I do this....buy parts I do not need........

I do the same Bob, buy a junk lot for just one little thing. You can have too few parts, but never too many parts.

There's a sense of reward when taking parts as such and making a working engine out of parts, or using to repair others. Even the wrench Bob pointed out can be easily cleaned of its rust and brought back to usefulness. The surface rust makes it look worse than it really is.

Way back pre-CEF membership I was well into the 049 Collectors group, so I wasn't specifically focussed on Cox engines.   At the time I had not long discovered Cox International and had put in an order or two.
I managed to come across a large lot of Cox parts locally on eBay, so having assessed what the parts were worth compared to Bernie's listings, I snapped them up for a bargain.  I think I assembled at least three running engines with the help of some new gaskets, reed etc.  Included a decent Tee Dee 049 cylinder.  I'm sure I still have many of those parts unused, but it was certainly a worthwhile purchase, being local as a bonus.
These days I can barely bring myself to bid on stuff from the USA.  Shipping is now 3 or 4 times what I was paying back then.

I AM NOT ALONE!!!!!..... And I knew I wasn't.  It's good to be in the company of friends who think alike.  

Jim, no problem, I would gladly gift one of those tanks.  Let me see what I have, but if I forget about it, PM me.  Should be here in a week or two.

I wasn't kidding about that closed end Cox wrench.  I have three but have five workshops/stations and I'm always chasing one down.  I want at least one per station.  I probably have about 25 Cox wrenches but those are my favorites.  There is an odd look to it too. Could be .020 but they have a stamped out look to them that this one doesn't.  Seller says they are .020 parts, but most look .049 to my eye.  The reed clips are marked .020.

Another treasure hunt.  And yes, one of my greatest feelings is making something out of nothing.  Rampant among some here.  

Spent the morning playing in the yard.  Fire and smoke, mix of rain, sleet, snow.  Tractor and me......mud! Fingers and nose red.  Coveralls, coat, knit hat, gloves all dumped in the washing machine and me in the shower.  Seems good to be clean, warm and dry again.

Oldenginerod wrote:Way back pre-CEF membership I was well into the 049 Collectors group, so I wasn't specifically focussed on Cox engines. At the time I had not long discovered Cox International and had put in an order or two.

I remember those days, Rod, wonderful times. Many forums were privately run, or run by various Internet Service Providers, Compuserve, Yahoo, etc., plus private individuals who ran on-line bulletin boards. There were a couple neat pre-Bay auction sites that sold model plane stuff, and neat sales flyers from many major hobby houses. Back in the early 2000's, the late Joe Wagner, model designer and engine guru ran a small flight PDF newsletter. We'd E-mail him photos and interesting things we were doing, questions we had, etc. He'd compile those with his answers, answers by others forwarded to him, etc. Kept an archive of those PDF's until other forums took over.

Back in the mid-1990's, through AHC's newspaper flyer of clearances and sales, I picked up a couple rare close out model kits - various Comet rubber power stick and tissue kits including 32-in. Sparky, Frank Zaic's 46-in. Aero Sport, 18-in. Scientific hollow log Piper Cub Cruiser, 30-in. Scientific 1/4-A Shoestring Racer, etc.




Got to add, Bernie @Cox International and Matt @EXModelEngines have kept the quality of their items at the best, plus considering manufacturing contracted out costs, have kept prices very reasonable.

Oldenginerod wrote:These days I can barely bring myself to bid on stuff from the USA.  Shipping is now 3 or 4 times what I was paying back then.

Rod, it goes both ways. Post-Covid, overseas shipping costs have escallated quite a bit here in US. 10 years ago, I'd buy from European parts houses, various vintage and not-available-in-USA motorcycle parts, shipping was very reasonable. I'd wish they'd bring back Sea Mail. Everything now is shipped by Air. Although it took a couple weeks longer, the lower costs made it affordable. Thus, I hardly buy anything now that requires crossing oceans.

rsv1cox wrote:I AM NOT ALONE!!!!!..... And I knew I wasn't.  It's good to be in the company of friends who think alike. [...] Another treasure hunt.  And yes, one of my greatest feelings is making something out of nothing.  Rampant among some here.  

Yup,

glitch!

LOL! Oops, I just did it again!

But, these are parts I need for my Cox .15 Sportsman reedie engine.


 

”Parts you don’t need”?

