papa, Super job of restoration! Thanks for sharing. Steve
Nice! Good to see another mechanical CV back in use!
that urned out great
Dave
It's a TOY, A child's PLAYTHING!!! (Woody from Toy Story)
I’ve finished my CV restoration. Except for replacing a missing motor attachment screw, I reused all the original piece parts. Reinstalling the internal platform went easier that I expected. The only mishap was one of the tabs broke. Enough tab stub remained, however to adequately support the platform. Overall, I’m satisfied with the end result. If I come across another Marx mechanical steam engine with a beat-up shell at a cheap price I’ll probably do it again.
Papa D
Golden Lover: I collect MPC 8” boxcars, short gondolas, single dome tank cars, and SP type non-illuminated cabooses. The plastic snap rivets used to attach the trucks to the frame really annoyed me. So over time and after much frustration, I developed the capability to replace the plastic snap rivets with brass hollow tube rivets (aka eyelets). Since I was going to do a lot of rolling stock, I eventually invested in a ½ ton arbor press bought on eBay for about $60.
I spent almost as much buying setting tools again off eBay. I bought the 0.125” dimple ST-350-11 (also identified as a STX-360-11 or #1) first but now use the 0.140” dimple ST-350-12 (identified as STX-360-12 or #2) as it seems to be a little more forgiving in not splitting the rivet.
After finding the correct rivet (566-16) and some (maybe lots of) practice I was able to make an OK set rivet.
Hope this answers your questions.
Papa
Flintlock76: I placed the parts in a deep kitchen sink to spray with the Easy-Off. I wore long sleeve cleaning gloves even to spray. No there wasn’t very much odor although the can cares a label “Fresh Scent”. I did get a minor “chemical sensation” in my nose which lasted only a couple of seconds.
I have to ask, does "Easy-Off" oven cleaner still stink? I used it 30 years ago to strip the finish off an old gunstock (Yes, it really does work! On old finishes, not the modern polyurethane types) and it did a great job, but stunk to high heaven!
Never thought of using it as a paint stripper. See, I learned something new today!
What do you use to bend thoe nast heavy tabs? Also what did you use on the rivet for the drawbar?
Good to know about the products you mentioned. Clean parts ready to paint. I am going to try both on my next CV restoration. I am waiting for rear drivers with side rods that i bought from E Bay to finish the CV with the floor issues. PS how did you reset the rivet? Thanks, Steve
Awesome restooration! Steve
I agree with the comments above, if I did another CV repaint, I might not remove the internal platform. I removed it in this case because I wanted to remove the drawbar and unfortunately my handheld rivet setter didn’t have enough jaw depth to reset a rivet.
Here’s an update on my progress. I removed the paint and rust in a three-step process. First, I removed the paint using Easy-Off Oven Cleaner. Sprayed it on and half-an-hour later rinsed off the paint. Almost no rubbing with a Scotch Brite Pad. Since I swiped this our kitchen cleaning stuff and it took very little spray this was/is an economical way to remove paint. Don’t know how it would work on plastic. While this effectively removed the paint, all the rust remained. So next, I soaked all the parts in Blasts CLR (see photo) for about an hour. Like magic all the rust disappeared.
The final step was to buff with a Dremel wire brush and stripping wheel. Final results are shown below.
Now onto the repaint.
I know it can be difficult to get the inside of a Marx CV cab stripped, cleaned and painted without taking out the cab floor, but I think it is best to not disturb it. I've had to remove CV floors in order to straighten out damage, and I can see how it would be difficult to get one back in place without scratching up a fresh paint job. I like using a piece of hardwood dowel rod to push tabs back in place to minimize damage to the finish.
For what it's worth, the Marx dip-painted the CV shells. On some of them, you can see runs around the cab. I've used the dip-painting technique on them before; it's more work than just spray painting them, and the paint definitely needs to be the right consistency.
Papa-D, good to see a windup Marx CV restoration project! Looking forward to seeing your progress.
- James
I don't remember if I took the floor out or not when I restored mine.
I added adhesive backed Lionel plates to dress it up a bit. I also have a Marx wedge tender but I use the Lionel box tender when I want it to pull latch coupler cars.
Becky
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
I had a long nose pliers wrapped in electrical tape but hesitated using it. The engine is repainted and I didn't want to slip and scratch it. After all of the tips posed here I didn't have any luck so I went with the pliers and was able to bend the tabs down. I decided to bite-the-bullet and risk the scratching but did not scratch the side of the cab. I did scratch the underside of the cab floor so I used a Testors Gloss Black Paint stick. Thanks again for the tips.
I tried a dowl but the tabs are so tough that it made holes in the dowl. Thanks for the reply. Steve
Papa D, Looks like a great project, don't take out the cab floor!! If your are going to repaint, brake cleaner soaks off the old paint just be patient and let it soak for a few days. You may have to use more than one can of brake cleaner. I simply use a bread loaf pan to soak the engine in. Replacement parts are avaliable from the Rober Grossman Co. on-line. Good luck. Steve
I’m also in the process of restoring a Marx wind-up CV I bought on eBay. Quite a bit of missing paint and rust, but the wind-up motor works.
In the past, I’ve used the plastic rounded end of a screw driver to re-bend the tabs. I’ve not had a problem with the paint cracking and only occasionally do I need to do any touch-up. I’ll update on my progress.
Thank you for the tips. I'll try a popsicle stick against the tab and see if I can bend it down. Lesson learned, if I ever do another CV I am going to leave the floor in! Steve
Hi Dave,
Woody is right, it is a toy but the tabs holding the floor to the sides of the locomotive cab are sharp, pointed and a good place to take off some skin off! Steve
Try using a small dowel and light hammering. But some chips are probably inevitable.
I'm thinking the paint eill crack on the tabs when they are bent down. good luck and please post pics of your CV!
I've wrapped electrical tape around the tips of needle nose pliers, used dowel rods, and popsicle sticks to bend tabs. It is heavy gauge sheet metal. If it is the piece I'm thinking of try bending one side back into the original shape before reinserting into the shell, then bend to other back into place.
I know this is not a topic that is "top of the mind" for most train folks but I have a problem and need some advice. I got the wild hair to disassemble and paint a well worn Marx CV steamer. I removed the cab floor by lifting the 4 tabs, (2 on each side) under the cab windows so I could do a good job painting the floor. Big mistake! The metal Marx used for the cab floor is tough and lifting the tabs requires brute force with a screw driver. The problem is now the the engine and cab floor is nicly painted how do I bend the tabs back down without scratching the paint! Does anyone have a "trick" that would save me from putting big gashes in the side of the locomotive? I appreciate any and all answers! Thanks, Steve
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month