I've had this idea for a while now, after looking at the williams motor truck designs, that it might be possible to repower a williams loco with a classic Lionel Pullmor.
Now, you would have to do some modification, since the williams worm is a different size and thread, but looking at the images of the motors on the bachman site, it makes me think that perhaps if the armature diameters are similar, the worm could be removed from a williams motor, and glued onto a pullmor.
If the armatures are not the same, it could require a little machining, but I'm very interested in trying it out someday. Worst case I have some spare pullmors and a williams loco in my collection, not such a bad thing.
My main interest in doing a motor swap, is because I love the sound and smell of a classic pullmor in operation, and williams made some equipment lionel never offered with a pullmor, like an EP5 with correct looking trucks, an ALCo PA, or Baldwin Sharknose. If it was at all possible, I'd have a lot of fun doing it, and have a really cool piece at the end of it!
Has anyone every done this, or at least compared the way the base of a williams and a lionel motor fit into a truck frame? I know the worms are very different, but the actual motor mounts seem uncanilly similar but I don't own any Williams locomotives.
"Unless bought from a known and trusted dealer who can vouch otherwise, assume every train for sale requires servicing before use"
Um, I don't know, but I will tell you I kind of did your project in reverse.
I had a Lionel Jersey Transit U-34CH that I wasn't happy with. (At first I was, but it didn't age well.) I didn't like the plastic gears on the trucks mating with metal motor gears at all. One wore out which didn't surprise me, gears should be of analogous materials or one's going to chew the other up eventually.
I could have replaced the plastic gear, but I'd be doing that over and over. So, I bought a Williams GP7 at a train show, "chopped and channelled" the Lionel shell so it would fit, and presto! A heavy-duty, all metal geared unit that runs like a champ and could pull tree stumps. It ran a little too fast but wiring the motors in series took care of that.
I'd leave that Williams unit alone, but of course it's yours to do with as you want, so don't let my opinion stop you.
Good luck!
I don't own any williams power yet, been considering it, this is all hypothetical at any rate. I have no *immediate* plans to attempt this, not at least until I've had a good look at the stuff and actually held it in my own hands. I'm not not a fan of can motors in toy trains, I'm addicted to ozone generators!
I've got several Williams locomotives and have been very satisfied with all of them.
I really don't care what's "under the hood," as long as it makes the thing go reliably, but I have to admit a certain nostalgia for the old Lionel E-unit and AC motors. I do love that E-unit buzz and the motor growl!
I've got plenty of those too!
I think it would be easier to change out the entire truck rather than attempt to regear the motors to be compatible. You would also have to gut all the electronics and wiring too.
IMHO, not worth the effort. If you like the sound (and smell) of classic Lionel PullMore the solution is simple, just buy more classic Lionel engines. Prices are really down these days for 10-20 year old TMCC engines. You can buy them for about what a new Williams would cost.
From what I've seen prices are down on classic post-wars as well, unless they're in the "brand-new-in-the-box-mint-condition" category. I've gotten some pretty good deals on some of them in the past few years.
Late on the reply here I am well aware that the task I suggested is overly complicated, impractical, and somewhat(?) avoidable. I am not concerned about this, as it would be more a labor of love than anything. My main interest, was repowering of a New Haven EP-5 and some Baldwin Sharks, but again, not something likely to happen in the near future as I have yet to run across one at a price I can't refuse. My reasoning for wanting to do an EP-5, is that Lionel's postwar model of course, has the unrealistic 2 axle trucks, and while I still want to own one someday, I thought it would be neat to do a "what coulda been" and make an EP-5 with a classic pullmor and the 3 axle trucks. Problem is, they wouldn't fit in a postwar EP-5 frame, as far as I can reckon, and I'm not so sure there are any preexisting Lionel trucks for use with a pullmor that would fit/look right in the Williams model.The Williams RF-16 "Sharks" certainly have no classic Lionel equivelent. They use trucks that look a lot like the type on ALCo and switcher locmotives, so I haven't written off the possibility of a truck swap. However, I am not sure how the pilot attatches to the front truck of the A unit (assuming it indeed does), and this could revent a truck swap from being possible.
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