Ok, so my Proto 2000 GP30 has a piece chipped off one of its side frames and i’m looking for replacements. I tried using Athearn’s Blomberg B truck side frame without much luck. The bolster didn’t fit until I pinched it a bit. After doing that, it fit onto the side of the truck loose enough to fall out while running, although it seems to fit ok after removing the black plastic piece between the truck and sideframe.
I would appreciate anybody’s input and suggestions on truck side frame replacements if you have any.
It’s slippery plastic, so most adhesives won’t bond to the truck or sideframes. However, try using some Aleene’s Tacky Glue or something similar. A little dab on the mounting posts should be enough for an interference fit once it’s dried. It will also leave things removable if necessary later on.
The Athearn BB F7A, GP7,GP35 side frames should work on the GP30s truck…A lot of advanced modelers changed those frames because the Athearn was the better side frames.
The trucks on the Proto 2000 GP30 were cloned from Athearn’s design, and everything from the sideframes to the gears are interchangeable with Athearn parts. P2K added a black plastic insert to hide the metal bearing plate behind the sideframes, and since Athearn doesn’t use this piece their sidefames aren’t designed to fit around it. Discard the insert and the Athearn sideframes are a tight fit like they should be. Athearn eventually disguised the bearing plate by painting it black. If you do this to your P2K trucks the plastic insert won’t serve a purpose anyway.
Sometimes the Athearn sideframe mounting pins can break or just become loose. Flexible adhesives will ensure they don’t fall off during normal operation. I’ve used acrylic/latex caulk and Walthers Goo for this application, and other glues intended for dissimilar materials should work too, like the Tacky Glue mentioned above or canopy glue.