Post by CP_8530 on Apr 6, 2013 15:54:13 GMT -5
I've had to chop a few of those large metal chassis weights down to clear short hoods on some of my P2K GP7/GP9's and fit in nose lighting, so I figured I'd post some how-to shots. It's an easy process and many should be familiar with it, but might be educational for those who aren't. It's also applicable to weights in other types of locomotive (GP30, SD60) and brands (Atlas, etc). One can of course leave the weight off, but this reduces the pulling power of the locomotive and leaves one to find some makeshift way to make up for the lost weight. So...
First step is to remove the weight of course. This makes it easier to work with, and avoids getting any metal bits in the motor or gearboxes, which is a very big no-no. On the P2K units there's usually 2 large gold-coloured screws holding the weight on under the fuel tank, and two smaller black screws holding the ends to the frame. Most of the wiring must be disconnected and circuit boards removed first.
The shot below is a area in question, on a simple P2K GP9 Phase 2 chassis weight after removal. It was cast as full height in the short hood area, and we need to chop it down to clear the new short hood as well as allow some extra room for nose lighting. I decided to make two cuts: one for cutting the weight down to size, and one to remove a bit of extra metal from the tip of the nose weight to clear any lighting, just in case the first cut is not enough.
This is a messy process (lots of metal bits and shavings), so I prefer to do it outside over a garbage can. The weight is clamped in a portable workbench, and handy Mr. Hacksaw comes out to play:
First photo shows the first cut, second shows the aftermath (and the small horizontal cut I made for the next step) and third is removing the extra bit from the nose .
Then clean up all the sharp edges with a file, and presto. The whole cutting/filing process took about half an hour. A lot of metal bits are created, so be sure to clean the weights thoroughly before reinstalling (I blast them with the hose nearby and wipe the insides out after, removing any leftover metal or grease).
Weight reinstalled on the GP9 chassis, ready for the shell:
Here's one of the earlier GP18 weights, cut down slightly differently for a chop-nose GP7 project and with lighting installed via a metal wire superglued on the weight, and brass tube holding the bulb.
First step is to remove the weight of course. This makes it easier to work with, and avoids getting any metal bits in the motor or gearboxes, which is a very big no-no. On the P2K units there's usually 2 large gold-coloured screws holding the weight on under the fuel tank, and two smaller black screws holding the ends to the frame. Most of the wiring must be disconnected and circuit boards removed first.
The shot below is a area in question, on a simple P2K GP9 Phase 2 chassis weight after removal. It was cast as full height in the short hood area, and we need to chop it down to clear the new short hood as well as allow some extra room for nose lighting. I decided to make two cuts: one for cutting the weight down to size, and one to remove a bit of extra metal from the tip of the nose weight to clear any lighting, just in case the first cut is not enough.
This is a messy process (lots of metal bits and shavings), so I prefer to do it outside over a garbage can. The weight is clamped in a portable workbench, and handy Mr. Hacksaw comes out to play:
First photo shows the first cut, second shows the aftermath (and the small horizontal cut I made for the next step) and third is removing the extra bit from the nose .
Then clean up all the sharp edges with a file, and presto. The whole cutting/filing process took about half an hour. A lot of metal bits are created, so be sure to clean the weights thoroughly before reinstalling (I blast them with the hose nearby and wipe the insides out after, removing any leftover metal or grease).
Weight reinstalled on the GP9 chassis, ready for the shell:
Here's one of the earlier GP18 weights, cut down slightly differently for a chop-nose GP7 project and with lighting installed via a metal wire superglued on the weight, and brass tube holding the bulb.
