HELP WITH DISASSEMBLE OF LIONEL 18 INCH PASS CARS

Can you remove the sideframes?  Pictures would help, I don't know that particular set.  I can tell you that I've never seen a car where you have to spring the sides out or break anything to disassemble them.

Hi Ray,

To slide the floor out, you must keep both front and rear trucks perfectly

straight. If one turns just slightly it will hit the side frame and you won't be able

to slide the floor out, there's just enough room for the brake cylinders to pass by

the side frames, you shouldn't have to break off the cylinder's or pull the side frames out

Alex

Having re-seated and added passengers to my Lionel, K-line by Lionel and K-line aluminum passenger cars I can tell you that once you remove the end caps and unplug the lighting you can slide the frame with the interior attached out of the shell.Boy do they look better with more than 7 or 8 people in them.

As Alex pointed out, the trucks must be straight for the cylinders to clear but there sometimes is another catch, sometimes the frames are notched at both ends near the trucks. The notches will get caught in the channel of the aluminum shell, it takes a little patience and maneuvering to get the notches to clear but they will.

Another method is to slide out only the interior floor but it involves removing all of the screws that hold it to the frame. This can be tricky because there is nothing holding the floor flush against the frame until you get a few of the screws back in when you want to replace the floor back inside the car.

Hope this helps.

Mike

Yes, take your time here. I have had to walk away a few times and come back to avoid throwing it across the room.

The RPO car is the worst car of the bunch. Dealing with sliding doors, handrails, trucks, brake cylinders, and interior was almost too much to bear....

gunrunnerjohn:

Was finally able to take some photos, see attached.

Note that the side frames measure 2.410 inches wide at the brake cylinder where as the car shell at the skirts measures only 2.154 inches wide. Not only would have I to spread the end skirts, but also the center skirt, which is 9.5 inches long.

Hope this helps as I still have not gotten any help on removing the floor from the shell.

Thanks RAY 

Is it possible to reach in and remove the truck screw inside and drop the truck?  I did lighting on these a couple years ago, and I know I got them off without ripping stuff off the trucks, but the details escape me.  I know some cars have a plate that comes off with the truck on it, did you remove the screws in the center and take that trim off?

Been there done this.  Remove the entire metal frame off the inner floor.  You'll have to remove the under carriage detail.  The truck / metal frame will lower straight down.  After that the inner floor and lighting will then come out.

Your picture 3 shows some of the detail needed to be removed.  There is no way of getting those cylinders past that frame no matter how straight they are.

Here are some of the pics I took...

Same issue

Removed metal chassis from interior floor...

Thanks Marty, that's what I thought might be the case.  I know I didn't have to destroy them to get them apart, but after a couple hundred lighting upgrades, they start to all run together.

I just keep taking out screws until I get it apart...

MartE:

Thanks for the info and photos. 

I removed the under frame and floor as you suggested and as noted in your photos.

As for removing the inner floor AND lighting, don't know how you did it, but I am having a hell of a time trying to get the lighting to budge in the channel, just wont move. It has to move in sync with the floor.

I also noticed that there are some mini connectors inside the car that appear to connect to a light for the dome. I believe dome will not come out until the floor is out.

Do you have any photos of the floor and light removed from the body?

I'm really frustrated with this.

Thanks for your suggestions.

RAY

MartE,

Ment to say, "I removed the metal under frame and the metal frame with the trucks. Have not been able to remove the plastic floor.

This is just a thought or two based on having to work on a Lionel aluminum passenger car of the same period but 21" long. I hope I have understood what you are still having difficulties with and pardon me if I haven't but here goes:

The lower/main section of the interior is likely to be fixed to the metal frame by some very small screws the heads of which are on the bottom of the frame. In most of the cars of this kind I have worked on these screws are actually under/concealed by the silver frame detail assembly, which itself is just screwed and/or clipped to the metal frame. If you have taken off the trucks and the frame detail you should see any screws of this kind if they are there. Removing them should free the main interior from the frame so you can get it out and re-attach the passenger figures.

(From memory the dome interior is fixed to the underside of the dome or the body shell itself. The wiring to the dome light strip should be attached to one or both of the main section light strips. As I think you have already found some of the lighting wiring feeds up through or at the ends of the frame and has to be disconnected so you can try sliding the frame.)

If you don't detach the main interior from the frame you have to slide it out with the frame. The last time I did this it was a nightmare until I got the bright idea of shooting some WD-40 into the C-shaped channel that the frame slides into. I was wary of trying this because I did not know whether any overspray would be corrosive to the car's painted finish. It wasn't although I wouldn't be sure that the same applies to the polished aluminum surfaces of your cars. In any case, if you try this use a WD-40 canister that has the small plastic tube fitted to the aerosol nozzle or try applying it to a Q-tip and using that to get the lubricant in the channel. After a few minutes the frame slid straight out. I did find that one end of the channel was pinched and so the frame was also slightly stuck at that end.

Just about every Lionel or K-Line (or GGD/3rd Rail) streamline passenger car I have taken apart has the screw/channel configuration described above. I hope this helps. 

P.S.  Is this the car you are working on? The frame/interior assembly looks similar to what I have described:

My set did not have a dome. I believe the flooring was tight in the aluminum body but did slide out. Hancock has some good info above.