PAGE 2, FLEXICOIL ONE UP/ ONE DOWN SIDE FRAME MODIFICATION
The process you saw on the process you saw on the first page is a cake walk compared to what you are in for
to rebuild the brake cylinders and rigging. I am not going to put rose colored glasses on this one. It is not for the
impatient modeler.
I'll first cover the frame that gets the one up brake cylinder. Believe it or not, it is straight forward and easy. It is
the all down brake cylinder side frame that is nuts.
I am sorry for the lack of photos in for this setup, I got so involved in building them that I forgot to photograph
some of it.
to rebuild the brake cylinders and rigging. I am not going to put rose colored glasses on this one. It is not for the
impatient modeler.
I'll first cover the frame that gets the one up brake cylinder. Believe it or not, it is straight forward and easy. It is
the all down brake cylinder side frame that is nuts.
I am sorry for the lack of photos in for this setup, I got so involved in building them that I forgot to photograph
some of it.
The photo above will have to suffice and I will explain what needs to be done. Check prototype photos to help
you build these frames. It is what I had to do to get it to look as close as possible.
The single low mount brake cylinder is unmodified from its original form. Before gluing it back on, drill a hole at
the center top on the back side. I use 0.012" brass wire for plumbing so drill the hole accordingly. Make sure
when you glue the cylinder back on that it is trued to the frame. All the clasp brackets that span between the
journals are made the same way. These are 0.020" x 0.040" styrene strip cut to fit as shown. The clasp itself is
made by building a box around the clasp bracket prior to gluing the bracket in place. The clasps are made from
0.010" x 0.040" strip styrene. The brake cylinder is attached to the clasp with a small piece of 0.020" x 0.040"
styrene strip glued to the back of the clasp and the top of the brake cylinder. As mentioned, all clasps and
brackets and cylinder attachments are built the same.
The one up brake rigging is fairly easy as well. Here I cut the brake cylinder out from between the calipers.
Take care not to destroy the cylinder. You are going to need it again. Next cut the caliper bracket off up to the
bottom of the caliper and add and new bracket from a piece of 0.010" x 0.060" strip styrene. I added a strip
behind it to secure the two parts. After the glue dries, contour the new caliper bracket to match what used to be
there. The bottom of this new bracket needs to be approximately at the bottom edge of the journal.
There are only two parts use from the high mount flexicoils. It is difficult to see it in this photo, but the shock
absorber looking thing that spans between the calipers is one of the parts used. Not the angled one, but the
straight one. This is the part that should be approximately at the same level as the bottom of the journal box.
Now I had to build from looking at photos and believe me, it is not easy finding close up photos of these things.
Off the bottom of each caliper on the high mount side there is another bracket that looks like slides along the
clasp bracket. I built what I saw in photos. There is also a bracket that attached the shock absorber looking
thing to the clasp bracket.
The frame is to long at the top of the journal where the brake cylinder mounts so I had to re-contour it so the
brake actuator arm would fit straight in. I then built a brake actuator arm retainer box around it. Sanding hose
brackets were added using Details Associates wire eyelets. The brake cylinders were plumbed using 0.012"
brass wire. I built plumbing brackets using 0.008" brass wire and mashing one end in a machinist vice,
annealing it and then wrapping it around the brake line. To get the plumbing into the low mount brake cylinder, I
annealed that end of the wire which makes it very easy to bend and shape.
That is the best I can do for explaining how I built these.
The low mount brake setup is a major PITA! The reason, EVERYTHING has to be cut apart, mirrored and glued
back together.
you build these frames. It is what I had to do to get it to look as close as possible.
The single low mount brake cylinder is unmodified from its original form. Before gluing it back on, drill a hole at
the center top on the back side. I use 0.012" brass wire for plumbing so drill the hole accordingly. Make sure
when you glue the cylinder back on that it is trued to the frame. All the clasp brackets that span between the
journals are made the same way. These are 0.020" x 0.040" styrene strip cut to fit as shown. The clasp itself is
made by building a box around the clasp bracket prior to gluing the bracket in place. The clasps are made from
0.010" x 0.040" strip styrene. The brake cylinder is attached to the clasp with a small piece of 0.020" x 0.040"
styrene strip glued to the back of the clasp and the top of the brake cylinder. As mentioned, all clasps and
brackets and cylinder attachments are built the same.
