UPDATE with Photos: My First 2 "Kadee" Cars! Questions on "3RS'ing" Weaver Freight Cars?

 I do them pretty much the same way. I remove the claw and place the truck on the frame and see what it needs to create enough clearance. I start with washers. Add just enough so the wheels spin freely.The flanges must clear the frame so they don't drag. I also pivot the truck back and forth and make sure they still clear. This will get the car to ride as low as possible. The worst that can happen is you have to live with the stock ride height. In that case I have a small supply of plastic couplers that get sacraficed to make the stock spacer. Weaver cars aren't loaded with underbody detail. I did a few of their new gondolas and ended up with using the cut off coupler in order to gain wheel clearance. I did another  one this weekend and ended up cutting a frame rib. It was between the truck mount and the one pictured. that was all the wheels dragged on. Nothing anyone will ever see. I was able to gain clearance with just one washer which lowered the car about 1/8 inch. The pic below shows this. I did something similar to a B&O Wagontop.

As far as shimming. I've done boxcars that required one. Assumed this car with just one washer would be one. It needed four. I buy my shims from Micromark. A height gauge is a must have. Weaver cars have unthreaded holes. I use threaded 2mm screws seeing I have them on hand for doing Atlas cars. Any type of 2 56 threaded screw or no. 2 screw seems to work as well.

 Been a fan of your weathering efforts. Cars will look even better with Kadee's. 

Joe,

Be sure to post some photos.

Don

Hot & Dave C, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions...I really appreciate your thorough explanations!  Don, I will definitely post some pictures when I get my first car or two done.

Joey....

Just measured the Weaver diecast coupler thickness with a Vernier caliper at the truck bolster...0.135".  That's the amount of spacing you'll need to make up in leaving the Weaver coupler off, but using their excellent trucks.

KD

That Weaver coupler shan't is actually a bit too thick, that is why I started using fewer flat washers between the truck and the car.

KD, thanks for taking the time to measure the coupler shank...I really appreciate it.

Hot, if I understand what you're saying, KD's measurement should be the maximum spacer thickness that I would need.  However, I may be able to lower the car's ride height on the trucks by using small washers--possibly having to "stack" them up--to gain enough clearance for the wheel flanges.  Worst case would be that the car will ride at the same height it did with the 3-rail coupler installed.

Thanks again guys! 

I'd go with HW's suggestion.  I forgot that you're doing this as part of a conversion to Kadee couplers.....in which case in mounting them to the floor of the car, you'll want to work to the proper coupler height gauge ...Kadee #812 Link...for which the compensating amount of spacers is TBD, I suppose.

Much as I'd like to try/convert to Kadee's, the amount of equipment I have...coupled with the already-overloaded bucket list...makes this too daunting.  Nonetheless, I would if I could. 

Good luck!

KD

UPDATE 8/13/15:  With the help of folks here on the Forum answering my questions above--and watching all of Laidoffsick's Kadee "How-To" videos on YouTube--I completed my first two Kadee conversions this week. 

Scroll up to my original (first) post in this thread to see photos of the first cars to join my 3-rail scale fleet.

Scale couplers look so much better!

Don

As does the lowered height of the car which really improves the overall appearance.

I have to admit I've been thinking about Kadee's and both rail and mwb nailed it. Looks great. Terry

Very nice weathering on those box cars. Why not change out the wheels with Northwest shortline wheels or buy some Intermountain wheels off of Ebay? They will look even better and track just fine unless you're using tubular track.

Anyway, nice job.

Ron H

They look great. You have pretty much nailed a 3RS car. Nice but not over the top weathering. Looks like a car you would see in everyday service in the 50's early 60's. I've just started adding the chalk marks to some of mine. It's an easy to add detail item.

Two words: Transition Cars. Convert a few you'd really like to improve the looks on, and set up a couple of pairs of transition cars so you can use the non-converted cars in a longer train. I have a Santa Fe grain train I like to run which includes several hi-rail cars, two of which are configured as transition cars to connect to my scale-wheeled cars.

Ron, I completely agree that changing out the pizza-cutter wheel sets with more scale-sized ones will make these cars look even better...and I may very well end up there at some point.  However, I'm going to take it a step at a time for now.  Heck, it took me 48 years to finally try Kadee's!!

Joey, I would be very interested in the weathering technique you used on the boxcars. They are among the best I've seen.

How about a tutorial, even if it is just verbal?

Ron H

I agree. I'm not expert, but that looks weathering looks "just right" to me.

Well done!

Can't the stock wheels be filed/ground down to a more scale size? I took some for a scrap load and did this, and they came out pretty good, although mine are for a scrap load.

Don

Thank you Ron and Martin...I really appreciate the kind words of encouragement as I continue to try to figure out this weathering (and now "Kadee") thing! 

I have been limiting my "practice" almost entirely to Weaver and "old" Atlas cars that I can find at very reasonable prices, with a couple more recent AtlasO Trainman cars sprinkled in.  That way I don't feel too badly when I screw something up!

Ron, I will try to put together some sort of tutorial when I get a chance.  My biggest issue with doing that right now is that I'm still experimenting with all sorts of weathering techniques as I try to figure out what works best for me.  I am starting to narrow it down, however!  Thanks again.

All I can say is you really nailed it on these two cars.

Ron H