Anyhow, uninstalled the knee joints and threw them in the trash. Absolute garbage. Could not get the left knee joint to stay in place with posing and transforming. The right one then cracked and broke. Ended up getting a refund.

Um, you don't need to remove pins at all. Only removal needed is the screws from the lower legs with a blunted Philips #0 screwdriver to avoid stripping the screw heads. Cranking the knee forward allows the most space to physically remove the old joint and place the new one in.

 

Update: finally managed a clean enough way to undo the knees.

The pin-pusher I was working with is pretty primitive: basically just a nail with a fat head and a blunt end. The trick is to hammer down on the pin on top of a surface sturdy enough to not bounce or shake to the force exerted by the hammer but also with enough clearance for the pin to stick out, so I ended up doing it over a crease between a pair of floorboards.
Putting the pin back in was no sweat--just treating it like a typical nail--but the real trouble is keeping the knees from swiveling too loosely, so I'll be going through quite a bit of clear paint or floor polish before I put everything back together.

 

I did exactly that and cracked the mushroom getting it in

removal would make it cleaner

i also couldnt get out a shoulder pin connecting the insignia flap

 

I need a video on this. I have like 10 minutes to myself because of two kids so the quicker I do this mod the better lol

 

I dig the kit. Gap covers do wonders, though I wish they did them for the upper legs as well.

With regards to installation, after removing the screws and bending the knee for maximum mushroom visibility, I rotated the mushroom so that the peg faces inward (normally it faces outward). This allowed it to be taken out with minimal effort. The new joint is installed in reverse: peg facing inward, press fit, rotate outward.

 

Just a heads up for anyone who’s interested. I found this one place on eBay that has them in stock. And they don’t ship from China!!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/115-Studio-YYW-11-3D-DIY-Upgrade-Kit-For-Earthrise-Doubledealer-/384053071689?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286
I got the Doubledealer kit and a Super Megatron kit in 3 days.
And yes once you get the screws out of the lower leg it makes much more sense. Amazing set!

 

yes! Gotten my copy and managed to change change the knee joints without removing pins.. Right knee was perfect, not loose and fits nicely.. however its left is looooooose like hell... 
Might have damaged the left joint when fixing it.. had used a bit of force to slot in the mushroom joint.. 

 

   
I only found out about this kit today and found this thread.
I was curious about the leave pin/ remove pin debate and I've only just popped off both his legs at the knee joints with no trouble.
I've had to buy the kit straightaway as i don't want to be messing around with the mushroom peg over and over  

 

The one on our left knee never worked. I had to trim some excess material off so it wouldn't even come off with rotation. However, it still popped off whenever the knee was bent. I was going to swap hinge joints to see if it made a difference but then they snapped...and went straight into the recycling bin.

This kit is garbage. The sliding hinge idea needs to be done by a competent group and not this one.

 

Did you get installed? I finally realized you had unscrew the leg and take it apart. The images do not show any of that. But it’s so worth it. So much better looking now

 

It's in transit to me now, so I haven't installed yet. I'll post photos when I do. But yeah, taking the screws out and dismantling the leg is necessary.

 

The leg extension to DD is the only extension upgrade I actually think is necessary with the WFC line that has the options. So is it a consensus that this leg extension is garbage, and makes the knee joints looser? Asking because I saw this video review, and it looked pretty simple to install, and he claimed it was a good upgrade.

 

Underwhelming. Everything is basically fine on DD’s right leg but the left one is floppy and the “calf implant” doesn’t want to pop in snugly.

Gun handle is fine but it’s just 3D printer material so I’m worried about it shearing off in a hole.

 

Received yesterday. I've read all the mediocre reviews so I knew what to expect.
Legs popped off and dismantled with a screwdriver easily. If you're popping out pins - stop! You're doing it wrong.
The right leg was perfect, the left leg was floppy but a dab of super glue sorted that quickly enough.
Pros: He's a great height now, nearly level with the G1. Also the new joint, surprisingly, makes the transformation to vehicle much easier! The legs fold into position much more easily now.
The gun position is great and reduces the stress on his arm which used to flop easily.
The add-on pieces look great in vehicle mode and OK in Robot.

Cons: I may have received a knock-off but my add-on pieces are a shade or two wrong and stand out a bit.

That's all the cons I have. I mean, it cost 13 euro. If I'd spent 30 or something, I'd be disappointed but for the cost, this is a must have imho.

 

Ok I’m glad to hear that the super glue fix works for the floppy knee. I’ll be doing that to mine then!

 

I finally got around to attaching the leg extensions. A little harder to get the joint out than anticipated, but it wasn’t bad at all. It would have helped if I had more finger muscle, and my hands wasn't getting sweaty. The left leg rotation is looser than the right, but overall it works very well for me. I have greater leg articulation, and the proportion looks better even though I was okay with the original height. The adapter for the missile /gun is okay. There’s some gaps between the adapter and the gun, but that’s not why I got the kit. The filler panel I didn’t use because I lose the articulation of the legs going laterally, even though a leg shouldn’t be able to go in that direction. I’m happy to have gotten the leg extension.

 

The side-of-leg filler just broke on mine. The hinge, was removing it from its storage position in vehicle mode. Wasn't even pulling hard or stressing it, it just seemed to be very brittle and broke "just from being disturbed". Fracture is very smooth, like how obsidian breaks.

 

Yikes. I've been thinking about uninstalling this kit and going back to my shapeways upgrade, this pushed me to do it. There needs to be a Go Better Doubledealer kit...

 

I've been expecting this to happen with my kit a few times now.
It does work pretty okay otherwise, other than the parts-forming being a bit of a bother.
I"ll second the request that Go-better does something for DD.

 

I think replacement parts, like that of X2 Toys CW Ultra Magnus upgrade kit for example, would be better for Double Dealer than this type of work-around.