Hello Ron. In the words of Samwise Gamgee, "Well, I'm back." The surgery to relocate the Men's Lounge partition from the middle of the coach window took longer than anticipated, then life got in the way. Here is my corrected and condensed version of the process and the promised photos:
Instead of grinding off the Lionel rivets, use a 7/64 drill bit to drill them out which made a very neat job of it, does not enlarge the existing hole but is good fit for the 3/8ths inch long 4-40 machine screw which will hold the Kadee in place. After removing the claw and associated stuff, cut the drawbar off just past the first hole, trim the steel from the knuckle-side of the Lionel drawbar to match the factory cut line on the off-side and remove all remaining steel from underside of the drawbar from that factory cut line to the outboard end of the "tang".
Next fit the draft gear for a Kadee 745 in the newly vacated space, lining up the Kadee center hole with the Lionel second hole. Remove the plastic "loops" from the sides of the Kadee gear box but leave the rear "loop" as it will butt up against the upturned steel tab that formerly held Lionel uncoupling gear in place and make a perfect fit. A file makes short work of notching and inletting the the draft gear. Drill out the center hole in the draft gear box with the 7/64 bit, this removes the plastic center bushing but the 4-40 machine screw is the same size and will serve the same purpose plus hold drawbar, spring and lid in place.
By cutting off the Lionel drawbar just inboard of the "first hole", the lip on the top of the Kadee draft gear box fits perfectly against the fresh cut while the center hole on the Kadee draft gear aligns perfectly with the "second hole" on the Lionel drawbar, and a 3/8 in long 4-40 machine screw is the perfect length to accommodate installation of a nut. Since the floor/frame of the cars is indented upward at the end of each car, there is plenty of clearance for the nut atop the Lionel drawbar without any fitting, filing or fussing. The couplers match up with the Kadee coupler gauge perfectly every time.
Once a truck has been freed from the carbody, the entire process takes about 10 minutes per installation.
