grease fittings

[doug tenney]

Ted, just to clarify.  The adjustable reamer idea was not about getting a super-tight tolerance.  I figured that it would have a better chance of producing a straighter hole than (gag) a hand drill with a giant 9/16" bit.

Admittedly, not perfect.  That's why we didn't do ours.

[ted johnson]

Doug, I actually DID ream the kingpin bushings in the n1ke spindles with a 1/2" drill bit. I pushed the bushings into the spindle barrels with the vise and ran the drill bit through them. I wasn't about to spring for a 1/2" reamer from McMaster. I DID, I admit, borrow a 5/8" reamer for the steering shaft bushings, but that was only because neither I nor Ron Cubel had a 5/8" drill bit! I guess my point is that these karts were mass produced back in '57 through '62 by the thousands, and there was little thought to precision. These darn machines performed quite well, and a lot of them survive until now with few modifications. We're too concerned with 2020 techniques and professional tools that're not really needed for machines that were meant for fun, not serious competition. Some of the vintage gang go overboard. If they are doing it just to show pride in their craftsmanship, fine. If they're doing it so they can demonstrate that they are "big time auto racers", shame. I built the Photon in the living room here in my house. I had been in hospital with the CLL issue, and wasn't up to working in the garage yet. I have a $100 benchtop drill press, a polishing wheel, a Craftsman belt sander and the usual hand electric tools. No mill, no lathe, no optical alignment systems. The kart looks good and runs as well as any 100cc American fan cooled rig I've come across. When Pop and I were winning championships back in the early days, we had his lawn mower shop to use, but with the exception of a bigger drill press, we had no more sophisticated tools than I have now. We actually had to go across the highway to borrow the bench belt sander at the cabinet shop. I did all our port work with a Dremel tool and sandpaper. We regularly beat engines built by Russell and by other major kart shops. Ted

[Richard Stamile]

Guys i am going to borrow a expandable hand reamer and open the bore to 9/16s and sleeve it back to 1/2 inch should be not a difficult fix
use a c clamp to press it in, only the right needs to be done the original bolts the bottom part of the spindle is riding on the threads of the bolt
and i am sure when they built these they never bothered to make the spindle riding on the full shank probably because its going to require using
a longer bolt and threading up to where it tightens the spindle and allows a good surface for the bottom of the spindle to ride on, last night i had
a longer shank bolt and tried this on the good barrel collar and there was zero movement no wobble at all i think Steve W address this on
the alley Kat reproduction video , like Ted is saying if they were selling these in the day and i think the Blitz is a well built Kart then yes it its
its not formula one technology here thanks for everyone input here , good think you started this Doug

[ted johnson]

I've been there, shortening a longer bolt so that the bushing doesn't ride on the thread. Some kart builders weren't all that careful! We sold Bug and Go Kart. Neither were built all that carefully, though both were solid karts. I remember one of the Ohio manufacturers bringing a trailer load of demo karts to our shop in hopes that we might take on a dealership. The kingpins were not only vertical, no caster, but were so sloppy that you could move the tire around like the bolt wasn't even there. I drove one of their karts up the driveway, and every time it'd hit a bump, it'd try to jerk the wheel out of my hand. Needless to say, Pop declined the dealership offer. At least the Blitz was well made. TJ

[doug tenney]

Guys i am going to borrow a expandable  hand reamer  and open the bore to 9/16s and sleeve it back to 1/2 inch should be not a difficult  fix
use a c clamp to press it in,  only the right needs  to be done the original bolts the bottom part of the spindle is riding on the threads of the bolt
and i am sure when they built these they never bothered to make the spindle riding on the full shank probably because its going to require using
a longer bolt and threading up to where it tightens the spindle and allows a good surface for the bottom of the spindle to ride on, last night i had
a longer shank bolt and tried this on the good barrel collar and there was zero movement no wobble at all i think Steve W  address this on
the alley Kat  reproduction video , like Ted is saying if they were selling these in the day and i think the Blitz is a well built Kart then yes it its
its not formula one technology here thanks for everyone input here , good think you started this Doug

Sounds good, Richard!  I bought the correct size expandable reamer at Carlisle (flea market) a few years back, but its stamped "brass," so I've been chicken to try using it on steel.

[Richard Stamile]

Doug i believe  you can use that on steel i think its designed for brass is
it does not grab the brass metal like when you go to drill with a standard metal drill bit
and it grabs the part of your drill and  jams and either your part dangerously starts spinning around
or stalls the drill press, in the shop i used to work in we had special brass drill bits you can tell by
the elongated flutes  and you could drill a brass part without panic setting in waiting for the grab an jam and part spinning
before we got them i used to ware the thick welding gloves other non ferrous metals didn't seem to be as bad as brass

[steve welte]

A couple things need to be understood on this issue. Spindle bushings and bolts wear because of no lube but most of all because people just don't snug up the nut EVER. It's the contact surface of the spindle bushing against the hanger that keeps the movement correct. Once it gets worn and loose wear sets in quickly. If you decide to lube them, when you have them removed just drill a 1/8" hole in the center of the barrel. You can then either use a squirt can or a chainsaw grease gun to lube. Nylon bushings will last far longer than bronze bushings. Even if they have some slop. tighten them up until they have slight drag. You will find the slop gone and 10 laps later it will steer easily.

[Richard Stamile]

Steve you just explained why there is wear on the right front spindle and the left was fine the left has no up or down
movement and the right one had to be sleeved buy the way i used a steel sleeve pressed in with a very large C clamp
now assembly of the right renewed side i have to put a shim/washer .004 to stop up and down movement between
the hanger and the collar

[David Luciani]

good thread. 
all i can add is my gk1200 was as sloppy as could be off the track when you messed with the steering. 
on track it was fine.
 i redid the bolts once before i took it off for a restore. 
one bolt got a little loose as steve mentioned and was pretty much junk by weekends finish.

i had originally just stuck the kart together to "test the frame and handling before restore.".
that went on for five years it was to fun to take outta the trailer.
as ted said these are percision machine and its more about driver skill than perfect chassis.
d

[ted johnson]

I redid my '75 Wasp/B Limited rig by shortening the kingpin barrels, adding hardened thrust washers and radial needles above both spindles. I borrowed Pop's reamer, replaced the bushings and reamed them for a close fit to the hard Allen head shoulder bolts I replaced the factory bolts with. Quite frankly, there wasn't one whit of difference in steering effort nor tracking. I decided the whole bit was a waste of my time, and I never repeated the work. The current n1ke is getting a bit loose, but the driving hasn't changed even a little. I may replace the bushings one day, and then again I may say the heck with it! In any case, I won't grease the kingpins, though I will lightly oil them once in a while. Ted