brokenenglish

OK Jeff, the black paint isn't as bad as I feared, and I agree that the best protection is to keep them oily. Interesting that you have a Mk I head on the other Mk II engine. Not many of those heads around (i.e. not many Mk I engines).

Jeff, Just my humble opinion. The work looks great, but the Racer case would be much better left natural magnesium, rather than painted (yuk!). I have several newish originals, and most are losing their original black coating to varying degrees. Personally, I much prefer an "original" look to a restored and repainted look...

Going back to the ident. question, I thought small OK Cubs had "OK Cub" cast in the bottom of the crankcase. Mine have.

Jeff, I don't know anything about these oddball designs, but that engine is very like an early Allouchery.

As mentioned above, I contacted Ian Russell, who probably knows more about Merco production than anyone on here. I reproduce part of his answer below, but the bottom line is that the OP engine is probably a .49. Ian says: "Definitely not one from me. The size was cast on the c/case, where the little circle is, below the C of Merco. The cases could be cast with either 49 or 61 where the circle is. Later they couldn’t be bothered with this, and had all 61 cases cast. Then if it was a 49, just spot faced the 61 away and stamped 49 on the side of a lug. It’s probably a 49." I think that's probably the end of the story.

Robin, Only one version of the 35 had the prop driver covering the front bearing (the Forest Engineering version). All the others didn't, so that isn't a means of identifying a 35!

It certainly isn't a 35. They are all plain bearing. The original Merco production 49 and 61 engines were marked (in the casting) 49 or 61. So your problem stems from the fact that this isn't an "original" or a Forest Engineering engine. There have been several other "remakes", in particular Premier Plastics and some organised by Ian Russell (Rustler Engines). These remakes produced some non-original sizes (40 & 50) and I think your engine must be one of those. If you really want to know, then I could contact Ian Russell, who would know for sure. But be advised that there's a lot of wrong conjecture above...

Just found this. IMO, there's some confusion in the OP. A Cox Queen Bee is an .074, not an .049, so which are we discussing? Is your engine a Queen Bee or is it an .049? Whichever engine it is, and in spite of the dogmatic remarks made above, IMO, you'll need some castor in the fuel. IIRC, KK Nitrex (in the UK) and the original Cox fuels (in the US) both used castor.

There's some confusion here. You say "If I run it, returns would be complicated". That means that you want to return it even if it runs, or did I miss something? I don't think anyone would question the return of an engine that you were unable to start. Also, returning an engine without even trying to run it would hardly stand in the event of a dispute. If the engine is a Redfin, call Alex, ask for his opinion and do whatever he recommends. I still think all this discussion without even trying to run the engine is (insert your own mod-compatible term).

TBH, I find all this theorising without even trying to run the engine is intellectual overkill, not to say a bit of a waste of time. At least try to run the thing and see what happens. If it runs OK, no problem, and if it doesn't, then is the time return it, along with your opinions. I must have run several hundred old diesels and I've never even thought of this kind of nonsense. At least give the thing a chance...

I just checked. The La17, Sabre and a "Deltaceptor" are available on Outerzone. The FD2 is missing (for the moment!). The advantage with these Phil Smith designs is that, apart from being well designed and good fliers, all the ducting/motor mount, etc. is already designed in.

Sorry, I only just found this. There's an obvious answer to the OP. While converting the small KK and Guillows kits might be a challenge without scaling up, Phil Smith's sticks and tissue Veron kits would be great (being a bit larger). The Veron La17, Sabre and FD2 would be great EDF fliers. I'm sure it must have been done already.

I just found this thread and I just registered. Right now, the registration form says "scheduled for March 29 at 7pm"

OK, we disagree. However, I'm surprised that you should have an engine confiscated (for no valid reason) and recommend them! Something peculiar happened with my link. I tried it twice when I posted, and it worked OK. Now it doesn't. Let's try this one. https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/search.php?searchid=84809249&query=pitney Edit. That link just worked immediately after I posted.

Never, never, never send collection engines through the eBay Global Shipping Program. The operators have confiscated many engines, supposedly for "safety" reasons (they may contain fuel residue). These engines are then lost and are not returned to anyone AFAIK. Read this link: https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/search.php?searchid=84808323&query=pitney bowes and if you dig around, there are many other examples.

One last comment. I've just read the early posts and you mention "stuck" screw threads. Here, your car restoring experience is leading you astray. If a car engine or body has jammed solid threaded fasteners, you can't just "put it in the oven"! IMO, you should try removing the plastic tank, and then put the entire engine in the oven, at about 200°C for 20 to 30 minutes. I would be very surprised if you were unable to turn/remove any screws after that (I've done it very many times), partly because the alloy outer casings expand more than the steel screw shanks, and partly because the heat will soften any congealed gunge.

OK, the two that I've shown in my photos above have the following serial nos. The early one (like yours) is D817 and the later one, with the red tank, is D935. One interesting point, that hadn't occurred to me, is that the D prefix probably means that the actual digits were simply carried on from the earlier spark engines. I have two of the spark engines, and their serial numbers are 6 and 212, without any prefix and both earlier than all our diesel numbers.

This is the second version of the same engine.

It's this engine, which is basically a 2.2cc diesel version of the Majesco 4.5cc sparker. There was a second version of the diesel, with a very nice red plastic tank, with the word Majesco moulded in the plastic. They're nice runners but the mounting lugs are very thin... If you want to run it you'll need a fairly big propeller. From memory, I think mine ran well on an 11x4 wood. On the earlier spark ignition engine, you would have seen the engine marking, because the exhaust is only on one side, and the transfer side has an "M" logo cast in the transfer port cover, but the diesel has exhausts on both sides, so no identifier (but lots of discussion...).

What do you mean by a plug button? The fifties Racer glow just has a normal glow head, with the plug screwing normally into the head, like all glow engines. The head descends a few mm into the cylinder, to compensate for the contra-piston. Where's the button?

Martin, I have to say that I took offence from Olaf's first comment, in the OP, that ED engines were rubbish back in the day. That is very wrong! I've been an ED engine user for more than 70 years, and I've never had a bad one from the original ED company (i.e. pre-mid-sixties). Having been horrified by the butchered remains that Olaf purchased (I wouldn't have bothered!), here's a couple of decent examples.

Maybe you didn't read my post properly. Of course there was a KK Scorpion (44" span), but there was never a KK Super Scorpion. The Super Scorpion (66" span) is Ben Buckle's 50% enlargement of the original KK model. They are both super models.

For the last nine years, I've used exclusively Spektrum transmitters with Orange receivers (park fly and full range). I've done a lot of flying, i.c. and electric, and I've never had any kind of radio problem.

Obviously, everyone has their own opinion, but the following is fact. A couple of years ago, I became aware (on this forum!) that some people used Lipos to power engine starters. I therefore tried one of my old Wot 4 foamie Lipos (3S, 2200 mAh) with my old Ripmax starter. It worked great, and has been used ever since on all glow engines up to the ASP 120FS on my Wot4 XL, and I have actually started the 180FS with it. In fact, I just transferred an XT plug from an old ESC onto the starter. Previously, I had always avoided starters, mainly because I didn't fancy humping a 12V lead/acid battery around, but the Lipo solution is perfect. My lifelong motto is: "If it ain't easy, I don't do it", and the starter/Lipo combination sure fits that!

Steve, if you need legal support, I'm willing to testify on the engines that Jenny has purchased from me...?