There are a lot of interchangeable parts between the 227 family of prewar switchers and the 1989 reissue (18000), but the motor and e-unit are not amoung them. The 227 e-unit (OO1E-185) is from the prewar OO line of locos. The 227 family of switchers is the only place it is used in O gauge that I know of. In my opinion it is superior to the standard three position O gauge e-unit. It is certainly much easier to work on. The problem with it is there are no parts available. The OO e-unit complete is available from several sources, but it is not cheep.
There was an article written "Lionel's #8976 - Wiring and Operation" by William J. Krone which describes how to rewire all these locos and including wiring diagrams. I have a copy of it, but my copy does not indicate what publication it is from or the date. It might be the TCA Quartery. Maybe the TCA library could help.
The missing brush tube caps may be either the 700E-305 or the 400E-115. There are two different types and I can not tell which is which. One screws on the outside of the tube and the other into the inside. They were used on the 400E, 700E, 763E and 227 family of switchers. They should not be too hard of find. I had one loco which had washers sholdered on the ends of the brush tubes to keep the brushes in.
