A great engine, was my first. One suggestion would be to get a copy of Greenberg's manual of Lionel trains 1945-1969. This is the service manual and if you are going to work on Post War trains, it is a must have. Also, if you go to Olsen's Toy Train Parts, they have a library of diagrams on older pieces, they also have most parts.
To your problem with the stripped screw holes in the boiler, are they completely stripped? Could you get by with a little BLUE Locktite? You can also try some old "fix-it" methods of partially filling the holes with some kind of muffler weld, or something and re-tapping the holes.
Another idea would be to find a "Junker" on Ebay and try to salvage the boiler off it.
Good Luck,
dennis
TCA#09-63805
For the boiler-to-frame attachment, I suggest drilling and tapping the 6-32 screw holes deeper and replacing the original screws with longer ones. The rear screws are .75 inch long; and there appears to be ample room for a 1-inch screw in the boiler. The place for the front screw has less additional metal; but you could drill it through, since the smokebox-door casting covers the place where it would break through. You would need to grind the new screw flush to keep it from interfering with the grounding clip. You could also countersink the top surface for a 6-32 nut instead of retapping.
The truck-attachment screws are more of a problem. An 8-32 version of that shoulder screw would be an ideal solution if it exists. Otherwise, you could build one up with an 8-32 pan-head screw and short pieces of nested 7/32- and 3/16-inch K&S brass tubing. There seems to be no reason not to drill the holes through, to make the tapping easier.
Bob Nelson
everyone says call Jeff well heres his # 585-381-0705 or goto his website www.ttender.com go quick as in about a week hes shutting down to move for about 2 weeks.
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
I pulled the apron off of my 681 in order to clean the rust and reblacken it(I used gun blue to get the black color back). To reattach it, I drilled and tapped a pair of 6-32 screw holes where the studs used to be. The studs are sized such that when you drill the holes, you'll leave just enough of a lip for the apron to rest on and let you align it properly.
This fix works great and is nearly invisible with casual observation.
There are 2 more Turbine models from the postwar era you didn't mention that you might want to hunt down too - the 671 double-worm drive, and the 671RR.
Rob
I forgot about the Electronic set... that makes 3!
The 671 RR is a 1952-only engine. It's not the Electronic. It's a 681 w/o Magnetraction.
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