Lionel GP 38-2 from the early 90s

I probably have parts for everything. I will wait and see the pictures you post.

Weaver also offered the GP38-2.  One of their last offerings, before they closed.   Some with a little better electronics and electro-couplers. 

The couplers and all are plastic on the lionel.  I will take some pics this morning or after work..but essentially if the front wasnt made of metal it got broken it appears.  I did compared it to the Southern engine my son has that is powered and the gear and motor assembly is the same but have different appearance to the outer pieces.  This is encouraging in that I should be able to add the one motor into the Southern engine should I opt to turn it into a dual motor engine.

The GP 7 he has is not powered but everything on it is metal and I would have to add a motor housing somehow to power it up.

One correction...the powered Southern engine is an RS 3.  I knew I had made a mistake in the original post but had to wait for my son to correct me.

Mitch's Dad posted:

One correction...the powered Southern engine is an RS 3.  I knew I had made a mistake in the original post but had to wait for my son to correct me.

RS-3 was also done by Weaver as a last effort. 

You also may deal with two motors running at different speeds if you add it to the power unit. If you go that rout you may be better off doing the dummy unit. 

The varying speeds was a concern as I know that is bad mojo.

Here is what I'm working with..these are the trucks on each car.

I'm not seeing the broken parts.  The middle picture looks like the coupler is missing but I don't see anything else broken.

Here is what the Soo engine looks like..the rest of the front is in too many pieces to salvage.  The wheels and axles are intact.

coach joe posted:

I'm not seeing the broken parts.  The middle picture looks like the coupler is missing but I don't see anything else broken.

The coupler was broken so I removed it already.  I attempted to rebuild the Motor housing but the glue didn't hold.  So either I buy everything new for the front or strip the motors and all from this one.

The idea of powering up the GP 7 is interesting but the assembly is different and I am not savvy enough to know what parts to order to make the conversion. 

The GP7 is not upgradeable to a motor. No cutout in the frame for the motor to fit. So all the SOO GP38 needs is a new coupler assembly? On the Southern RS-3, is the complete truck assembly trashed, or is the plastic frame that holds the wheels and axles intact with no broken plastic, only the sideframe assembly and coupler broken?

These plastic trucks with the motor in them, the entire assembly is below the frame, isn't it? Just a small hole in the frame for the mounting stud? Could you not remove the truck from the GP7 and use the same hole to mount the plastic motor truck in its place?

Re: glue: Loctite sells a two-part "plastic bonding system" that might work. I found it at Home Depot. A small bottle and a cylindrical tube together on the same card. Both are purple.

Yes I could theoretically just swap trucks but the gp 7 has metal trucks that are different from the GP 38.  I could do that as the trucks are very similar but the size of the "fuel tank" and openings for the wires through the base plate may cause problems.

Comparison pics are below....gp7 on the left with smaller tank.

Chuck Sartor posted:

The GP7 is not upgradeable to a motor. No cutout in the frame for the motor to fit. So all the SOO GP38 needs is a new coupler assembly? On the Southern RS-3, is the complete truck assembly trashed, or is the plastic frame that holds the wheels and axles intact with no broken plastic, only the sideframe assembly and coupler broken?

I posted some pics of the two side by side.  The gp7 does have some slots cut out but clearly small compared to the gp 38.

Pretty much the whole thing is trashed on the Soo...if it was plastic it is broken.

If you need a whole new truck assembly they run 40.00. Drop a email if interested.