Bad Roller Contact on Prewar Lionel 248

[Lexrocker]

Hello everyone!

I'm a car guy who's gotten mixed up in older Lionel train in the last few years. After moving away to a 4 year college, I don't have the time or a garage to work on my old mustang or truck (both at home  ). But I do have a couple project Lionel peices to keep my busy!

I've tackled and gotten a postwar 2035 + whistle tender working. Same with an older milk car. But what has me stumped is a cheap little 248 engine circa ~1930. When it sits on the track, I can tell neither roller makes contact with the thirt rail, so it will not make contact/run. However pushing down on a roller it will lurch forwards (noisely). I pulled it apart further, and it appears that there is no way to remove the roller contacts without drilling out the motor bracket/frame pins (they are not screws, they seem to be pressed/flared in and cannot me removed). 

Am I missing anything here? (My googling skills have gotten me nowhere)

Thanks for any input,
Lex

[lionelsoni]

I believe that each of your pickup rollers is riveted to the end of a phosphor-bronze leaf spring about 3/4-inch long and 5/16-inch wide.  The spring should arc upward from where it is riveted to the end of the label on the fiber board.  I imagine your springs have flattened out.

You can try this, but I make no promises:  Bend a 3/8-inch right angle in the end of a wire, such as a heavy paper clip.  Slide that hook under the spring and toward the label.  Then push down with a (not very sharp, but worn) broad flat-blade screwdriver on the spring on the label side, alongside and close to where the hook is under the spring.  The idea is to make an upward bend in the spring, without bending it in the other direction somewhere else.  You may need to do this in several places along the spring.  Be careful not to make these bends any sharper than needed, since the metal is very brittle and may break.