**VOTE-ON-THE-NEXT-COX-ENGINE-OF-THE-MONTH** (Oct 2013)

Ron

I thought it was a superb picture and better than anything I can do.

With my reaction time combined with the time my camera takes to process - I have quite a few pictures of the sky!

I am sorry if my sense of humour got your entry pulled.

A lot of voters prefer to see the Cox engine in action rather than a static or posed display.

I would like to be able to photograph a close up of an "in flight" - not likely to be able to!

Not to worry Ian I saw the humor in it. I also saw Jacob's point. I actually have better pictures and I have even put them up for CEOTM before. That picture was the only one I had available at the time so I posted it. In hindsight I should have just sat this round out.

Anyway, lesson learned.

Ron

Ron,

Here is my Medallion

 
Ooh, that's a nice one.

I see it! You have to look real close though.

Er, sorry,.......BUMP!
Vote.

Bob

Good job Jason!

Have you cranked that one?

Congrats Jason!

Kudos Jason!

Yea Jason !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks guys.

I havent started this one but it does smell like it did run on gas at one time in its past. The timer in the front looks to be pretty delicate so I do not know if I will run this one. I would need a coil, condensor and battery. Not even sure what oil to use but I bet it would have to be 10:1 ratio. I did have to reset the ball socket as it was pretty loose. Could be due to the oil that was used in the past.

Another worthy winner - I voted for this one - I like the variation.

Only one vote for me - not mine! I don't vote for myself but I think two of us got sympathy votes!

On my, vintage petrol engines - as recommended by Edgar T. Westbury - I use one part oil to four parts petrol. For most engines - this is Castrol SAE 30 oil. I then adjust the mix if it gets anexceedingly oily residue or no residue at all.

As usual, though, a Cox needs castor oil. I only only have one Cox petrol - it is a runner - and I 50/50 the oil.

Congratulations!

Ian,

So a 4:1 ratio then with 1/2 of the oil being castor. I didnt think castor mixed will with petrol(gas). You guys have ethanol in your petrol across the pond or do you still use MTBE. What octane do you recommend as it is easy to get 92 octane without ethanol here yet. I might try to fire this one up yet. I always wanted to get an old sparker engine to mess around with. They always seem to fetch a good price even if they are missing parts.

Most of our petrols have 5% ethanol - they are allowed to do this without labelling it! Some do 10%!

However, this is damaging to a lot of pre 1995 cars and motorbikes. They don't run happy with this but ethanol also rots seals.

We no longer have an octane rating - it is known as RON. There are usually only two levels available - 95 RON and 98 RON.

I believe the equivalents in US are 91 and 94 octane.

In the "old days" before they started messing around with fuel and ruining engines - particularly cast iron seated heads - we use "2 Star leaded" - this would have been 92 RON or US 88 Octane - all our petrol engines ran on this so I don't think you need a high octane rating.

One of my pals who only collect petrol engines uses only Castrol R.

"Castrol R40 provides the ultimate in lubrication. If the best possible performance coupled with reliability is the aim then the remarkable stamina and great film strength of Castrol R40 will provide a valuable margin of safety at ultra high engine speeds and temperatures.

A castor based lubricant which is primarily designed for the racing world; however its unique properties can also benefit private owners interested in high performance. Can be used in Engines or pre-mixed with fuel for 2 strokes.

Never mix Castrol R40 with mineral based or synthetic crankcase oils "





I know this is off topic but if you have an old car ......

http://www.frost.co.uk/protect-your-vehicle-against-ethanol

Jason_WI wrote:Ian,

So a 4:1 ratio then with 1/2 of the oil being castor. I didnt think castor mixed will with petrol(gas). You guys have ethanol in your petrol across the pond or do you still use MTBE. What octane do you recommend as it is easy to get 92 octane without ethanol here yet. I might try to fire this one up yet. I always wanted to get an old sparker engine to mess around with. They always seem to fetch a good price even if they are missing parts.

Castor oil mixes with fuel just fine and has been used in the racing arena for some time. Check out the Klotz benol site.

Ron

I don't think there is a reason you can't run alcohol fuel in your sparker, the high performance .60 spark engines of the 40s used methanol and castor.
As for ethanol in gasoline, it has been a real problem. When it first came out ( E-10) I used it and damaged a boat, motorcycle, lawnmower, and other 2 cycle engines.
I learned the hard way that any water in the tank (condensation) caused Phase Separation when the water bonds to the ethanol and falls to the bottom of the tank.
In a car with a closed vent system and run a lot, not so bad, in any tank directly vented to the outside (like a boat) big problems.
Only lately have they started selling Rec. 90 real gas, it costs much more.
The EPA has damaged tens of thousands of vehicles and they want E-15 next. I got no problem with E-85 in a car made to run it, but to force the use E-10 on older engines is
asinine.
Have you bought a new gas can lately? They botched that up too, but thats another rant.