Converting MTH 70' Streamline cars to 2 rail

Tom D. posted:

 If I mount it in the existing screw hole it hits the car body.

Where & how?

Ideas are appreciated. 

Depending on the trucks and the car mounting, the car body may need a bolster added.

Photos would help.......

I'll post pictures this evening, it will show the problem much more clearly.

There is usually a scalloped area for truck clearance in the body skirt.  For shorties, with shortened trucks, the scalloped area is shorter for appearance.  Carefully open it up both ways - the amount is 1/2 the extra truck length on each end - eight cuts total.

The problem is exactly as you describe, the scalloped area is too small.  MTH redesigned the trucks a few years ago to the sprung trucks and it looks like those are standard on the 70' cars now.  I don't have any of the newer cars so I don't know if MTH increased the scalloped area or changed the truck mounting position.  The new trucks will fit in the older scalloped area, just not in the existing mounting hole, it puts them about 1/4 inch too far forward.  If I drill out the mount and make a new one out of styrene I can change where the hole is located and not file on the car bodies.

I think MTH lengthened the trucks when they went from the older un-sprung to the newer sprung trucks and cut the car skirts accordingly. As Bob said, shaving the skirt is one option unless you're running very broad curves.

I posted 4 pictures.  The 3 rails truck is considerable smaller than the 2 rail truck.  I'm thinking maybe the 2 rail truck was intended for the MTH aluminum cars.  It will fit, but I will either have to file the car body (not my first choice) or drill out the plastic mount and make a new one out of styrene. 

 I remember taking a dremel to remove just a little bit off of the back of those skirts. I have pretty big curves and I just needed a hair more of a turning radius.

What size curves are you using?

I'm still working on my home layout as we moved not too long ago.  The space I have allows for 55 inch radius curves.  I will run these at the club layout in the mean time and they have 60 inch or greater curves.  It looks like I could center the trucks in the skirt opening if I move the mounting about 1/4 inch. 

The bodies are plastic, right?  You ought to be able to trim them easily.  I think one of those spiral carbide bits could do it without messing up the paint if you did a little bit at a time - don't heat the body up too much.

They are plastic.  I'll give the dremel a try and see how it goes.