Cox BRM

[chrisguyw]

Yup,.......another save from the old forum.....

I was always a Graham Hill fan, and a bit of a BRM fan, however, I was not really a Cox fan, as while they were certainly beautiful, they were not the hot ticket at the commercial tracks, so, my Slotbox did not have any Cox cars in it..................fast forward a few years (actually several) and I began to buy a few Cox cars on epay to build up and put in my display case. Interestingly enough, they are more at home on my "club" track than they ever were on the commercial monsters.

Anyway, I built this Cox BRM 10/15 years ago, (I just re discovered the pictures hidden in a family holiday file) and thought it worth a post. I don't have any chassis pics., but, it is a series II car (stronger chassis, and a can drive 16d ), and has had a few other minor tweaks, including a major motor rebuild.....runs great!!......quicker than many current plastic cars.

Cheers
Chris Walker

Image resized to 84% of its original size [1069 x 800]


Image resized to 84% of its original size [1069 x 800]

[mattb]

Chris, I agree with you about the Cox cars performance. They were actually pretty poor compared to most other cars in 65/66. All the same, I have them in my collection, but the F1 cars have never looked good to me and I have never kept one. Seeing what you've done shows that a modeler like you can take a plain car like that and turn it into a great model.

I had to cancel, but this Saturday at Swiss' Chicagoland raceway will have a special race for Cox mag chassis/36 D hard body cars. I had hoped to be there, but life interfered. I have a Lotus 40 that I was adapting a brass pan to the bottom and lowering the body a little. It's got the red wire 36D and is plenty fast. The trick is to get one of those cars to handle. I wish I had a group of vintage guys that could build, maintain and race the Cox cars, the Classic Manta Ray and other vintage cars. At least we have a group!

Not trying to hijack the thread.

[strummer57]

Good stuff, this.

Question about your opinion(s) of Cox: I have zero experience, but I do know that in Philippe de Lespinay's book "Vintage Slot Cars" chapter 5 is titled "Cox: Quality by Design". So...what's going on here guys?

Not trying to start an argument here; just curious.

Mark in Oregon

[chrisguyw]

Good stuff, this.

Question about your opinion(s) of Cox: I have zero experience, but I do know that in Philippe de Lespinay's book "Vintage Slot Cars" chapter 5 is titled "Cox: Quality by Design". So...what's going on here guys?

Not trying to start an argument here; just curious.

Mark in Oregon

Nothing going on and there is absolutely no argument .............while the quality of Cox cars is not in any question at all......gorgeous looking bodies, and wonderful manufacturing (especially the 1 piece cast magnesium wheels that were accurate for each of their models)....they were far from the quickest (nor the best handling) cars of the time, with manufactures like Russkit,Dynamic, Classic, etc. etc, making cars that would run and hide from the Cox cars, especially on the hundreds (more likely thousands) of commercial tracks that were the center of slot racing at that time.

My first 1/24 Slot car was a "Team Modified" Cox Cheetah, and while it was gorgeous and I loved it, it spent its entire life on the shelf as I was racing quicker stuff.

"Cox Quality by Design" is a very appropriate title for the chapter............but, Phillippe will be the first to admit, he had no thought of titling it "Cox Performance by Design" .

Cox cars have been highly sought after for several years,.....mainly for their wonderful injection molded bodies, magnesium chassis/wheels, and a "look and feel" that few other 1/24 cars can match............not for their relative performance !!

Cheers
Chris Walker

A few Cox wheels......cast magnesium, each one model specific......stunning !!

A couple of these have oxidized (typical for magnesium after several years) and have not yet been reconditioned.

[strummer57]

Thank you Chris.

Question: how would one go about "reconditioning" oxidized wheels? Do tell...

Mark in Oregon

[chrisguyw]

Thank you Chris.

Question: how would one go about "reconditioning" oxidized wheels? Do tell...

Mark in Oregon

Well, a couple of ways.......depending on,.... the level of oxidation, how good you want them to look, and, access to a bead blaster .

For lightly oxidized wheels (or Cox chassis) the cheap and cheerful method is to give them a good scrub with "Scrub Free" cleanser and a toothbrush. They should then be either painted or coated in a clear coat to prevent any recurring deterioration.

The "best" way is to use a bead blaster (proceed carefully) with a very fine medium, then,....clearcoat.

There are lots of other methods to be found on line, but, these two seem to be the ones most often used by experienced Cox folks. (lemon juice is often cited as a Cox wheel cleaner, and while it will remove some of the oxidation, it will also blacken the magnesium)........not horrible if you plan on painting the wheel, but, try the methods above first.

