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 Posted - August 11 2007 : 4:12:04 PM
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Found another Chessie SD24 that was missing its drivetrain (Thanks Budman!) and rather than pillage another Powertorque, I decided to upgrade it altogether. Look closely and you'll see it's on the IHC drive.
Now, IHC does offer their SD24 re-release in Chessie, but IHCs paintjob is absolutley PITIFUL compared to Tyco's. Nonetheless, the IHC versions can often be had very cheaply, and the drive is surprisingly smooth!
With minimal effort, you can swap the IHC drive into the Tyco shell:
The (modified) IHC drive is pictured above. A full plastic frame is powered by a simple can-motor driving both trucks. It runs surprisingly well for not having flywheels AND wieghing almost nothing! There is a weight in the fuel tank, but pocket change from 7-11 would weigh more.
IHC made two modifications to the Tyco SD24 shell: First, they filled in all the holes that the PowerTorque snapped into, except for one. Then, they added a pair of lugs in the center of the shell and another pair under the cab. Their chassis is then screwed into these lugs. The screws retain the fuel tank and the weight placed inside it.
The IHC frame is custom-made to fit underneath the shell, with convenient holes and cutouts already made for you. Using this frame is a simpler proposition than using an Atlas one.
To separate the IHC chassis and shell,
1) Remove the couplers
2) Remove the screws in the fuel tank, and under the cab]
3) Pull the front truck back, toward the tank, and swing the chassis down from under the cab
4) Pull the chassis out of the rear of the shell; there is a tab that inserts into a hole at the bottom of the rear nose - the same as Tyco's rear trucks did.
5) Remove the bracket across the top of the motor (already gone in photos). Alternately, remove the light pipe from the Tyco shell. The two peices will interfere otherwise.
That's actually easier than removing Tyco's drive...
Now the Tyco shell of course does not have any lugs to screw into the frame, so you need to attach the fuel tank and give it some reinforcement.
To do this, simply use a sparing amount of Walthers Goo on the tank wieght and cover, and attach it to the frame.
When you do this, the weight of the tank will make the flimsy plastic frame sag, it's no longer screwed into and and thus supported by the shell. But, the motor is pretty solid.. so attach the tank and frame to that! To do so, wrap some thin wire around the motor and tank as seen above, and below:
Then, all you have to do is insert the frame into the Tyco shell. The lug on the rear of the IHC frame goes into the hole at the rear of the long hood. Then swing the frame in under the cab. BOOM! Done! And it will run better than ANY powertorque EVER will.
Now the shell will of course simply rest of the frame, but everything will run right. Pick of the model from the fuel tank. You could also build a styrene pad, glue into the shell under the cab, then drill a hole and screw the front of the frame in just like IHC did.
What about the Atlas chassis?
Well, it certainly runs even better, but poses a few extra challenges. The first is that they still enjoy some fame and desirability and may cost more than an IHC. The next is that you'd need to do the following:
1) Discard the weights OR remove the Tyco lightpipes
2) Remove the front flywheel cover OR remove the Tyco cab glass and light pipes
3) Break off the tabs on the frame, above the fuel tank: these will interfere with the Tyco shell
4) Disassemble the entire drive, then file down the front of the Atlas frame for clearance
5) Reassemble the drive
6) Construct a front pilot and/or body-mount coupler pads for the Tyco shell.
None of that is terribly difficult, but it's not as simple as the IHC conversion either.
And really... the IHC almost runs as smooth as the Atlas - yes, you read that right - it just won't pull as much since it doesn't weigh as much.
So there you go.... enjoy your newly improved Tyco SD24!
(Oh, speaking of Atlas and Tyco, I finally have the proper pair for comparison:
...So which do you think is better?)
Edited by - GoingInCirclez on February 24 2009 12:19:36 PM
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Posted - August 14 2007 : 11:39:56 PM
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Tyco really added some color to a layout with that Chessie System SD24. It looks great man and not bad idead at all to take an old soldier like that to meet its newer brother. It looks like a decent drive too. I`ve never owned any IHC stuff except for 3 of their Mehano line SD40`s and after adding some ballast to them they ran exceptionaly great! The wire that is wrapped around the motor running through the fuel tank is that just to minimize any displacment of the motor?
A lone amature built the ark! A large group of professionals built the titanic!
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Posted - August 15 2007 : 12:58:50 PM
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| Kinda. The chassis frame is a thin piece of plastic, but the brackets on either end of the motor do a good job of reinforcing it somewhat. I wrapped the whole works together to keep the frame straight and minimize deflection.
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Posted - August 20 2007 : 10:23:22 PM
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| I found that adding about 5 oz of weight really improved the pulling power and tracking to no end!! You could add a pair of fly wheels, but the mechanism is very smooth to begin with. In fact, I do use the same motor in many of my repowering projects!
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Posted - February 24 2009 : 4:04:33 PM
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For those of you in the New Jersey area, the Greenberg show is coming up on March 14th and 15th, and the AHM/IHC parts guys there have those chassis for $10 or $15 apiece.
I was shocked at how poor the paint job was on an Atlas/Roco SF SD24 I bought. The yellow logo and stripes look like they were applied with a sloppy paint roller. Tyco's paint job looks better on the Burlington too, though the shell has less detail.
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - February 24 2009 : 5:05:13 PM
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Who's still in the NJ area? I need an IHC Mogul Chassis with pilot? We can work out a swap for it?
-Gareth
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Posted - February 24 2009 : 5:26:11 PM
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Gareth,
Those guys actually did have Mogul chassis for $15 one time I was there, and they RP25 blackened wheels, but I haven't seen them since. They have the SD24 chassis, tho.
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - February 24 2009 : 6:15:15 PM
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NP:
Are you going to the show? Can you look for one of these for me...?
-Gareth
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Posted - February 25 2009 : 02:00:18 AM
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Which one, the Mogul or the dismal? 
The Tyco Depot
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