Proto shell removal?


jasonelki

jasonelki

Milwaukee Roader
Having some issues removing the shell of my GP 38-2. Even though I am a visual person, the exploded view in the manual is of limited/no help. It looks as though the long hood comes off the shell as well, and speaking from experience, I don't want to force the shell off as the damage is usually substantial...:eek:
That said, i've attached a photo of the underside of this beast. The directions state to remove the small black screws(they all are black on the bottom), and not curious if they are talking about the 2 screws directly behind the coupler boxes(which are removed in the photo)? I took these out and the shell is not cooperating, is there a better way to get this off? The motor, or somewhere inside is making a whirring noise and I'd like to investigate.:D

Thanks for any help!
 
Yes the two screws behind the coupler boxes are the ones that need to be removed. Once they are out, the shell will slide straight up. Just a warning, the shell on my SD60 is a tight fit so it takes a touch of finesse to wiggle it around front to back and get it off.
 
suprduc said:
Yes the two screws behind the coupler boxes are the ones that need to be removed. Once they are out, the shell will slide straight up. Just a warning, the shell on my SD60 is a tight fit so it takes a touch of finesse to wiggle it around front to back and get it off.
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hmm, was hoping I had the wrong screws! Looks like I'll have to try a bit harder. What typically gets hung up, the sides or the ends? I have an RSC-2that is an absolute bear to get apart.

But just to be clear, the entire shell comes off including the handrails? I have an atlas RS-1 that I found out the hard way...
 
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When I took the shell off of my SD60, it seemed to stick in the front end. Possibly the flange around the lightbulb for the front number boards. It has a V-shape to it and seems to be easy to hang up the separation of the shell. The Life-Like engines are heavy enough that while the loco is on the bench, if you gently hold the sides of the cab with one hand and hold the fuel tank down with the other, the shell should slide off.

Same thing during reassembly, the front end seems to hangup just a bit before it goes back together.
 
My proto SD45 has two hidden screws under the trucks. You have to look hard to find them, but after removing those two screws, and the two coupler screws, the shell then came off fine.
 
Good point Adam. Sorry Jason I forgot to mention those two because they were not in mine. Previous owner didn't put put them back I guess. :eek: :(

You can't see them very well in the picture on the original post, there is one under each of the axles that are closest to the fuel tank. The two right in front of the rear trucks hold the motor to the frame.
 
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I got curious about the shell removal on my Proto 2000 GP38-2 so I took it off. The shell on the GP38-2 slides off without a problem, way easier than that on my SD60.
 
AyTrane said:
My proto SD45 has two hidden screws under the trucks. You have to look hard to find them, but after removing those two screws, and the two coupler screws, the shell then came off fine.
Click to expand...

Bingo!

The 2 small screws(like the instructions say;)) under the trucks were the ones. The other 4 just hold the weight/motor assembly on! Pretty much fell off after those 2 came out.

Now to try and troubleshoot the noise, that should be fun. Almost sounds as if something is rubbing as the intensity of the noise increases with throttle speed.

Thanks for the help, and I didn't break anything on the shell!!:cool:
 
jasonelki said:
Having some issues removing the shell of my GP 38-2. Even though I am a visual person, the exploded view in the manual is of limited/no help. It looks as though the long hood comes off the shell as well, and speaking from experience, I don't want to force the shell off as the damage is usually substantial...:eek:
That said, i've attached a photo of the underside of this beast. The directions state to remove the small black screws(they all are black on the bottom), and not curious if they are talking about the 2 screws directly behind the coupler boxes(which are removed in the photo)? I took these out and the shell is not cooperating, is there a better way to get this off? The motor, or somewhere inside is making a whirring noise and I'd like to investigate.:D

Thanks for any help!
Click to expand...

On what you have pictured, the two screws next to the fuel tank and the coupler box/draft gear screws need to be removed. The others you already removed (on the frame between the couplers and the trucks) are the weights.

Even with the right screws removed, sometimes the Protos can be a pain to remove and put back. I have an SD60 in which I just have the coupler screws in, and it's hard to pull off, and hard to put back on straight. You have to hold your mouth right sometimes to get it back on, as it needs to go on and off straight up and down.
 
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