I thought I would share some pictures of the ACe , so at least know what to expect when you open it up to do maintenance. The chassis is separated with rubber dividers. They will fall easily when you take the chassis apart so watch out Some of the problems I experience with the Ace is the power pickups. This one is too sprung. It will cause derailments when the trucks hit anything. It also wants to eject the trucks. A good position for the powerpickup should look like this. This one will cause derailments and poor powerpickup.
A slight bow upwards on the contacts is needed. If the contacts are straight across, then they have a tendency to slide sideways, which causes the pickup from the truck to catch on the side of the contact. If bowed up, the contact with catch on the side of the chassis and not slip. The shell is important as it will apply downward pressure on the contact strip. This is part of the design. What you have to watch for is the bulge that can form at the end of the contact if it it bowed upward too much. The trucks can snag on the bulge on the contact. I use a small flathead to push these out and straighten them after the trucks are put back in place. Rob
From John's images, the one with the extreme downward angle is due to a *very* sharp 'crimp' compared to the other. Look at 2 side views. The 'left' view has a softer crimp. The 'right' view has a very sharp crimp. Also, the 2 crimps along the entirely are not exactly the same as the chassis slots 'bumps'. A little left or right in relation to those pumps can also change the angle of decent. In any case, once the truck is in place, the pickups will naturally be slightly upward and captured by the side of the chassis. Rocking the truck, it should be impossible to get the truck pickup tab to come out. Rob Ray found his F3's had CA in them, reducing the electrical pickup along the chassis slot. Hard to believe with all the bends making contact but after cleaning off the contacts and the slot, ran well. I've never seen that in my E, F or SD's. As Rob mentions, the shell will limit the upward displacement. Looks like the extreme was reached on John's. ON THE SPARE TRUCK, there is a very small spike, on top, above the outer axle. This was picking the electrical strip on 2 of mine.
