Frankly, once the AM GP9/18 came out, I don't think any Scaler's bothered with the Flyer GP7 since. Even the original body alone required a LOT of work to make it pass muster in scale. I remember seeing a Gilbert GP7 with Nimco scale wheels and Kadee's at an estate sale, it didn't really make the locomotive any more "scale" other than in operation. A Gilbert PA body with an Omnicon scale conversion drive (Yeah, I got one of those hiding in the rafters...) isn't any more scale unless extensively reworked, particularly along the roofline.
If Lionel were to make an S scale GP7/9, they'd be better off starting from scratch rather than reworking the Gilbert design.
Plus, the Scale side isn't the target for a FlyerChief locomotive anyway. Scaler's didn't buy the Berkshires to convert to scale and they're not buying the Northern's to convert either.
Heck, it was hard enough to convince some of the Scalers about the merits of the U33C's, SD70's and ES44's...
Currently, the winds at Lionel are not blowing in the S Scaler's direction anyway. I'm not particularly happy about that either, but it is what it is.
I suspect the reworked FlyerChief GP7 will find it's place within the 85% of the market with no trouble, which is what Lionel's after.
Rusty
