I pulled out my E7's the other night and found that one of the couplers on the front is missing. They currently are equipped with Rapido couplers and want to change them all out - loco's and rolling stock. I've been reading that the Micro-Train couplers are one of the favorites, but looking online, I'm unable to determine what is needed. Here is a pic of the front and rear E7 coupler.
You should be able to find the conversion information you're looking for at the Micro Trains conversion page.
If you cannot find what you need on the conversion chart. Drop MT an e-mail and they will advise you.
For my LL E7 and PAs I used MTL 1021 for the front coupler, and 1128 for the rear. The 1021 is a very slim coupler that fits the available space. The rear coupler has to us the coupler pocket of the truck. Putting a 1128 into these coupler pockets takes a lot of fiddling, but it seems the only way. For the front coupler you use the MTL screw for fastening, so the missing front coupler should be no problem. For the screws you have to drill and tap the hole (at least tap), so a MTL Drill and Tap set is helpful. If you do more MTL coupler conversions this set is indispensable. I have an E8 that is not operational because I cut off the back coupler pocket and then found out that body mounting a rear coupler was not possible
I think I have the correct size drill bits and taps in my large Matco kit. I'll double check. Thanks for the info.
It's not too hard to body mount to the E units. Use a 1015/1016 set that has both short and long shank couplers in it. I believe a long works best on the front to clear the pilot. The rear is a little tougher depending on the loco. The split frame E's are easy and are designed for 1015/1016 couplers. The plastic frame E's are a little tougher but can be done. The front, remove the pin holding the stock dummy coupler, screw on a 1016 coupler. For the rear, just cut the coupler off of the truck and dremel back as much as you feel safe of the back of the side frame. Then drill and tap an 0-90 hole in the frame and install the coupler. I have added styrene on some of them for added support to screw into. Sorry no pictures handy at the moment.
