PW Lionel Trainmaster FM Shell repair

[ezmike]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I recently acquired a beautiful 2321 Lackawanna and aside from the common screw hole cracks it is perfect. I remember reading either a post or article in CTT about how to "repair" these. It wasn't so much how to repair the actual crack but how to reinforce the shell behind the screw holes so the crack would not spread and take up the space between the shell and the frame.

I tried searching the forum without success. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance.

Mike

[lionelsoni]

Just put a suitable thickness of washer(s) between the plastic and the metal behind the screw hole(s).  You might want to glue or tape the washer in place to make assembly easier.

[ezmike]

Thanks Bob, that's the simplest solution.

Mike

[TRAINCAT]

I use Plastruct "Bondene" liquid glue to weld the cracks up. Your FM may not have too much gap between the shell and frame tabs. Many were cracked because of over tightening of the screws by assembly line people. My 2321 Lackawanna has no gaps between the body and frame.

Roger