question Fox Armoured Car, was really a disaster?

[Richard Farrant]

Only when I caught up with 3 Austin 7's & came close to taking them out, they were all over the place & not using their mirrors, they weren't impressed at being lapped & complained that I shouldn't be allowed on the track:confused:

 

 

 

 

I used to do a lot of vintage motor cycle events at Brands Hatch, in the good old days, on my military WM20. The track parades were done in ages of machines, so I was often alongside racers like Manx and International Nortons. That is scary as you cannot hear your own engine. We were on strict instructions not to race ( no chance with my bike ), but the fast ones used to hang back and then race by, once the pace car was in sight, they would back off again. All good fun :-D

[Grasshopper]

One of the Foxes JP bought had a rear propshaft let go (In Service Faliure). It took out the commanders seat, some of the internal tinwork & turret basket & I think some gearbox damage, a right mess. I did have a photo but have trouble finding it..

Don't think anyone could of been standing on the seat at the time as no sign of blood:sweat:

 

I saw those pictures recently. A very nasty mess and must have shaken up the driver.

[abn deuce]

Must have just about given the poor man a heart attack when that shaft tore apart the interior !:eek: :shake: :shake: :shocked:

[Marmite!!]

Must have just about given the poor man a heart attack when that shaft tore apart the interior !:eek: :shake: :shake: :shocked:

 

If it had been the either of the front shafts it would of given him more than that, they run both sides of the driver's legs:shake:

[Richard Farrant]

If it had been the either of the front shafts it would of given him more than that, they run both sides of the driver's legs:shake:

 

and under the petrol tank :shake::shake:

[abn deuce]

It doesnt need thinking about .

[Toolman]

I'm now thinking about it...... :shocked: Ever seen that happen on a ferret?

[john fox]

On 10/8/2009 at 10:09 PM, Richard Farrant said:

..then after many years and at a point when the Fox was near the end of service, the problem was solved. It was caused by too much fuel on accelaration giving "bore wash". A new and modified throttle body was available, with new linkage for the acc. pumps, once set up to instructions, it reduced the max volume of fuel on accelaration by 30%. One heck of a difference in performance.

 

digging up an old post as a Fox owner in Australia (who sadly is unable to open an HMVF account) has asked is there is a visual indication of whether such modifications have been done? Is there any other way to tell?

[Marmite!!]

3 minutes ago, john fox said:

digging up an old post as a Fox owner in Australia (who sadly is unable to open an HMVF account) has asked is there is a visual indication of whether such modifications have been done? Is there any other way to tell?

John, I’ve sorted his account and he now has access to the forum 

[john fox]

7 minutes ago, Marmite!! said:

John, I’ve sorted his account and he now has access to the forum 

LOL, I guess you are reading Fox FB group as we type so you'll see I have relayed that message to him

shame "we" couldn't get my old 00EC25 account to work again 😃 but no worries. I have obviously now recalled the password for this new account so am "back"

Edited May 5, 2021 by john fox

[Down Under Armour]

Hi chaps, thanks for helping me out here with the account. My fox was Eddie’s fox that went to a bloke in Tasmania. Sadly it is not in the condition that it left the UK. It currently has I believe an XK engine with 12V civvy distributor amongst other things. I am trying to restore her to her former glory and it’s one step at a time. My research into the gearbox came about as the importer obviously had transmission issues and has frankensteined a ferret gearbox and transfer box into it... but for now it seems to work. that side of things I am yet to get my head around, at least I have the original, if somewhat mangled box. This question about the carby was a side question of mine though in my mind, particularly pertinent to long term gearbox health. I was wondering whether there were any visual clues to determine whether the modifications to the jets and throttle body has been carried out. Any input appreciated. Cheers, Tom

[Marmite!!]

1 hour ago, john fox said:

LOL, I guess you are reading Fox FB group as we type so you'll see I have relayed that message to him

shame "we" couldn't get my old 00EC25 account to work again 😃 but no worries. I have obviously now recalled the password for this new account so am "back"

John, do you want me to merge your old account with this one?

[john fox]

52 minutes ago, Marmite!! said:

John, do you want me to merge your old account with this one?

yes please, but only please do so if the merged account is associated with the email address registered for the "John Fox" account (I think part of the problem with the old account is it went to an email I may no longer have access to so we struggled to reset it)

[Marmite!!]

Just now, john fox said:

yes please, but only please do so if the merged account is associated with the email address registered for the "John Fox" account (I think part of the problem with the old account is it went to an email I may no longer have access to so we struggled to reset it)

No problem I’ll do it this evening, you will still have the John Fox user name and login details

[Barrym]

I'm very interested in this thread re modified carbs, I help to care for prototype Fox KFX 262F/00SP87, which to my knowledge has a modified civilian XK engine and I know has a Ferret gbox, very interested in being able to see if the carb has the mods fitted.

 

[Richard Farrant]

32 minutes ago, Barrym said:

I'm very interested in this thread re modified carbs, I help to care for prototype Fox KFX 262F/00SP87, which to my knowledge has a modified civilian XK engine and I know has a Ferret gbox, very interested in being able to see if the carb has the mods fitted.

 

I will send the details when I get home tonight, it is identified by the base of the carb

[Down Under Armour]

10 hours ago, Richard Farrant said:

I will send the details when I get home tonight, it is identified by the base of the carb

Thanks Richard that would be great. 

[Down Under Armour]

11 hours ago, Barrym said:

I'm very interested in this thread re modified carbs, I help to care for prototype Fox KFX 262F/00SP87, which to my knowledge has a modified civilian XK engine and I know has a Ferret gbox, very interested in being able to see if the carb has the mods fitted.

