “naughty” to have one English screw in a full set of metrics. Your choice.
There, that was fun, right? Well, maybe not, but you’ve saved your engine.
Ed
Possibly helpful to you, and likely to be of interest to anyone who tries to repair brass or replace parts, is that the invaluable Greenway firm has created a new website dedicated to brass and replacement parts for brass.
Their regular website remains in operation too: http://greenwayproducts.com/index.shtml
Dave Nelson
Hi Ed: Thank you; I’ll try to go with metric.
Andre: Thanks for the links to micro mart; I’m unfamiliar with the notation involving taps etc, is there a primer I could get to help me through?
Thanks pat
Pat,
Check these regarding metric screws (and taps):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screw#ISO_metric_screw_thread
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_metric_screw_thread
If your threads WEREN’T stripped, to find out the screw size you would just use a micrometer and do a metric conversion. For the hole, find a drill bit that JUST fits, measure it’s diameter and “guess” how much to add for the threads. If the hole is fully stripped, then when you measured the fitting drill, it would give you the screw diameter. If it’s the screw that’s stripped, you’ll again have to “guess” how much to add to get the right diameter. If the threads aren’t fully stripped, use a variation on one of the above methods.
Ed