Kato New run U30/c30 mechs

[Lackawannae8]

I recently stumbled upon a plethora of new kato drop in style engines dcc ready for pennies. so I tried to swap them out into the older run shells cause I have a few customs I want to keep going and easily add drop in ESU without dedicating hours to make them soundable... looks like kato changed tooling on the newer chassis so am I beat or did someone find a way to beat the system?

[spookshow]

From my website -

Shells can be swapped between the two versions, although the forward numberboard detail (with its arm of light-conducting plastic) is very different between the two versions, and as a consequence, a bit of a sticking point. Based on my experiments, the old numberboard part does not work with the new chassis (and vice versa). Consequently, I had to leave said numberboards with their original chasses when performing said shell swap. Also, the old shell has a raised section on the inside that tends to interfere with the lightboard on the new chassis. Sanding down said ridge definitely makes for a better fit.

-Mark

[Lackawannae8]

From my website -

Shells can be swapped between the two versions, although the forward numberboard detail (with its arm of light-conducting plastic) is very different between the two versions, and as a consequence, a bit of a sticking point. Based on my experiments, the old numberboard part does not work with the new chassis (and vice versa). Consequently, I had to leave said numberboards with their original chasses when performing said shell swap. Also, the old shell has a raised section on the inside that tends to interfere with the lightboard on the new chassis. Sanding down said ridge definitely makes for a better fit.

-Mark

looks like some milling will be involved to get the U30 to fit... I had refrenced your site moons ago and saw that they were interchangable.... idk

[spookshow]

I've done it (put old shell on new chassis) twice, no chassis modifications were required.

-Mark

[OldEastRR]

There are some ribs on the inside of the old shell which need to be removed before it fits on the new frame. Also, if we're talking about the U30C with the gaping pilot hole you need to fill that in with the MTL conversion. The new frame is slightly lighter than the new frame but the loco still pulls a lot of cars.

[Lackawannae8]

I've done it (put old shell on new chassis) twice, no chassis modifications were required.

-Mark

Did the interchange get retooled? U30 must go on a U30 or can they still interchange with the c30?

[spookshow]

I've never tried switching a C30 shell, but I can't imagine why the procedure would be any different.

-Mark