Emmick Express Build

[sam bennett]

Back in February, I came across an ad for an Emmick Sprint kart. In the western states these aren't uncommon, but to find one in Florida is indeed a unique score. 
I wasn't able to determine what model it was based on the pictures alone. After some back and forth with the owner we were able to determine it was an Express (EX791). This was an important discovery for me because it was the same model kart I had from about 87-90.

Jerry Van Deusen's website was helpful with identification. http://www.vdm46.com/emmick-kart-id.html

  
The next morning I drove 1020 miles round trip to Pensacola and made it back just before midnight. This write-up is to document the restoration and what is involved with getting it show-ready.
Here are the pics from the CL ad.

 

 

 
Here is what is left after taking the kart down to just the chassis and nerf bars. Although some other web pics of the Express show different side nerfs, these were the exact same ones I had as a kid (minus the added extra tubes). They look like the Elite nerfs.



One of the things I wanted to do on this kart was try to preserve the chrome steering supports and lower front bumper, as opposed to painting over them. It appears these parts were nickel/chrome plated and welded to the unpainted chassis. I suppose they were taped and the chassis was then painted. The tape line was put high enough to cover the heat discoloration from welding.



Some additional tubes were welded to the factory nerfs to accommodate side fairings. After trimming them down to the original tube I realized they were just too beat up to re-use. The same goes for the rear bumper and lower front bumper. Luckily the upper front bumper was in excellent shape. 



The steering supports are rough. Most of the chrome is gone and rust/pitting has taken over. After noting the angle they were cut off and blasted. I took them over to the buffer and used SatinGlo to grind and profile the tubes. After this, they were polished using Emery and a sisal wheel, then a hard sewn denim wheel, and finally buffed with zirconium and loose cotton. This took just under 4 hours. 

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...Continuing with the steering supports. They haven't been chromed yet.





Emmick used ¾” .058 wall seam welded tube for all of the bumpers. I was fortunate to have both 2” and 3” dies for ¾” tube. After ordering some higher quality DOM I cut them into smaller lengths and did the same grind/polish method.





I measured the side nerfs and they were pretty straightforward. Both left and right get a 120* bend and the right gets an additional bend (I didn’t jot down the angle) to clear the engine mount. I had to re-polish everything because the die leaves deep grooves in the tube. Then I made the ½” wide tabs for the number plates. This took about 7 hrs from set up to tear down.