Installing Kadee couplers on a Lionel SD40

Hi Sean,

The decision will, in part, have to be made based on the your smallest radius curve. I also might add, the choice will also depend on if you are leaving the pilots as is or if you are modifying them to be fixed.

Dave

Dave brings up two very important questions that might help you find your answer.  Personally, I use #805s on nearly everything, but that is more of a function of what I have on hand versus what might be the best coupler for the situation.  Lately, I've been looking at #747 AAR type E couplers that are prototypically more appropriate and the spring is nicely hidden. 

I would prefer to modify them to fixed pilots, it's my main motivation to add Kadees, I don't like the original pilots. Most of my curves are O-72 or larger, I have a few sections with O-54, but I can bypass those if necessary.

I have 5 of the LEGACY SD40's. The kinematic pilots are actually fairly easy to fix since the gap is pretty small.

I use the medium-shank metal-box 740's on them since the short-shank 743's tend to not make much of a difference in length. The gearboxes on both stick out a smidge, but the 740's give a bit more leeway.