While Simon 1966 and his boys Andrew and Crisp where over this weekend Crisp went bench diving and found some long forgotten Tyco and Bachmann cars. I also have a small fleet of 31 Tyco Old Dutch Hoppers that I up grade with Kadee Couplers, pockets and Proto wheels.
Crisp found some long forgotten treasures and I am going to up grade them. Plus, when I up grade the Old Dutch Hoppers I was only using CV glue on the base pocket and modelers glue to hold the tops of the pockets on. Over time the tops have worked lose and have slop in the couplers.
What sizes screw and drill bit will I need to hold on the coupler pockets? All so a link to buy screws in bulk. I going to guess I will need around 50 pairs. Screws are high at LHS, round $3.00 for 6.
Crisp got a AMD FP 45 C&0 for his effort. Sorry Simon, you have your work cut out for you on that engine. Ran great on DC so you have a good motor to start with converting it to DCC.
try microfasteners.com. they sell them by the hundred for a reasonable price plus a few bucks for shipping. we should link this thread to the one about how hobby shops make a profit. your lhs is probably the worst place in the world to buy things like this.
i use 2-56 screws for kadee boxes and for truck mounting. number 50 tap drill and number 42 for clearance. if you have a scale rule like the one general puts out, this info is on the back side.
Use a 2-56 screw to go through the center of the Kadee coupler pocket. You will need a 2-56 tap, and a #50 or #51 drill bit for tap to cut through. A #43 drill will give you a ‘clearance’ hole.
Or, you can use #2 self tapping round head screws if you are just going through plastic. Since I normally go all the way through the carbody weight, is usually go the 2-56 machine screw route. Again, use a round head machine screw. Places like ‘Bolt Depot’ can sell you boxes(100) of the screws much cheaper than the small ‘bags’ of screws at the LHS. You can buy a box of 100 for around $5.00. Here is the URL:
Use these drills and tap all the time when building railroad car kits. A must for every modeler’s toolbox. (Gee, I remember how difficult model building was during teenage years when first priority wasn’t given to tools. I was stupid.)
Kadee offers Delrin 2/56 screws. I find these very helpful when a certain length is desired that is not redilly available in steel. They cut quite easily w/ an Xacto #11 and a touch up on some samdpaper. Shortening steel screws is always a PITA.
use brass screws instead of steel. you can snip them off with a pair of rail nippers or any other cutters you prefer to use. if you are concerned about the threads being deformed, put a steel nut on the screw before you cut it and the back the nut off to restore the threads. i’ve been doing it that way for decades.
Ken, that’s how I got most of my rolling stock. The Tyco hoppers aren’t too hard to convert but the couplers came up way high without shims. Bachmann boxcars were easy but Tyco 60’boxcars have a hole in the floor (to hold the weight) that ends up almost exactly where the screw for a KD#5 needs to be. Wood side 40’ just needed ome trimming to make a flat surface for the pocket to fit. I used self tapping #2 screws for most of it but I haven’t gotten back to the Tyco 60’ cars yet.
I was at the National Train Show a couple of weeks back and I was delighted to find MicroFasteners there. I picked up a bunch of 2-56 screws, thanking them profusely for being there and selling these things for a reasonable price. I bought my last bunch at my LHS, in a Kadee envelope, for way too much money. My local hardware store sells them in oneseys and twoseys for even more.
You can also get them at www.demarelectronics.com. Since they also sell electronic stuff, it gives you a chance to save on shipping by getting a bunch of electronic parts, wires, connectors and such all at once.
Support your local hobby shop! Buy your screws and needed supplies from them. In fact, they should have been able to tell you want you needed for your project and supply it to you. Get KD #246 which includes the drill bits and tap for what you need.
Other things in your post confuses me. What is 'CV glue?" and what kind of loco is a 'AMD FP 45 C&0? I’ve never heard of one of these.
Hello Ken look for old vcr’s,radio’s toy’s stuff like that. They have a bunch of screw’s,springs and gears. It may take a few minutes to take apart but they are free. And you will get different size’s Hope this helps Frank
Fastenall is also a good place to get “screwed” They have 2056 screws in various lengths. The Fastenall store here has to order 2-56 screws but it only takes two days for them to arrive.
When installing Kadee couplers be sure you use the hight gauge. Kadee also makes a drill & tap set for 2-56 screws.
On the Tyco cars I usually have to add shims to get the couplers at teh correct hight. Sheet styrene is what I use for shims. I glue the shims and the flat piece of the Kadee box to the car then after the glue is set I drill and tap for a 2-56 screw. Assemble the coupler in the box and then add the top of the box and hold it with the screw. Don’t glue the top of the box as that will make repair/service of the coupler difficult.
Support your local hobby shop! Buy your screws and needed supplies from them. In fact, they should have been able to tell you want you needed for your project and supply it to you. Get KD #246 which includes the drill bits and tap for what you need.
Other things in your post confuses me. What is 'CV glue?" and what kind of loco is a 'AMD FP 45 C&0? I’ve never heard of one of these.
In our are we have two LHS that are complete rip off artists the third one thankfully went out of business, I have to travel close to an hour to a decent hobby shop so he’s far from local. In these economic times you buy from whom ever gives you the best deal, besides the guy who runs the internet store just trying to make a living just like the LHS and some just happen to do both. Oh and lets not be too critical of typos we all make them and he obviously mean CA or would you prefer I spell out Cyanoacrylate
Hey I went to their website after reading this post and ordered a printed catalog and shazam! it was here in today’s snail mail. Maybe the fact that they are also in the garbage state of NJ might have something to do with it but after checking they have a lot of great stuff anf their prices are pretty reasonable as well. Thanks for the tip griz
I thought CV glue was something new. You know, what you use on those pesky decoders so that they’ll hold their programming and won’t lose their CV settings - CV glue. [(-D] “Just a drop is all it takes to never have your CV’s change again for no reason.”
On a separate note - Ken is always talking about how great his LHS K-10 trains is. If they are such a great shop he should be more than willing to support them by buying ALL his supplies there - KDs, screws etc. - for this project
P.S. - I’m still waiting to find out what kind of engine a AMD FP45 C&0 is.