How Can I Lower the Shell on an AZL Z-scale SD45?

[cbroughton67]

Has anyone successfully lowered the shell on an AZL SD45? From what I've read, the culprit for the excess height is the truck gear towers, but that the chassis can be modified so the shell will rest on the pcb clips on top of the chassis and match the height of AZL's GP38-2's. What I can't wrap my head around is what happens with the phosphor-bronze pickup-strips when this mod is done. Can anyone share how they lowered an AZL SD45 shell?


Thanks,
Chris

[Chris333]

I've never seen the inside of one. Where did you see a lowered one?

[cbroughton67]

I've never seen the inside of one. Where did you see a lowered one?

A gentleman named Gerd Kurz in Australia has done it, but since he offers this as a service, he understandably won't share exactly how he did it. You can see photos of the result here:


http://azlforum.com/post/6080/thread


Chris

[Missaberoad]

do you have pictures of the mechanism? I'm sure it would be easy enough to determine where to remove material...
Similar to the mods people did to the IMRC F units to bring them in line with the Kato units...

[cbroughton67]

The walkways rest on the chassis where the phosphor-bronze pickups attach to the frame. If that part of the chassis is removed, it will allow the shell to rest on the pcb clips and get the desired effect. My question is, what to do about the phosphor-bronze strips?


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[Missaberoad]

Will the entire area need to be removed or can you leave enough to hold the strip and achieve the desired lowering?

The clips holding the PC board aren't touching the top of the shell? there's alot of extra material there how much space is above them?

If the entire area needs to be removed I'd drill and tap a hole in the fuel tank area to hold down the strip with a screw...

[Chris333]

Gerd hangs out on the Trainboard Z forum.

I had to mill and saw the chassis to bring the shell right down, now the shell is resting on the circuit board holders. I offer the conversion now, you can contact me via PM or on my Facebook page if you are interested.

[cbroughton67]

Gerd hangs out on the Trainboard Z forum.

Yes, and on one of the Z-scale Facebook pages I follow.

[cbroughton67]

Will the entire area need to be removed or can you leave enough to hold the strip and achieve the desired lowering?

The clips holding the PC board aren't touching the top of the shell? there's alot of extra material there how much space is above them?

If the entire area needs to be removed I'd drill and tap a hole in the fuel tank area to hold down the strip with a screw...

From the description Gerd gave, once the milling is done, the lowered shell rests on the pcb clips. There's a decent amount of room about the clips on an unmodified SD45.


I've thought about using a razor saw to cut a new, lower channel for the pickup strips. Not sure how that would go, though...

[Lemosteam]

Why not use two flat head screws per side to hold the strips down instead of trying to trap them?

[cbroughton67]

Why not use two flat head screws per side to hold the strips down instead of trying to trap them?

I think I can visualize how to screw the pickup strips to the chassis. If I can picture it, I can make it happen. I think I'm there... i just need to find the appropriate screws. They'll need to be flat, since the shell walkways will be resting on them. I'm picturing them screwed from the top-down to what remains of the fuel tank area of the chassis. The fuel tank itself will need to be modified to fit. Gerd mentioned cutting it in half and reassembling it.

[cbroughton67]

Why not use two flat head screws per side to hold the strips down instead of trying to trap them?

Here's why... This is a flathead 00-90 screw barely balanced on the part of the frame that holds the pickup strips. Do they make screws (and taps!) small enough to comfortably fit in this space?


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[peteski]

Yes, there are 000-120 and 0000-160 screws (and also some small metric sizes) but they are pricey.  However if you only need ca ouple and a tap, that should be affordable.

[cbroughton67]

Yes, there are 000-120 and 0000-160 screws (and also some small metric sizes) but they are pricey.  However if you only need ca ouple and a tap, that should be affordable.

Good to know, Pete. Thanks! New goodies to look for, now...

[nkalanaga]

Take a look at Max's SP&S 0-6-0 project.  He has some screws, and I believe lists the sources, that make a 00-90 look huge.