What a strange concept

Of coarse I do , when I was dealing more on the Bay i would buy alot of stuff i didn't want or need really just for the lot of the good things I could rebuild and resale . I am about to start up again even tho i don't really want to but money calls , lots are few in between now a day .. Bob I opened a box yesterday and it had some wrenches in it and there were 2 of the wrenches you are looking for and same style for a 09 and I found the rear end assy for a 045 car I had been looking for also it has the starter wheel on it I was missing from the car I bought !

rsv1cox wrote:ebay $15.02. [...] Anodized fuel tanks are drilled for an external line.  I have had good luck repairing these with JB Weld.

Bob, I could see how that could be done. I'd probably snip a small rectangular section from a tin can slightly larger than the drilled hole in the tank. Carefully score its mating surface and the inside tank location with fine sand paper, to give the adhesive gripping power. Then carefully bend the backer to fit the tank curvature, JB Weld this backer inside the tank over the hole. Once cured, carefully JB Weld fill the hole over the backer on the tank exterior.

You have parts there to make at least two engines, and with a few extra parts - screws, crank, prop thrust plates, gaskets, glow head, reed valves and wire retainers, tank backs and needles make another and convert that car crankcase to an airplane one, Then you'd have 2 Babe Bees and a extended tank Bee.

KariFS wrote:”Parts you don’t need”? What a strange concept

Very well said, in a batch parts buy there may be one part needed and the rest becomes spares for possible future use.

That's about how I do it George, but I use masking/painters tape loosely applied to the inside of the tank then apply the JB and gently squish it up and smooth the outside with water on a fingertip. Positioning the repair at the top of the tank lessens exposure. Some might be usable, some not. Looks like some might have multiple holes. Ya just take your chances with this stuff.  I have pictures but can't find them.  

Enjoyable hours there cleaning and reconstructing.

Oldenginerod wrote:Way back pre-CEF membership I was well into the 049 Collectors group, so I wasn't specifically focussed on Cox engines.   At the time I had not long discovered Cox International and had put in an order or two.
I managed to come across a large lot of Cox parts locally on eBay, so having assessed what the parts were worth compared to Bernie's listings, I snapped them up for a bargain.  I think I assembled at least three running engines with the help of some new gaskets, reed etc.  Included a decent Tee Dee 049 cylinder.  I'm sure I still have many of those parts unused, but it was certainly a worthwhile purchase, being local as a bonus.
These days I can barely bring myself to bid on stuff from the USA.  Shipping is now 3 or 4 times what I was paying back then.

I know what you mean Oldenginerod.
I have a friend down under that lives in Macgregor Act 2516, Australia.

Use to ship engines to him for less than $30.00.
Last engine I shipped before this Christmas cost me over $90.00

Ordering part from the hobby shop in Australia (Ace R/C Models and Hobbies)
Shipping was reasonable.
Now it costs (in Aussie money) about $95.00 for anything shipped to me.
So, let's, see? A piston ring for $20.00 (AUD) + shipping ($95.00) = Ouch!

Fortunately, I was able to find and purchase the Enya SS30 piston ring from Bob Brooks in the USA for $23.00)
Got this "cheap" Enya SS30BB TN engine for $20.00 on an Etsy website as I bartered him down and told him that that "ring" was hard to come by (and it is).
The original ring was broken (somehow -- probably from an inexperience modeler) as there is a very small pin in the ring groove so the ring will not turn in the groove and get damaged from either the intake or exhaust ports.

I think the original owner (Etsy seller) tried to clean the engine up and broke the piston ring?
Got the "engine" as a parts engine (seller was selling it as a part engine) and when I got it in the mail, the engine was in a ziploc bag inside the shipping box.




There was also missing parts (off the carburetor) as it has the "twin needle valve) it has a small spring inside (missing)
and the stop screw that holds the throttle drum inside the carb. body and no engine gaskets?

So, I place an order with Bob Brooks for the missing parts and new gaskets for a total of $62.34 + $6.00 for std. shipping.
About $90.00 for an engine that looks like it was hardly used (with box and muffler)
Missing instructions on Twin Carb adjustments and engine instructions.

FYI --- Here are the photos of the piston and the tiny pin in the piston groove and the broken ring.
So, someone else will not make this mistake as the OEM rings are getting harder to find for these engines.






Anyway, Good looking engine for $90.00 --- maybe sell for $125.00?
With photocopied instructions on the Twin carb and engine's needle valve setting.

