Is this MTH passenger car repairable?(Updated 4/1/17)

Sure, just epoxy a piece of styrene across the holes and drill an appropriate hole and remount the trucks.

Tin

The plastic MTH uses can be mended with solvent cement. If the missing pieces are lost you can just use sheet styrene to make the repair. Might have to use a few thicknesses to build up the bolster. 

Pete

Thin metal plates can fix that.

Good morning

Yes it is repairable. Looks like the owner was going to lower the ride  height of the car, you can fix it with a sheet of plastic. Maybe .080 would work, drill a hole that matches the truck mounting stud size, probably double thickness where the truck mounts.

I fixed a few that looked similar, it looked like the cars were dropped.  They're all happily riding the rails with no evidence of the damage.

Looks like time to apply my mechanical skills on rolling stock repairs and start becoming familiar with this stuff.  

Im out and about near big box stores and craft shops, etc. What is the best plan of attack?  Metal, plastic or styrene. Is styrene available locally or an online item being I don't really have any LHS around here. 

Thanks for the quick replies saving me a second trip out for materials. 

I use mostly thin aluminum sheet or fiberglass board for stuff like this.  While Styrene will work, I prefer the strength of 'beefier" materials.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I use mostly thin aluminum sheet or fiberglass board for stuff like this.  While Styrene will work, I prefer the strength of 'beefier" materials.

I'm the same way about repairs John. Looks like a shot over to Lowes after my breakfast at the diner. 

What will keep the trucks spaced off the floor plate so the wheels don't make contact?  Do I use washers or some type of spacer?  I'm not home to better examine the trucks. 

Just my kind of project!!! A easy fix....

This looks very typical of an MTH passenger car shipped without its proper box. 

When I received a car with damage much like the thread starter, I found the shattered pieces and glued them back in place. When the glue was dry I set a #8 washer inside the inner depression where the truck set connects and "caked" JB Weld around the edges of the washer. That portion of the car will never break again.

You will first have to determine where best to put the sheet of repair material.  It'll probably go inside and then you can just build it up to the correct thickness.  This is where my four different thicknesses of fiberglass sheet come in, I have it all the way to 1/16" and down.

I'd probably bolt the first sheet inside with a couple of small flathead screws, adding a little CA to help it.  Cut the hole square and then just build it up to the required thickness with the proper thickness of material.  Drill a hole for the truck mount and job done.

I do a similar thing to mount pickups on trucks that don't have provisions for them.

The advantage of styrene is you can weld it to the base. It will be stronger than the rest of the car and you won't have to drill holes  to install a metal plate which will further weaken the plastic or use washers for a bolster. Just layer up the styrene to the proper height and drill your center hole. Install you first plate inside the car after sanding off the paint. 

Pete

We all have our own methods Pete, mine works for me.   I can assure you that a couple of small screws doesn't weaken the car much, and the CA adhesive insures the plate stays put.  Yes, sanding off the paint is a requirement.

Its the difference between a repair and a restoration. I do the latter. You would not be able to tell this had ever been damaged when I was done with it until you opened it up.

Pete

gunrunnerjohn posted:

You will first have to determine where best to put the sheet of repair material.  It'll probably go inside and then you can just build it up to the correct thickness.  This is where my four different thicknesses of fiberglass sheet come in, I have it all the way to 1/16" and down.

I'd probably bolt the first sheet inside with a couple of small flathead screws, adding a little CA to help it.  Cut the hole square and then just build it up to the required thickness with the proper thickness of material.  Drill a hole for the truck mount and job done.

I do a similar thing to mount pickups on trucks that don't have provisions for them.

I cut and mounted new plastic into the floor and no need some help.  The factory holes are recessed which is creating a slight dilemma for me.  Need a bit of clarification and better understanding with truck mounting.  From the factory it looks like the thickness of the truck shoulder is slightly longer than the thickness of the chassis floor plastic,  so that the truck swivels freely when the screw is tightened.

My question is how do I now obtain this same result?  If I back off the screw slightly to let the truck rotate freely won't it work loose over time?  If the truck had a blind hole (it does not) this would be a no brainer for me.

