Wired C.A.T.S.: Kimber Custom Covert II: The Frame

Almost a month ago, I posted the steps on building the Kimber Custom Covert II slide. I'm now posting the build process of the frame. I know I should've posted this sooner but, well...no excuses. Here it is.

Before I begin with the actual steps on building the frame, I'm going to show and tell you a bit of a backgrounder. When I got the parts and the kit needed for this project, I immediately test-fitted the different parts like grip safeties, thumb safeties, and the main spring housing, into the frame. I found out that Nova parts are not drop-in fit with the kit unlike the TM original parts. So I did a lot of filing on the frame (which was supposed to be just a little had I known where to file). In the photo below, the parts filed off the frame were clearly shown.

I've filed a significant amount of that bar between the tangs of the frame to fit the Nova KBR grip safety. Also seen in the photo is the inner part of the frame where the thumb safety slot engages and because of the thick powder coating on the frame, it needed to be filed, as well.

This top view of the frame shows just how much of that bar was left after the filing. I should've just sawed it off and saved lots of time!

Now, on to the build itself. Again, I followed LaZouche's video in his YouTube channel on the step-by-step process of disassembling a Tokyo Marui 1911 or MEU pistol.

First is to put the thumb safety of the MEU into the "safe" position and pull the left side part out of the frame and then do the same on the right part.

Then, by removing the pin at the bottom of the grip, the main spring housing was removed.

The hammer spring was then released from the housing by pushing the plunger down with a pin and nudging the retaining pin to the side.

And the plunger and the hammer spring was placed inside the Nova main spring housing. This housing is identical to the real steel main spring housing as the retaining pin is inserted from the rear and not from the side like the TM's.

The next step is to remove the grip safety from the frame.

And then the three-finger spring.

Using an allen wrench, the screw that holds the frame and the inner chassis on the side is removed.

And the screw inside the front frame is removed, as well.

The Hurricane conversion kit includes a screw for the front of the frame. The original screw from TM and the one from the kit have different thread pitches, thus the TM screw cannot be used for the Hurricane frame.

Comparison between the two frame screws (Hurricane on the left and TM on the right)

After the frame screws were removed, the pins behind the grip can be easily pushed out.

With the pins out, the inner chassis can be freely taken out of the frame itself.

By following the video linked above, the chances of losing the tiny spring on the side of the chassis is minimized. This spring is very important and one must make sure not to lose it.

The chassis was turned to the other side to keep the spring from flying out of its slot.

While in this position, the screw that holds the part that locks the hammer assembly can be removed.

In my desire to get the most realistic look of the Custom Covert, I replaced the hammer with a Nova Kimber type hammer.

Comparison between the original TM MEU hammer (left) and the Nova Kimber hammer (right). Notice the difference, especially the protruding part, at the bottom of the hammer. That part is there for the half-cock feature to work - which is not really important in airsoft guns.

The hammer strut was removed from the hammer.

All of the parts not used for my projects were kept in plastic pouches and labeled before storage.

The next step is installing the hammer strut into the new hammer. This took me a very long time as the pin is a bit bigger than the hole. I really had a hard time punching that pin into the hole.

After about an hour of hammering the pin, the strut was installed.

The plastic cylinder that holds the hammer into position is placed.

The Nova hammer set comes with a steel sear so I replaced the original sear.

I put a small amount of silicon oil on the surfaces of the chassis for easy installation into the frame later. The slide spacer that comes with the kit was also placed in its slot on the left side of the chassis.

Going back to the MEU frame, the magazine catch was removed by turning the screw clockwise and slowly releasing it. It was then slowly pulled out of the frame and about half-way through, turned 180 degrees, then taken out of the frame completely.

With the magazine catch out of the way, the trigger assembly can be removed.

By taking out the top pin, the trigger and the trigger bow ca be separated. In the photo below, the two pins were removed out of the trigger. As I mentioned, only the top pin should be removed to separate the two parts. I have taken out the bottom pin by mistake. And I learned from it.

Here now, the magazine catch screw and spring were taken out.

And then installed on the magazine catch that comes with the conversion kit. The original TM mag catch is a very tight fit for the Hurricane frame.

Then inner chassis was then inserted into the frame and locked by the two pins.

The side frame screw was replaced.

As well as the front screw.

The three-finger spring was also installed along with the main spring housing inserted just to keep the three-finger spring from becoming loose and coming out.

Again, back to the original frame, the grip screws and the grips were removed to gain access to the plunger assembly.

The plunger set was taken out once the grips are off.

The plunger was installed on the new frame.

The Lasergrips were screwed with a hex screw to hold the plunger set in position. I didn't use the original flat-head screws to achieve the realism I want.