09-22-2021, 07:55 PM
Chapter 86
It has been a week already and all that has been on my mind is the one conversation we had with Topher or now Chris. He thought it would be cool for me to call him Chris. But he still prefers Topher to his school friends and other guys he knows at the track.
Chris explained to me that Topher is the one unique identifying mark that sets him apart from just somebody named Chris. Especially since that is what he has gone by since first starting school. But after thinking it over, he decided he liked the idea of me using his actual name, instead of his nick.
I have to admit that getting to know Topher, or now with his permission, Chris, he doesnt need a unique nick name to use as an identifying mark to set him apart from just some other lunk head. He has that totally covered already.
It would be a challenge to go back to Fabens and try again, since we got hammered by the flagman in every heat race. But the competition was more than worth racing against. Especially since our karts handled and engines ran very well.
Even with those two Westbends being faster, it was still exciting to run with them by using some brains instead of relying on a lead foot. You cant beat someone all the time just from raw horsepower.
Raw horsepower is something none of the Clinton engines have against any Westbend in the Junior Bushing class. But taking full advantage of what you do have to work with can make a big difference.
The two brothers running those Westbends are much faster than every other driver in the class. But they dont work together on the track. The whole time they are leading, they also fight for position between each other.
By fighting for the lead position every lap, their times drop way back much slower. Some of the laps were even slower than what me and Steve had been running when working together. So long as we kept running inline with each other, it didnt take too long to catch up to them.
If they worked together for a few laps, nobody else would be able to catch up to them. Chris told me the two brothers had taken themselves out out of the race several times already. But for some reason every time this happened the heat race got a restart.
When asked why it was restarted, the flagman said all the drivers paid to race and deserved to get their track time. But when any other driver got taken out, for whatever reason, well that is racing, get used to it.
I thought no matter what we did, it would end up the same way as the one time we raced there. I didnt see how we could pull off anything if the flagman was only favoring his two kids running those Westbends.
Steve was right about his understanding of how the karts are set up and geared. My kart is faster in a straight line. But his kart can make up that difference thru the tighter turns or in traffic.
I could easily get caught behind a slightly slower kart and be stuck there, while Steve could pass us both and pull away. Unless the slower kart made a mistake somewhere, I might never get around it.
I dont know if it is so critical, but we are running two teeth different between almost identical setups. A 72 and 74. What if the best gear size is really a 73? As of right now only even numbers are available from any manufacturer. There is only a few companies even offering them right now.
Maybe if we are both geared the same, and with the modified carburetors ....... Wow, Steve might be right about running up there with the Westbends. Gears are grinding in my head thinking about what all it will take so we could do this.
I really need a new set of tires. Steves kart is just about perfect. Maybe try the modified carburetor on his kart to find out which gear works out best. The smaller 72 gear on my kart or the 74 gear on his kart.
Would it make the engine turn too much rpm with the modified carburetor and bigger gear? I guess we need to take another trip out to the track for some real testing this time.
Each time so far we went to the track for practice, Frank was there plagued with problems. I realized early on he was the problem for all of the problems he was having. It is not like I could tell him that.
Every time something went wrong, I focused on trying to figure out why. The only way any of the problems could happen is because Frank assumes the work he has done was done correctly. He way overthinks things for sure.
When he decided to set his kart up like he thought it should have been done originally, well thats when things went south fast. It would not handle and even worse was completely undriveable. While getting Frank sidetracked, like getting him driving Steves kart on the track, I tried to fix all of the fixes he had just fixed on his kart.
An engineers job is to solve problems. But Frank has a way of causing more problems than he could ever fix. Some are not so hard to rectify. But the other ones are too extreme to do much good at the track.
I could barely keep a straight face when Frank thought he figured out why his kart got out of wack so fast after he did such a fantastic job setting it up. He assured me the frame, after just getting enough run time on the track, well it was sprung.
He went into an in depth explanation on how this very thing could happen. Since his kart being a prototype, it was not likely built in a jig. But more likely setup one time on just a fixture table.
So more likely, as I wear out this one word he was constantly using in his explanation, the frame was not perfectly fitted when getting welded together. It was probably forced down and clamped then welded. So that little bit of resistance on the frame rails would cause the weight distribution to go all crazy after having been run for a while.
I wonder if Frank actually sits around drinking too much beer all day thinking this crap up. I mean he is an engineer after all. So that highly educated brain of his is supposed to solve problems.
