DalaGStanator's Customs, Mods and Experiments

Seeing repair videos of early Fisher Price Talking engines confirmed most of them (including Salty) have what is basically a retooled Flat drive unit, with the sound board replacing the battery terminals and switch. It even still has the rear screw hole and front bottom tab in the same spots. Unlike Talk 'n Action engines, the more complex half of the circuit is in the battery truck/tender. In some cases, the unit can be taken out without having to open the battery car as well.



Before opening Ivor V2, I thought his DU might have the front bearings and may not fit unless I'd cut them off. They weren't there, so I proceeded to take Salty apart. My 2.5 bit didn't work for the triangles, so I had to try other bits and even hex keys to get them out. One of the two rear screws and the front one came out with ease, but the third appeared to be stripped and required much more effort; all the while making sure not to tear the wire coupling. When I test fitted the regular DU, it slipped right in with no mods to the chassis whatsoever. Oddly, I did have to add tiny spots of Blu Tack under it to keep it down; otherwise, it slightly vibrates when running despite being fully tightened, causing the drivers to slip and get stuck. He can now free wheel, but not very smoothly.




If I'd moved Salty's workings into Ivor and had a recordable sound board, it could've played Jones the Steam's voice, the organ pipe whistle and that funny "pssh-t-kuff" chuff. Only the wire coupling didn't fit, and his tank lid would have to be cut out for the sound button. It did disengage and slip when not on the ground, but otherwise ran properly.



For the switch groove, I looked at a regular Salty to make sure I marked the exact spot. With only one chance to get it right, it had to be done with perfect accuracy. After I burnt it out with the soldering iron, the molten edges were sanded and filed.



Turned out the shell needed some more modding than I expected. Apart from the ridges that originally held the sound button and weights, two other cylindrical bits under the bonnet had to be cut, sanded and melted out. It was done before I had a rotary tool, hence why I needed a more difficult process. At a later point, I temporarily unscrewed one of the ends and filed through the shell. Without all these mods, he had to use a AAA since a AA was too big to fit. My only other gripes are having to remove all three screws to fit a battery and the lack of a retainer piece for the coupling (which I could fix with cardboard). The weights are now glued in to keep them from falling out.

I've been wanting to do this mod for literal years, and it even has another advantage in the form of a third "general purpose" chassis for my own engines. Who knows, it might even become an "Online Selling Shocker" one day since the only other one I know (by Megahedgehogx) wasn't motorised and (probably) no longer exists.