Does an old Fox 35S . . .

Does an old Fox 35S have an aluminum gasket in the head?

I have just "crock-potted" a couple of old motors including a Fox 35S of about 1980 vintage. Works fairly well but leaves the metal a sort of matt dark grey. A K&B 15R crankcase came out a bit spotty. I am using flourescent red anti-freeze (Modern anti-freeze according to the guy in the motor shop)

BUT . . . I discovered an aluminum head gasket after the job was done. My question is, did I make this myself years and years ago - or did these Foxes come with an aluminum head gasket? I have put in a new ABC piston-liner so am interested to see how the motor runs now. It is quite tight at TDC. I hope it does not need hours and hours of running in?

Fox experts - your answers please!

Charles

Yes, the gasket is original. The pinch in the ABC is supposed to be that way. Should need very little break in. I would put a 9 x 4 on it and run it in a rich two cycle for a couple of minutes at a time until it seemed happy. That is a general thing that works for ABC's. Need to get things hot quickly to minimize friction at the top of the stroke.

Glad someone asked about a Fox .35, am thinking of putting a ABC piston and liner in one of mine. What kind of fuel would you recommend to break one in and run through it after?

Off Topic --

Curious about your screen name. Did you ever race bicycles?

Larry Fulwider

Thanks Jim,

Same breakin procedure then as with my Brodak 40.

I'm interested to see how the ABC motor works. This also has the crank webs cut away for better balancing, so with the lighter piston as well I'm hoping it won't shake the intended plane (Mk1 T-Bird) to bits. I'm not a huge fan of Foxes, but thought this would go well with the T-Bird.

Charles

Charles,
I am surprised that the crock pot discolored your engines. I found that as long as I made sure to cover the entire engine in the antifreeze/water mixture, I saw no discoloring, at least to my eyes.

>Charles,
>I am surprised that the crock pot discolored your engines. I
>found that as long as I made sure to cover the entire engine
>in the antifreeze/water mixture, I saw no discoloring, at
>least to my eyes.


Alan,
I have had good luck when I have cleaned Fox with Fox and OS with OS, but have had dicoloration occur on the OS with Fox cleaning session. Not sure if there is a problem with dissimilar base metals or not, perhaps the antifreeze is just getting a little old. However, my future endeavors will keep the Foxes isolated, just in case.
John

On crock potting engines... I have a pot with a high and low setting at the high setting it nearly always causes discoloration. On low it cleans as well with little or no color change.
Bob Furr

"See ya in the circle!"

Regular old green Preston is what I use, mixed half and half with water. The ethalien glycol is what does the cleaning and most new anti freeze is formulated to work with aluminum, iron, as well as steel..... I have (cooked) many engines and have never had a problem with spotting or discoloring.
And yes, your Fox stunt .35 uses a dead soft aluminum head (gasket)...
As for the ABC set up, I do not know much about it....But I can tell you that the single most important (mod) that you can do is to install a stuffer back plate. Crankcase volum is decreased leading to more fuel charge comprssion and there for giving higher transfer port velocity and more power. Remember that your engine is a sleeve bearinged engine and run a minimum of 25% castor if you want it to live.... just my opinion...... Phil

>BUT . . . I discovered an aluminum head gasket after the job
>was done. My question is, did I make this myself years and
>years ago - or did these Foxes come with an aluminum head
>gasket? I have put in a new ABC piston-liner so am interested
>to see how the motor runs now. It is quite tight at TDC. I
>hope it does not need hours and hours of running in?

Charlie;

Years ago when the head gasket in my Stunt 35 went, I lapped the head to the cylinder liner. I don't remember the break being significantly harsher, and it never blew out again.

We are much savvier now, so there may be a difference. You could always try lapping it, and if you don't like the run, order or make another gasket.

V/r

Bob

Charles --

Interesting coincidence -- I just pulled a 40th "Annual-versity" Fox 35 out of the crock-pot about 12 hours ago!