But the one problem he cant solve is Frank. I think that is what the problem really is. But Frank wont ever figure this out for himself. It must be some kind of yankee thing. It sure fits the way I see things when he is involved.
So he said that has to be the only thing which could possibly cause his kart to become undriveable so quickly. The only other reasoning was it must have been possessed. At least he sort of laughed when telling me this hypothesis.
But since Frank is the only guy available to keep an eye on us so we can go to the track for practice, I have to rely on him for that. Mom is definitely not all that trusting with him, well not trusting at all really, but so far me and Steve have not killed ourselves yet, under his careful watch.
I would also like to help Chris, much as I can, and maybe get his kart more up to speed. I had no idea his kart had a dead axle. The whole time at the races we were so plagued with distractions, I never had much chance to even check out it out.
He was seriously asking about converting his kart over to a live axle. That might work just fine. But the engine would need some improvements to push the extra drag. His engine is totally stock with exception for changing out the carburetor and getting rid of that stock muffler.
Those are also the two best first choices for increasing power from the engine. Some more improvements can then be done to make an even bigger difference. I have learned a lot from the little bit of testing we have actually accomplished so far.
So without actually going all crazy grinding the ports, a few changes and adjustments can yield about the same benefit. The modified carburetor is a big plus, but only after addressing the ridiculously small reed petals on the intake manifold.
Swapping out to an aftermarket manifold is a much better choice, but the bigger reed petals and opening up the stock intake passage makes a huge difference. More than worth it if you dont have a Go-Power or Palmini manifold to use.
I should set up mine and Steves engines identical, then we track test and make adjustments until getting them fast as possible. I could have the backup engine set up differently to try other things we have not worked out yet.
If there is a chance of Chris coming out there with us, would be even better to work on getting faster. But if relying on Frank for chaperone, might prove less than useful like from the previous two times on the track.
Each time we went to the track for testing, I spent all my practice time working on Franks super duper prototype Dart Special wannabe A-Bone. I was thinking his prototype kart might have been built right before the A-Bone was introduced. Now I am almost certain it was built even before the Super K chassis.
There were some major changes from his prototype to what is now a proven and extremely fast design, known as the Dart A-Bone. Would Frank be willing to update his kart? I know the steering shaft has to be changed out. That thing is so flimsy I could bend it in a hard run. Or even with a fence post as a track side repair.
After some measuring I found out the wheelbase is longer on his prototype frame. Converting from a dead to live axle, the wheelbase didnt change so much originally. But the A-Bone is a lot shorter. It might be easy enough to update his kart.
So why do I keep going overboard thinking about everyone elses stuff? Steve wants to go race at Fabens again, and I need to do what I can to make the karts faster to be competitive enough to run against the Westbends.
I know we can run with them. That is if they keep fighting for position racing against each other. We found that out quick enough. They also dont do so well in traffic or being pressured from someone else following them.
There is one other thing I realized running up with those brothers. They have a tendency to just turn into you or try to knock you off the track. If I made a clean pass, they would just ram into me and try to force my kart off into the weeds.
This sucks too. Every time we did make some ground on them, we were blamed for anything that could change the scoring if they didnt end up in front of us at the finish of the race.
When I tried out the modified carburetor on our second practice day, my kart was noticeably faster. But I also used the Palmini intake manifold with the four petal Go-Power reed. This type combination has been recommended in all of the hop-up articles I read in the magazines.
Up until this year the only bigger carburetor available was that McCulloch flat back model. Not the original Mc 10 carburetor made of magnesium, but the later style of aluminum having a larger bore and venturi.
A big improvement on any engine that had been equipped with the Tillotson is just swapping out to a McCulloch carburetor. Or even better for the higher horsepower engines, make sure you have two carburetors on your engine.
Last year, Tillotson did not have anything comparable to the aluminum Mac carburetor. But now they have the new HL-115A. It is supposed to make a huge difference over the HL-93 model that came on the Mc6 and later model Mc10 engines.
The biggest chainsaw carburetors made by Tillotson have a 13/16 bore, 11/16 venturi and 7/8 air horn. The new HL-115A is advertised as a 1 inch bore. But really is only 15/16 and steps out to one inch bore at the flange. It does have a larger 3/4 venturi and a one inch air horn.
If I could afford one of these, would really make the Clinton run faster. But Frank keeps saying it is way too big for such an anemic engine. He thought that one carburetor I modified on my little Craftsman lathe was actually the new HL-115A.