I wasn't aware that the SS 30 was available in a ringed version. The iron /steel 30 SS versions I've used are very powerful for their size. I currently use the SS .25 to power most of my older profiles. The SS .25 offers more power than what the period correct .35's offered. I have a SS 35 which is ringed and it's certainly different. It almost appears to be what looks like a brass chrome cylinder with a ring.

rsv1cox wrote:That's about how I do it George, but I use masking/painters tape loosely applied to the inside of the tank then apply the JB and gently squish it up and smooth the outside with water on a fingertip. Positioning the repair at the top of the tank lessens exposure. Some might be usable, some not.  Looks like some might have multiple holes.  Ya just take your chances with this stuff.

I use a solid thin backer with sufficient edge for solid bonding under the hole, is because in general, adhesives are weak except when bonding in a thin layer. Those holes drilled are sufficiently large. The atoms in these adhesives use a weaker Vanderwall's Bond. Thus, my way should be a permanent repair, withstanding the vibrations encountered for the life of the engine.

One might be able to get away with a backer such as silkspan, with the JB Weld sufficiently rubbed into the weave. One might even be able to get away with using standard (not the quick drying) Epoxy.

I was thinking of a lasting repair. However, your methodology putting the covered hole toward the tops would still be good. If it fails, then "rinse, wash, repeat". Your quick fix method does have merit in this sense. "Just git 'er done".

rsv1cox wrote:Enjoyable hours there cleaning and reconstructing.

Yes, I hear you on that, it is fun and relaxing to do, and especially satisfying when you see your aircraft flying with this repaired engine in a manner as though you'd bought a new engine.

Kim wrote:DIAMONDS in the ROUGH!!!!

Just like people, with heat and pressure make into a diamond, or a hard lump of coal.

I'm pretty sure most if not all of those are .020 parts including the wrench especially the ones with the red anodized drive plates. Check out the mostly center cylinder /case. Strange. Wish there were a penny in there for perspective.

rsv1cox wrote:.020 parts including the wrench

will go out to garage to check my wrench collection. I MAY have some of the closed ends - you are looking for .020 only? or also >049?

cstatman wrote:

rsv1cox wrote:.020 parts including the wrench

will go out to garage to check my wrench collection.  I MAY have some of the closed ends -  you are looking for .020 only?  or also >049?

Thanks Charles, I'm doing fine on wrenches. I could use a couple of the .049 closed ends but I'm in no hurry and I enjoy the hunt.

Bob

I have a loose-leaf binder full of most of my old cars going back to the 1950's, but sadly nothing on the Riviera. There are at least 140 cars in there.




But if I went through my old Rhode Island records I bet I could find an insurance policy card on it. I will have to check. I sold it to a friend in Patuxent River Md. and probably gave him a Bill Of Sale, but nothing formal changed hands. I sold it to him cheap as he admired the car, but I should have sold it to a collector who would have appreciated it. The last time I saw it his wife was driving it, a cigarette hanging out of her mouth and three kids jumping around the back seat.

I bought it in Tiverton/Newport at the intersection by the Newport Creamery around 1969. You probably know of it.

I have both years offered, headlights changed, otherwise mostly the same. As I have mentioned a big old 454 ci. under the hood.

Those are some neat Rivieras, Bob. After viewing your photos, looked it up, ran for a long time, 1963 into the late 1990's, eight generations using that name. The 1963 looks several years ahead of its time, Ford didn't catch up until several years later. It's 1963 Falcon had a dated look, although I kind of like it.

My bathroom electronic timer light switch that I replaced about 8 years ago, failed. Found from another, while out we had a power surge. My 40 year old red LED electronic clock failed also. It would show only 12:00 and non of the switches worked, nor could make changes. I bought a new clock radio and a new switch.

Just curious if anyone else does this. After replacing, took the old switch apart to salvage the screws holding it together.


I separate these into small spare screws and washers bins. Then when I need, sort through these to find a fastern I need. Sometimes when a plastic hole has been stripped out, I find another screw slightly larger in diameter to make up the need.

I also save good and unused wire nuts, the green 14 gauge flex terminated pigtail sometimes comes in handy with modeling electronics.

By taking apart the extra unused, uneeded switch faces (I needed white, came with extra Ivory and Almond), now I have small diameter springs and two more tiny sheet metal screws for future use. These springs are good quality, as they were designed to provide springiness for each momentary contact switch for the life of the switch. These may come in handy for say replacing needle valve springs.


At times this has saved me from making a purchase at a store or on-line.