 

Hi Barry, I’m intrigued that the fox you are involved with has a ferret box. Obviously the overall configuration between the ferret and fox gearbox/transfer box combination is different with shared fluid, a cooler etc, the transfer appear different, but on the gearbox side of things, in your observations, are there major differences? Ie, are the gearbox running gears themselves different? Online for sale it is not uncommon to see items such as brake bands and running gears advertised as Fox/ferret comparable. The reason I ask is that I have a the original fox box, but the gearbox end is rather poor due to being abused, taken apart and left open. I have a ferret and am fortunate to have a spare gearbox. I was considering using it to try to get the original fox gearbox / transfer box up and running. FYI, I don’t have my fox spare parts book yet so can’t put it side by side with the ferret book! Many thanks, Tom

[john fox]

13 minutes ago, Down Under Armour said:

Hi Barry, I’m intrigued that the fox you are involved with has a ferret box. Obviously the overall configuration between the ferret and fox gearbox/transfer box combination is different with shared fluid, a cooler etc, the transfer appear different, but on the gearbox side of things, in your observations, are there major differences? Ie, are the gearbox running gears themselves different? Online for sale it is not uncommon to see items such as brake bands and running gears advertised as Fox/ferret comparable. The reason I ask is that I have a the original fox box, but the gearbox end is rather poor due to being abused, taken apart and left open. I have a ferret and am fortunate to have a spare gearbox. I was considering using it to try to get the original fox gearbox / transfer box up and running. FYI, I don’t have my fox spare parts book yet so can’t put it side by side with the ferret book! Many thanks, Tom

the internals of the gearbox (Bands etc) are directly interchangeable Ferret/Fox

The major difference with Fox is the physical size of the box's casing - it is larger and therefore mounting a Ferret one in Fox requires "adjustments"

Edited May 5, 2021 by john fox

[Down Under Armour]

13 minutes ago, john fox said:

the internals of the gearbox (Bands etc) are directly interchangeable Ferret/Fox

The major difference with Fox is the physical size of the box's casing - it is larger and therefore mounting a Ferret one in Fox requires "adjustments"

Thanks John, that has just given me an unbelievable amount of hope in getting it back to original form with what I have, cheers mate.

[sirhc]

6 hours ago, Down Under Armour said:

Thanks John, that has just given me an unbelievable amount of hope in getting it back to original form with what I have, cheers mate.

Tom,

I think you need to get out the Ferret parts book and the Fox parts book and compare some part numbers. You will see quite a lot of parts in the Fox box share the same part numbers. There will be some Fox specific bits though, and they may be hard to find.
 

Chris 

[Richard Farrant]

8 hours ago, Down Under Armour said:

Thanks Richard that would be great. 

Hi,

I have not found the book with details of modified carb yet, but will have another search for my book. If it was a modified carb there will be a long number stamped on the flange of the throttle body ( it meets the manifold), on the long side of the flange. The number started with the letter M.  I somehow doubt that many Fox vehicles were fitted with them as the carb became available very close to them going out of service, and would only have been fitted if a replacement was needed. I have fitted these carbs to several Fox and CVR(T) vehicles and modified one carb with a kit supplied by the company Marcus Engineering who took over manufacturing of these carbs from Solex, The difference in driving was a really noticeable improvement.

regards, Richard

 

[john fox]

2 hours ago, Richard Farrant said:

Hi,

I have not found the book with details of modified carb yet, but will have another search for my book. If it was a modified carb there will be a long number stamped on the flange of the throttle body ( it meets the manifold), on the long side of the flange. The number started with the letter M.  I somehow doubt that many Fox vehicles were fitted with them as the carb became available very close to them going out of service, and would only have been fitted if a replacement was needed. I have fitted these carbs to several Fox and CVR(T) vehicles and modified one carb with a kit supplied by the company Marcus Engineering who took over manufacturing of these carbs from Solex, The difference in driving was a really noticeable improvement.

regards, Richard

 

Hi richard

As I have a 1979 production Fox, and as implied by responses on FB, could one "simply rely" on the fact I have a carb manufactured with the Marcus name on it, thereby implying it may be one of your "late" ones?

Regards John

[Down Under Armour]

6 hours ago, sirhc said:

Tom,

I think you need to get out the Ferret parts book and the Fox parts book and compare some part numbers. You will see quite a lot of parts in the Fox box share the same part numbers. There will be some Fox specific bits though, and they may be hard to find.
 

Chris 

Hi Chris, agreed. I am currently awaiting my fox spare parts book. Cheers

[Barrym]

13 hours ago, Down Under Armour said:

Hi Barry, I’m intrigued that the fox you are involved with has a ferret box. Obviously the overall configuration between the ferret and fox gearbox/transfer box combination is different with shared fluid, a cooler etc, the transfer appear different, but on the gearbox side of things, in your observations, are there major differences? Ie, are the gearbox running gears themselves different? Online for sale it is not uncommon to see items such as brake bands and running gears advertised as Fox/ferret comparable. The reason I ask is that I have a the original fox box, but the gearbox end is rather poor due to being abused, taken apart and left open. I have a ferret and am fortunate to have a spare gearbox. I was considering using it to try to get the original fox gearbox / transfer box up and running. FYI, I don’t have my fox spare parts book yet so can’t put it side by side with the ferret book! Many thanks, Tom

The running of the vehicle seems normal compared to service Foxes, there are a couple of differences, the mountings are of the ferret type and not the fox type and the gbox and transfer boxes have their own dipsicks and fillers, which on service fox were combined. There is quite a few ferret parts on this Fox, esp in the area of suspension, most of it is taken directly from the MK5. there is no power steering and the components are again Ferret inc the steering wheel.