Restoring a Rivarossi Atlas N Scale mechanism

[kiwi_al]

Thought I'd post my progress on restoring a basket case Rivarossi Pacific 4-6-2. I didn't pay anything for the loco and I was just going to use it for parts. On having another look at the mechanism the zamac casting appears to be in very good condition for its age. I have completely dismanted the mechanism prior to cleaning and rebuilding. Please note I don't quite have all the parts necessary yet but here goes.
The picture shows the fully dismantled loco.

[peteski]

Looks like a fun project - just the kind of thing I enjoy the most about this  hobby.
But why is it in the DCC/Electronics section?  These locos had zero electronic components in them. 

[mmagliaro]

Ruh roh... I see a damaged driver in there.  I'm sure many people in here have stashes of those if you need one,
including me.
Say, I know a guy who can fix you up with a motor for that thing when you're ready.

[kiwi_al]

Ruh roh... I see a damaged driver in there.  I'm sure many people in here have stashes of those if you need one,
including me.
Say, I know a guy who can fix you up with a motor for that thing when you're ready.

Yes you do see a damaged driver, it's fallen apart, the other drivers aren't much better. My solution, as I can't get drivers in New Zealand very easily is to get a driver set from Bachmann from their 4-6-2 K4. With a little modification they should fit. The cylinder rods and drive rods have rust on them so need to be taken apart and cleaned. Now comes the interesting bit - the motor. The motor is nearly complete, it is missing a brush holder. So to send you a complete motor I need to make a brush holder from K & S Metal brass tube. I've worked out how to do this so will give it a crack.

[kiwi_al]

Looks like a fun project - just the kind of thing I enjoy the most about this  hobby.
But why is it in the DCC/Electronics section?  These locos had zero electronic components in them. 

True but I am pulling apart the Rivarossi motor so that's electrical so it's related  and if I put a decoder in it it's got electronics eh 

[peteski]

The motor is nearly complete, it is missing a brush holder. So to send you a complete motor I need to make a brush holder from K & S Metal brass tube. I've worked out how to do this so will give it a crack.

Max replaces brush holders/brishes/springs, so if they are missing, that  is  not a problem.  If you read through his Rivarossi Motor Upgrade thread (residing in a proper forum  ), it mentions this fact.

[kiwi_al]

Max replaces brush holders/brishes/springs, so if they are missing, that  is  not a problem.  If you read through his Rivarossi Motor Upgrade thread (residing in a proper forum  ), it mentions this fact.

Ummm I missed that, looking for a rock to hide under I guess this shouldn't be in the DCC/ Electronics bit - my bad.

[mmagliaro]

I do not replace the brush holders, exactly.  I bore them out so that I can put the heavier springs and brushes in them.

Having said that.... since this is a project engine, I am far more sympathetic about sharing out parts from my stash to get you going.  I can't do that on a general basis for people who buy the motors, because I only have so many of these things.
But if you need drivers or a brush holder, PM me

About the drivers... if you are going to replace the drivers, are you putting them on the Rivarossi axles?  If you are going this far, are you going to use the Bachmann gears from their drivers?  You would get rid of the chunky mod 0.4 gears!
You can get mod 0.3 gears made from https://shop.kkpmo.com/index.php that will have whatever diameter you need.  You'll just have to figure out the correct idler diameter so that everything will match up in the RR frame slots.
Then you get a mod 0.3 worm to match, and the whole engine will run a good 25% slower for the same motor RPM, so it should have significantly better low-speed performance. 

And while I'm extemporizing...   
Make sure you put washers on both sides of the idler and axle gears to get rid of all the side-to-side slop, which is a major source of friction and uneven performance in those old chassis.

Cool project....

[kiwi_al]

oh Pete Mate!, I think you need to reread Maxs post. he only replaces the magnet, armature, brushes and brush springs. 
So I'll make my own brush holders from brass.

[peteski]

oh Pete Mate!, I think you need to reread Maxs post. he only replaces the magnet, armature, brushes and brush springs. 
So I'll make my own brush holders from brass.

Touche!  Still, Max seems to be willing to let you have some (drilled out) Rivarossi brush holders from his stash.