# Mounting USA motors in FA1?



## todd55whit (Jan 2, 2008)

My FA1 project has come to a hault! Aristo has no new motor blocks in stock???!!!! So to get this thing going again I was wondering. Has anyone here ever mounted USA motors on an Aristocraft loco before? Can it be done? I have nothing loose to try it so before I buy them I was hoping to find out.


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

FA1's A or B units sometimes sell at a good price on ebay. Could do that for the trucks , then sell the rest later.


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## TheRoundHouseRnR (Jul 15, 2012)

I have wondered this also. I beleive this was in a previous post. I think the wheel diameter is smaller then aristo . Also i believe that the wheel base is shorter to but most likely can be done with some sacrafise and cutting. I have a FA-1 , FB-1, Conrail U-boat, and a RS-3 . They all have the older motor blocks . The gears have split where the axle is pressed in on all of them. 

My goal was to put a brass sleeve over the gear similar to what people do with USA trains motor block. USA trains have this same problem but with aristocraft, there is a smaller mini gear box on the floating axel on each motor block that houses a worm and worm gear on the axle. Connected via Univerasl joint to the motor. I dont know if the brass sleeve will cause a problem with clearance inside the mini gear box when its bolted together. Theres NOT much room in there. Maybe i should start another thread about this to find the answer but figured it wouldnt hurt to through it out there. 
The Roundhouse RnR


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## Dick413 (Jan 7, 2008)

yes the wheel diameter is smaller on usa but the wheelbase is the same,and somehow the mounts end up the same hieght. i just put side frames from usa on aristo.


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## Paul Norton (Jan 8, 2008)

Aristo-Craft have the pinion gears for the old FA-1, RS-3, and U25-B motor blocks. Send an e-mail to Navin.

The space between the axle tips on the USA Trains GP-7/9 motor block is 1/8 of an inch too short to fit in the journal bushings of the old FA-1, RS-3, and U25-B side frames. You would also end up with the same problem with split axle sleeves on the pinion gear.

When re-assembling the old blocks you can use a drill press to push the wheels into the pinion gear held in a vise. The tricky part is getting the same space on each side of the pinion gear so the wheels aren't offset in the motor block. I glued together some thickness gauges of styrene: 2 strips of 0.12" thick and 1 strip of 0.03" thick for the gearbox axle, and 2 strips of 0.03" thick for the other axle. The wider gauge fits between the hub on the back of the wheel and thrust washer next to the pinion gear for the gearbox. The thinner gauge fits between the hub on the back of the wheel and the oval plastic bushing that holds the axle in the motor block.

This will give you a back-to-back spacing of 1.56 to 1.57 inches. Do not use a Kadee gauge to check the back-to-back spacing. At 1.60" it is too wide and your wheels will pick the frog on most switches.


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## bdp3wsy (Mar 14, 2008)

If you are looking just for the motor block with wheels, Aristo has them in stock as of today, if you are looking a complete unit, side frames, motor block,wheels, A frame, etc. then Trainworld has them in stock as of today. Jack


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

I would be extremely hesitant to buy those aristo stainless motor blocks. I bought a set when they were first introduced, and they were unusable--WAY under gauge, with tiny flanges. And when I opened them up, they both had cracked axles. A complete waste. 

I suppose they may have fixed these problems, but I'm guessing they are dumping defective inventory


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## Santafe 2343 (Jan 2, 2008)

The Aritso motor blocks for the FA's are the new revised ones. They are right. They are not selling bad old inventory. Even the pair I had from the earlier run of these turned out to be fine. Not all of the first run was defective. I bought 8 of the 6 wheel trucks when they came out and only two of them turned out to be bad.[/b]


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Good to know


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## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

Six good ones out of 8 bought, that's a 25% failure rate. That is not a good way to do business....


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## W3NZL (Jan 2, 2008)

They just put out a big sale add on the new SS 2 axle blocks yesterday, don't know if their any good 
or not, but the price looked good... I put Aristo motor blocks under USA engines all the time, so I'm 
reasonably certain the other way round would work equally well... If push comes to shove an U can't 
come up with any, I'm sure my junk pile has a bunch of 'em...
Paul R...


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Stainless steel wheels on the aristo trucks seem like a great idea, if they are done right. I have two of them sitting useless.. I made many queries at aristo about these, and never got a response. I just posted a query asking if these were improved or if they were part of the original run. No response. 

Rex certainly has more experience than I do with these--I just have one RS-3 and an eggliner. I'd just be wary


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## rpc7271 (Jan 2, 2008)

The Aristo motor blocks for the FAs are now in stock. order from Aristo.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Be aware that the flange depths on these blocks are different from standard wheels. On 2 axle blocks, not a big deal typically with reasonable trackwork. 

Greg


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## Paul Norton (Jan 8, 2008)

The old blocks can be repaired inexpensively by buying the pinion gears. As I remember they are $2.50 each, so $10 plus postage for both blocks. The older blocks ride in the sprung journals and track better than the new rigid blocks.


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## Jethro J. (Apr 4, 2012)

I have had the same issues with the motor blocks not working and had spoken with Scott over a year ago about these and he told me he would replace them be because 
they were a mistake or something to that effect. A year later and I still have no replacements for motor blocks that dont stay on the track well.Its very sad that in this day and 
age, we are still getting this kind of product. seems like others are in the same boat. http://www.aristocraftforum.com/vbulletinforums/showthread.php?t=19671

Jethro


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## eheading (Jan 5, 2008)

Paul, for what it's worth, I have found that if you reverse the new "rigid" motorblocks so that the "floppy" axle is on the outboard end of the engine, that these new trucks track as well as the older "sprung" trucks do.

Ed


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## TheRoundHouseRnR (Jul 15, 2012)

Ok , can someone help me with obtaining Navins email address , or a way to contact him. If it is true that they have the pinion gears in stock , i would love to order them for my old aristo locos. Its been so long since i had them running. The portion of the gears where the axel is pressed into has split on just about all my locos. I even looked into having them machined from PET from a local machine shop but they didnt have the right gear cutter. They said that aristocraft used really cheap plastic for these gears. 
I have a Conrail U-boat, NYC RS-3 , and a great looking reading FA and FB . Any help would be great. I need 8 of them and maybe some spares . 

The Roundhouse RnR


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

You keep calling Aristo until you get him on the phone.. can take several calls, be nice but insistent. 

Be aware that the motor blocks being sold with SS wheels have very small flanges, and the taper on the axles is different from all other aristo diesel motor blocks, so you cannot interchange the wheels. 

I know, I have about 20 of them. 

Greg


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## TheRoundHouseRnR (Jul 15, 2012)

I got to say i was not sure what to expect calling over to aristocraft with the horror stories ive heard. I called today , asked for Navin. He was actually the one who answered the phone. He was very nice , had the parts i needed, took my card number and there on the way.......i hope. I will keep you posted but so far it was a good experience. Thanks 
The Roundhouse RnR


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## Amber (Jul 29, 2011)

Has anyone tried the NWSL motor blocks on these engines? I'm curious about how they would work in place of the Aristo or USA motor blocks.


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## todd55whit (Jan 2, 2008)

I called NWSL, they told me they haven't had any for sometime. I wish they had.


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