Cox Sure Start Engines~General Help With Them!

Hello again, Thank you for the instruction manual, do you mind if I make 40 copies of it to hand out to the students? Right before I came home, I noticed a smaller box that holds 40 "CO1995 8cc Tank Assembly Kits". I'm guessing that they replace the back plate. is the valve settings going to be different on the tank then the back plate?
Thank You!-Jerry Reed-CVHS Ind.Edu Dept.

Yes the needle settings will be slightly different. you will want to turn the needle out about 3 times not 4 like with the back plate.

If you are still looking for fuel I recommend fuel by Sig or Glowplugboy the latter is on eBay right now or if you are feeling adventurous and your school has acces to all needed to make your own fuel give that a go use 20% nitromethane 25% castor oil and the 55% methanol if you mix yourself you can get exactly what you want the only thing that is hard to get there is nitromethane.

OK, I have gotten the fuel, its some Sig 20%, and a 1.5 volt hobby battery. I took the back plate off the engine and replaced it with one of the tanks. I mounted the engine on a wood stand that I made from scrap wood. I used a cleaned-out glue bottle to fill the tank with fuel. I attached the glow clip on the battery and gave the propeller a few flips, the engine started an quit after a few seconds. After playing with the valve and a few other tries, I finally got it to stay running! It ran for about 4-5 minutes until the fuel was gone. I had to show it to my classes today, they all thought it was neat! Tomorrow after school, I'm going to place an engine in a bag, along with a propeller, 2 wrenches, a copy of that manual and some instructions that I'll type up. I'm actually wondering if I should dissemble the engines completely and have the students follow instructions to reassemble them. Do you think too many parts will get broken? I would like to give the project sometime in the next 2 weeks. Thank You Jerry Reed -CVHS Ind.Edu. Dept.

There was a kid on this forum who was given that assignment and he did not break anything eventhough it was his first cox engine. Suestarts are pretty easy engines and as long as the reed is not creased they should run fine afterwards bit if you don't want to risk the engines you could get some free flight aircraft kits as they are cheap and fun and then have a mass launch or competition the students also have the chance to learn about aerodynamics and get some experience building models.

Can you still purchase replacement reeds or any other parts if needed? The local hobby shop "Past-Time Products" carries some Cox items such as, a few glow heads, bag with 2 wrenches, assortment of Cox "Thimble Drome" propellors, fuel bottle cap w/ hose and a "Black Widow .049" still in the box behind the counter. I purchased the remaining 5 glow heads "325 Standard Glow Head" and 15 5x3 propellors. I was thinking about buying the "Black Widow .049" to play with at home, its $29.99, good price? I noticed the kid, it didn't sound like he really liked it. The engines we've got are not going to be sold to the students, its a class set. I'm not teaching a "auto shop" class. I'm teaching a class that covers everything from the fundamentals of home electrical wiring, building a bridge from balsa wood, analog audio recording (recording on a plastic cup), electronics (building a small FM radio), a wood wall clock and a Co2 powered car that they build from scratch. I know a different class already teaches about flight and planes, I would like to add a subject on internal combustion engines. The plastic cup player/recorder and their recording, radio, clock and Co2 car, they all get to keep and take home. The bridges get destroyed in the weight test, students get a prize for the bridge that can hold the most weight. The engines were originally purchased to be used in the classroom so I guess I will use them. I'm just concerned that if anything gets broken, I won't be able to replace it. Thank You, Jerry Reed-CVHS Ind.Edu. Dept.

It's ok you can purchase any surestart .049 part from the cox internationals website they even sell surestarts for anvery reasonable price as for the black widow get it that is a very good price don't be afraid of breaking any thing because parts for .049's are very cheap.
All the best,
nitroairane

Ahh, Thank you! I went and purchased the Black Widow today! I already started it up in my backyard, ran it a few times! The guy behind the counter at the hobby shop told me that "we can not and will not be getting anymore Cox products and or parts since they went out of business". Another guy that was buying a model car at the time also told me that these Cox engines are starting to become more popular and rarer as more people want the toys they grew up with. I noticed there are a lot of them for sale on eBay, I just purchased a "Babe Bee .049" and a "Pee Wee .020". I'm assuming that the "Pee Wee .020" will require totally different valve settings since its smaller. There is also a lot of parts on eBay as well. I purchased 3 lots of (6) "normal .049 glo-heads" and a lot of "stainless steel reeds". I was thinking about purchasing a lot of long tank screws but I was wondering if I could just get them from a hardware store, does anyone know of the thread sizes of all the screws on a Sure Start .049 with a tank? Thank you! Thanks for all the help so far!, Jerry Reed

Hi, for the tank screws, they are 2-56 and for the prop drive screw, they are 5-40. I don't think you will find any 2-56s at an ordinary hardware store, even the hardware store near me didn't have any 5-40s. Before you go and print out a hundred million copies of that sure start manual, print out the babe bee manual instead. The babe bee manual will contain the correct pictures and needle adjustments. For the pee wee, I have a manual for that too! That was a good price for a OEM black widow, does it have the open #1 cylinder or slit cylinder and is it completely all black with tubes running through the tank or is plastic like the ones your putting on your sure starts? You might want to get some extra venturi gaskets and crankcase gaskets and maybe a bag of head gaskets. For all the times I have taken apart my engines to loose that small little venturi gasket and or take apart an engine to have the crankcase gasket rip. Sounds like your class will have fun!

http://sites.google.com/site/coxenginecollection/instruction-sheets/cox_049_operation_and_troubleshooting_guide.pdf?attredirects=0 <this manual is also good, it doesn't contain as much technical info as the other babe bee manual below but it shows step to step pictures.


http://sites.google.com/site/coxenginecollection/instruction-sheets/BabeBee.049Instruction.pdf?attredirects=0 <has smaller tank but will be the same needle adjustments and other stuff.

http://sites.google.com/site/coxenginecollection/instruction-sheets/CoxPeeWee.020.zip?attredirects=0 <your pee wee manual

If you are thinking of getting seriously onto cox engines or even just a mild interest you should get a cox .010 they are so cool to watch run or even just to look at and they are well worth the money.

