12-17-2021, 11:33 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-22-2021, 03:29 AM by Terry Bentley.)
Chapter 90
We had been working all morning nonstop, which is rare. Mainly because there have been no mishaps so far. But the day was still young. It sure didnt seem that long before mom was hollering at us. It was already lunch time. Wow, where has the day gone? Oh well, I am hungry, uh starving. Wonder whats for lunch?
We headed inside to find the table set up with a plate full of burger meat right off the grill. There was every bit of the fixins to build whatever you want to make all the way up to a super deluxe cheeseburger.
You boys are filthy, so after making your burgers, maybe you should eat outside on the patio table. I will bring out some drinks for all of you in just a little while. So dont shake too much dirt off yourselves or I will be cleaning in here all day.
We chowed down our delicious burgers outside, which is always a lot better than eating inside, weather permitting of course. Chris got back to talking about what else could be done on his kart today. He wanted to make the best of the time he spent here. Since he didnt know when the next time would be able to come back over.
After some more discussion, we thought about getting the front axle taken care of. Make sure the castor is set right and then start putting the kart back together.
When that is finished, we can get to working on his engine. I asked him if he wanted to modify his intake manifold or machine the carburetors on the lathe. I was surprised that he was more than willing to help with both, if there was enough time.
I didnt think there was enough time today that we could do both, but try to get started and see how much could be done. Even tho the carburetors would be cool to do with him here, it wasnt something he could actually work on by himself. He would mostly be watching me. So that will be the last thing on the to-do list.
Since I have only made one carburetor so far, trying to explain to Chris how to do the work himself would be almost useless. I was not even sure of the exact tooling that was used last time. After those first attempts with the junk carburetor bodies, most everything was narrowed down to just a few reamers to do the job for the next carburetors. But there was also a lot of guess work involved with that first one.
Back to working on the frame, we slid in some 1/2 inch rods thru the spindle tubes on frame. So I cut the old steering shaft in two pieces for this. It did the job just fine. Using hose clamps worked to keep them in place. They fit tight enough so we could measure above and below to make sure the camber didnt change.
The old steering shaft pieces also made it easier to rotate the front axle back to get the castor in we needed. A lot stronger than using all thread. After looking thru the specifications list in the June Karting World magazine, I went with 10 degrees castor. If it was not enough, should be easy enough to add more later.
So before we got started, Steve jumped in and decided to make sure the 4 inch channel iron was laying flat on bottom of the frame. He had to grind down some of the welds on the floor pan. Then spent even more time draw filing the channel iron to confirm it was flat.
I could not believe how far overboard he went doing this. Wrapping a wooden block with Emory cloth, then working at 45 degree angles to the length of channel, he crosshatched the flat side where we would be measuring the caster angle of the front axle. Now there are 90 degree crisscrossed lines left from the sanding.
After deciding to go with 10 degrees caster, I went ahead and cut out a template from sheet metal that fit under the axle sitting on the channel iron. Instead of trying to eyeball the combination square we have a 10 degree angle to push up against the rod sticking down below the axle tube.
Dad explained to me that I should heat the axle to a very slight dull glow of orange. The colder the better. He had tried to beat in my head the importance to not over heat the axle tube. Just hot enough until the axle would start to rotate when using a lot of force.
He said to spread the heat around, absolutely do not concentrate it on one spot just to start getting it hot enough. This could make the axle tubing brittle, especially if it cooled down too fast. Uniform coverage of heat was the big secret here.
As the frame section was heated, I slowly worked the torch around until it was a dull glowing orange color. Here Steve, I handed him the torch, keep it just like this. I grabbed the steel rod that was running thru those short tubes where the spindles fits over. I believe this is called a Reverse Elliot Clevis describing the style of spindle mounting on the front axle.
The frame put up a lot of resistance, but I was able to rotate the axle back just enough until we had 10 degrees of caster. Chris was holding the sheet metal template against the steel rod sticking down below the spindle tube sitting on the channel iron under the frame. When the rod angle lined up with the template, we had it licked.