>I have just "crock-potted" a couple of old motors
>including a Fox 35S of about 1980 vintage. Works fairly well
>but leaves the metal a sort of matt dark grey. A K&B 15R
>crankcase came out a bit spotty. I am using flourescent red
>anti-freeze (Modern anti-freeze according to the guy in the
>motor shop)

I used Prestone "New Formula Extended Life Antifreeze / Coolant" which I bought at Wal-Mart because it was the only one they had compatible with aluminum. It was a $1 or so more expensive than the standard Prestone right beside it on the shelf.

Result? Shiny new! (well, as shiny as Foxes get) No blotchies, no spotties, and very free turning. Also claims to be compatible with ANY antifreeze of ANY color.

Now, where's my spray can of WD-40? (Just joking!)

Larry Fulwider

Hmmm

Strange about the greyness. Its not too bad, and yes my stuff is mostly ethylene glycol. It was pale grey to start with, not shiny.

I wish I knew of some magic method to make aluminum come up nice and bright and "as new". There probabloy is - but also probably toxic so "for our own good" we're not allowed to buy or use it! (Never mind that I daily work on equipment with killer voltages and killer amounts of hard x-rays) THE OLD DAYS WERE BETTER. And Darwin's theories eliminated the terminally stupid. [photo not recovered: cry.gif]

Charles

What's this anti WD-40 about. It's my favorite short term lube.

I use Ethylene Glycol based antifreeze straight. I have had three problems out of the numberous engines I've cleaned.

1. Don't do zinc, it actually blisters!!
2. One of the several McCoy .35 cases I've cleaned came out splotchy, really POed me too, it was a perfect first model Testors.
3. Older Super Tigres are PAINTED, don't crock pot 'em, enough said there.

Other then these three instances I've have stellar results, I did a 2nd model Fox .35 that came out absolutely as new, it took 3 cookings to get the black burnt on castor off it. Matte finished K&Bs as well came clean except for corrosion, only media blasting will give them a consistant finish.

I think there must be some variation in alloys used in the castings, particularly in the McCoys I've cleaned.

Randy Ryan <><
AMA 8500
SAM 36
BO all my own M's

well i use white gas....same as coleman camping fluid...it'll get rid of the old gummy castor and wont discolor(as if that mattered) anything...the less u do to a good running engine the better off it is...jim

Hi Larry, uhmm off topic , but you guessed the screen name I did race bicycles years ago and rode nothing but Colnago frames.

>Hi Larry, uhmm off topic , but you guessed the screen name I
>did race bicycles years ago and rode nothing but Colnago
>frames.

Oh no you guys, does this mean I should change my screen name to OLMO
or RICKERT or BAUER? I too raced years ago; I used a Rickert and a Bauer
on the track, and an Olmo on the road. This was back in the ABLof A days.
The Bauer was my brother's and it had wood rims. I test rode a Colonago
frame after I stopped racing...very sweet!
Tony

Hey Phil; It might not hurt, but over time it will put a glaze on the piston cyl. that is really hard to clean off. Some of the R/C guys use to use it after a days flying to run there engines on to clean out the fuel and crud. They just sprayed a little in the intake and fired the engine up. After a while the engines began to run badly, and the WD-40 was the problem. George Aldrich had some very bad experiances with the stuff, and said it was almost impossible to clean off.

What temp are you guys "crocking" at? I do on low temp with the cheapeast antifreeze available and never had an engine discolor.

Bill P.

>What's this anti WD-40 about. It's my favorite short term
>lube.

A few years back I stored a nice K&B green head Torp 35 for the winter. I lubed it up well with WD40 in the cylinder and case. The following spring, the piston was covered with red rust.

Prior to this I had heard that WD40 can cause/accelerate corrosion, but did not believe it. Now I know better.

I only use air tool oil now.

Chris Sterner

WD 40 is mineral spirits (kerosene) and wax. I wouldn't recommend it for model engine storage.

"Mineral spirits" is the prime/sole ingredient in most penetrating oils.

I'd suggest a light-bodied, napthenic oil, such as an air-tool oil, because it penetrates well, and displaces moisture, when cleaning/storing engines.