Hey you should join the forum it would greatly benefit you also that blackwidow was and amazing deal as cox international are selling one for $80 http://coxengines.ca/home.php?cat=40

I remember paying $29.99 for cox engines at my local hobby shop. That was some time ago... Just 3-4 years ago I got 2 killer bees for $20 each and one for $29.99, they really wanted $29.99 each but because I was purchasing all 3 at once, they gave me a deal. You can see those killer bees here. Today $29.99 is a good price for a nib cox engine. Join the forum, its fast and free!

The "Black Widow" has a cylinder with a "#1" stamped inside the exhaust port and is all black. It also has the tubes through the tank. I ordered some of those venturi gaskets and some of those crankcase gaskets. I went to our hobby shop this morning and they had a package of "Norvel" head gaskets that fit these engines. Thanks for the instruction sheets. I will join the forum later on. I'm thinking about collecting these engines but I'm not going to go out and buy one of each all at once. I'll try to get my hands on a "Tee Dee .010" someday soon. Thanks for the info! I'll most likely be posting more questions on here again. -Jerry Reed-CVHS-Ind. Dept.

Boy did this forum take off since I was last here! As some of you guys out there may know, classes have started already. For the first time, I have used these Cox engines for teaching purposes. We have been playing around with these since Thursday and so far we have broken only 3 engines. We broke 2 mounting holes off 1 engine and another a student was turning the tank screw the wrong way (tightening it) and broke the screw off too close to the crankcase so it can't be removed. We lost a tank bowl for the 3rd engine and the needle valve got a bent tip. I tried to bent the tip back but it broke off. I'll join the forum sometime in the next few days. I know we can still get these parts but do you think I should still continue using the engines as a teaching tool now that the parts arn't really made anymore? -Jerry Reed-CVHS-Ind. Dept.

Hi Jerry,
Yes we have grown since I posted 2 links on RCU and RCG and I think Bernie has now put it on his site.
If I were you I would carry on using the engines.
I don't know how you are teaching them.
Do you give a detailed demo first?
I would carry on using them but maybe one engine per 2 pupils that would also encourage teamwork.
If the kids enjoy it and are learning then keep going.
Just my opinions.
You got a .010 yet?
Indra

Jerry:

It would be my recommendation that you stress to students that the engines are NOT mere toys to be handled in a hapazard matter.

Any disassembly should be preceeded by a demonstration of the care to be used to preserve the engine: not damaging screws/bolts, care in placing gaskets, the use of the proper tools (a Cox wrench being essential), the use of an illustrated manual etc. A Cox is not like a Briggs and Stratton lawnmower engine that can stand up to a lot of abuse and still function.

The fuel matter has been properly addresses above. TOSS IT for fresh fuel and save yourself all sorts of problems. (Old fuel makes GREAT weed-killer but some "greenies" would complain)

How did you manage to replace the back plate on a Sure-start and still get it to run??? (The tank MUST be attached to the backplate as the tank is a totally different part).

BTW, I am a retired high school teacher with lots of experience with kids and learning experiences.

Yes, please DO join our forum as a member. You'll find us an invalueable resource.

SuperDave

SuperDave wrote:Jerry:

It would be my recommendation that you stress to students that the engines are NOT mere toys to be handled in a hapazard matter.

Any disassembly should be preceeded by a demonstration of the care to be used to preserve the engine: not damaging screws/bolts, care in placing gaskets, the use of the proper tools (a Cox wrench being essential), the use of an illustrated manual etc. A Cox is not like a Briggs and Stratton lawnmower engine that can stand up to a lot of abuse and still function.

The fuel matter has been properly addresses above. TOSS IT for fresh fuel and save yourself all sorts of problems. (Old fuel makes GREAT weed-killer but some "greenies" would complain)

How did you manage to replace the back plate on a Sure-start and still get it to run??? (The tank MUST be attached to the backplate as the tank is a totally different part).

BTW, I am a retired high school teacher with lots of experience with kids and learning experiences.

Yes, please DO join our forum as a member. You'll find us an invalueable resource.

SuperDave

I'm a long retired high schools student
And my sense of humorous has bot changed since

And be sure to teach them righty tighty and lefty loosey.
Absolutely keep using them. I think it's a great learning tool.

because parts for .049's are very cheap.

nitro:

"Cheap" connotes the wrong message, IMO. "Inexpensive" is better used.

"Cheap" implies inforior quality and who wants inforior quality; not me certainly.

"Semantics", you may say. I see it differently.

Regards, SD

That is true I meant inexpensive but if Estes they may also be cheap.

nitroairplane wrote:That is true I meant inexpensive but if Estes they may also be cheap.

but if you break em in right, they too can run just fine.