Way to go everyone. We now have some geometry in the front axle. Chris your kart should track straight and handle when turning the wheel now. Chris had nothing to say but a big smile across his face.
Before Steve left for home to do chores, he suggested again converting over to a swing mount instead of welding it back on. As Steve was walking out of the garage he spun around and headed over to the desk at the far corner of the back wall.
After thumbing thru a few magazines he found it on the outside back cover of one issue. Even looking thru a magnifying glass he gave up. Hey Terry, do you have any pictures of Franks super duper special?
Yea, I did get some of them the last time we practiced out there. Remember he was wanting a good action picture to send to one of the magazines for a cover shot. But the only real action pics of him was pushing his kart off the track. Well besides me flipping over him in the pits. But there are some close ups of the frame, if that helps any. I took them when working on his frame.
Yes those would be perfect. Go get them. Hurry up too. I gotta get home asap. I ran inside to my room and grabbed my box full of the kart pictures. After he went digging thru them, one caught his attention. Yea right here. This is exactly what I wanted to see.
Terry, see the bearing hangers on Franks kart? What if we copy these using some of that steel plate over there? If we do this, all that has to be changed is flip them over upside down. Then use these instead of Chris having to buy a complete axle kit.
Look here, where the frame bends up before the dead axle tube is welded on. It is done this way to drop the frame lower to the ground. If you weld those Dart bearing hangers on upside down, you know where the opening is on top, the ride height should be just about perfect this way.
Another thing super cool is welding a section of that old axle tube across between these hangers like on the Dart, so there will be a rear bumper. Chris wont have to worry about getting rear ended so much this way and breaking anything on his engine. You know like a spark plug or something.
Wow Steve, that is a great idea! I can even go over to Franks and trace out a template of his bearing hangers. Then Chris can try cutting them out of the steel plate. I bet he would like to do something like that too. Wouldnt you Chris? He just shrugged his shoulders. Sure I guess.
Me and Chris can go ahead and start on that right now. I am sure Frank is home. Thanks Steve, you were a big help today. Or would you prefer making those bearing hangers for Chris? I know you like making things like that.
Naw, thats OK. I am sure Chris would like to make them himself. He was so excited to do all that work on his kart. You should have seen him tearing it apart earlier. He is going to be good at this after some more time. Its a shame you took so long washing the dishes this morning.
It is a good thing my bike has a rack on back of it. Chris is still small enough not to be a problem riding two up on the bike. When me and Steve ever tried two up, usually ended up in a small disaster. I decided to drop in on Frank and hopefully we can trace a cardboard pattern of his bearing hangers.
I warned Chris about Frank. Not only is he a yankee, but also barks at people. I remember Frank telling me about a dog that wouldnt stop barking and taking nips at him. So he grabbed the dog and bit it on the ear. The dog cried in pain but no longer annoyed Frank after that. I was surprised Frank didnt tell me the dog later died of rabies.
As we rode up to Franks house I was surprised with what I saw. Frank actually working was the first surprise. But it was him wearing a straw hat riding on a lawnmower in his front yard that first caught my attention.
The straw hat had provisions for two cans. One on either side. He had two beers in that hat connected to a tube running down in his mouth. As he was mowing the yard, also consuming two beers at the same time.
Ingenious, not really, more hilarious, only if someone else but Frank. I have sort of figured out Frank did certain things just to get attention from other people. Since he moved down here, I dont know how many people he has made friends with yet.
But getting to know Frank over the last few months, I am thinking it has not been that many. Maybe if he didnt act like a yankee, it would be easier for him to make friends. I dont really know tho.
Early on I was more afraid of Frank, but realized he was mostly harmless and full of hot air. I also would not have just waltzed right into his garage like I am doing now.
So Frank was going in circles drinking his warmed over beer out in the sun today. I took Chris inside the garage and started checking over that one off super Dart proto race special kart he is so proud of.
