may sound abit odd ,but are these shells the same size ,example well a GP-18 shell fit on a GP-9 chassis ?thanks Jerry
Big Jerr,
Sort of - I know that the Ph3 GP9's have a different light board/light pipe arrangement that the Ph2 GP9's. I suspect the GP18's may vary as there have been several runs of those as well. If course the low nose GP18 has a different lighting/weight arrangement. The original GP18 was DC, later run was sort of DCC Ready, and the current run seems to be DCC Ready with the 8 pin plug. My Ph2 and Ph1 GP's appear to be the same, but I have not swapped shells.
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Jerry,
As Jim mentioned, there are some differences in the light pipes and nose weights, especially when it comes to high short hood models vs. low short hood models.
There are also differences in the louvers near the rear of the long hood. Earlier models have actual louvers that take up space inside the shell, while the newer models just have the external grills.
And you can include the GP20's in the mix. Those chassis will interchange with the GP7/9/18's as well, subject to the above considerations (which are relatively easy to work around).
It's actually a great way to simply and economically get sound into earlier P2K models that Walthers is not likely to rerun. You can often find newer sound models at clearance prices, and after you swap the chassis, simply sell the old chassis and the "wrong" body shell to recoup some of your expense.
I've added sound this way to three or four P2K Canadian release GP's, and a pair of Canadian release P1K F3's, and I don't think I've ever ended up paying more than a decent sound decoder and speaker would cost. Plus, installation was MUCH easier. Shorten a light bar here, unscrew a nose weight there, and you're done!
SO from actual experience, which sound chassis do the older high-nose GP7's (DCC ready types with the a pin socket and the long diode board - ones that a DH165L0 is a drop in for) fit on? Cutting down light pipes is no big deal, but carving away half the inside of the shell and putting on new grills, not worth it for me.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinker SO from actual experience, which sound chassis do the older high-nose GP7's (DCC ready types with the a pin socket and the long diode board - ones that a DH165L0 is a drop in for) fit on? Cutting down light pipes is no big deal, but carving away half the inside of the shell and putting on new grills, not worth it for me. --Randy
I've never done any GP7's. I've only done a GP9 and couple GP18's, and two P1K F3A's. As far as I can remember, at least one of them, and maybe more, were "pre-DCC ready" - No plugs OR diode boards, and no ready place to put a decoder. And I think the rest had only the boards with the X's to "cut here". I know for certain that's all the the P1K F3A's had.
That's why I converted these - except for the P1K F3A's**, none of them was an easy conversion to DCC. And since I don't have access to a milling machine, I figured a chassis swap was the next easiest way, and since I was going to swap the chassis, why not go for sound?
All I ever had to do was "fix" the louvers, remove a screw-on nose weight for the chop-nose GP9, and shorten some light bars. I didn't keep any records of which mods were needed for which combination, and the old chassis and "wrong" shells are long gone, so I really can't give you a specific list. But here's a rundown of the conversions I've done:
Two P2K GP20 chassis into P2K GP18 shells (Turbo turned off).
One P2K F3A and one P2K F7A chassis into a pair of P1K F3A shells (drop-in, just had to remove a brace from the top rear of the P1K shells).
P2K GP7 Chassis (w/o Mars light) into a P2K chop-nose GP9.
And "fixing" the grills so the sound chassis would fit wasn't a big deal. They don't use a lot of glue at the factory, so the grills and louver housings basically pop out. Then I'd ACC a piece of .010 styrene inside the shell to cover the opening, black it out with a Sharpie, trim the mounting lugs off the grills, and ACC them back in place. It only takes a few minutes per shell.
**The F3A's were an afterthought. They already had decoders, but then I saw a brand-new P2K F3A with sound that was dirt-cheap clearance priced, so I figured, "Why not?" And after that just dropped in, a little more looking found me a similarly-priced F7A w/sound.
rrinker SO from actual experience, which sound chassis do the older high-nose GP7's (DCC ready types with the a pin socket and the long diode board - ones that a DH165L0 is a drop in for) fit on...
SO from actual experience, which sound chassis do the older high-nose GP7's (DCC ready types with the a pin socket and the long diode board - ones that a DH165L0 is a drop in for) fit on...
From actual experience, it is no big deal to swap the older high-nose GP7 (mine was in the light blue box with the "fold-open" top) shell onto the DCC/sound-equipped GP7/GP9 (silver box with plastic view window) chassis. As mentioned, the light bar had to be filed back - I just copied the shape of the newer shell into the older one with a Dremel on low speed. The light shines through just fine. IIRC, only one end needed modification, but I forget which one it was. The only other mods I made were to paint the crew figures - they were molded black unlike the nicely finished ones in the newer shell - and paint the silver trucks on the new chassis from silver to a weathered black.
However, I have not tried yet to put the newer shell on the older chassis, because I bought the older one used and need to tune it up first. So I do not know if I will have a problem there.
Older AT&SF GP7 shell riding on newer chassis from DCC + sound-equipped TP&W GP7/GP9:
Sean
HO Scale CSX Modeler
Perfect. Now to find the sound units on closeout, last time I looked Trainworld didn't seem to have any more. Perhaps I waited too long.
rrinker Perfect. Now to find the sound units on closeout, last time I looked Trainworld didn't seem to have any more. Perhaps I waited too long. --Randy
Keep looking, you'll find them. More than online, I've found them to be available from dealers clearing out old stock at train shows. Look for the "half-price" boxes under the tables!
But don't buy them all up, I have a couple more GP's I want to do. Then on to my SW9/1200's...
I just need 4, I only have 4 GP7's and don;t plan any more.
This is good news, but how would one get a different body. I have a P2K GP18 that is a little beat up. It is a hi-nose model with dynamic brakes, which I don't care for. I already have DCC installed with a Digitrax DH123 (I may swap in the DH165 instead) but had some problems getting the black pick-up lead installed.
It works, I just haven't messed with it lately as I was told I would most likely need to drill and tap a hole for a brass screw that I can install and then soldier the pick-up to. More work than I currently have time for.
I would like to re-body it for either a GP7 or GP9.
Well, this thread was more about updating the chassis under a body shell we do want, but that Walthers probably won't re-run. For example, most of the ones I'm doing are older Life-Like Canadian releases.
However, that said, a byproduct of those chassis swaps is a newer, usually brand-new shell, that I sell off. I usually get rid of them at the auctions that are part of many NMRA regional conventions. So you could look there, or at train shows, swap meets, etc.