 Modeling repair is so much different than the big stuff lol.  My head is picturing an extra long screw down through the truck and double up nuts with a slight gap between the nuts and truck to achieve this. I know you guys have a better way.

BTW from a guy that does tons of service work and repairs I fell in love with MTH passenger car construction using the pad and springs.  So nice not to be tethered to wires.

Silly me. I just realized the head of the screw sandwiches between the chassis floor and the floor of the body will prevent it from backing out. 

I kept telling myself this was a weekend project not a half asleep long day one lol

This has been a great post. I have two MTH Amfleet cars whose trucks have come loose the same way, and now I know what to do! Thank you all so much.

One way to make a bolster assuming you don't have machine tools is get some plastic tubing about the diameter of a bolster on a good car. Cut it just short of the length from the clear plate.

Take one of the truck mounting screws and screw it into the truck. Then measure the gap between the screw head and the truck. You want use some plastic sheet that is slightly thinner than that gap. Cut a disk to glue onto the tube after drilling a hole for screw. You should be able to do this with a saw, drill bit, and file.

Pete

Norton posted:

One way to make a bolster assuming you don't have machine tools is get some plastic tubing about the diameter of a bolster on a good car. Cut it just short of the length from the clear plate.

Take one of the truck mounting screws and screw it into the truck. Then measure the gap between the screw head and the truck. You want use some plastic sheet that is slightly thinner than that gap. Cut a disk to glue onto the tube after drilling a hole for screw. You should be able to do this with a saw, drill bit, and file.

Pete

Any chance of a pic or drawing?  I'm still trying to understand how it won't bind. 

Keep in mind this is new territory for me. 

This must be a common issue.......I have an Amfleet car from that vintage with the same problem.

I am copying this thread for future reference.

Peter

Sparky74 posted:

Norton posted:

One way to make a bolster assuming you don't have machine tools is get some plastic tubing about the diameter of a bolster on a good car. Cut it just short of the length from the clear plate.

Take one of the truck mounting screws and screw it into the truck. Then measure the gap between the screw head and the truck. You want use some plastic sheet that is slightly thinner than that gap. Cut a disk to glue onto the tube after drilling a hole for screw. You should be able to do this with a saw, drill bit, and file.

Pete

Any chance of a pic or drawing?  I'm still trying to understand how it won't bind. 

Keep in mind this is new territory for me. 

Very crude as I just threw this together. The tube and plate from an aerosol paint top. Its too tall and likely the diameter to too large. I would make this using a piece of styrene tubing and a flat sheet.

Here is the tube and plate with screw hole drilled.

Imagine the tube above glued to the plate you have already made. The tube should be below the frame the same distance as a stock bolster, not like this but maybe only 1/4" or so.

Like this.

Pete

Rob Leese posted:

This looks very typical of an MTH passenger car shipped without its proper box. 

When I received a car with damage much like the thread starter, I found the shattered pieces and glued them back in place. When the glue was dry I set a #8 washer inside the inner depression where the truck set connects and "caked" JB Weld around the edges of the washer. That portion of the car will never break again.

Exactly what I did.  Worked great.

Bob

I like the repair ideas presented here, lots of solutions, pick the one you like. However, I am not a fan of the pad and springs for MTH car wiring. I put a male and female plug on the frame and body, for a positive connection. Nothing irks me like a passenger car with the lights deciding not to work after I carefully reassemble the passenger cars. To each his own.

Bob Delbridge posted:

Thin metal plates can fix that.

This is how I would do it. A piece of sheet metal with a hole drilled it in, epoxied to the bottom of the car.

Frisco Chris 1522 posted:

Bob Delbridge posted:

Thin metal plates can fix that.

This is how I would do it. A piece of sheet metal with a hole drilled it in, epoxied to the bottom of the car.

A simple flat plate will not solve the problem. The truck mount requires some distance from the frame both for proper height and so the truck bolster and wheels don't hit it. You could use stacked washers either soldered or epoxied to the plate but now you are getting really klugey.

A flat plat would work for Lionel cars since their trucks have a high bolster meant to mount to a flat frame.

Pete

Well thanks to all the information and tips provided by everyone I was able to do a quick turn around. 

From this 

To this. 

That looks better.

Just curious, how exactly did you accomplish the repair?