cox baby bee.049

Best forums for answers is to join the 049collectors Yahoo Group. I posted the photo of my restoration of an early .049 Babe Bee with the tank stamping mentioned by the OP. Don't recall all the details, but replies I got placed it somewhere from about 1959 to about 1967. I could be wrong about the earlier date. Seems that the engine was so successful that Cox didn't have to make many changes to it during its production run.

Leroy Cox was able to put together a winner that basically decimated sales of other .049's with may be the exception of Testors. His fit and finish, used of automated screw and broaching machines could make these quicker and cheaper than others with high quality and accuracy. Ease of operation with quick break in's and stronger power than the competition made them just that more desireable.

I remember how pretty the .020 Pee Wee looked in its bubble pack with its anodized red tank, red prop thrust washer and brass colored back plate, shiny black cylinder and bright almost polished looking aluminum glow head and crankcase. Cox had a way with eye candy for presentation.

The tanks with the Thimbledrome started showing up around 29 Sep 1958 and they were still being used as late as 1971. The phase out date would be a little sketchy because some of the product engines started appearing as early as 1969 without the Thimbledrome on the tank. Who knows how long they were using up old stock. The earliest bees did not have them. This information came from the Cox Model Engine Handbook. Andy

Yep, that's what I have for notes from Mud, '59-'69, but still showing up (NIB) with "stepped" cylinders in '70-'71.

I Have tried a couple of times to gain acceptance in the 049 collectors group on yahoo. Is there a secret code that needs to be entered on the application?.

Marleysky wrote:I Have tried a couple of times to gain acceptance in the 049 collectors group on yahoo. Is there a secret code that needs to be entered on the application?.

No tricks as far as I know.  Mark B's your man.  He can set you straight.  (He's the poster above your post).
It's worth persisting.  There's a heap of really good info over there.

Rod.

Hello, I just noticed your post. You need a yahoo account and then sign up.

Someone on Yahoo 049enginecollectors group posted a collage showing various reed valve 049 crankcases, cylinders and tanks through the years. Seems there weren't as many changes in the fuel tanks except for anodizing and the Thimble Drone stamping. RR tank finish (though not reed valve) was the most unique. I found all this info rather informative.

KariFS wrote:I find the yahoo group a little confusing... Maybe someday I learn how to search&navigate there.

Yahoo has done odd things with the group interface. About two years ago, it was user friendly, using a standard BBS (bulletin board system) interface. Menu was well laid out, straight forward. Then they revised it to its current hard to use mess. I used to frequent the various groups, but not anymore. Even their E-mail has gotten worse with the same issue of bad user interface and increasing down time where I can't access my E-mails.

I have changed all my subscriptions with all forums and sellers from Yahoo E-mail to Google G-mail. Eventually I will close my Yahoo account.

So, you are not alone with problems accessing the features of Yahoo Groups.

GallopingGhostler wrote:

KariFS wrote:I find the yahoo group a little confusing... Maybe someday I learn how to search&navigate there.

Yahoo has done odd things with the group interface. About two years ago, it was user friendly, using a standard BBS (bulletin board system) interface. Menu was well laid out, straight forward. Then they revised it to its current hard to use mess. I used to frequent the various groups, but not anymore.
So, you are not alone with problems accessing the features of Yahoo Groups.

I did get access to the 049 collectors group, but as GG said " its a mess ". I think I'll only go there only when I have to. I thought they'd have more info, but if they do it sure is difficult to navigate it it.

They have heaps of info &, while the site is different, it isn't really that hard to find your way around once you figure it out.  The biggest problem I find is that, since it was "upgraded" (poor choice of words) a while back, it sucks up heaps of connection speed.  If you use dial-up, don't even contemplate it.  There's lots of great photos and a good bunch of other documents and tech stuff.  I like it because every time someone posts, I get it in my in-box.   Unlike here, where you have to log on and check out the recent posts.  Biggest problem I find here is that if you miss logging on for a day you can miss a heap of posts.  It only holds the 8 most recent posts down the left side & if someone hasn't replied to a post in a while then you can miss a topic altogether.  Only way I've found to locate a topic that's slipped past no.8 is to do a search.  That only helps if you know what to look for.  
Maybe I'm missing something.

049 Collectors has unfortuantely taken a beating lately due to not only what Yahoo have done to the site, but there were a few "incidents" where folks took offense at some things that were said and stormed off.  Much of the negativity seemed to be aimed at some who post a little "off-topic" stuff.  Lucky that doesn't happen here, because 90% of posts here are not necessarily Cox based.

I try to keep the conversation going over there, but interest seems to have really faded.

Rod.

I make sure I drop in over there. I mostly read but don't post. I get e-mail updates most days. Mark Boesen has put a lot of time and energy into creating and maintaining that site and I want to give him due respect for that. Between here and there lies most of the remaining searchable Cox knowledge.
Rusty

Oldenginerod wrote:They have heaps of info &, while the site is different, it isn't really that hard to find your way around once you figure it out.  The biggest problem I find is that, since it was "upgraded" (poor choice of words) a while back, it sucks up heaps of connection speed.  If you use dial-up, don't even contemplate it.

