Does the ends pop off like

Does the ends pop off like the smokebox fronts do on an HO scale steamer? Some of mine are very tight but working carefully they do pop off. Just a thought.

       Pete

Does the...............

end cap pop off?  Also, a photo of the top would be helpful.

Peter

The rear end seems welded to

The rear end seems welded to the body! One of my first tentative was to remove it.

IF is welded / soldered , any idea on How-to de-solder it without damage too much the shape or painting ?

Warm-up with an solder iron pushing from the internal will suffice? Other suggestions?

Seems this is the simplest way to open it. Then operate as a "ship in the bottle"

I've not take a picture from the top as seems no way to operate from there. The oil bunker is welded to tank body and also glued or welded to sides. I don't want to destroy the fine details on the top (grab irons, rivets, plates ...)

My other idea was more destructive: cut the bottom tank along the chassis line with a thin dremel iron saw, but this way I've to rebuild it .... not really my job!

My Friend that is a strip and repaint job or

I can say from other "N" scale SP tenders I have helped a friend of mine with you will need to carefully heat one end with a micro torch to melt the solder on the end cap.

My friend Terry has two very similar engines with that type tender and he tried everything short of what I mentioned above then he called me for help. He brought both tenders to my shop. One was solid Brass and the other was Brass with Plastic ends that before calling me he thought were all brass and started heating the one end when the plastic started to melt. we fixed that one with an end off of a tank car after getting the speaker and decoder inside.

The Solid Brass tender was much easier. I took a damp cloth and wrapped 3/4 of the tender so the paint and metal would not get hot on most of the tender. I took 2 of the largest steal Ball bearings that I could fit inside the largest hole in the bottom of the tender and held the cloth wrapped tender in one hand with the end I was removing pointed up. Then I sat the Micro Torch on the bench top and started heating the uncovered end and after every 10 seconds I would flip it over and bounce the ball bearings against the heated end inside the car. On the third time I flipped the tender over the end I was heating and the Ball bearings popped off and the balls bounced across the table. The one end needed to be sanded with 600 wet and dry Sand paper to repair the burn area on that end. We did pick the end with no lettering on it and the wet cloth saved all the lettered end and sides so it only needed a little black paint sprayed on the opened end.

In order to be able to get the end off again for service after installing his decoder and speaker we just put two small dabs of contact cement "Goo" applied with a tooth pick on the inside rim so if the decoder ever failed it would be much easier to remove the end and the Goo does a good job of holding the end in place and allows the end to be popped off with just a little effort.

Thanks for the tips, friends.

Thanks for the tips, friends. I'm not sure if my torch can go inside the little square hole on bottom rear. Otherways I will try with a big solder iron pushing gently from inside to rear. The cap is brass for sure!

Good idea about the damp cloth... not only prevent to heat the complete body, but "maybe" will save my finger too

Tonight I give a try

No Torch inside

I put the Ball bearings inside to help pop the end off with out marring the out side and the torch was never put inside the car, Sorry if I made it sound that way. I heated the outside of the car around the soldered seam and the ball bearings were what helped pop the end off when the solder was hot enough by using them to pound from the inside where we couldn't reach with any tool by shaking the car and allowing the bearings to bounce against the inside of the end.

Dan.

Yes Dan, I've understand the

Yes Dan, I've understand the "ball" process, but this way I was afraid to burn the external paint .

So, I "first" try with the solder iron, and if this is not enough... take the torch!

Thanks for your feedback

New Tender

Have you considered substituting a different tender. Bachmann has a tender on their web site that is very similar to your tender. It appears to be all wheel pickup, lighted, and DCC ready. There is a diagram of this tender on the 2-6-6-2 parts diagram. You may want to investigate further.

It does have a coal load, not oil! You may or may not like the idea, just a bit of information.

Good Luck,

John Green

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They throw the ball, I hit it. They hit the ball, I catch it.  Willie Mays

John thanks anyway but ....

John

thanks anyway but .... I know about the Bachmann tender ( I've rebuild one HwyMountain into an SP MT, well... more or less !) using parts from GHQ ( http://www.ghqmodels.com/store/zm1.html ) this Kit have an oil bunker top, Elesco Feedwater Pump and some other details very useful to steam scratch builders . Bmann tender is C&O design :-(

The two MK have the correct SP one and it's very detailed model so, if I can solve the puzzle, I want use it.

Cheers

Well, gents.... just to

Well, gents.... just to finish the story.... and maybe for someone else use in the future... good news!

Remove the rear of tender was just a 30 seconds matter using the hottest iron I can have! Pfui!

Set the temperature of my Weller to MAX ( 450 C° ) , changing the fine point with a flat blade, use of the damp cloth as suggested, and gently pushing out the piece after some seconds of hot... my first moment panic was a past question!

Now... if somebody like, I can document the wired decoder, speaker baffle, and "maybe" ( but not definitely for sure ) front/ rear light installation. We see....

In meantime, as somebody ask for a top view picture: here we go:

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