We had been working all morning nonstop, which is rare. Mainly because there have been no mishaps so far. But the day was still young. It sure didnt seem that long before mom was hollering at us. It was already lunch time. Wow, where has the day gone? Oh well, I am hungry, uh starving. Wonder whats for lunch?
We headed inside to find the table set up with a plate full of burger meat right off the grill. There was every bit of the fixins to build whatever you want to make all the way up to a super deluxe cheeseburger.
You boys are filthy, so after making your burgers, maybe you should eat outside on the patio table. I will bring out some drinks for all of you in just a little while. So dont shake too much dirt off yourselves or I will be cleaning in here all day.
We chowed down our delicious burgers outside, which is always a lot better than eating inside, weather permitting of course. Chris got back to talking about what else could be done on his kart today. He wanted to make the best of the time he spent here. Since he didnt know when the next time would be able to come back over.
After some more discussion, we thought about getting the front axle taken care of. Make sure the castor is set right and then start putting the kart back together.
When that is finished, we can get to working on his engine. I asked him if he wanted to modify his intake manifold or machine the carburetors on the lathe. I was surprised that he was more than willing to help with both, if there was enough time.
I didnt think there was enough time today that we could do both, but try to get started and see how much could be done. Even tho the carburetors would be cool to do with him here, it wasnt something he could actually work on by himself. He would mostly be watching me. So that will be the last thing on the to-do list.
Since I have only made one carburetor so far, trying to explain to Chris how to do the work himself would be almost useless. I was not even sure of the exact tooling that was used last time. After those first attempts with the junk carburetor bodies, most everything was narrowed down to just a few reamers to do the job for the next carburetors. But there was also a lot of guess work involved with that first one.
Back to working on the frame, we slid in some 1/2 inch rods thru the spindle tubes on frame. So I cut the old steering shaft in two pieces for this. It did the job just fine. Using hose clamps worked to keep them in place. They fit tight enough so we could measure above and below to make sure the camber didnt change.
The old steering shaft pieces also made it easier to rotate the front axle back to get the castor in we needed. A lot stronger than using all thread. After looking thru the specifications list in the June Karting World magazine, I went with 10 degrees castor. If it was not enough, should be easy enough to add more later.
So before we got started, Steve jumped in and decided to make sure the 4 inch channel iron was laying flat on bottom of the frame. He had to grind down some of the welds on the floor pan. Then spent even more time draw filing the channel iron to confirm it was flat.
I could not believe how far overboard he went doing this. Wrapping a wooden block with Emory cloth, then working at 45 degree angles to the length of channel, he crosshatched the flat side where we would be measuring the caster angle of the front axle. Now there are 90 degree crisscrossed lines left from the sanding.
After deciding to go with 10 degrees caster, I went ahead and cut out a template from sheet metal that fit under the axle sitting on the channel iron. Instead of trying to eyeball the combination square we have a 10 degree angle to push up against the rod sticking down below the axle tube.
Dad explained to me that I should heat the axle to a very slight dull glow of orange. The colder the better. He had tried to beat in my head the importance to not over heat the axle tube. Just hot enough until the axle would start to rotate when using a lot of force.
He said to spread the heat around, absolutely do not concentrate it on one spot just to start getting it hot enough. This could make the axle tubing brittle, especially if it cooled down too fast. Uniform coverage of heat was the big secret here.
As the frame section was heated, I slowly worked the torch around until it was a dull glowing orange color. Here Steve, I handed him the torch, keep it just like this. I grabbed the steel rod that was running thru those short tubes where the spindles fits over. I believe this is called a Reverse Elliot Clevis describing the style of spindle mounting on the front axle.
The frame put up a lot of resistance, but I was able to rotate the axle back just enough until we had 10 degrees of caster. Chris was holding the sheet metal template against the steel rod sticking down below the spindle tube sitting on the channel iron under the frame. When the rod angle lined up with the template, we had it licked.