He just kept going on about showing good smarts, investing in that new carburetor instead of wasting my time modifying those smaller ones from older chainsaws
But naturally Franks Westbend 580, according to his engineers mind, would be more than enough capable enough to handling that almost HL-115A he thought my modified carburetor was. So naturally I interpret this to mean it should work just fine on the Clinton.
I have to admit after machining the carburetor out so big, which was originally a model HL-66A, easily looked like the new HL-115A. That is until you set them side by side. The only carburetor Frank had for comparison is the HL-88A on his engine. This modified carburetor looks huge compared to one on his Westbend.
The Tillotson HL-88A, which replaced the smaller HL-15A, has only one major difference. The throttle bore is slightly larger. It is bored out from 13/16 to 7/8 of an inch. Even most of the drilled passages are the same size.
I lucked out by copying the drilled fuel passages to match an HL-93A from a Mc10 engine. I found it in a box of parts we had been given last summer after cleaning up the scrap pile at Gasset, that small engine repair shop across the street from the Dairyette.
Mr Grimes was so impressed with how great of a job we did, he even paid us cash plus what we had agreed on originally. We made out good from that one Saturdays work. If not for all of the junk engines we got to keep, me and Steve would be sitting on the sidelines still trying to figure out how to put something together to race some day.
Copying the drilled passages from that HL-93A worked on the modified carburetor. It runs extremely well when using the Palmini manifold. So we might even be fast enough to run right up with those two Westbends. It is possible.
Time to set up the little 6 inch Craftsman lathe again and bore out at least two more of those chainsaw carburetors. It should not take much time since I am just repeating what has already been done. But now I dont have to wonder if it will work this time.
Originally my plan was to use those HL-87A model carburetors I have several of in the parts surplus. This particular model did not come with provisions for the choke assembly.
I thought these would work great without having to plug the choke shaft holes. But after boring one out, the casting was too thin and broke thru where the boss is for the shaft.
Another more critical reason for scraping the idea of using these is the fuel circuit is very complicated compared to the newer models. The high speed circuit is routed in a very odd mannered way. So much that I didnt want to chance it not working out after doing all of the machine work on one.
When we make it out for another practice or test session at the track, the one thing important is finding out if the stock manifolds we cleaned up and installed larger reeds in, runs good enough to use with the bored out carburetors. Otherwise we need to buy another Palmini or Go-Power manifold.
I keep thinking about helping out Chris getting his kart set up to be a lot more competitive. At our only race, me and Steve did great minus a few bad calls from the flagman. OK really every call made from the flagman that night. He didnt hold anything back on us.
At the end of every heat race, Chris was the only driver finishing consistently in front of all the other drivers in our class. Even tho he does not run fast enough to even be a factor against the two Westbends, he was still faster than all of the other entries that night.
If all three of us practice and work together, we should be able to give the Westbend guys a hard time. And even likely beat them at their own game. So long as they keep fighting against themselves for position, we could possibly beat them without even ganging up.
It would be awesome if we didnt have to block them after making a pass. Neither brother cared much about driving clean when me or Steve did get around them. They turned into our karts, cut us off, or intentionally tried to force us off the track.
With all of the chaos on the track, we are the only ones getting black flagged or disqualified for poor sportsmanship. That cant happen again if we have any chance of beating them at the next race. I want to make a clean pass, then we work together getting some distance on them. Then no way could we get accused of anything but putting on a good race.
I guess Steve is all for going to the track again. I still need to motivate myself more first. My thoughts have been leaning toward going to the Whizzer track next time. Mr. Pennington from school last year, said they have a great race program and lots of participation in every class.
They do run under GKCA rules or now what is officially going to be the International Kart Federation, or IKF, after the first of the year. So I would have to read up on what classes we can run with the engines in our stock pile. Sounds to me like more time and more money to get competitive.
It would be cool to move up to a faster class and use that McCulloch chainsaw engine. But I would be starting all over again trying to figure out what makes it run well. I still barely have a grasp on these Clintons.
As of right now I am just starting to understand a little bit about the Clintons. Even tho there isnt any real difference with other two stroke engines. There is no reason to abandon these engines just to step up to a faster class just because it is faster.
I bet it could get expensive if very many mistakes are made before getting everything working right. But so long as we have a lot of spare spares with the Clintons, we should stick with them. Especially since we cant really afford anything faster.
