upgrading a Lionel basic f3 for electronic horn and sound and electronic coupler

I cannot answer your question, but I have another question with my own equipment. I have Lionel F3 numbers 6-8652 and 6-8653. I would like to do the same thing you are doing, however I am stuck on the question of whether or not it is worthwhile. I am starting with a pair of engines worth well over $300 and I would need to spend more than $200 for new electronics. Could I sell this someday after making a major upgrade or would I be throwing my money away? Would it be more cost effective to sell my engines for their current value and buy modern Lionel equipment such as LionChief +2.0?

If you want to upgrade using Lionel's system (TMCC) the only game in town is Electric Railroad.  The have an AC commander which will control the AC motors.

As to space inside the F3... here are the specs of the board:
Cool Features:
    Dual AC or DC  motor capability (8 Amps)
    CAB-1^tm  selectable 32 (default) or 100 speed steps
    Horn pulse output controls modern-era and post-war horns / whistles
    Directly drives LED's lighting without complex "load" resistor wiring
    On-board micro-controller provides future enhancement capabilities
    Splice-free connections make installation simple and quick
    Heat Sink has "PemNut", no more stripped heat-sink mounting holes!
    Uses R2LC to be fully compliant with TMCC standards
    Only 2.75" L  x  1.25" W  x  1.2" H

You will need to take the shell off to see if this board will fit.  You also need to buy the R4LC radio board.  To get sound, I would put the sound board and speaker in the dummy unit.  You will then need to run a tether from the B unit to the A unit so the AC commander can talk to the sound card.  The also sell couplers to work with the board.  You would have to look at the existing couplers and see how they mount to figure out which coupler to use.  They make various lengths depending on the truck.

@John in California posted:

I cannot answer your question, but I have another question with my own equipment. I have Lionel F3 numbers 6-8652 and 6-8653. I would like to do the same thing you are doing, however I am stuck on the question of whether or not it is worthwhile. I am starting with a pair of engines worth well over $300 and I would need to spend more than $200 for new electronics. Could I sell this someday after making a major upgrade or would I be throwing my money away? Would it be more cost effective to sell my engines for their current value and buy modern Lionel equipment such as LionChief +2.0?

Adding command to an engine will not increase its value.  You should only do the upgrade if you really like the engine and want to run it in command.  Adding command will not make it sell any easier if you decide to get rid of it.  If you decide to sell it now and get a newer model, its a whole different story.  You will most likely be getting can motors/cruise control.  That is a game changer for most people.  If you are looking for performance, a new model is the way to go.  Many current models have led lighting/smoke/more details.  The difference is night and day between Pulmor motor locs and today's can motor locs.

Bob,

I have the ABA 6-8466/67/75 and upgraded them using the ElectricRR AC board and the F unit Sound Unit.

There was not enough room in the Duel Motor A unit, so I had to put both boards in the B-unit and have a tether to go to the Power F3.  So for your situation, put the boards in the dummy A and run the tether.  Doing this will let you control the lights front and back from one engine to the other as well as putting in 2 electric couplers on both engines.

I believe I only needed a 6-pin tether (Power x2, Motor x2, Light, Coupler) from one to the other since the Light/Coupler second wire is the ground.

Sometimes it is best to keep things they way they were designed for the simplicity of them, and go buy something new that already has been designed to do the things you want.  There will be a day when the modern Lionel and MTH locos are on the scrapper line as the ancient AC motor E unit engines thunder by on the mainline.

@Joe Fermani posted:

You also need to buy the R4LC radio board.

The R4LC comes with the AC Commander.

There's plenty of room for an ERR AC Commander in a Lionel postwar style F3 (which the 6-8970 is). In fact you can fit the sound commander in as well, I've done it a few times. Easiest way to mount everything is to mount the speaker in the fuel tank (you'll have to drill some holes for the sound to get out as well as to mount the speaker) then build a flat platform across the fuel tank top to mount the AC Commander to. Both the AC Commander and Railsounds Commander will fit between the motors with plenty of room to spare.