Hi, got my two LL GP 38-2 loks from e-bay last week. They run smooth and quit and seemed to mach well together after 1 hour testrun.Coupled they take a 4% grade without any hesitation pulling 8 Atlas Kaolin tankers. Last night I tryed to instal MTL 1128 couplers on one of these, lost one spring, damaged one thingie and coupler not installed yet after 2 hours.Got almost a nervous breakdown. Suggestions please.... Paul
I have a trio of these I also need to convert. I've concidered going to body mount because with the effort involved why not just go all the way. A few pointers would be appreciated. [ 14. September 2003, 21:46: Message edited by: BALOU LINE ]
It really isn't that hard to body mount the couplers on any loco that has truck mounts. The first thing I would do is carefully cut the truck mount couplers off and trash them. Next thing to do is make a mounting pad to mount the new couplers to the body. This will take some experimenting to get the right height.Once you have the mounting pad to where you think it is close drill and tap for the mounting screws(I reccomend you use a hexhead 0090 screw to do your mounting)I can't give you any examples because it will vary from one loco to the next. I suggest that you use the glue very lightly until you get the correct height then go back and regle the pad.I would reccomend also that you not try the 1015/16 coupler as it seems to not work very well in this situation.If memory serves me right I used the 1023/25 couplers(one is kit the other is assembled). After you get this all done go back with some strip styrene and fill in the pilots around the couplers. This was a bit longwinded but I think it will help you .
As stated above, trash the truck mounted couplers. I've found if you fill in behind the pilot face to the level of the opening, this should be just about the right height. You can always add the spacers that come with the MT couplers. Just check the height against a couple other locos or some rolling stock you'll be running. I use the 1015/1016 without any problems and fill in around them with strip styrene. For the mounting hole, I just use a drill bit slightly smaller than the MT screws and just use the MT screws. Works great without any problems. Never have used the MT tap set. Throw on a plow if appropriate and away you go. Not to brag but this is so easy, I've done it in ten minutes while talking on the phone. AC glue works wonders!
Thanks guys, you opened my eyes, never thought on bodymount with this loks. I'll try it next weekend. Paul
