Repowering an old ConCor/Kato Hudson

[Point353]

Gaaaa!  I forgot something important.   

[ns737]

I have one of those black fly wheels in the package that is stapled to paper work for the hudson. you can have if you want.

[wm3798]

Aha.  That explains the need for the new, shorter screw.  I'll be sure to carefully nibble away the necessary bits until I have a Magliaroesque fit.

And Columbo...  My favorite detective of all time.

And sure!  If you have a flywheel, I'll be happy to experiment with it.  I'll pm you the particulars.

Lee

[mmagliaro]

Aha.  That explains the need for the new, shorter screw.  I'll be sure to carefully nibble away the necessary bits until I have a Magliaroesque fit.

And Columbo...  My favorite detective of all time.

And sure!  If you have a flywheel, I'll be happy to experiment with it.  I'll pm you the particulars.

Lee

The filing really has nothing to do with the screw.  I don't know what screw Kato originally had in there.  It was most likely a metric thread.  I just figured a 1-72 was easy to come by in hobby shops and even at hardware stores, and it fits in the hole, so that's why I tapped the hole for that.  And then I just had to pick a screw short enough.  Ideally, if you have a flat-head one that is designed to fit into a countersink (I know hobby shops sell these, I just don't have any at the moment), it would be more elegant than the screw I used.  Just test it in the motor by itself out of the chassis first.  If you can turn it all the way into the hole without it touching the armature inside, your good.  Turn the armature with your fingers to make sure you don't feel any little bump-bump-bump of the arm just grazing the tip of the screw.

[wm3798]

I do have the factory screw in hand, so I'll try yours first, and it second if the fit looks a bit off.  My thought is the countersunk screw will provide more stability in more directions, but until I have everything in hand to toy with, I won't know for sure.

Thanks again, Max.
Lee

[mmagliaro]

I do have the factory screw in hand, so I'll try yours first, and it second if the fit looks a bit off.  My thought is the countersunk screw will provide more stability in more directions, but until I have everything in hand to toy with, I won't know for sure.

Thanks again, Max.
Lee

I really would not try using the factory screw at all unless you KNOW that it's a 1-72 thread.  Remember, I tapped the hole in the plastic nose for 1-72.  If you put something else in there, it might strip out the threads and then the mounting becomes a project.
I would try to get a 1-72 counter-sunk screw.  If you really want it to fit into the recess like the old one.

[wm3798]

Gotcha.
Apart from liking beer, sausage and sauerkraut, which have been handed down to me by my Teutonic heritage, my lack of that sort of precision in my modeling efforts is clearly more indicative of my Scots-Irish tendency toward expediency and low cost!!

Lee

[wm3798]

So my transplant cooler arrived today.

Thanks to @central.vermont for the donor motor, and @mmagliaro for preparing it with a worm gear swap.

I followed the doctor's orders and filed away a bit of the original frame...


After a quick test drive, it became apparent that on my lumpy old track, I was getting an intermittent short when the trailing truck, which on this version has pickups, was coming into contact with the new motor frame.

First I tried adding a shim to hold the motor up in a position that cleared the truck.



But this turned out to been too much, jamming the worm too snug to the main drive gear.  Next I applied some E6000 cement, akin to Walthers goo, and reset the screw.

Once set, this will hold the motor more securely.  But I still had the issue of the short in on particular spot.  So I broke out the Kapton tape and applied a bit to the bottom of the motor.



This did the trick.  This image shows how low the new motor rides over the trailing truck.


It is presently running some break in laps, with some suitably vintage rolling sock in tow.  It's a bit noisier than my factory Trix decapod, and not nearly as smooth as my Rivarossi Mike, but the break in is definitely helping, and it's 1000 times better than it was with the factory motor.

Max also sent me a replacement tender shell, so she is presently unfettered.  Maybe the Laurel Valley just picked up some big power for its run through the Laurel Highlands...



In the time it's taken me to write this, the performance overall has improved tremendously.  The Hudson is presently gliding along, much quieter than at the outset, and at a pleasantly meandering pace.

I hereby declare the transplant a success!

Thanks to all who contributed to the effort.
Lee

[wm3798]

Turns out she's still a bit anemic.

This one has no accommodation for traction tires, and after about 8 retro cars, she's a sittin' and a spinnin'

I'll test her out next with some MT cars with less friction.  The goal is always at least a 10 car train...

Lee

[ns737]

that is great . one suggestion i would find a piece of thin plastic for the bottom of the motor instead of the tape. that would ware better. It is nice to see your hudson running.

[mmagliaro]

First, if that wheel is grazing the underside of the motor, putting the kapton tape there will prevent the short, but it will still be touching and lifting the rear of the engine, which is not good if you are going for more traction.  Try running it without the trailing truck in place, and see if the traction improves.  Since the trailing truck has the hook on it for the tender, you'll have to cobble something together like a twisted piece of wire to temporarily join the tender to the engine.  If pulling improves, you can remove that trailing truck wheelset, and put smaller-flanged wheels on it, or file down the flanges (pull one wheel off, chuck axle in Dremel, run against a file, then repeat for the other wheel.   Those flanges are pretty big anyway.   It looks like the top of the truck frame might also touch the motor when it swings under there, so you might want to file down some of the top edge of the truck frame and then hit it with some black paint.  Nobody will ever notice.

[mmagliaro]

I just noticed something.  In your recent side photo, the counterweights on the front driver doesn't even remotely line up with the other two.  I am amazed it even runs being that far out of quarter.  It should not be too hard to fix this.  The Hudson drivers are all keyed on their axles, so all you need to do is take the cover plate off, gently lift out that front driver enough to clear the idler gear, rotate it a little in the right direction, and drop it back in.

Are the counterweights on the other side also mismatched?  I hope so.  Otherwise, you've got problems.

[ns737]

the front drive on the test engine you used looks like it has the same problem. could it be the manufacture made it that way?

[wm3798]

I'll inspect the counterweight to see if that makes a difference, but as it is the engine runs smoothly and without any binding or wobble, so I'd have to look to see if the siderods are even attached to it.  Might just be a cosmetic thing.
Lee

[Doug G.]

The side rods aren't attached. Look at the photo with the loco upside down showing the Kapton tape.

Doug