It has been a week already and all that has been on my mind is the one conversation we had with Topher or now Chris. He thought it would be cool for me to call him Chris. But he still prefers Topher to his school friends and other guys he knows at the track.
Chris explained to me that Topher is the one unique identifying mark that sets him apart from just somebody named Chris. Especially since that is what he has gone by since first starting school. But after thinking it over, he decided he liked the idea of me using his actual name, instead of his nick.
I have to admit that getting to know Topher, or now with his permission, Chris, he doesnt need a unique nick name to use as an identifying mark to set him apart from just some other lunk head. He has that totally covered already.
It would be a challenge to go back to Fabens and try again, since we got hammered by the flagman in every heat race. But the competition was more than worth racing against. Especially since our karts handled and engines ran very well.
Even with those two Westbends being faster, it was still exciting to run with them by using some brains instead of relying on a lead foot. You cant beat someone all the time just from raw horsepower.
Raw horsepower is something none of the Clinton engines have against any Westbend in the Junior Bushing class. But taking full advantage of what you do have to work with can make a big difference.
The two brothers running those Westbends are much faster than every other driver in the class. But they dont work together on the track. The whole time they are leading, they also fight for position between each other.
By fighting for the lead position every lap, their times drop way back much slower. Some of the laps were even slower than what me and Steve had been running when working together. So long as we kept running inline with each other, it didnt take too long to catch up to them.
If they worked together for a few laps, nobody else would be able to catch up to them. Chris told me the two brothers had taken themselves out out of the race several times already. But for some reason every time this happened the heat race got a restart.
When asked why it was restarted, the flagman said all the drivers paid to race and deserved to get their track time. But when any other driver got taken out, for whatever reason, well that is racing, get used to it.
I thought no matter what we did, it would end up the same way as the one time we raced there. I didnt see how we could pull off anything if the flagman was only favoring his two kids running those Westbends.
Steve was right about his understanding of how the karts are set up and geared. My kart is faster in a straight line. But his kart can make up that difference thru the tighter turns or in traffic.
I could easily get caught behind a slightly slower kart and be stuck there, while Steve could pass us both and pull away. Unless the slower kart made a mistake somewhere, I might never get around it.
I dont know if it is so critical, but we are running two teeth different between almost identical setups. A 72 and 74. What if the best gear size is really a 73? As of right now only even numbers are available from any manufacturer. There is only a few companies even offering them right now.
Maybe if we are both geared the same, and with the modified carburetors ....... Wow, Steve might be right about running up there with the Westbends. Gears are grinding in my head thinking about what all it will take so we could do this.
I really need a new set of tires. Steves kart is just about perfect. Maybe try the modified carburetor on his kart to find out which gear works out best. The smaller 72 gear on my kart or the 74 gear on his kart.
Would it make the engine turn too much rpm with the modified carburetor and bigger gear? I guess we need to take another trip out to the track for some real testing this time.
Each time so far we went to the track for practice, Frank was there plagued with problems. I realized early on he was the problem for all of the problems he was having. It is not like I could tell him that.
Every time something went wrong, I focused on trying to figure out why. The only way any of the problems could happen is because Frank assumes the work he has done was done correctly. He way overthinks things for sure.
When he decided to set his kart up like he thought it should have been done originally, well thats when things went south fast. It would not handle and even worse was completely undriveable. While getting Frank sidetracked, like getting him driving Steves kart on the track, I tried to fix all of the fixes he had just fixed on his kart.
An engineers job is to solve problems. But Frank has a way of causing more problems than he could ever fix. Some are not so hard to rectify. But the other ones are too extreme to do much good at the track.
I could barely keep a straight face when Frank thought he figured out why his kart got out of wack so fast after he did such a fantastic job setting it up. He assured me the frame, after just getting enough run time on the track, well it was sprung.
He went into an in depth explanation on how this very thing could happen. Since his kart being a prototype, it was not likely built in a jig. But more likely setup one time on just a fixture table.
So more likely, as I wear out this one word he was constantly using in his explanation, the frame was not perfectly fitted when getting welded together. It was probably forced down and clamped then welded. So that little bit of resistance on the frame rails would cause the weight distribution to go all crazy after having been run for a while.
I wonder if Frank actually sits around drinking too much beer all day thinking this crap up. I mean he is an engineer after all. So that highly educated brain of his is supposed to solve problems.