The one up brake rigging is fairly easy as well. Here I cut the brake cylinder out from between the calipers.
Take care not to destroy the cylinder. You are going to need it again. Next cut the caliper bracket off up to the
bottom of the caliper and add and new bracket from a piece of 0.010" x 0.060" strip styrene. I added a strip
behind it to secure the two parts. After the glue dries, contour the new caliper bracket to match what used to be
there. The bottom of this new bracket needs to be approximately at the bottom edge of the journal.
There are only two parts use from the high mount flexicoils. It is difficult to see it in this photo, but the shock
absorber looking thing that spans between the calipers is one of the parts used. Not the angled one, but the
straight one. This is the part that should be approximately at the same level as the bottom of the journal box.
Now I had to build from looking at photos and believe me, it is not easy finding close up photos of these things.
Off the bottom of each caliper on the high mount side there is another bracket that looks like slides along the
clasp bracket. I built what I saw in photos. There is also a bracket that attached the shock absorber looking
thing to the clasp bracket.
The frame is to long at the top of the journal where the brake cylinder mounts so I had to re-contour it so the
brake actuator arm would fit straight in. I then built a brake actuator arm retainer box around it. Sanding hose
brackets were added using Details Associates wire eyelets. The brake cylinders were plumbed using 0.012"
brass wire. I built plumbing brackets using 0.008" brass wire and mashing one end in a machinist vice,
annealing it and then wrapping it around the brake line. To get the plumbing into the low mount brake cylinder, I
annealed that end of the wire which makes it very easy to bend and shape.
That is the best I can do for explaining how I built these.
The low mount brake setup is a major PITA! The reason, EVERYTHING has to be cut apart, mirrored and glued
back together.
I know, it looks like a standard low mount side frame. Well, the front of the truck is facing right. That means the
double clasp brakes are on the same side as the double clasp brakes on the other side of the truck. That is
not how a low mount truck is built. The one up/one down truck brake rigging is setup the same as an al high
mount truck. The double clasp brakes are on the outboard wheels and the single on the inboard.
My first thought was to simply put the double clasp up front. WRONG! The brackets would be int eh wrong
direction. The single mount brake would be facing the center wheel leaving the rear wheel with no brake
against it. So to do this, you need to fully dissect these parts and rebuild them.
Earlier I mentioned to keep the brake cylinder that was cut out from the high mount side. Now is the time to use
it. Drill a hole through the center and add a brass pin as shown in the photo below.
double clasp brakes are on the same side as the double clasp brakes on the other side of the truck. That is
not how a low mount truck is built. The one up/one down truck brake rigging is setup the same as an al high
mount truck. The double clasp brakes are on the outboard wheels and the single on the inboard.
My first thought was to simply put the double clasp up front. WRONG! The brackets would be int eh wrong
direction. The single mount brake would be facing the center wheel leaving the rear wheel with no brake
against it. So to do this, you need to fully dissect these parts and rebuild them.
Earlier I mentioned to keep the brake cylinder that was cut out from the high mount side. Now is the time to use
it. Drill a hole through the center and add a brass pin as shown in the photo below.
The above photos show what needs to be done to each brake set in order to rebuild it. Each individual part has
to be cut. In the bottom photo on the left you can see I rebuilt the brake caliper bracket using strip styrene. The
brackets that hold the calipers to the brake cylinder have been drilled out to accept the brass wire. Prior to
assembly, the brass wire was nipped up close to the cylinder and all the parts were then reassembled and fit up
behind the side frame.
Once you have it all back together, you should see what is pictured below which is the same as what you see at
the beginning of this article.
to be cut. In the bottom photo on the left you can see I rebuilt the brake caliper bracket using strip styrene. The
brackets that hold the calipers to the brake cylinder have been drilled out to accept the brass wire. Prior to
assembly, the brass wire was nipped up close to the cylinder and all the parts were then reassembled and fit up
behind the side frame.
Once you have it all back together, you should see what is pictured below which is the same as what you see at
the beginning of this article.
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