Questions re: DCC Conversions of Athearn F-7s

[pdlethbridge]

there are 2 clips on top. 1 long clip to connect to the trucks and another short clip to hold the motor together and there is 1 clip on the bottom that has 2 barbs that touch the frame. You are correct that you can just reverse the top and bottom short clips when installing a decoder if you are wiring it yourself. The decoder pictured all ready has all the clips soldered to the wires so you won't even need the clips on the motor. It would be good in both cases to insulate the area under the motor as the clip could pop off and touch the frame. A piece of electrical tape or even a piece of paper would be all you need.