Thimble Drome Champion

It took a while to get the reproduction stickers from Down Under and they are very hard to work with but I was able to finish the Eagle.
Nice ones sell for three to four hundred on eBay and a NIB, forgetaboutit.
Going to toast the 4th with my favorite American beer, this Yuenglings for you!!

Ive wanted an early issue Cox Prop rod for a while now, it was the first Cox toy I had and we ran the crap out of in the street.
This one came along so I got it, it came with a new red nacelle and the Bee is like new. When I broke it down found out the red nacelle is for a later issue Rod.
The blue one is mounted differently and glued on, wow, going to have to remove the blue one by cutting, grinding, sanding, filing OH MY!
The two nacelles look to be the same shape, the red mount needs a red tank Space Bug Jr to go with it.

The cockpit is like new

A quick rub down with Goof Off and some Novus #2 on the nose shows the yellow body will shine once again

Yikes! That is going to be a beauty of a prop-rod.
That red nacelle is going to look sweet.
Nice score.
Keep us posted on the progress.
Bob

The blue nacelle is really glued well, no give at all, took it down this far with a belt sander. If i make a mistake now the body will be toast.

The wheels and tires cleaned up well though

I found a nice Space Bug Jr. to go on the Rod, I haven't worked with any of these older cast cases, what is a good way to brighten them up?

crankbndr wrote:what is a good way to brighten them up?

Flowers and a box of chocolates works well....

Ian has a method he uses on those old cases. His turn out flawless. Maybe he will see this and post if not, shoot him a PM.

Ron

Thanks guys, I'll try searching the archives and see, should have done that anyway.

batjac wrote:

crankbndr wrote:what is a good way to brighten them up?

Flowers and a box of chocolates works well....

I been wondering about you avatar, I've seen it before but can't place it. Looked through all my old papers, its pretty cool, where is it?

crankbndr wrote:

batjac wrote:

crankbndr wrote:what is a good way to brighten them up?

Flowers and a box of chocolates works well....

I been wondering about you avatar, I've seen it before but can't place it. Looked through all my old papers, its pretty cool, where is it?

In the mean time, this ones from KustomKraftmanship's instruction pages. 1987
Bob

dckrsn wrote:

crankbndr wrote:

batjac wrote:

crankbndr wrote:what is a good way to brighten them up?

Flowers and a box of chocolates works well....

I been wondering about you avatar, I've seen it before but can't place it. Looked through all my old papers, its pretty cool, where is it?

In the mean time, this ones from KustomKraftmanship's instruction pages. 1987
Bob

Hey thats a cool one too, I'm going to save it, thanks!

It took many hours to fit the nacelle to the body, I used Ians good advice, "be patient do not rush". I worked on the fit for a short time then set it aside then come back later.
If not I would have rushed, got frustrated and botched it up. The nacelle fit is factory and the body is almost done.

Looks brand new. Great work.

Cribbs74 wrote:Looks brand new. Great work.

Ian must have seen your post because he sent me his methods for restoring the Thimble Drome cast cases, I think he is a master at engine restoration and using his advice will work on the Space Bug Jr. next. Shout out of thanks to Ian!!

I got the Space bug Jr. cleaned and mounted up, using Ians advice and methods I still could not reproduce his results on the engine.
The new nacelle came with factory screws, good thing as Ive had trouble in the past trying to use different screws on Cox models.
The body is done, now to work on the pan.

Do you know the pitch of the red prop I have a few but couldnt tell the pitch.

The prop I have is a 5/3, I forgot the maker name but the logo on the blade is a K with a sunburst and on the other is a R with a sunburst.
They came with early Cox engines, I need a white 6/3 for the Prop Rod. Got my eye out for one on eBay. There is a guy that repros the white one.

On closer look both logos are same K, from Marks site the maker is Kay-Sun

Like the castings for the Champion car the Prop Rods pan was a little rough around the edges so I filed of the edges and started sanding with 600, 1000, 2000 wet or dry on the whole pan.
Finished it off with a metal polish and the two halves a ready to mate.

Man that is looking real nice.
I have never seen Goof Off or Novus products here although we have a Novus windscreen replacement and repair company.
Can you tell me who makes those products and I'll see if I can hunt some down. Those and your meticulous work sure do a nice job

After seeing your question I did a little digging, the bottle of Goof Off 2 I have is about eight years old and no longer available (I should have bought a case).
The closest I can find that is safe on plastic is Goof Off Heavy Duty, it's a different formula and looks like it's hard to ship out of the US. The old formula was combustable and would kill you if you live in California.

http://www.goofoffproducts.com/product/heavy-duty-remover




Novus is sold on eBay and Amazon and should have less shipping problems

http://www.novuspolish.com
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1311.R1.TR12.TRC2.A0.H0.Xnovus&_nkw=novus+plastic+polish&_sacat=0