Ranger, minor parts missing, needs cleaned.

Thank you for the correction. I was wondering about the throttle bit.
Phil

Hi Phil,

Is this engine still available?

Bill Adair

smooth_bill wrote:Hi Phil,

Is this engine still available?

Bill Adair

Yes.  

I take paypal and can take other forms of payment, check, money order, cash on pickup...

Phil

Phil,

I'll take it.

Please email your Paypal address to: wgadair@comcast.net

Bill

Got your payment, it goes in the mail tomorrow, I don't expect to be near the post office today.

Phil

Bill, am interested in seeing how your new acquisition cleans up and how put to use. I got one just like it, but oddly it has a music wire soldered to the shaft. I don't know if this was done by Cox so needle would be readily accessible for adjustment or previous owner did that, but the job was done very cleanly and professionally, makes me wonder if this was done by Cox for a particular RTF.


In contrast to yours, mine doesn't have the streamlined exhaust pipe exiting muffler.

GallopingGhostler wrote:Bill, am interested in seeing how your new acquisition cleans up and how put to use.

Hi George,

Bought this out of curiosity, as I don't recall seeing one before. I'll let you know what I find.

Perhaps that muffler spigot just screws into the muffler, and your's was lost?

Bill

smooth_bill wrote:Bought this out of curiosity, as I don't recall seeing one before. I'll let you know what I find. Perhaps that muffler spigot just screws into the muffler, and your's was lost?

No, mine is actually one style of production muffler without the spigot that came with a spring steel cover probably longer that could be slid open, partially or fully closed to modify amount of muffling and permit engine priming through the cylinder exhaust slits.

Ranger engine cleaned and missing starter spring installed.

GallopingGhostler wrote:Ranger engine cleaned and missing starter spring installed.

Looks very nice George. I agree that the needle extension was well done.

I'd like to see the p/l for that engine, if one was ever released. Cox added some performance enhancements to some of their throttled engines, so I wouldn't be surprised if they used a cylinder with extra bypass ports on your's.

Bill

Your welcome, Bill. I didn't take a photo, but this one has the same cylinder used on the RC Bee, two bypass ports, no SPI, no boost ports. As I recall, my RC Bee was a touch more powerful than the older Babe Bee with one bypass port and SPI, even with my RC Bee muffled. You'll find an explanation of the various cylinders at:
google.com coxenginecollection choosing-a-cylinder

My Ranger cylinder is the same as the one from a Cox .049 Chance Vought Corsair RTF that a friend gave me. Here it is compared with a Sure Start cylinder:


A Sure Start cylinder and piston set would be a good upgrade for the Ranger. I did notice that the Sure Start exhaust slits are slightly lower than the Ranger ones. I didn't verify, but one would want to make sure that the exhaust slots in the muffler would still expose both cylinder slits in the cylinder.

Muffler as designed has octal edges similar to a hardware nut. Engine was designed for the cylinder to be mounted sideways to tank. This was the way engine was mounted in the 38" span Cox Fairchild Rancher RC RTF. Then the side of the tank prevents the muffler from rotating so muffler slots remain matched cylinder exhaust slits. Up vertical, the muffler is free to rotate. One could stop rotation by placing a short piece of plastic or hardwood sliver about 3/32" square cross section between tank and muffler edge to keep muffler from rotating.

Phil, Thanks for the prompt shipping, and very honest description of the engine.

George,

Soaked the engine overnight in Acetone, and the broken gasket came right off. Unfortunately, I removed the needle valve, but dropped in the Acetone as well. Didn't realized the knob was not safe in Acetone, but no problem as I have replacements.

Phil was right about the engine not going to TDC, but it turned out to be a carbon buildup in the upper cylinder. Quick stroke of a 45 cal brass bore brush, and it now flips over smoothly. Seems to have good compression as well.

The glow plug was shot, and did not have any sign of the original filament, so I'll replace that.

I'd sure like to know what kind of adhesive was used to glue the tank gasket in, as Acetone didn't touch it? Looks like it was used on the crankcase to tank joint as well, and some was even on the outside of the tank, and in the mounting holes. If I can find a solvent that works, I may attempt to clean the tank and case.

I'll let you know if I ever run it, but doubt that I'll bother.

Later pals,

Bill

Glad to know you got it. I hope it does what you expect. It is a neat setup.

Phil

smooth_bill wrote:PUnfortunately, I removed the needle valve, but dropped in the Acetone as well. Didn't realized the knob was not safe in Acetone, but no problem as I have replacements.

IIRC, the earlier engines, like the postage stamp backed engines of the 1960's and early 1970's didn't come with knob. My late 1970's RC Bee doesn't have it.




They have a factory notch cut in the top of the brass needle, so one can count the turns. You could simply take a file and cut a notch into the top. I've found that even though the shaft is a small diameter, it is still easy to adjust.

I'd sure like to know what kind of adhesive was used to glue the tank gasket in, as Acetone didn't touch it? Looks like it was used on the crankcase to tank joint as well, and some was even on the outside of the tank, and in the mounting holes. If I can find a solvent that works, I may attempt to clean the tank and case.

Hard to say what sealant or glue previous owned used. The gasket is normally not glued. Did he have problem with fuel leaks? You'd think he might have used silicon caulk or RTV sealant, which generally are fairly easy to remove. If it seems hard to remove, you could leave it in place and put a new gasket over top. The plastic tank seam is easy to damage and by attempting to remove the gasket (if say he used Epoxy) could bugger it and cause leaks.

Cox International and Ex Model Engines have the R/C Bee / Dragonfly tank gasket, the same is used on the Ranger engine.

Phil, and George,

Pulled the tank back off my Ranger engine, and found the main body of the tank is cracked inside! The crack starts at the fuel line connection inside the tank, and runs almost to the top of the spray bar housing. I'm not sure if this is crash damage, or someone stripped the spray bar, and tried to press in a new one to replace it. In any case this engine is not repairable, unless a new tank housing can be found. Ball socket is a little loose, but I'm not going to reset that unless I find a new tank body.

I did find a very nice Dragon Fly type engine on eBay, and it has a white tank like a Ranger engine. I removed the tank back, and cylinder for inspection, and the piston ball socket is not loose enough to need resetting, so I left it alone. Compression is like new.

So I'm happy. I have a Dragon Fly type engine, and most of the parts to assemble or repair another.

Bill

smooth_bill wrote:Pulled the tank back off my Ranger engine, and found the main body of the tank is cracked inside! The crack starts at the fuel line connection inside the tank, and runs almost to the top of the spray bar housing. I'm not sure if this is crash damage, or someone stripped the spray bar, and tried to press in a new one to replace it. In any case this engine is not repairable, unless a new tank housing can be found.

Occasionally a Dragonfly or Ranger parts engine or tank assembly comes up on E-Bay and fairly inexpensive. You might gain a second working engine yet future.

Bill , I found a blk. tank with back plate and screws , needs a gasket hose and klunk . If you want it I will send it to you PM me your address .