Snowy cold day here in the south, so I spent some time on the 675 pilot coupler. This time I worked on the right one, an early 675 pilot that will take a smoke unit.
I first filed the small support struts from just above the pilot teeth.
Then drilled 5 holes with a 7/64 bit (+/- a size would have been OK). Holes drilled as close as possible in straight line up as high as possible, below pilot beam.
I connect the holes by holding the pilot and twisting back and forth "gently" along the horizontal line of the holes. The casting is soft and allows this, but still have to be careful not to jam or break the bit.
I finish up by gentle filing with a small file. This time I was more careful and did not crack the pilot beam, like I did with the 226E pilot.
I had to do some creative bending of the shank on the Irvington coupler to raise it about 1/4" to mate with the tender coupler. I may re-do this step at a different location. I bent at the existing bend up against the coupler head, the plunger fell out and the coupler no longer stays closed. I could make a new back-stop and solder-attach it, or bend farther back so the back-stop is not compromised. I may be able to make this a working coupler, but would need to install a centering spring........maybe getting too complicated. Anyway, the pictures show my progress and all should be sound information up to the point of bending the coupler shank.