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 Posted - October 09 2006 : 5:32:29 PM
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I've been putting this off for too long. I'm finally gonna try usin nail polish like you guys suggested to keep the small metal gear on my engine. How do I get the ring of plastic that goes all the way around the motor off of the truck. Its the piece used for mounting the truck on the shell.
If the nail polish doesn't work, and it turns out to be the gear and not the metal rod that the gear is mounted on, how do i get the nail polish off? Would nail polish remover work or will that damage the engine??
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Posted - October 10 2006 : 1:36:20 PM
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For the plastic ring, there's no real "trick" to it other than to just bend and pry, gently, until it pops off. They can be surpisingly tight but they will come off. It usually helps if you try to remove the entire truck retainer from the body shell - and I bet if you start to try that, you'll end up popping the motor out of the ring in the process anyway [:D]
If the ring does crack open, take solace in that the plastic is usually rigid enough to retain its shape and function even after the fact... just don't overdo it.
You really need to take both trucks (pickup and motor) out of the shell. You'll have to remove the fuel tank too in order to get the wire connecting them out. Be careful - those peices are often stubborn and tight-fitting but you can do it. (If the engine has handrails, it might be wise to remove them first. You'll see why).
As for the nail polish - a little dab'll do ya. Super glue would also work for this purpose. Place gear on shaft, apply A DROP, let it cure for a little while (20 mins should suffice) and give it a shot: Run the engine slowly so as not to instantly strip it again, and inspect for gear wobblyness and other problems (this is why you took the trucks out of the shell). If all seems good, graudally increase to a reasonable speed.
If the motor is generally "free-wheeling" enough, you shouldn't have any problems. If the gears are gunked up or otherwise tight, there might be enough stress on the motor gear to make it break the enamel seal you just applied and come off again. If that happens... it's really not worth any effort to fix again, just keep it around for parts.
I HAVE performed this repair sucessfully, but until you rack up experience on how these things work there's realy no "hard and fast rules", just educated trial and error and sometimes just dumb luck.
Good luck!
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Posted - October 10 2006 : 7:48:50 PM
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| When I take the truck out of the engine, half of the ring comes out and the other part usually stays in the shell. Just wanted to check to make sure I won't break anything gettin the other part off.
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Posted - October 10 2006 : 8:53:01 PM
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| I put on the nail polish like you said, but the engine did 1 lap around the loop and the gear came off again. Do you know of anything thats stronger than nail polish that would work??
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Posted - October 10 2006 : 11:15:09 PM
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Hmm... sounds as if that gear was pretty loose to start with then. The one I fixed (many years ago) was a little more snug, but would just work itself out over time... the sealer did just enough to keep it from popping off.
The cards are stacked against you in that the motor shaft is smooth metal... and the gear is metal too. That's not much of a bonding surface. A low-tension situation like my old "snug but not snug enough" gear didn't really have this as an issue. But it sounds like in your case you need more of a bond.
Well anyway. WHat I would do is scrape off the polish from the gears, and maybe try some gap-filling cyanacylate adhesive. Thick super glue basically, specifically sold for hobby applications. The brand I use is called "Zap-a-gap". Might fill the gaps between the shaft and gear, and stick better to metal. Walthers goo could work IF (and this is a big if) you can get a small amount on there NEATLY... NOT easy to do with goo.
Beyond that... well I wish I could be more helpful, but sometimes there's just no joy in Mudville. Or Hooterville. Wherever. No harm in trying though... believe me we've all been there and if we were "100%" successful, there would be no parts bins in this hobby.
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Posted - October 11 2006 : 12:25:07 PM
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another idea for fixing this problem is to squeeze the gear a little with a pair of pliers. I've done quite a few and it is a very good fix. Just be careful u dont squeeze the gear too much.
Neil
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