ppkk

What's the difference between the Cox Surestart and the regular Cox engines? I realize neither is currently being manufactured, but what makes the .049 surestart a $12 purchase when a "regular" .049 will sell north of $50 on the ebay?

build light

That is a good question.

First I wonder what you consider to be the "regular" Cox 049.

The Sure Start engine is simply the last version of the "product" engines that Cox produced. The product engines were the engines you would find in the Ready To Fly or Ready To Run models that Cox marketed and distributed over the years.

The SS (Sure Start) is just a complete engine.
The "regular" 049s were sold in a display package of some sort and came with two wrenches (a must if this purchase is your first Cox 049) and instructions for operating the engine.
The SS has quality issues that you would not find in earlier over the counter engines.

Robert

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

There at the end, a surestart was like 6or8 bucks from Cox...no tank,,cobbled together with barrels of left over parts,,I think I recall someone buy 12 and like 3 of them were tight fitting good running engines...the tanked engines, golden bees..blackwidows are older and worth more but even some of that is novelty...one guy will pay a $100 for an engine he had when he was 12, while another guy has a bucket full of them in his basement, all worn out...I bought a dozen or so of them,,use a .5 oz visine bottle for a tank..the last 5 or 6 I got havent even been turned over..td's bring more...Rog

ppkk

Thanks all, you pretty much answered my question.

Having developped an intereset for small engines only recently, I don't know how much these engines sold for when they were in production so my only reference point is what I see today. What I referred to as "regular" Cox engines are the Babe Bee's, TD's etc, which can fetch anywhere from $50 to over $100 as I have occasionally seen. On the other hand, you can get a Surestart for around $10-$12 on ebay and at places such as Xenalook, so I thought there had to be a difference in quality/power which you confirmed above. Sounds like the Surestarts do not have the same quality as older Cox engines.

My other question is, why is it that Surestarts seem to be available new in such an abundance when other type engines are not? Is it because there is a large amount of inventory left over or are they still being manufactured somewhere?

skaliwag

My Feedback: (1)

The answer.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_8874067/tm.htm

gcb

The glow head, piston/cylinder, crankcase, and crankshaft can be used on all Cox reed engines. I believe toward the last, Cox mixed and matched parts so that the Black Widows shipped with a ventless tank and a vented backplate whereas traditional Black Widows had a vented "stunt" tank with a non-vented backplate. There are traditionally subtle differences such as venturi size...the Black widow has a large venturi for power whereas the Texaco has a small venturi to provide suction at lower RPM.

Another subtle change is the piston/cylinders. Original Black Widows had a tapered cylinder but, I believe the later ones used the "Sure Start" cylinder that has no taper. A little less performance but still an excellent engine.

I too bought some of those Sure Starts when they were cheap. Not the last ones, though. A couple of mine came with ball socket fit a bit loose, but still acceptable. I reset them after break-in. Anything wrong could be easily fixed.

Still, there were people "*****ing" about this or that when they got a complete, runnable engine for six bucks. For goodness sake - the glow head was worth ten.

George

Andrew

Yeah - we used to say, "Think of it as a $7 glowhead with a free engine thrown in!"

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

Dont remember who,,but one of us, went to order a glow head and was told by the operator to just buy the sure start it was cheaper!!...Rog

Tee Bee

All the surestarts I've fooled with just needed a piston reset, a good cleaning, and were good to go.

Andrew

Pretty much my experience. If you fly without the choke tube, check the screw length - some will bottom out before tightening up.

Tee Bee

That's true, Andrew. Forgot about that little tidbit.

gcb

If you fly without the choke tube you might want to shorten the needle valve a bit...remember that choke tube also supports the needle. IMHO, it is better to make the effort to mount the engine WITH choke tube. After all, it is nice to be able to choke the engine.

George

Edit: Additional thought. As TeeBee mentioned, it is a good habit to clean inside ANY new engine...no matter what you paid for it. You can always get one with a little filings or polishing compound that was missed when the manufacturer flushed it out.

SGC

Ive found what aperes to be lapping compound trapped in the ball socket of 1/2 of mine when I cleaned my surestarts make sure this is flushed well befor resetting the socket. This may be the reason some surestarts wear out the socket prematurely.
Stewart

Andrew

Yeah - it's pretty amazing what comes out of these engines. I usually drop small parts in a pill bottle filled either with acetone or denatured alcohol and give it a good shake for about a minute (poor man's ultrasonic cleaner), pour it off and hit it a second time.

George -

I almost always leave the choke tube on. Walmart sells "square" hardwood dowels in the craft department. Usually there will be a 3/8" square in the package - just right for a spacer.

andrew