Which locomotive did you get? It's nice to get train related items from people who have no interest in them themselves, I think it shows that they appreciate your hobby. Downside is things don't always fit the system/era/country you focus on. Oh well, I guess it's always the thought that counts, eh?

Now back to the conversion at hand:

Yes, the pickup shoe seems like a good place to start
On the Hamo locs I've seen, there is a wheel-pickup slider mounted where the 3-rail pickup should be. You can simply remove this and install a regular pickup shoe instead.

You will ofcourse need to install a decoder for DC motors, as the HAMO motor has a permanent magnet. Power comes from the replaced pickupshoe wire and the wheels/chassis.

About the wheels: As the HAMO wheels are insulated and you removed the wheel slider, return current will only go through the wheels on one side of the loco. This should work but it's no good for track occupancy tracks and, naturally, is not as reliable as using all wheels to conduct current to the rails. There are several possibilities here:
1- If possible, turn half the axles around. This way the insulated wheels are not all on the same side of the loco. This will solve the track occupancy issue, but still only half the wheels conduct current.
2- Change the wheels to AC sets. This is ofcourse the best solution but requires ordering part which are not always readily availiable.
3- Connect the insulated wheels yourself. Either by using a wheel slider (original?) and connecting it to the chassis or by directly connecting the wheels themselves (using current-conducting paint, for example).

Hope this helps.

Many thanks, Pieter & Marco.

Lok is a 8356 krok. I wasn't thinking of replacing axles (which of course is for sure the best solution), I think that current pickup only from one side will be OK as I do not have (by the moment) track occupancy detection devices, and locomotive has a lot of axles. And a Lokpilot 3.0 will fit, I think.

But, what about the distance between wheels? do you think it will be a problem?

I have converted a V200 and a V216 from Hammo. No problems. however BE CAREFUL with the lights. Hammo typically used Chassis Earth return. keep them and you will fry the decoder.

You will need the inserts and 2 prong/wired lamps.
I have used ESU Lokpilot 3 locksound 3 and alo ESU MFX with no problems.

NN