# 302 rebuild.



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

I received this lot from a friend in NJ who wants 1 running engine/tender. I'll see what I can do.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Getting started with the tear






down


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Before I start I always soak the wick in the smoke chamber.. First thing to remove is the smoke stack, of which there wasn't any in this one.. There was a stub that was broken off. First clue there was someone in here before me...When I pulled off the brush bracket assembly, there were 4 BRUSHES, and 2 tiny little springs!!! Yep, someone was here...


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Lots of goo in here. I cleaned out the grease pan, smoke piston, lever, and pin.














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## 4G-Man (Jan 2, 2014)

Keep the updates coming - interesting.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

I noticed 2 white insulators were loose, so on went the CA after a good thorough de-greasing and cleaning.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Repaired insulators, and checked wheel spacing.. I had a slight wobble in both axles but with a little adjusting, got that out.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Smoke unit was good!! These flyer smoke units are great.. Light works too with a new bulb. Had to dig out that piece of red smoke stack...


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Check out this nasty armature..It turned out that this one was bad, and I had to replace it.


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## 4G-Man (Jan 2, 2014)

How'd you test and confirm it was bad?


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Here's the finished product, waiting for a better shell.. Runs great, smoke really comes on at 1/3 throttle, and lights. To sum it all up, dis-assembly, de-grease, repaired white insulators, cleaned out grease pan, oiled, grease, cleaned out smoke piston chamber, re-faced armature, new brushes, new springs, new bulb, and a new oil wick to replace the one that was missing. Next the tender and e-unit repair, but not tonight.


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## Tinstar (Dec 28, 2016)

I'm following along with my re-build. Awesome! Looks like someone has been into it alright. I have 2 tinkering brothers, someone tried messing with it. Haha. You don't waste time. I'm getting excited about it.


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## 4G-Man (Jan 2, 2014)

Tinstar said:


> I'm following along with my re-build. Awesome! Looks like someone has been into it alright. I have 2 tinkering brothers, someone tried messing with it. Haha. You don't waste time. I'm getting excited about it.


That was fast! :appl:


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

4G-Man said:


> How'd you test and confirm it was bad?


The owner sent a extra chassis with motor, and I just re-faced the armature and replaced the bad one with the other one. I'll check out the bad one later.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Tinstar said:


> I'm following along with my re-build. Awesome! Looks like someone has been into it alright. I have 2 tinkering brothers, someone tried messing with it. Haha. You don't waste time. I'm getting excited about it.


Lol, I wasn't going to add any nasty names as to who was messing with this....:laugh:.. These 302's are nice to work on, I have so many of them, I've lost count. I did sell 5 of them last week to save up money for some NP passenger cars in another thread..I'm glad you sent the extra stuff, it came in handy!!


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Looks good, almost newSo different from the lionel stuff I'm used to!


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## Mikeh49 (Sep 20, 2015)

What is the technique for extracting the broken-off smoke tube. I have one of those.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Mikeh49 said:


> What is the technique for extracting the broken-off smoke tube. I have one of those.


I use a very small flat-bladed screw-driver to dig out the the few threads that were left. Now for the reason you see this happen.. Too many times people forget to remove the smoke stack FIRST when removing the chassis from the boiler. They yanked the chassis from the boiler as there's something holding everything together, and crack!! After I get the remnants out, I use a brass smoke-stack to clean up the threads, and then will use the proper red plastic one.


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## Mikeh49 (Sep 20, 2015)

That's what i figured. I read about removing the smoke tube while looking for a replacement. 

I don't recall if I took the shell off this 303 when I got it 35 yrs ago. It's been in storage since then, but I was inspired by this forum to get the trains out and run them. Had a loop around the tree for Christmas. Now I'm overhauling the 303. I may be back with other questions so I'll start a new thread.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Mikeh49 said:


> That's what i figured. I read about removing the smoke tube while looking for a replacement.
> 
> I don't recall if I took the shell off this 303 when I got it 35 yrs ago. It's been in storage since then, but I was inspired by this forum to get the trains out and run them. Had a loop around the tree for Christmas. Now I'm overhauling the 303. I may be back with other questions so I'll start a new thread.


Super!! I just did a 303 2 weeks ago....


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## apoc444 (Jan 28, 2013)

very helpful thanks


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