Fox Sundowner project

[Augiedoggie]

Recently purchased my first ever mini bike and started disassembly and inspection. No decision yet how it will be powered. Saxonette engine is biggest question mark thus far. No spark. No starter and makeshift rope starter cup rubs when rotated. Inspection of piston through exhaust port looks OK and rings are free. Muffler has been brutalized in previous owners attempt at disassembly. Fuel tank had handlebar dent and poor dent removal attempt from previous owner has damaged fuel cap sealing surface. Off to a good start.

 

[Augiedoggie]

Had a few hours available this weekend and started sundowner restoration. Removed tank and engine for cleaning. I have replacement filler neck and cap for tank and once dents are removed the damaged neck will be cut off and replacement welded on. Repair of original would be expected to leak. Replacement is best option. Motor was butchered a bit but overall decent. Checked ignition and found points corroded and cleaned them. Will reassemble soon and retest for spark. Next step is to disassemble carburetor for inspection and cleaning.

 

[Ginz61]

Augiedoggie that looks like a good start to your restoration! Your mini bike looks like it’s in pretty good shape from what I see. Welcome to the site and of course good luck with your project.

 

[Augiedoggie]

Made a bit more progress on the little Fox project this past few weekends in my spare time in-between chores. Found no spark was a bit more involved when ignition was disassembled. Seems this poor little saxonette had broken or derailed chain crash engine cover and damaged side cover and rotor. Further inspection found rotor and crankshaft had been damaged and bent. Rotor was carefully restored in arbor press and dial indicator proved it was now running true. Crank had 020 runout and was easily straightened until dead nuts true as well. Reassembly of ignition and testing found a nice fat blue spark and rubbing of rotor was gone. Next was the toy Bing carburetor. Thing was nice and clean. Previous repair attempts had left only minimal damage to float and slide needle. Disassembly and ultrasonic cleaning and testing float and straightening needle was the worst of carburetor problems. Next step is repair of muffler and reinstalling motor.

 

[Augiedoggie]

Sundowner project stalled a bit while I worked on other motorcycle and mini bike projects. Pit bikes and race bike restoration projects took precedent this weekend and little time remained for the lonely fox. Picture shows chain damage to engine side cover. I suspect the rider was moving along pretty good when chain derailed or broke and crashed into cover and jammed inside. Reckon the poor bastard came to an abrupt halt when that happened. If it was the same shithead who smashed this pretty chrome muffler with a hammer he damn well deserved what he got when chain derailed. I'm pissed about the needless destruction of this muffler with a hammer. I expect I can rework it and restore it but some of the dents will require heating and will probably discolor the chrome. I'm going to try to salvage as much of the original parts as is possible. I'm not expecting any NOS starter parts to appear any time soon so that is expected to require conversion and a bit of rework to put recoil on this one.