But the one problem he cant solve is Frank. I think that is what the problem really is. But Frank wont ever figure this out for himself. It must be some kind of yankee thing. It sure fits the way I see things when he is involved.
So he said that has to be the only thing which could possibly cause his kart to become undriveable so quickly. The only other reasoning was it must have been possessed. At least he sort of laughed when telling me this hypothesis.
But since Frank is the only guy available to keep an eye on us so we can go to the track for practice, I have to rely on him for that. Mom is definitely not all that trusting with him, well not trusting at all really, but so far me and Steve have not killed ourselves yet, under his careful watch.
I would also like to help Chris, much as I can, and maybe get his kart more up to speed. I had no idea his kart had a dead axle. The whole time at the races we were so plagued with distractions, I never had much chance to even check out it out.
He was seriously asking about converting his kart over to a live axle. That might work just fine. But the engine would need some improvements to push the extra drag. His engine is totally stock with exception for changing out the carburetor and getting rid of that stock muffler.
Those are also the two best first choices for increasing power from the engine. Some more improvements can then be done to make an even bigger difference. I have learned a lot from the little bit of testing we have actually accomplished so far.
So without actually going all crazy grinding the ports, a few changes and adjustments can yield about the same benefit. The modified carburetor is a big plus, but only after addressing the ridiculously small reed petals on the intake manifold.
Swapping out to an aftermarket manifold is a much better choice, but the bigger reed petals and opening up the stock intake passage makes a huge difference. More than worth it if you dont have a Go-Power or Palmini manifold to use.
I should set up mine and Steves engines identical, then we track test and make adjustments until getting them fast as possible. I could have the backup engine set up differently to try other things we have not worked out yet.
If there is a chance of Chris coming out there with us, would be even better to work on getting faster. But if relying on Frank for chaperone, might prove less than useful like from the previous two times on the track.
Each time we went to the track for testing, I spent all my practice time working on Franks super duper prototype Dart Special wannabe A-Bone. I was thinking his prototype kart might have been built right before the A-Bone was introduced. Now I am almost certain it was built even before the Super K chassis.
There were some major changes from his prototype to what is now a proven and extremely fast design, known as the Dart A-Bone. Would Frank be willing to update his kart? I know the steering shaft has to be changed out. That thing is so flimsy I could bend it in a hard run. Or even with a fence post as a track side repair.
After some measuring I found out the wheelbase is longer on his prototype frame. Converting from a dead to live axle, the wheelbase didnt change so much originally. But the A-Bone is a lot shorter. It might be easy enough to update his kart.
So why do I keep going overboard thinking about everyone elses stuff? Steve wants to go race at Fabens again, and I need to do what I can to make the karts faster to be competitive enough to run against the Westbends.
I know we can run with them. That is if they keep fighting for position racing against each other. We found that out quick enough. They also dont do so well in traffic or being pressured from someone else following them.
There is one other thing I realized running up with those brothers. They have a tendency to just turn into you or try to knock you off the track. If I made a clean pass, they would just ram into me and try to force my kart off into the weeds.
This sucks too. Every time we did make some ground on them, we were blamed for anything that could change the scoring if they didnt end up in front of us at the finish of the race.
When I tried out the modified carburetor on our second practice day, my kart was noticeably faster. But I also used the Palmini intake manifold with the four petal Go-Power reed. This type combination has been recommended in all of the hop-up articles I read in the magazines.
Up until this year the only bigger carburetor available was that McCulloch flat back model. Not the original Mc 10 carburetor made of magnesium, but the later style of aluminum having a larger bore and venturi.
A big improvement on any engine that had been equipped with the Tillotson is just swapping out to a McCulloch carburetor. Or even better for the higher horsepower engines, make sure you have two carburetors on your engine.
Last year, Tillotson did not have anything comparable to the aluminum Mac carburetor. But now they have the new HL-115A. It is supposed to make a huge difference over the HL-93 model that came on the Mc6 and later model Mc10 engines.
The biggest chainsaw carburetors made by Tillotson have a 13/16 bore, 11/16 venturi and 7/8 air horn. The new HL-115A is advertised as a 1 inch bore. But really is only 15/16 and steps out to one inch bore at the flange. It does have a larger 3/4 venturi and a one inch air horn.
If I could afford one of these, would really make the Clinton run faster. But Frank keeps saying it is way too big for such an anemic engine. He thought that one carburetor I modified on my little Craftsman lathe was actually the new HL-115A.
