# 290 bent cowcatcher.



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

I received one of my favorite engines in the mail yesterday from ebay.. A nice but dirty 290. Complete, and in the condition I like, broken wiring, dirty, and won't run, no way to test, "just for parts," etc. The first thing I always do before running or testing an engine is to fill the smoke chamber up with fluid, and let it soak in for about 5 minutes. After doing so, I hooked up one of my test mule tenders and put the juice to it..It ran, but slowly, and smoked!!..I'm ahead of the game...
Complete teardown of the engine, refaced the armature, new brushes, new springs, de-greased the chassis and checked for loose insulators, oil, new grease, new headlight, etc...Runs perfect as all my 290's do!!
Tender was next.. Complete teardown, removed pick-up wheels and polished, polished the copper pick-up strips, removed drum and polished, polished the inside of the e-unit housing, polished the drum axle holes, added new upper and lower fingers, adjusted the small brass arm on the e-unit linkage that cycles the drum, and re-assembled and tested.. Cycles 100%. Added new wire harness and tested engine/combo on my test stand.. Great little engine!!!
None of my projects are considered a success unless they spend some time on the lay-out, stretching their legs. Well, this little bugger would not take a curve without the front truck de-railing every time!! After checking out the obvious, I found that the engine must have been dropped at one time, bending the cowcatcher inwards, striking the front truck wheels, causing the de-railmen..
 Now the fix!!!


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

A shot of another 290 showing how the cow catcher should be....


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Here's what I did. Grabbing one of my plumbers torches, I slowly heated the underneath of the cow catcher grill, bending out the bent cow catcher. It takes a SLOW hand here as to not over-heat the part, and not to break the piece off!! After many tries, I got the cow catcher bent back to it's original form. With a little hit from my dremel, and some small paint touch-up, and of course a test run, things should be back to normal.. If you try this at home, be sure to NOT heat for prolonged periods. You'll start seeing the metal turn to a color of molten solder, and that means you've added too much heat!! Let the finished product cool down on it's own, and you should be good to go. I've done this several times, including a fix on a 336 big motor shell, ( I like to live dangerously), and so far, I've been successful!!


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Here's shot of the repaired cow catcher, and an original.. So you can't say it's the same






one,lol!!


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## teledoc (Oct 22, 2014)

Patience and a slow methodical approach does wonders when resurrecting others Basket Cases. Excellent finished product, and the satisfaction of doing it right.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Looks good!


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Thanks guys... It's not pristine by any means, lol, but for something that was made the same year I as born, 1950, it's darn good enough!! And by the way, 10 trips around the layout forwards, and 10 trips backwards with zero problems..640 feet worth of running!!


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## cole226 (Feb 8, 2013)

flyernut said:


> Here's shot of the repaired cow catcher, and an original.. So you can't say it's the sameone,lol!!



View attachment 225402


we wouldn't do that! :cheeky4::cheeky4:


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## Nuttin But Flyer (Dec 19, 2011)

Truly a miracle worker!!


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## Aflyer (Nov 10, 2010)

flyernut said:


> Here's shot of the repaired cow catcher, and an original.. So you can't say it's the same
> View attachment 225402
> one,lol!!


Flyernut,
Great job, my friend. I did a 293 a couple of years ago, I didn't use heat, just a couple of 2X4 wood blocks and a hammer. I got away with it once, but if faced with that problem again, I will use your method with a little HEAT.

Thanks for sharing,
Aflyer


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

I could have used a file or dremel to straighten the line a bit more, but I didn't want to take a chance of doing more damage... If you try my method, be sure to use the heat sparingly as you don't want to melt the damaged area. And go SLOW!!! The metal can and is brittle... I've seen the wood block used for a bent cab.. What was done was a duplicate and identical cab was used to make a wood template to get the right curve, heat was applied, and the cab roof bent back into shape.. It looked great.


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