Johnnyupsidedown.com Coaster Dynamix

Sit Down, Dive and Floorless Train Modification

Some may have trouble with all types of sit down trains on the older lift hills, they tend to stick on the lifts. One way to fix this is sanding down the bottom of the train. First thing to do is take a lift hill and install the rails on it as you want to get an idea of what part of the train is hitting the lift. Place car on lift and push car back and forth many times fast, what you want to achieve is the lift will cut some areas on the bottom of the car so that you know where to sand. You need to remove all the chain dogs because if you sand them they will become damaged. The main area that hits is around where the screws are you will notice some cuts from when you ran the train up the lift. You will need to sand the area into a small trough so that it will provide the necessary clearance. WARNINGS.. DON'T sand to much, rule of thumb is just down to the top of screw and DON'T sand to much in the middle of bottom where the ball joint is as you can ruin the connection to the previous train. You may need to run the sander long ways down the bottom section it just depends on what is hitting and how much. Rule of thumb sand a little on each car and put the train back on the lift to check to see how it is working and if it is still hitting. WARNING.. Do a little at a time it is the best way to do it. I have also found that it is helpful to sand the bottom of the front cars nose as it helps it to make it onto the lift hill.
Below are photos and description of how modify the bottom of the trains.

1. Car on lift hill. 2. Circles show where you will see some cuts in the bottom of the train. 3. Blue area indicates where the most likely area to sand is. 4. Remove the chain dogs.

5. Sand in this motion and location. 6. Sanding long ways if needed. 7. Circles show how much sanding
may be needed. 8. Circle shows where to sand the nose of the front car.
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Making a Floorless Train from a Griffon Dive Train

Making a new color set in a Floorless train from a couple of Griffon Trains. You will need 3 Griffon Statix trains to make a 7 seat floorless train. A Dremel cutting tool and a cutting disk, a screwdriver and metal wheels. First disassemble the Griffon trains and prepare to work. Remove the seat section and cut the last 3 seats from each side of the black seat section. You need to use the middle section as it has the necessary screw holes. Cut the restraints into sections of 4 you will have some left overs. Get all the pieces setup and assemble the new floorless train.
Below are photos and description of how to transform a Griffon train into a floorless train.

1. A Griffon dive train before work begins. 2. Disassemble the train. 3. Unscrew the seat section from its base. 4. Cut the seats removing 3 from each end use only mid section as it has the screw holes needed.

5. Cut the restraints to make a section of 4. 6. All the pieces ready for reassembly.
7. Reassemble the train. 8. The finished car section of the train.
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Making a Stand Up Train

How to make a close rendition of a stand up type train from a sit down looping train. Items needed to do the modification are: a sit down looping train, metal wheels, drill and 1/16th drill bit, Dremel tool with sanding head and cutting blade, (14) # 2 - 56 x 3/4 inch screws, 9 mm long metal pins (rail connectors work) and 8 mm long stand pipes made from 1/8th x .014 round aluminum pipe.
Below is a description and photos of how I made the modifications to make the stand up train.

1. Are all the things I used to make the trains. 2. Is bottom of a seat section needing a little work.
3. I sanded the bottom of outside seats because there are dimples in the bottom. 4. Drilled holes in bottom of outside seats about 2.5 mm deep, I used the middle screws to line up the holes.

5. Inserted pins, I cut them from a rail connector as they are the right size, cut them down to about 9 mm long. 6. Cut the stand pipes to 8 mm long. 7. Then using the 3/4 inch screws and the
8 mm stand pipes I assembled the train. 8. Finished car and photos below of the finished car.
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Some have asked about modifying a 10 seat dive train to an 8 seat dive train. The modification is very easy to do and produces a very realistic train. You will need several things to make the MOD: one Sheikra train, a cutting device like a Dremel tool with cutting wheel, small screw driver and some time. First thing is to disassemble the train to make working on it easier. Once you have the train apart its time to make some cuts. WARNING.. DON'T cut 2 seats off one side of the train. You must cut one seat and one restraint from each side. If you don't you wont be able to screw the seats back on or the restraints will not hold down properly. You will notice that the blue base has in inside wall, when you cut you want to leave the outside wall so that the end will be solid. Cut the ends and clean up the left over with an Xacto knife or sanding head on Dremel. Once you have gotten all the cutting and cleaning done its time to reassemble the train.
Below are photos and description of how modify a 10 seat train.

10 Seat Dive Train to an 8 Seat Dive Train

1. What you need. 2. Taking the train apart. 3. All the various parts. 4. Ready for some cutting.

5. Cut one side of pieces. 6. Cutting the other side. 7. Solid end left after cutting and cleaning. 8. See the difference in the two seat sections, one is an 8 seat section and the other original 10 seat section.

9. Reattach the seats. 10. Install bottom section. 11. 8 and 10 seater. 12. Finished 8 seat train.
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Making a Floorless Train from a Sit Down Train

I wanted a new color pattern in a floor less train so I decided to do some modification to an existing Apollos Chariot Statix Train. I used a Dremel with a cut off blade, a screwdriver for taking apart the train and an X-acto blade to make marks in the plastic. First disassemble the train, mark the train and make the cuts in the plastic. Reassemble the car with metal wheels and you are ready to run the train.
Below are photos and description of how to transform a sit down train into a floorless train.

