Despite having a nice foam loco cradle, I found that I damaged or broke off a few lift eyes on the roofs of some LifeLike E6 A-B-A units. I was not careful enough and find these easy to weaken or break off with mishandling.
Yesterday I tackled the B unit, which needed 5 replacments. I had obtained some Grandt Line (a variety pack of sizes) and Detail Associates (for EMD, plastic #1101). Both seemed a tad smaller but when installed the latter look fine.
They were tricky to prepare the roof. Due to the broken end being in the old hole, it was tough to get a #74 drill started in the right spot, so I had to make a starting indentation using a sharp pointed reamer. After that, they went in ok and stayed in place with a tad of CA glue. For the B unit, all needed to be gray, so the primer gray I used was fine. A bit of touchup was needed as the drilling exposed the plastic color. The A unit will need a couple on the UP yellow front, so I primed those white for hand painting yellow before install.
This was tricky enough that I quit after doing the one unit. I’ll do the others no more than a few at a time as it gets stressful.
The Detail Associates wire lift rings sy-2006 are correct for EMD diesels.
The hole (or the stub of the original) left by the broken-off ones is not the best place to affix the replacements, though.
Instead, drill-out the hole and use Evergreen styrene rod of a diameter about .003"-.005" bigger than that of the hole. Use a solvent-type cement, applying it to both the rod and the hole, and let it soften the plastic somewhat before forcing the rod into place. Allow the joint to harden completely before trimming off the excess using a sharp blade. This will allow you to drill a hole better-sized to the replacement parts and exactly where you want it. Add the metal lift ring, then apply ca from the inside of the shell for a neat and permanent bond.
Wayne
I use the metal ones like Wayne - They can take handling…
Jim
Thanks for the tips. While most would not notice the missing / damaged items, that’s the first place I look since I know the problem, so it’s important to address the issue. I’ll get some of the metals ones and try those. Most diesel exterior details are reasonably durable but these thin rings are prone to getting hurt.