Duke Fox Lustrox & Garnet Advertisement

Lustrox may be very fine grade kaolin or talcum powder, and Garnet may be fine grade kaolin, talcum or dolomite powder.

Abrasive grit in Garnet sandpaper here, wonder if it may be a type of glass.   My first thoughts on Lusterlox was Comet kitchen cleanser. Maybe it did then have pumice. (Remember Lava Hand Soap)?   I remember valve grinding compound back in the 1960's, early 1970's. Was an engine article mentioning about using it to further lap in moving surfaces.

Modern machining methods, better materials and equipment (along with cheaper export labor) have basically made these lost arts.

Lustrox is rottenstone.

Ken Cook wrote:Lustrox is rottenstone.

Ken, you caught me with a new word that I never heard before, until I looked it up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotten_stone

Wikipedia wrote:Rotten stone, sometimes spelled as rottenstone, also known as tripoli, is fine powdered porous rock used as a polishing abrasive for metalsmithing and in woodworking. It is usually weathered limestone mixed with diatomaceous, amorphous, or crystalline silica. It has similar applications to pumice, but it is generally sold as a finer powder and used for a more glossy polish after an initial treatment with coarser pumice powder. Tripoli particles are rounded rather than sharp, making it a milder abrasive.

I gather that it was probably a component of Brasso, used to polish the brass on military uniforms (of which I used to polish brass surfaces of saxophones where the lacquer was worn off).

Well, the need for Lustrox certainly didn't help their reputation around here. Together with some other oddities (muffler and carb attachments etc) still gives them a bad reputation and make them a bit of a laughing stock...

Here is some more info on the Lustrox:

Surfer_kris wrote:Well, the need for Lustrox certainly didn't help their reputation around here. Together with some other oddities (muffler and carb attachments etc) still gives them a bad reputation and make them a bit of a laughing stock...  

Here is some more info on the Lustrox:

I think a little perspective is in order. US had heavily invested in manufacturing before WW2. It was one of the most industrialized nations of the time. WW2 devastated many countries, and as a result, they had to start from scratch and slowly build up again. US was tired of war and to replace older equipment was more difficult because it costs money to upgrade, plus, it had much infrastructure invested in that was now way underutilized. Eventually yes, one does need to upgrade and they did. However, changes in law and insufficient support at home favoring imported products over local by less than favorable trade policies put many companies in a bind. Last was the exportation of labor.

However, enough talk these days in things no one seems to care to listen to.    

Fox engines are typical of older engines in construction. I purposely bought one of their last .25 R/C plain bearing, cross scavenged engines, because in spite of its humble appearance, was one of the last cross scavenged engines still being sold new. It does have the appearance that with the exception of the MKX carburetor, looks like it could have been manufactured around the Korean War period.

But Peter Chinn's January 1982 test showed that it did respectively well with 5% nitro, 0.41 BHP at 13,500 RPM.
http://sceptreflight.com/Model%20Engine%20Tests/Fox%2025%20RC.html



Which coincidentally was the same performance as by the OS Max .25-S (venturi version).

So, no Schneurle it is not, but in the proper flight envelope on the right airframe, should do a lot of good.

A decade ago I bought a BUNCH of combat Fox engines and Marvin Denny sent me a few...He included the original packets of Duke's break in powder... I wish I had the note from Marvin...it as funny...basically he said "use this stuff if you want to destroy otherwise good engines"

I happen to know several hot rod guys who were convinced that backing soda and aquarium sand were the best way to de carbon the top of 1960s~70s Muscle car engines.... pour into carb as you rev the engine.... and yes on tear down the tops of the pistons were shiny aluminum...however the valves and seats needed serious rework....jest \saying

Yup, Fred, I understand.

Speaking about cars in the very early 1970's, I had a high school friend that loved working on cars. He surprised me with carburetor cleaner back then. He poured the contents into the engine while running the car near red line, held it there for may be 5 minutes, something I'd never do. Those valve springs on those Japanese import cars weren't designed for such punishment.

Then one day, he pulled one burn out too many on his parent's 1968 Toyota Corona with manual transmission and stock engine (I think it was 1800 cc's). I found him pulled over to the side of the main road through town on the rural parts of Oahu. There was a puddle of oil, and a handful of metallic gear teeth from his rear differential scattered behind the car, with a big hole broken through the cast metal housing.

With those big, oversized tires and chrome reverse wheel rims coupled with a lead foot on the gas and left foot poppin' the clutch, was too much stress on the stock components.

'garnet' is exactly that-the mineral garnet...in some forms a semi precious stone, in others an abrasive material..used since we started making things from stone and metal. technically there are a range of garnets-but they are all silicate based minerals, with a variety of other metal elements incorporated-which gives the various colours encountered.

Quite often used these days by jewellers, rockhounds, and in sand blasting....as well (hopefully in a suitable grade) by model engine manufacturers of yore....

ChrisM
'ffkiwi'

gkamysz wrote:
"Before my time, but I thought Lustrox was included with Fox engines to wear out/break-in to your heart's content."

Now that's funny..!
I never "bought into" the micro polishing theory...but I never owned a FOX .35 that lasted long enough to try Lustrox with......LOL

OK..OK..that was a joke.

Now get a load of this....back in the day when MOPAR was selling Big Block Super Stockers to regular customers they had a lot of problems with angry customers needing frequent valve jobs.
It is my understanding that MOPAR issued a service bulletin that recommended running the engine at a fast idle and pouring uncooked rice down the intake......LOL.

I don't care if you guys "buy into" this story or not....it's funny either way...!!

TD ABUSER wrote:Now get a load of this....back in the  day when MOPAR was selling Big Block Super Stockers to regular customers they had a lot of problems with angry customers needing frequent valve jobs. It is my understanding that MOPAR issued a service bulletin that recommended running the engine at a fast idle and pouring uncooked rice down the intake......LOL. I don't care if you guys "buy into" this story or not....it's funny either way...!!

Must have been the Japanese car dealers who were pushing the rice cylinder and valve polishing theory to MOPAR customers.

Meanwhile, the cure for worn piston rings was J.C. Whitney's overhaul in a can. Remove each spark plug and put two dozen wax pellets in each cylinder, and pour liquid plate in the crankcase for a complete overhaul, guaranteed 10,000 miles driving without oil burning. (BTDT )
 

and banana peel/skins in the diff I actually used a product called ChemiWeld on my 1964 EH holden in about 1980. It had water coming out the exhaust pipe and water showing up in the oil. I could have fixed it properly, but I new the engine was not good otherwise anyway. So, new second hand engine from the wreckers Aust 80$ in 1980. About a weeks wages for me then, and a lot of work. Or for Aust $10 a can of ChemiWeld which I was very dubious about. Did what it said, poured it in. The engine did another approx 10,000 miles before if failed very audibly whilst towing my race trailer back from interstate. It was the only car ( street car ) engine Ive ever had that started making a rattle noise that got louder and louder until it became a clang clang, then a bang and the engine went off and the red lights came on in the dash. Something broke, and broke very major. Nothing sticking out the block or sump, but something inside very broken. Never looked in the engine. Went to the wreckers and got another new second hand engine and away we went again. Thing is. The ChemiWeld worked. Not just put put to work and back. Trailer on back of car, 80 mph all the way to Caulder raceway in one session (600 miles), race, then drive home. I thought all that liquid engine weld stuff was just rubish and a ripoff, but it worked for me. Not forever but for long enough to be worth it

Yabby