Who to restore some Lionel F3's ?

Len Carparelli 201-438-1266

How bad are the shells?  If they just have paint rubbed off and some light scratches, repainting is a good option and there are forumites who could do the job for you.  You can also ask forum sponsors for their recommendations.  Before you choose someone, be sure to see their work. 

If the shells are cracked or chipped, you might be better off buying shells on Ebay--as you say, Santa Fe's were produced in abundance and they show up daily on Ebay.

Also, if you go to the trouble of either of the above, have the power units thoroughly serviced either at you local LHS (if they have a capable repair person) or one of the forum sponsors.

Thanks for the info everyone. They are not broken but need paint and servicing. Just wondering if the investment is worth it.  Who are the sponsors and how do I go about finding a forumite that does this kind of work? Any recommendations?

Thanks

Just my opinion: with today's prices, you will never recoup the investment of a professional restoration.
Restore them if they have some meaning to you.

Restore them if you are OK with the resale being lower than your investment.

I still like to rescue junkers, even though the resale value is often less than my investment in the train and the parts to fix it up. And that's not counting any labor.

For me, the enjoyment of doing the fixing is worth the cost.

I totally agree with you. I like rescuing things myself. From trains, to animals, to old bulldozers.  But since I am not loaded, I have to make the best calls with the $ I can. If $ was no object they would already be in the mail on the way. I really am not concerned with resale value, I just want a nice set.

Thanks for your point of view.

Matt

IMO, Len Carparelli is the best restorer. He has been restoring Lionel engine shells for 35 years and his work is excellent. You can find him online.

I agree with C.W. (if you're comfortable working on engines). I held off buying a Santa Fe set for a long time because a lot of the ones for sale look like "beaters". But many times, the worst part of the shell is the flaking decal. I practiced on an old shell and then bought a powered unit with a shell that didn't look too bad except for the decal. Replaced the decal, cleaned up the shell (even a little touch up of the silver paint which looks all but invisible now) and then started on the components. Total blast working on those dual growler horizontals. And then, of course, the crazy horn. But now I have a really nice ABA 2343 set as a result. I went on to two more F3 sets because it ended up being a lot of fun. Time consuming and frustrating at times, but the result is a super running set. 

Roger