Back to the FA2...
Progress has, by my standards, been rapid. These older Proto2000 locos need a bit fiddling to get them up to modern standards as regards running. As such they're not much different to Athearn and, like Athearn, the results of a careful tweak can be very good indeed.
I started by pulling the bogies apart and dropping all the components in to the ultrasonic cleaner to get rid of the factory lubricant. I was expecting trouble (split gears) and found it, so a new set of wheels were found and will form part of the rebuild. Anyway, after a thorough cleaning, the bogie frames had new pick-up tabs fitted on the 'live' side of the chassis; the brass wire in the photos. They were then cleaned once more to get rid of flux and handling oils before receiving two coats of Humbrol matt black on the shiny metal parts, keeping clear of the axle contact areas:
And the remaining parts were in a box waiting for re-assembly. The gears have all been de-burred in Athearn fashion, so fit better and run smoother on the gearbox spindles. I also had to reduce the size of the thrust washers on the worm sets and the washers were large enough that they fouled the gears; probably the source of most of the running noise when I test ran the loco:
With a little care the gearboxes were lubricated and assembled, resulting in these rather smart little units. You can see how the pick-up contact I added is on the same side of the chassis. I'll have to unclip the worm housing when they're installed in the chassis, but at least I know they're together (and run) for the moment:
Speaking of the chassis, there was an enlarged cut-out required to give clearance around the new contact, so out with the Proxxon MF70 and a few minutes I had them done; modified on the left, as arrived on the right:
And I also cut off and replaced the (laughable) coupler mountings to take Kadee couplers. Again, the modified one is on the left:
And here's where we are. Next job on the chassis will be a good clean followed by a coat of some sort of paint (probably Humbrol satin black). Under other circumstances I might be looking to see what frame ribs or plumbing could be added, but that's not quite what I'm up to here; just bringing it up to modern standards:
I'm going to start detailing the bogie sideframes next and hoping that I get some sort of inspiration about how to get a good, thin coat of paint on Delrin/acetal. I guess we may come back to baking it again. And then, once the parts arrive, we'll start on detailing the body. After I've matched the paint, so I know I can make good afterwards!
Steph
