Cleaning old Cox .049ers

Admin wrote: to the forum! If you're mainly after a general cleaning to get them running well, soaking the parts overnight in fuel or Isopropyl alcohol should help loosen the gummy castor. If you are looking for a deeper cleaning, Hoppes #9 gun cleaner should help remove the more baked on castor oil residue. Others have also used brake fluid however the parts shouldn't be soaked more than a few hours. If you want to make them look like new, polishing the parts with Mothers Mag & Aluminum Polish and refinishing with fine sandpaper or a sctochbrite pad will give them that machined look.

There's guys on here who will go into much greater detail.

By the way, have you been up to Hub Hobby lately (I see you're in the local area).

iamplanecrazy2 wrote:You mean in detail like this?

First off avoid rotating the crank at at any time during disassembly because it
is likely that there is dirt or debris inside the engine and you don't want it to damage
anything, especially the piston and cylinder.

To get started, fold up a rag so it is several layers thick and cover the engines case
with it so the engine can be LIGHTLY clamped in a vise without getting scratched up.
Situate the engine in the vise in such a way that wrenches can be put on the cylinder
and the glow head.

Now it is time to heat the engine. I like using a propane torch but
a heat gun works too, it just takes longer. Take care not to set your rag on fire! Get the
engine pretty hot, to the point you can't touch it for more than a second. Heating is
something you kind of have to get used to doing.

Quickly, before the engine cools to much, put a wrench on the glow head and break it
loose. If the glow head breaks loose from the cylinder then quickly go ahead and put a
wrench on the cylinder and break it loose from the case. If the cylinder broke loose along
with the glow head then just quickly move on to the next step. Move fast so the engine
does not cool off.

With the engine still wrapped in the rag take it out of the vise and and break loose the
fuel tank screws. If it is a Tee Dee or Medallion then rotate the engine in the vise so you
can put a wrench on the rear cover and break it loose.

Now go ahead and remove the fuel tank or rear cover. If the cylinder broke loose with
the glow head put a cylinder slot wrench in the vise and slide the cylinder onto it. It will
likely have cooled to much by now so heat the glow head up with the torch and remove
it from the cylinder. If the glow head won't break loose from the cylinder fairly easily
then heat again. Be especially careful with thin wall cylinders. Sometimes the head and
cylinder can be pretty stubborn coming apart. Stuck parts are something else that requires
some trial and error to master.

Now put a 5-40 screw in the end of the crank until it bottoms out. Stand the case up on
a piece of hard wood on a solid surface. Hit the screw head with a small hammer and
drive the crank shaft off of the prop driver. It should only take a few fairly light blows
to get it off. The engine is now completely disassembled and ready to clean.

I like using 90% or better isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) for cleaning parts.
A 10 to 15 minute soak followed up by a good going over with a stiff bristle brush
usually gets off most all residue. An assortment of brushes is essential to a good
cleaning. Be aware that the alcohol can alter the color of delrin parts, gives them
a whitish faded look. For really baked on residue I'll use Dawn Power Disolver. It
is a cleaner available at most grocery stores in the household cleaner section. Don't
soak parts it it for longer than an hour or so. It can ruin the finish on aluminum parts.

If any dirt or residue remains after soaking and brushing I may try another round.
If it comes out clean with just a few stubborn spots I will pick what remains off very
carefully with a pin. I use a T-pin, cut off the "t" and clamp it in a finger drill or pin
vise as some call them. Takes a bit of care and practice to  do it without causing scratches.

With this method I can disassemble and clean every part of the nastiest, grimmest, Babe Bee
you've ever seen in 30 - 40 minutes.

Cribbs74 wrote:Shug,

There is a lot of info on this subject buried within the forum. Do a search when you have some time. There are a few on here that do remarkable restorations.

I like to clean mine then get them really dirty   

Ron

VUgearhead wrote:
MAN! I want a cookie jar like that!

VUgearhead wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the Cox user's manual say to squirt some glo fuel over the head before removing it?

I would think that little bit of advice would be to contract the glow head, relative to the still hot cylinder. This would serve to help loosen the threaded connection.

SuperDave wrote:"Engine cleaning" has been covered MANY times in the "search" function.

Check there for lots of good answers.

(Most importantly DON"T use common pilers and screwdrivers but only Cox tools designed to suit the intended purpose.)

Why permanently damage a perfectly good engine by poor use of tools?

SD