cox 049 marked with thimble drome

They are pretty common, but I like them. If the price is reasonable I buy them over the later examples.

copy and save this, i think its a handy reference tool...

That's a great picture. Could someone please answer these:

1. When did the crankcase change?
2. When was the step cylinder phased out?
2. Did the bee-style product engines have the Thimble Drome text? What about the 8cc tanks? Was the text on exported engines too?

Reason I'm asking the third question (or questions) is that I have an engine with the narrow neck crankcase (without the spring groove) and a non-vented 8cc tank. That would make it a '61-'62 "Silver Bee" product engine, I guess, but the tank has no text on it. Just wondering if it is original or not.

None of my Bees have the text, but I think they are all from the '70s (thick neck crankcases) except the "Silver Bee".

All good questions. But the problem that I'm having on newly acquired engines that many of them have been mixed and matched by previous owner over the years making hybrid engines out of them. Some I have thought "I must really have something unique here only to discover that it's really a "mixer.""

That's why it so important that the dedicated collectors here provide correct information from archives and known original examples.

Bob

One more question...when did Leroy Cox officially drop the "Thimble Drome" label and become just "Cox engines"?

Catalogs appear to change ~1962-1963, but the tank labeling on Babe Bees apparently ran until 1969.

George