Lionel U36 rehab/hotrod project

I would get a hold of Boxcar Bill on the forum here and also Bill told me to use a lionel bushing to put in the screw hole so you don't tighten the screw up to tight crack it out. There maybe a better idea. I don't have any. Here is lionel part number 69000SE054 

For the crack, remove the shell and apply a dab of MicroWeld or Tenax7R to the backside very judiciously.  It will travel the length of the crack by capillary action and weld it shut.

The motor has plenty of power, borrowing architecture from the 600 series postwar motor(which was based on the 622 motor adapted/integrated into the truck assembly), it just needs weight.  There isn't room for another motor in the back.  Weight the inside of the cab end and the forward end of the fuel tank with these "tape-a-weights"(we used to call them) available at Harbor Freight:

Rob,

  thanks for your input - lots of questions now.

1. the micro weld or tenax products, I assume these are hobby shop items but please let me know if otherwise.

2. As far as the motor not fitting, is the motor too wide to fit in the narrow portion of shell?  I didn't want to start disassembly until I had material on hand for the crack repair. 

3. If this motor won't fit are there other options for increasing the power that will fit?  I have an attachment to this loco so it will never leave my collection but I also want it to be very capable. 

4. I was considering adding weight as mentioned, I just forgot to put it in the original post.

Thanks for your input,

J.Z.

Hobby shop.  There are many brands, Testors, etc.  It's what is now used for plastic model assembly instead of airplane glue.

Too narrow.  You can take the shell off and take measurements if you want.

You may be able to replace the non-powered truck with a 8263 type plastic truck with integral DC motor, but that will require an electronic reverse unit with a DC output or a bridge rectifier with your existing E-unit, and a minor rewiring of the AC motor with another bridge rectifier.  The two motors would be somewhat mismatched while not under a load, and the trucks, while both Blombergs, would also not match exactly.

It all depends on how far you are willing to go with this, almost anything is possible with time and money.

JHZ563,

I have a Great Northern U36B that I wanted to add another power truck too and I opted to re-power with a Williams GP9 frame.  The williams frame alreadyhas two motors an electronic reverse unit and a horn.  The bodies mount the same way and fit the frame as-is, however the vertically mounted rear can motor is a bit too tall and hits the top of the body preventing the body from sitting on the frame.  It appears that I may be able to remove some of the body interior in the area of the radiators, to allow the motor to fit wihout damaging the body exterior but I haven't completed this yet.  I'm working on several other projects at this time and do not know when I will get back to the U36 but I'll post when I finish.

Rob, since you say the motor should be plenty strong I'll give the weights a try.

Joe

For better looks and weight, Obtain either a Weaver U25B fuel tank or the MTH u25B fuel tank[better details] this will :

• just fit in between the trucks
• give you the speaker mounting
• add the weight that you need
• give your U36b the looks that it deserves!

Here are some pics that I found on the web on what this model could look like:

Okay,

 got some plastic weld from my LHS as well as some scrap styrene.  Today I applied some glue to the back off the cracks, sanded off the overspray inside the shell, and glued some styrene pieces in for reinforcement. 

Still looking for a good way to go dual motors but certainly willing to go ahead with the added weight route. 

I never noticed how far inset the fuel tank is until it was mentioned in this thread.  If anyone has a good idea where to get a larger tank that will fit between the trucks pleae let me know.

Anyway, off to the west coast for work for a few weeks so this project will just have to sit.  In the meantime, still open ideas for power improvements.  If It have to replace both trucks thats okay, but I don't want to install two small motors that has less combined power than the installed now.

Thanks for your input,

John Z.

The only way you will get dual motors is:

Use the newer plastic truck motor assemblies of the 1990's or

Use Williams trucks with the flywheel motors.

BOTH scenarios will force you to modify the frame since the Williams truck mount is different than the Lionel Pulmor mount. Same goes for the Lionel Plastic truck motor assembies- at least with this method you can swap shells if needed. 

For the Scale Fuel tank you can either hunt down a Weaver models U25B or contact MTH for their U25B fuel tanks. both will fit in between the trucks.