Problem is they have populated it with ads that use a lot of bandwidth. I gather that Yahoo is struggling with the cash flow issue (and possibly want to kill groups as it doesn't earn them money).

Some 4 or 5 years ago, a former Microsoft exec took the reigns of the company. Since then, it seems like other companies that Microsoft took control of, like Nokia have been struggling. I started to see sweeping changes in interfaces. It would not surprise me that a goodly part of their infrastructure got infused with Microsoft technology that was previously handled by mostly other technologies. London Stock Exchange tried that approach and trashed it 2 years later after experiencing many problems, went to a Unix/Linux solution. I've seen times that I can't even access Yahoo Mail, and it is more than just occasionally. Plus, their servers have been broken into multiple times. That didn't seem to happen plus they had better up time prior to the sweeping exec change.

I won't say that is the exacting reason, but it certainly has made me wonder. All I know is even with the latest patches added to my Windows XP system that I only use now for gaming, their DotNet stuff true to Microsoft even latest patches crash after about 20 minutes up time. Windows went back to living up to it name.

There's lots of great photos and a good bunch of other documents and tech stuff. I like it because every time someone posts, I get it in my in-box. Unlike here, where you have to log on and check out the recent posts. Biggest problem I find here is that if you miss logging on for a day you can miss a heap of posts. It only holds the 8 most recent posts down the left side & if someone hasn't replied to a post in a while then you can miss a topic altogether. Only way I've found to locate a topic that's slipped past no.8 is to do a search. That only helps if you know what to look for. Maybe I'm missing something.

Those who use their web interface to view and write messages are the ones to suffer. All the data resides in data bases. They should have retained the classic interface for desktop and laptop users, and use an alternative interface for cellphones and tablet users. They didn't have to fix something that already was not broken.

049 Collectors has unfortuantely taken a beating lately due to not only what Yahoo have done to the site, but there were a few "incidents" where folks took offense at some things that were said and stormed off.  Much of the negativity seemed to be aimed at some who post a little "off-topic" stuff.  Lucky that doesn't happen here, because 90% of posts here are not necessarily Cox based. I try to keep the conversation going over there, but interest seems to have really faded. Rod.

That I didn't know. After navigating their frustrating user interface, I gave up posting there overall. It is not that I wanted to, as I really enjoyed the folks there. I imagine that I am not alone, and not only did a few run off because of the "incidences", but were driven off because I'm thinking Yahoo botched their group interface to make it unpopular, similar to what Google did to their Usenet groups interface. That basically put the coffin nail into Usenet.

I think that if Mark Boesen could find a suitable alternate free web host for his group would help to ensure its continuance and excellent service to the engine community.

Please Let me clarify I do Enjoy the 049 Collectors GROUP. I hope nobody assumed I was bashing this group , If you did, I apologize. There is A ton and a half of valuable information, pictures and links Let me offer my congratulations and sincere gratitude to Mr Bosen and other members who've accumulated all the info at the 049 Collectors Group. I also want to offer a Raspberry to Yahoo for making it a lot less fun to navigate thru all that information.

this i s a quote from GallopingGhostler;

" I think that if Mark Boesen could find a suitable alternate free web host for his group would help to ensure its continuance and excellent service to the engine community."
and I agree 100% with that. Thanks

Thanks guys,
The problem is, I got ten years and over 4,000 photos posted, along with files, links and misc. info.
I've been thinking about moving to a new site, but its gonna take a lot of time and work to move all that stuff and the fact is, its more fun to just hang out here...most of the 049collecter guys are here anyway!
If you go get into the web site, its not hard to navigate AFTER you reset the photos, I've got info to do that posted on the Group Description page.
To help view photos, first click on PHOTOS under the header, then below that click on ALBUMS, then to the right, click on box that says ACTIONS, click on SHOW: All Albums and SORT: Alphabetical. This will put all the photo files in order to help navigate thru all the files...its about the same skill level as posting photos on this site.

GallopingGhostler wrote:Some 4 or 5 years ago, a former Microsoft exec took the reigns of the company.

Ah, Microsoft. Enough said.

Don't think I was being in any way critical of Mark. He's unfortunately stuck between a rock & a hard place. Chances are, if he puts in all the effort to swap all that info over to another server, we'd probably find stuff to complain about with them as well.

My comment on some users of the 049 group was in relation to a couple of guys who didn't like playing the game. One I recall used some "politically incorrect" and derogatory language, thinking he was being funny. He didn't like the criticism he received and was subsequently ejected from the group. Another couple of guys seemed to think that the groups posts were just for expressing techical information about .049s only & didn't like people "personalizing" it with some nice friendly chat (not unlike we do here, with no problems) and talking about things other than .049 engines & plastic RTFs.

I've received a lot of help from 049 members in the way of parts etc. I am really appreciative of the genuine caring folk over there.

When I first joined CEF I couldn't understand why so much of the discussion was about things other than Cox engines, but I soon learned that this group is an extremely friendly and tolerant group. Keep it up everyone. I appreciate it because my collection consists of far more than Cox and far more than .049s.

Rod.
( Summer has really hit down under today)