Experts During the Rods and Rails show over the weekend my Kato Well car set hit the floor and shattered. the bad news is that the coupling pins on the C and B unit are destroyed, and the C frame is cracked I can repair the frame, my major concern are the interlocking pins (mounting pins). I called Kato USA this morning and the B well frame is out of stock. The representative informed me that all I need are the mounting pins item # X08-0548-02. However when I looked at the model I was not able to see how this part detaches from the well frame. As I took an even closer look at the Pacer #6300 C & B units they appear to be part Of the frame. Does any see what I see, or how can I remove this part without further damage? please a modeler in need, Arthur
The very first run of those had the mounting pins molded to the frame, and the design was quickly changed. The Kato rep probably didnt realize you had the very original one, as there were very few of that first design made.
I believe there was only 1 run of the Pacer and it was before Kato retooled the wells. I assume you do not have any of the missing parts. You could pick another version that Kato has in stock and reuse the trucks and come up with a set. I did this with a TTX set. I reused the broken parts to make a stand alone 53' well car using the front well and parts from the rear well. It worked. Bob
I have a TTX set to repair...sounds like a similar situation. I emailed Kato and they said the fix was to replace the well. Unfortunately the wells are out of stock. I am haven't figured out what it would take to repair...maybe solder a piece of brass stock.
Here is my solution to the broken pin on my Maxi- IV B unit. I used a Xcato knife to remove the entire pin/ bracket on the broken side. Then I drilled out a hole close to where the top of the bracket was molded onto the well. I was going to use some .32 rod so I used a drll bit that was close in diameter of the rod. Using trial and error I made a new pin out of the .32 rod. I inserted the longer leg of the L into the hole that I drilled into the well. I was going to glue in into place once I determined the optimum position, but I have not felt the need to glue it during the past two years of use. I worked on trimming the short side of the L so it would fit into the slot on the wheel set. It took a few tries to make it long enough to hold, yet not too long that would affect to connecting of the wells or the articulation of well. I had planned to paint the pin, have yet to do it and I still have not permanently attached it the well car. I have had to run this set of wells near the end of my train with no more then 2-3 sets of Maxi- IV behind it, so there would not be too much weight on the repaired car. Lately I have been running a set of BLMA 3- unit spine cars with 53' containers with no issues on the rear of the repaired well cars and hope to add 3-4 more sets when they come in. In taking the pictures for this post, I did notice the short leg of the L was not bent completely vertical. On the work bench, it seems if the repaired well can take more pull on it, I could not get it to pull apart. I hope to test this adjustment next month at the next N trak event. Sorry for the long post, but hope it helps others get their Maxi-IV's running again. View attachment 63378 View attachment 63379 View attachment 63381 View attachment 63380
