My First Coupler Conversion For a Locomotive Part 2

I'm told that the F7-A MT conversion is one of the more difficult conversions to do. Wouldn't you know that would be the first one I would do. The pilot on my F7, while not exactly toast, does need some work at this point. But the coupler is in and looks like it will be functional when I go to test it. It is at the right height and angle. Maybe a little high but hey, it's in there! Thanks to the Nscale folks @ TB (TB = TrainBoard.com). They were helpful with advise and encouragement. The rear coupler went in relatively easily (see last post). The pilot though, turned out to be a woolybugger. The opening in the pilot needed to be enlarged. I had to do this several times. Upon re-assembly the pilot cracked. In three places. I'm told by Big Snooze @ TB that Sunrise Enterprises sells a replacement for a few dollars. I'll look into that the next time I'm at PapaBen's. Plus the angle was all wrong and it wouldn't couple to the MT coupler height gauge. Because the height and angle were screwed. So I took it apart and the coupler fell apart. Got the coupler back together and checked it against the Draft Gear clip. The two posts that held the rapido coupler in place would not let the MT settle into place properly. Filed about half of those away, re-assembled the thing and... Eureka! The coupler is in! At almost the right height too. It does couple to the gauge. I don't really plan to couple anything to the front end of the F7 A anyway, so I might eventually take PowerSteamGuy's (@TB) advise and put in a ZScale coupler. But not right now... Ahh...The sweet smell of SUCCESS!!