Does someone know a link on the web that has an illustration or diagram of retrofitting Kadee trucks into an older International Hobby Corporation freight cars that has larger holes below the trucks? I always do some research before asking what may seem to be a stupid question online.
You may have to fill the hole in the frame of the car you want to adapt the trucks to and then drill that out for a new smaller screw. Using a piece of sprue or plastic dowel will suit the job just fine.
Massey
Actually, there’s little work or skill involved. You’ll need some styrene sprue or rod material of a diameter a little greater (.005’ or so) than that of the holes, some solvent-type cement for styrene (I use lacquer thinner), a pin vise with both a #50 drill and a 2-56 tap, and your X-Acto knife.
Remove the old trucks, then cut two relatively short lengths of sprue or rod - they need be only long enough to handle without getting softened styrene all over your fingers. Next, use a suitably-sized brush to apply the solvent cement to the inside circumference of both holes and the outside circumference of one end of both rods. Wait a few second and, if necessary, re-coat - the idea is to soften the surfaces so that the slightly oversize rods can be jammed into the holes. The rod should protrude into the car’s floor to at least the thickness of the floor - more is okay,but not necessary. If you’re working with an open car, you obviously wouldn’t want it to show inside the car, though.
Once the rods are in place, let the car sit for at least 24 hours to allow the plastic to fully re-harden. After that, trim off the protruding ends so that they’re flush with whatever is moulded on the car’s truck-mounting bolsters - for Kadee trucks, that usually means that you should also trim away any mounting bosses, as the Kadee trucks are not designed for such mounting. Alternatively, you can leave the mounting bosses and drill-out the Kadee truck bolsters accordingly.
Once the plugs have been trimmed flush, mark their centres with a sharp instrument, then use the #50 drill in your pin vise to drill both plugs. You need to drill deep enough to accept whatever length of screws you’re using, but I generally prefer to drill completely through the length of the plugs - this precludes the possibility of stripping the newly-cut threads if your tap should bottom-out in the hole. [banghead] Use the tap in your pin vise to thread the holes, then attach the trucks
Is this the styrene sprue that I need? http://www.drillspot.com/products/605026/approved_vendor_2500470250_standard_dowel_pin?s=1
I thank you all for your informative response.