5. Cut one side of the base piece. 6. Cut the other side of the base piece.
7. Reassemble the train. 8. The finished car section of the train.
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1. A sit down train before work begins. 2. Removing the restraint.
3. I used an X-acto blade to make marks in the plastic for cut lines. 4. White lines show where to cut.

Metal Wheel Installation

How to install metal wheels for some of the new Statix sit down trains. Things I used to do the job are: a pair of hemostats, a small screwdriver, silicon spray for lubrication, a soda bottle cap, Q tips and some patience. Its best to start with the last car of the train and work your way forward because its easier to insert the ball connection into next car of the train. I use the hemostats to insert the metal wheels into place and screwdriver to screw the trains together. I use the soda cap to spray silicon in and use Q tips to dab a little onto the inside of the wheel inserts. I also like to take a small plastic bag with the metal wheels in it and spray some Silicone Spray into the bag to pre-lubricate the metal wheels before installation.
Below are photos and description of how to install the metal wheels in a train.

1. All the things used to install metal wheels. 2. Layout of the pieces need to do one car.
3. Set bottom grey piece in wheel flange. 4. Hold in hand, insert wheel and slide grey piece into flange.

5. Flip around and hold in hand with free finger. 6. Slide on flange leaving a small space to work with.
7. Using hemostats as before insert wheel into it's place. 8. The finished middle section of the train car.

9. Holding together the middle section insert the ball from previous seat section. 10. Install bottom section. 11. Place seat section underneath into the slots. 12. Insert screws and screw together tight.
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Clean and Oil Sitdown Train Wheels

Here are some guide lines to follow when you need to clean and oil your roller coaster trains. The sit down trains need to be cleaned and oiled periodically to keep them in top operating condition. Starting with the disassembly of the train by removing the screws from the underside of the train. Once you have your train apart you are ready to start cleaning. First you want to take a Silicone based spray and a small plastic bag or cup. Spray a generous amount of spray into the container so that it will collect in liquid form. Then using Qtips to clean the areas that the wheels were seated in. You also want to use a clean rag with some of the silicone sprayed on it to clean the metal wheels and this is done by rubbing them in the rag. Once clean you want to soak the metal wheels in the slicone liquid container for about 15 minutes then let dry. Finally use a new Qtip and apply and leave extra silicone liquid in all the places the metal wheels contact and then follow the next section below on how to install metal wheels to reassemble the train.
Below are photos and information on how to clean and oil various sit down train wheels.

1. Things needed. 2. Disassemble and organize. 3. Clean the metal wheels. 4. Clean the plastic.

5. Soaking and oiling the wheels. 6. Oiling the wheel seats. 7. Reassemble the train. 8. Finished.
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So you have an interest in building a working flying train. I would suggest just using some glue and glue your seat section up to the top of train. Glue will work and hold for a while but it does not hold forever. I decided to make a modification that is more permanent. WARNING! There are a lot of problems that can occur while making the modifications. DO NOT TRY THIS unless you are very good with small drills, drill press, tiny screws and no tolerance for error. Now if you have decided you want to try this here is what I did and how I did it. First things you will need are, cutting tool, drill press, a 1/16 th drill bit and a 3/32 nd drill bit (Dremel # 4 bit I think), the train you want to modify, 1/8 th inch wood dowel, screwdriver,
14 SCREWS ( 0 - 80 x 5/16 inch ) and lots of time. You begin with cutting the seat section, I chose to cut the top seat flush so that I can use a spacer or you can just cut the seat section off at a lower height and leave part of the top of seat. Take top of train section and now drill a hole with the 1/8th drill bit between the fins. Placement of screw hole is most important and needs to be in center between the fins. Next take the 3/32 drill bit and screw some pilot holes in the back of seat sections. You need to make them all the same or the seats will hit each other when completed. I used a set of sit down seats as they have a larger back to screw into with more room to work with. I then cut some of the wood dowels for spacers and drilled out the center for the screw to go through. You may also need to modify the bottom of the wheel assembly with a sanding head as that part of the wheel assembly may hit the screw so you may need to modify it.
WARNING! This works but there are a lot of things that can go wrong with this modification. I do not suggest doing this to your train and I make no claims that this will work or that you will end up with a working flying train. This simply is what I did and with a lot of work and craftsmanship you can make one yourself.
I still suggest you simply cut and glue your inverted seat section to the upper part of the train.
Below are photos and information on how to create a flying train.

Make Decals for Sitdown Trains

How to make decals for the nose car and side fins of sit down trains. I used a product from Office Depot but any type of sticker will work. You start with a basic measurement of the size needed. I use Printmaster to make simple shapes to add to the design. Then using an Xacto knife I cut out the side fins and nose cone decals. Finally with installation complete you have the new decals.
Below are photos and information on create decals for sit down trains.

1. Things needed. 2. Disassemble and organize. 3. Clean the metal wheels. 4. Clean the plastic.