I have a friend with an industrial lathe, and I frequently use it to cut a "bead" on Cox wheels. Both of the Cox wheels (with tires mounted) in the above post have had "beads" cut into them. This is punishable by death for Cox purists , but, It looks better, and I have enough Cox wheels to offer "original" wheels should the car be sold/given away.

Cheers
Chris Walker

[RBPhillips]

Chris, that BRM is breathtaking. In any century....

The Cox Cheetah was my first modern slot car and escape from the living room floor to the local track when it opened. One of the things holding it back was its rubber rear tires, which actually hopped and mildly chunked on the 220 foot 8-lane track. My 2nd car, a Testors Harrison Special (two weeks later) was notably faster out of the box. Both did far better with their stock 36D cans when fitted with blue U-Go foam slicks. The Cox Cheetah benefitted from a gear ratio change (yes, when you were 13 and crazed, it was possible to find a pinion and spur other than 48:16 that worked in the fixed Cox motor mount). It was under 3:1 regeared, but darned if I can remember the teeth. A nice swap was the Testors can into the regeared Cheetah!

Things progressed so rapidly to Russkit pans (Carrera series) and scratchbuilt that I left the Cox parked, but during initial assembly I was so impressed with the Cheetah's tapered axle system, Nylatron bearings and gears, magnesium frame - man, I was sure, how could this engineering lose? Beautiful they were.

[chrisguyw]

Chris, that BRM is breathtaking. In any century....

The Cox Cheetah was my first modern slot car and escape from the living room floor to the local track when it opened. One of the things holding it back was its rubber rear tires, which actually hopped and mildly chunked on the 220 foot 8-lane track. My 2nd car, a Testors Harrison Special (two weeks later) was notably faster out of the box. Both did far better with their stock 36D cans when fitted with blue U-Go foam slicks. The Cox Cheetah benefitted from a gear ratio change (yes, when you were 13 and crazed, it was possible to find a pinion and spur other than 48:16 that worked in the fixed Cox motor mount). It was under 3:1 regeared, but darned if I can remember the teeth. A nice swap was the Testors can into the regeared Cheetah!

Things progressed so rapidly to Russkit pans (Carrera series) and scratchbuilt that I left the Cox parked, but during initial assembly I was so impressed with the Cheetah's tapered axle system, Nylatron bearings and gears, magnesium frame - man, I was sure, how could this engineering lose? Beautiful they were.

Hello, sounds like we both (as did most) had the same love /hate relationship with the Cox cars................they still hold a special place for me, and a few years ago I decided to try and make one work, addressing its chassis shortcomings..........1/ I wanted to freeze the droparm , and, allow for a guide height adjustment....2/ I wanted to lower the front end of the chassis, without using ridiculously tiny front tires, and, 3...It needed weight low and wide. A bonus would be allow a quick change to the stock chassis if need be.

Well I think I did it........the front axle tube has been raised 3/32 above where its former location was in the factory plastic/nylon front suspension piece, lowering the front end......the drop arm has been drilled, and a small machine screw/nuts, both freeze the drop arm, and allow for guide height adjustments. The .062 pans provide plenty of ballast, and lower the cg. considerably !!

As a bonus, 3 screws attach this whole assembly to the stock chassis with absolutely no modifications.

It has completely transformed the chassis, it now has handling equal to or better than any of the RTR/Kits of the time, including the Dynamic hybrids.

Cheers
Chris Walker

[RBPhillips]

Man, you do some sanitary work. Most of us would never visualize these modifications, much less make the work look that great. It's along the same lines as Mercury having their guys lead up and grind the body welds for the first 8 '67 Cougar show cars, so no people seeing them at car shows would see the usual pinch welds.

The pan idea sure would have been fun to try on commercial tracks 1966, eh? Makes up for the CoG disadvantage the big 36 and huge gear start you with.

[chrisguyw]

The pan idea sure would have been fun to try on commercial tracks 1966, eh? Makes up for the CoG disadvantage the big 36 and huge gear start you with.

Take a closer look at the above chassis pics., and you will note that this is the Cox "Dino" chassis .......it used the Ft16D motor (with some fore /aft adjustment) , and this motors significantly smaller dimensions allowed for a considerably smaller pinion and spur......this one is geared 10 x 43, and even with considerably smaller dia, rear tires, it has plenty of spur/track clearance. The smaller dimension and lower weight, also really help the handling.

The motor has also been rebuilt, with, ....... a drill blank shaft, the can end "floating" bushing has been replaced and soldered in, a Tradeship comm, shimmed Arco 33 magnets, a 90 x 31 wind, new hand wound brush springs, and a Dynamic arm balance,.........a snick beefier than the stock TTX150

Cheers
Chris Walker

[mattb]

You ought to be ashamed. Showing something that nice to us mortals!!!