Pluto Donald Duck Hand Car

Never mind folks. I got up the nerve and took the motor apart and repaired it. It was quite a challenge to get the main spring back in and get the motor halves back together. But once that was accomplished, she ran great.

Gandy

Hey Gandy-

Do you have any photos of the motor apart?  I have a Mickey and Minnie handcar of similar vintage and the bell stopped working.  How did you take it apart?

James, lets just say I stalled taking it apart for 4 days, then when I did start I sweat like I was in the Sahara I was so afraid to destroy it. The Donald/Pluto motor is different in that it has an ingenious little mechanism attached to the motor frame that made a quack sound. It was a stiff paper sheet over a hole with a metal strip run across it that the tip of rubbed against a cam with ribs on it.

I would think the bell clapper would be operated in a similar manner where a lever or cam is used to activate a simple clapper. For that you may not need to take the motor apart unless the problem is the gear operating the cam. Then you'd have to find one to put into the motor.

The motor is about as basic as you can get. I took a ton of before photos so I would know where the gears went. There was one spacer post near the top the held the sides apart that was peened on each side. I had to gently grind some of the meat away from one side. At the bottom Lionel spot welded a bracket that was used to hold the motor into the hand car. This was attached to two flat spacers one at each end of the bottom where a roller pick up would go if it were electrically operated. On the same side as I had gently ground the spacer above I ground the peened over ends to both of these flat spacers. I then used a frame spreader I got from Jeff Kane used to help in removing and replacing the pick up roller assemblies in regular motors. I used this to gently spread and pop the three spacers. Then I lifted the side of the motor off and left the mainspring undo itself. The little tab on the inner end of it where it attached to the piece you turn with the key had broken off. So I bent a new angle into it the same length and installed the spring, and the gears into the motor half. I later discovered that someone had tried to run the key backward and messed up the locks on the main spring gear. So I had to remove that and bend those two tabs back into position so when you let go of the key it would hold the tension and not just unwind in your hand. Getting the other half of the motor on was a lesson in frustration. You need to have the spring on the inside of the gear shafts, but leave three loops outside the post where the other end of the spring hooks. Squeeze and manipulate until you get the halves together and everything in its proper holes in the side plates and use the hammer to re-peen the spacers thus holding the side of the motor together. The start slowly winding the spring causing it to turn and as you do this it pulls the three loops you left on the outside of the spring anchor to the inside at which time you hook that spring end on it and your done. The only damage I had to do was to remove the quack mechanism by working the spot welds carefully. I reattached it using a #6 screw with star lock washer and nut.

I can now wind her up and off she will go down the track quacking away. I can certainly see why people want these running. They are extremely hard to repair and one wrong move where you break a part or have to replace a part, and your sunk as there aren't any. Severely damaged hand cars and even basic frames with motors bring over $100. I do have some photos I took, I'll have to see if I can post them later.

Gandy

Thanks, very detailed and very helpful.  I was fortunate to find one only missing the key and the legs of Mickey and Minnie.  I posted a description of the process a while back.  I was dissapointed when the bell wouldn't ring, and there are no diagrams of the internal mechanism that I could find. I too am shy about bending those tabs and removing the unit.  Thanks again!

I know what you mean!! I was really not wanting to bend those tabs either. But I found that the metal is thin and flexible and they bent fairly easy. Once I got them started I gently squeezed them up with a needle nose and I had none break or get soft. I can look in the bottom of my Peter Rabbit one and see if I can see how the hammer is activated to ring the bell. Its probably similar to the cam set up shown below only it hits a hammer. If your spring is OK then I think you may be able to repair the bell without cracking the motor. Here are some photos I took.

Gandy