Way to go everyone. We now have some geometry in the front axle. Chris your kart should track straight and handle when turning the wheel now. Chris had nothing to say but a big smile across his face.
Before Steve left for home to do chores, he suggested again converting over to a swing mount instead of welding it back on. As Steve was walking out of the garage he spun around and headed over to the desk at the far corner of the back wall.
After thumbing thru a few magazines he found it on the outside back cover of one issue. Even looking thru a magnifying glass he gave up. Hey Terry, do you have any pictures of Franks super duper special?
Yea, I did get some of them the last time we practiced out there. Remember he was wanting a good action picture to send to one of the magazines for a cover shot. But the only real action pics of him was pushing his kart off the track. Well besides me flipping over him in the pits. But there are some close ups of the frame, if that helps any. I took them when working on his frame.
Yes those would be perfect. Go get them. Hurry up too. I gotta get home asap. I ran inside to my room and grabbed my box full of the kart pictures. After he went digging thru them, one caught his attention. Yea right here. This is exactly what I wanted to see.
Terry, see the bearing hangers on Franks kart? What if we copy these using some of that steel plate over there? If we do this, all that has to be changed is flip them over upside down. Then use these instead of Chris having to buy a complete axle kit.
Look here, where the frame bends up before the dead axle tube is welded on. It is done this way to drop the frame lower to the ground. If you weld those Dart bearing hangers on upside down, you know where the opening is on top, the ride height should be just about perfect this way.
Another thing super cool is welding a section of that old axle tube across between these hangers like on the Dart, so there will be a rear bumper. Chris wont have to worry about getting rear ended so much this way and breaking anything on his engine. You know like a spark plug or something.
Wow Steve, that is a great idea! I can even go over to Franks and trace out a template of his bearing hangers. Then Chris can try cutting them out of the steel plate. I bet he would like to do something like that too. Wouldnt you Chris? He just shrugged his shoulders. Sure I guess.
Me and Chris can go ahead and start on that right now. I am sure Frank is home. Thanks Steve, you were a big help today. Or would you prefer making those bearing hangers for Chris? I know you like making things like that.
Naw, thats OK. I am sure Chris would like to make them himself. He was so excited to do all that work on his kart. You should have seen him tearing it apart earlier. He is going to be good at this after some more time. Its a shame you took so long washing the dishes this morning.
It is a good thing my bike has a rack on back of it. Chris is still small enough not to be a problem riding two up on the bike. When me and Steve ever tried two up, usually ended up in a small disaster. I decided to drop in on Frank and hopefully we can trace a cardboard pattern of his bearing hangers.
I warned Chris about Frank. Not only is he a yankee, but also barks at people. I remember Frank telling me about a dog that wouldnt stop barking and taking nips at him. So he grabbed the dog and bit it on the ear. The dog cried in pain but no longer annoyed Frank after that. I was surprised Frank didnt tell me the dog later died of rabies.
As we rode up to Franks house I was surprised with what I saw. Frank actually working was the first surprise. But it was him wearing a straw hat riding on a lawnmower in his front yard that first caught my attention.
The straw hat had provisions for two cans. One on either side. He had two beers in that hat connected to a tube running down in his mouth. As he was mowing the yard, also consuming two beers at the same time.
Ingenious, not really, more hilarious, only if someone else but Frank. I have sort of figured out Frank did certain things just to get attention from other people. Since he moved down here, I dont know how many people he has made friends with yet.
But getting to know Frank over the last few months, I am thinking it has not been that many. Maybe if he didnt act like a yankee, it would be easier for him to make friends. I dont really know tho.
Early on I was more afraid of Frank, but realized he was mostly harmless and full of hot air. I also would not have just waltzed right into his garage like I am doing now.
So Frank was going in circles drinking his warmed over beer out in the sun today. I took Chris inside the garage and started checking over that one off super Dart proto race special kart he is so proud of.