Black Widow Question

Thanks Ken. It was more to figure out the small thick round brass driveplate. That is the most confusing part to me as I could not recall seeing one on a Black Widow before. Thanks again for the great info and timeline you provided.

A bit irrelevant but some of my best running Black Widow engines were all from the 90's. I went downstairs to take a peek at NIB engines I have from the early 90's. All of them equipped with the hex drive washer and newer starting cam.  One new Leisure Dynamics Black Widow from I'm guessing 1979-80 had the brass drive washer as yours does but it's cylinder was a slitted cylinder like a Sure Start. It has dual ports but no transfer ports and it used a red plastic cam starter with the round drive washer.


Longevity wasn't there on the 90's versions but man did they work well.The thick walled cylinders were open in the exhaust outlet with the dual boost ports which  didn't utilize the transfer ports like the newer Sure Starts or TD's. I can't confirm this but it also may have been the fuel I was running which was K&B 1000. No fuel made any of my engines run like the 1000 did.  The smell was also the best. I can still remember the sweetness. I was also using Missile Mist from Fox. The purple dye however was signature to Missile Mist and it wouldn't come off easily. If on your shoes or clothes, forget it .  Cox fuels were more difficult to obtain as the hobby shops only carried a few pints and for the cost made it impractical to purchase.

Good information Ken , Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience. I have a few around but can't remember at this time if i have ran one I have one mounted on a combat kitten but i think i put that on there after i had tried a mat release and was not pulling away as it should.

Thanks again Ken for your time and help. I was just curious as to timeline and authenticity, so now I do have something to go by. Now only time and distance seperate me from it. It is in the hands of the postal system now.... My porky Minnie Mambo may just be a good candidate for a power upgrade.