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 Posted - December 24 2012 : 4:09:59 PM
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Howdy folks and Merry Christmas Eve,
I just finished repairing the rear coupler on a Tyco Red-Box F9A I recently won on ebay. The engine had dropped out of the cardboard frame in the box and so was bouncing merrily around the box during shipping... both couplers broken off.
After poking around a few of the threads I decided to embark on the repair and thought I'd share the experience with you (e.g. contribute something useful for once instead of just asking questions as I've been doing since joining! ;-)
One of the coupler posts mentioned drilling out the rivet, replacing rivet with screw; another reply post mentioned popping the metal cover off the rivet and then snapping it back on. While the first method (replacing rivet with screw) sounded like the most sound approach, I decided to try the "pop off the cover" approach. Am I dumb or what?
Identify a small flat head screwdriver. The blade should be small enough to fit into slot above the coupler, between coupler and metal cover. Don't pry upwards... just slowly, gently, firmly push blade into the slot until you've inserted at least a third or more of length of the cover. The idea here is to avoid bending the cover. There may well be some resistance to the blade caused by friction of the blade against the plastic coupler. Again, the key words are "slowly, gently, firmly". Now gently apply the upward pressure. In my case the cover loosened off with the rivet attached; if you're cover goes flying across the room, you're using waaaay to much force.
Here's the broken coupler:
And here's a replacement:
I found the replacement couplers at the local hobby shop:
Paying attention to orient the coupler correctly, you insert it into the metal cover. Hold the spring piece (I'm sure it probably has a name) against the coupler while you insert the coupler into the metal so that it will fit within the walls of the metal cover. Obviously, the coupler's round hole fits over the brass rivet. Carefully holding the two, verify the coupler is springy and snaps back.
In my case, the coupler was not very springy and seemed to bind. Turns out the spring (that long strand of plastic that serves as a spring) was just a tad too long and was butting against the corner of the metal cover. Using an Xacto knife, I removed a tiny bit from the end of the spring... maybe a millimeter? Problem solved.
Now being careful not to fumble and drop the coupler, place the metal cover and coupler over the bottom portion of the frame on the truck. Apply gentle pressure with finger and thumb to push the rivet back into the frame.
Sorry I didn't take pictures of the whole operation, but I guess I wasn't expecting it to be successful. It was actually pretty easy to repair.
Now, as much as I'd like to repair the front coupler, I haven't a clue where to begin!
Cheers, everyone!
-- Tim
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Posted - December 24 2012 : 5:07:01 PM
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That's probably the best photo tutorial that's been posted so far. I'm glad to see it worked out so well for you! 
The front coupler is held in place by that pin. The pin is a real pain to remove. I've only had to do it once or twice and I think it just took a combination of gentle prying with a screwdriver and patient wiggling with a pair of needle-nose pliers (you may have to remove the front truck to get good access). Someone else here might have a better technique for getting it out though 
cheez
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Posted - December 24 2012 : 5:27:54 PM
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A little heat from the tip of a soldering iron in that pin will get that stubborn pin out.
President of the Cape James Terminal RR.
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Posted - July 05 2013 : 11:33:55 PM
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| I have used a pair of wire cutting pliers to pull those pins out very easily-they grip the shaft under the head of the rivet very well, and it usually pops right out-much easier than needlenose pliers gripping the rivet head...
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Posted - July 06 2013 : 10:14:31 AM
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quote:I have used a pair of wire cutting pliers to pull those pins out very easily
Originally posted by a6m5zerosen - July 05 2013 : 11:33:55 PM
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also called dykes in the Electronics trade, these small wire clippers allow the cutting blades to slip under the head easier as they are sharply tapered, and get better leverage against the pin. Don't want to clamp too hard, you can damage the pin or cut it in half, just enough to force the jaws under the pin head, then wiggle and lift simultaneously to get that pesky pin out. Care and patience is required for this job! Probably have to remove the truck, judging by the photo, as you don't want to pry up at an angle, it needs to be 90 degrees or you risk breaking the pin off.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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