by Jim Kelly
I prefer to conserve tinplate with careful cleaning and repair
rather than performing full restorations and repaints if at all possible. This
aspect of the hobby is most rewarding for me. So when I won a Lionel 408E on
EBAY that had serious modifications made to it including a poor overpaint with
an incorrect color, my first task was to determine if the engine could be returned
to its factory configuration and finish short of complete restoration and repainting.
When I got the engine, the 408E was missing assorted trim, missing its pendulum e-unit, all the cast wheels had deteriorated, it was hard wired to run in one direction only, and worst of all it was spray painted blue, a color never used on this engine by Lionel.
The first thing I did was to carefully examine the engine. Disassembly revealed
that the original color was Mojave, the color of the inside of the cab.The question
then became: could the blue spray paint be removed without destroying the original
paint underneath, and what was the condition of the original finish underneath?
I began by removing all of the remaining trim which would be
polished and lacquered separately. Then I started using paint remover on a small
area of the cab exterior to test the difficulty in removing the overpaint. Luckily,
the blue came off quickly so that a careful timed application of the chemical
stripper took off the overcoat while leaving the Mojave underneath relatively
unscathed. I worked in a careful step by step fashion, area by area on the cab.
When I was done, the blue was gone and the Mojave underneath proved to be in
very good condition. There was some paint loss, but the original finish was
intact and responded nicely to polishing and buffing.
Mechanically I needed to clean and re-wheel the two motors, rehabilitate
a pendulum e-unit that I had in my parts box, fashion a complete replacement
wiring harness, and completely re-wire the 408E. I ordered replacement wheels
and assorted replacement trim from a parts vendor. Work proceeded slowly, week
by week, with the usual interruptions for the holidays and other activities.
Finally one day I sent the re-wired and re-wheeled frame around the layout with
a perfectly working original style e-unit. The end of the project was in sight.
I finished work on the wiring and lighting. I reassembled all
of the trim to the cab. The cab was reassembled to the frame. The reassembled
engine was placed on the track and power was applied. It felt great to see this
70 year old Lionel 408E back in tip top operating condition and as close to
original in appearance as it's been in decades, perhaps even since it was new.
When I got this engine it was close to being a basket case -
poorly overpainted, missing its e-unit, hard-wired to run in one direction only,
missing trim, blown wheels, etc. But now this little engine will be a treasure
in some collection years after I'm gone.
© 2005 Tinplate Times - All rights reserved.