American Flyer Body Post Help and Tender Truck Help!

[JDBoomer]

I have an American Flyer #303 4-4-2 with a serious drawback! The 2 second forward most body posts for the frame-to-body mount are toast! The posts splitted so bad over the years that the outside of it facing the smoke/chug unit has split away into a history book! I'm just stuck with was molded into the boiler's side. What can be done? I did find a nice #302 shell on eBay. Also, the front tender truck side frames fell off upon removal from package. What can be done to fix these for good?

[Major]

JB Weld can be used to redo the body posts for screws.  Some individuals use a sliced straw to go around the existing post and fill it with JB Weld.  JB Weld can be sanded, drilled and painted when dry.  I prefer the quick drying kind since the regular type tends to flow or sag prior to setting up.

[Gray Cat]

Another repair can be made by using the good 302 shell. Wash it thoroughly on the inside and dry. Then using a tube of 100% silicone (a small tube as used for bathroom caulking would work).. build up layers of silicone surrounding the good mounts on the 302. Make sure to carry the silicone over onto the surrounding areas. What you are doing is making a rubber mold. When dry this rubber mold can be pealed off the 302 shell and put in place for an exact fit onto the 303 shell. Make sure to build the silicone up thick enough in layers to make a hefty mold and allow a good three or four days for the silicone to cure. It's thick and might seem cured on the outside while still soft in the middle.. let it go. Once cured and secured in place on the 303 shell you can then make a mix of two part epoxy. Use this to fill the molds up tamping it in with a toothpick and also to get any bubbles out or popped. Let the epoxy cure, I like epoxy with a little setup time like 15 minute cure epoxy. Once it is cured it's as simple as pealing the rubber mold away to see two new mounting posts. These can then be carefully drilled and used just like originals. The epoxy has an advantage over some other products in that it bonds with the broken plastic shell. I have used this method many times successfully to repair broken Alco skirts and skirts on passenger cars as well as other parts. These molds can be saved and used at a later date too!

Good Luck

[Gray Cat]

PS a little dab of epoxy has been used many times to repair sintered iron truck sides that don't want to stay put.

[stebbycentral]

Since you state the sideframes have come loose on the trucks, I assume they are of the cast variety.  Not stamped.  I have heard it said that the frame can be refastened just using pressure from a Vise-grips.  It's the force of the bolster pressing into the notches in the sideframe that holds it all together.  Now if the sideframe is damanged in some way it may be necessary to resort to a dab of epoxy, or super glue where the bolster joins the sideframe.  Otherwise, just like you found a replacement shell on eBay, I have seen tender chassis with trucks for sale as well.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/American-Flyer-S-Scale-Steam-Loco-Tender-Chassis-ONLY-/130752895267?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item1e717ad923

[Anonymous]

I use a variation of the repair mentioned above.  I use Quik Steel, which is a steel reinforced putty.  I clean the broken post and surrounding area, then apply the Quik Steel and shape it as needed.  It holds it's shape and doesn't require any molds or forms.

Next, I apply a thin coat of automotive paste wax to the screw and insert it to the proper depth in the still soft Quik Steel.  Once the Quik Steel has fully cured, the screw backs out easily without the need for drilling or tapping associated with other methods.

I used this method to reuild the same broken chasis posts on a Flyer 282 steamer.

 

[AF53]

Jim - Never heard of this stuff, sounds real handy.

 

http://www.amazon.com/MSR-Racing-Quick-Steel-Epoxy/dp/B001EUN0UM