I'm going to show everyone how I made an AWD trackmaster 2 train. I was going to use an older train but with their gearboxes it would be very hard to fit into the body. The tm2 trains near direct drive system makes the conversion simpler .
This is a long post with alot of reading sorry.
First you need to have 2 trains, one will be sacrificed for parts and cut up to a point where it'll never be useable again except for parts. Also there is no going back because the chassis are heavily modified. Just abit of warning if you want to try this.
This link is a ink to all the photos I took during the building process. I didn't take photos while I welded the chassis back together, sorry about that. Below the link is the instructions on how I did it.
http://s454.photobucket.com/user/anc6802...t=3&page=1
For the train I used Percy and Gordon, but you can use any tm2 train because the chassis are universal. Which I good in some ways but bad in others (scale for instance).
I stripped down both trains, then I pulled the drive gear off both original motors and pressed them onto the new motors shaft using the original gear spacing as a guide. For the front axle though I discovered you need to have the gear roughly 1/16th of an inch farther away from the motor housing for proper teeth engagement on the differential.
Next I placed the rear axle back in Gordon's chassis along with the new motor and marked the chassis about where you should cut. If you look at the picture where I have Percy's chassis in the bench vice you will see that I cut the chassis just before it angles in to the front axle and cut it there. Then cut the nose off Percy's chassis and throw the middle away (the pictures show that I saved the flat part the triangle mount is attached to but I ended up cutting the flat part off due to length). On the cut rear section of Percy's chassis you will see a flat enforcement plate just behind the differential cutout. Cut it there again to remove the mount part for the battery housing and body pin.
Then take Percy's rear section and place it upside down on Gordon's chassis lining up the back so that where the triangle for the front body mount will line up with the flat part of the chassis you just cut on Percy's chassis.
Now cut mark and cut Gordon's chassis at the same angled part Percy's rear section. Then weld the new section to Gordon's chassis then test fit in Percy's body and weld the front body mount to the new rear section from Percy's body.
Now place the axles in the new modified chassis, you will have to have the differentials facing opposite side other wise you will lock one of the differentials when you put it back together. Now test fit the motor in the chassis, you will notice you have to remove material from the sides of the chassis tub around the motor. Also the motor riser on the back of the chassis will need to be trimmed flush with the bottom of the chassis. You will also have to do extensive grinding in the new front axle section to get the motor to sit level because of the screw hole bosses will hit the motor. I just ground them back untill the motor sat level and engages the differential gears squarely (this is where I discovered the front motor gear had to be moved slightly forward for proper engagement.
Now take Percy's battery/switch housing and cut the axle retaining tabs off flush with the bottom of the case. Now take Gordon's battery housing and install it on the new chassis. Take the cut off tabs from the other chassis and weld them to the inside of the battery tray and not flush with the outside (if you do it grabs the axle to close to the wheel and it rubs the larger Tomy wheel's when mounted. It will not interfere with the metal motor contacts so dont worry about that.
Now pop some battery's in and give it a try be careful when reassembling the switch because its really easy to install the switch in a locked way or have the contacts backwards. Also since the motor is slightly thicker you have to screw the two halves together making sure the new front axle is center and it'll go together with no problems. You cannot do any test runs without the screws installed because the switch will loose contact if just placed together. Its kinda cool that you can see the front motor drive under the battery cover while its running.
I actually tested it with the original gear wheels, but since all wheels are power the gear type tread grabs and will drive right over any switch point you may have, also there just plain ugly! I switched to black Tomy drive wheels. When you switch the wheels you have to clearance the round portions of the lower switch body so the rubber read doesn't rub, also you have to shave the sides of the front of the battery try cause the wheels are taller.
I was going to use Gordon's body but the front axle is not centered in his front fender so I used Percy's body Instead, plus I think it looks good with the black wheels.
For Percy's inner body mod you need to trim away a semi circle shape just behind the front body mount because the original chassis narrows down in the front so you have to open it up, you also have to grind away space for the front drive wheels and the rear aswell.
I hope you like the guide and feel free to give it a try. All in all it took me about 3 hours give or take and I went through a set of AAA batteries in testing.