He just kept going on about showing good smarts, investing in that new carburetor instead of wasting my time modifying those smaller ones from older chainsaws
But naturally Franks Westbend 580, according to his engineers mind, would be more than enough capable enough to handling that almost HL-115A he thought my modified carburetor was. So naturally I interpret this to mean it should work just fine on the Clinton.
I have to admit after machining the carburetor out so big, which was originally a model HL-66A, easily looked like the new HL-115A. That is until you set them side by side. The only carburetor Frank had for comparison is the HL-88A on his engine. This modified carburetor looks huge compared to one on his Westbend.
The Tillotson HL-88A, which replaced the smaller HL-15A, has only one major difference. The throttle bore is slightly larger. It is bored out from 13/16 to 7/8 of an inch. Even most of the drilled passages are the same size.
I lucked out by copying the drilled fuel passages to match an HL-93A from a Mc10 engine. I found it in a box of parts we had been given last summer after cleaning up the scrap pile at Gasset, that small engine repair shop across the street from the Dairyette.
Mr Grimes was so impressed with how great of a job we did, he even paid us cash plus what we had agreed on originally. We made out good from that one Saturdays work. If not for all of the junk engines we got to keep, me and Steve would be sitting on the sidelines still trying to figure out how to put something together to race some day.
Copying the drilled passages from that HL-93A worked on the modified carburetor. It runs extremely well when using the Palmini manifold. So we might even be fast enough to run right up with those two Westbends. It is possible.
Time to set up the little 6 inch Craftsman lathe again and bore out at least two more of those chainsaw carburetors. It should not take much time since I am just repeating what has already been done. But now I dont have to wonder if it will work this time.
Originally my plan was to use those HL-87A model carburetors I have several of in the parts surplus. This particular model did not come with provisions for the choke assembly.
I thought these would work great without having to plug the choke shaft holes. But after boring one out, the casting was too thin and broke thru where the boss is for the shaft.
Another more critical reason for scraping the idea of using these is the fuel circuit is very complicated compared to the newer models. The high speed circuit is routed in a very odd mannered way. So much that I didnt want to chance it not working out after doing all of the machine work on one.
When we make it out for another practice or test session at the track, the one thing important is finding out if the stock manifolds we cleaned up and installed larger reeds in, runs good enough to use with the bored out carburetors. Otherwise we need to buy another Palmini or Go-Power manifold.
I keep thinking about helping out Chris getting his kart set up to be a lot more competitive. At our only race, me and Steve did great minus a few bad calls from the flagman. OK really every call made from the flagman that night. He didnt hold anything back on us.
At the end of every heat race, Chris was the only driver finishing consistently in front of all the other drivers in our class. Even tho he does not run fast enough to even be a factor against the two Westbends, he was still faster than all of the other entries that night.
If all three of us practice and work together, we should be able to give the Westbend guys a hard time. And even likely beat them at their own game. So long as they keep fighting against themselves for position, we could possibly beat them without even ganging up.
It would be awesome if we didnt have to block them after making a pass. Neither brother cared much about driving clean when me or Steve did get around them. They turned into our karts, cut us off, or intentionally tried to force us off the track.
With all of the chaos on the track, we are the only ones getting black flagged or disqualified for poor sportsmanship. That cant happen again if we have any chance of beating them at the next race. I want to make a clean pass, then we work together getting some distance on them. Then no way could we get accused of anything but putting on a good race.
I guess Steve is all for going to the track again. I still need to motivate myself more first. My thoughts have been leaning toward going to the Whizzer track next time. Mr. Pennington from school last year, said they have a great race program and lots of participation in every class.
They do run under GKCA rules or now what is officially going to be the International Kart Federation, or IKF, after the first of the year. So I would have to read up on what classes we can run with the engines in our stock pile. Sounds to me like more time and more money to get competitive.
It would be cool to move up to a faster class and use that McCulloch chainsaw engine. But I would be starting all over again trying to figure out what makes it run well. I still barely have a grasp on these Clintons.
As of right now I am just starting to understand a little bit about the Clintons. Even tho there isnt any real difference with other two stroke engines. There is no reason to abandon these engines just to step up to a faster class just because it is faster.
I bet it could get expensive if very many mistakes are made before getting everything working right. But so long as we have a lot of spare spares with the Clintons, we should stick with them. Especially since we cant really afford anything faster.