I have a collection of new and old auto racks and the clips that hold the couplers tight to the body have broken on a few. When these break the plastic piece under the long shank for the coupler hangs low. Does anyone have recommendations on how to fix this? I have tried to glue the plastic piece into place, that only holds for a while and then the glue breaks or loses its hold under the pressure of a train. Any recommendations would be appreciated?
Nile,
Get some music wire .015'' or brass 1/32nd wire, hard not soft wire. Measure the length of the swing of the coupler extension and drill a #78 hole on each side of the coupler arm and drill a hole in each side on bottom of car, cut the wire to length and make a 90 degree bend in each side, insert in holes drilled add a dab of CA and leave a little space so the arm will rest on the wire,but move freely. I have done it that way on a lot of cars and don't even rely on the plastic parts any more. I used music wire.
Take Care!
Frank
On the curves you would normally run these cars -- 24" radius or more -- the swivel doohickies aren't really needed. I would just remove all that stuff and mount either standard or long-shank Kadees.