Also if anyone wants any more detailed shots let me know.
Enjoy
This is a long post with alot of reading sorry.
First you need to have 2 trains, one will be sacrificed for parts and cut up to a point where it'll never be useable again except for parts. Also there is no going back because the chassis are heavily modified. Just abit of warning if you want to try this.
This link is a ink to all the photos I took during the building process. I didn't take photos while I welded the chassis back together, sorry about that. Below the link is the instructions on how I did it.
http://s454.photobucket.com/user/anc6802...t=3&page=1
For the train I used Percy and Gordon, but you can use any tm2 train because the chassis are universal. Which I good in some ways but bad in others (scale for instance).
I stripped down both trains, then I pulled the drive gear off both original motors and pressed them onto the new motors shaft using the original gear spacing as a guide. For the front axle though I discovered you need to have the gear roughly 1/16th of an inch farther away from the motor housing for proper teeth engagement on the differential.
Next I placed the rear axle back in Gordon's chassis along with the new motor and marked the chassis about where you should cut. If you look at the picture where I have Percy's chassis in the bench vice you will see that I cut the chassis just before it angles in to the front axle and cut it there. Then cut the nose off Percy's chassis and throw the middle away (the pictures show that I saved the flat part the triangle mount is attached to but I ended up cutting the flat part off due to length). On the cut rear section of Percy's chassis you will see a flat enforcement plate just behind the differential cutout. Cut it there again to remove the mount part for the battery housing and body pin.
Then take Percy's rear section and place it upside down on Gordon's chassis lining up the back so that where the triangle for the front body mount will line up with the flat part of the chassis you just cut on Percy's chassis.
Now cut mark and cut Gordon's chassis at the same angled part Percy's rear section. Then weld the new section to Gordon's chassis then test fit in Percy's body and weld the front body mount to the new rear section from Percy's body.
Now place the axles in the new modified chassis, you will have to have the differentials facing opposite side other wise you will lock one of the differentials when you put it back together. Now test fit the motor in the chassis, you will notice you have to remove material from the sides of the chassis tub around the motor. Also the motor riser on the back of the chassis will need to be trimmed flush with the bottom of the chassis. You will also have to do extensive grinding in the new front axle section to get the motor to sit level because of the screw hole bosses will hit the motor. I just ground them back untill the motor sat level and engages the differential gears squarely (this is where I discovered the front motor gear had to be moved slightly forward for proper engagement.
Now take Percy's battery/switch housing and cut the axle retaining tabs off flush with the bottom of the case. Now take Gordon's battery housing and install it on the new chassis. Take the cut off tabs from the other chassis and weld them to the inside of the battery tray and not flush with the outside (if you do it grabs the axle to close to the wheel and it rubs the larger Tomy wheel's when mounted. It will not interfere with the metal motor contacts so dont worry about that.
Now pop some battery's in and give it a try be careful when reassembling the switch because its really easy to install the switch in a locked way or have the contacts backwards. Also since the motor is slightly thicker you have to screw the two halves together making sure the new front axle is center and it'll go together with no problems. You cannot do any test runs without the screws installed because the switch will loose contact if just placed together. Its kinda cool that you can see the front motor drive under the battery cover while its running.
I actually tested it with the original gear wheels, but since all wheels are power the gear type tread grabs and will drive right over any switch point you may have, also there just plain ugly! I switched to black Tomy drive wheels. When you switch the wheels you have to clearance the round portions of the lower switch body so the rubber read doesn't rub, also you have to shave the sides of the front of the battery try cause the wheels are taller.
I was going to use Gordon's body but the front axle is not centered in his front fender so I used Percy's body Instead, plus I think it looks good with the black wheels.
For Percy's inner body mod you need to trim away a semi circle shape just behind the front body mount because the original chassis narrows down in the front so you have to open it up, you also have to grind away space for the front drive wheels and the rear aswell.
I hope you like the guide and feel free to give it a try. All in all it took me about 3 hours give or take and I went through a set of AAA batteries in testing.
Also if anyone wants any more detailed shots let me know.
Enjoy
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