07-21-2023, 09:17 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-17-2024, 10:39 PM by Terry Bentley.)
Chapter 137
The first thing Chris thought when reading the note, is that his mom had used the cat food to make the tuna fish sandwich.
By the time Chris made it this far telling us the story, me and Steve both had tears in our eyes from laughing so hard. Every time Steve looked over at Chris he busted out laughing that much more.
I noticed Chris had shut up and there was a look of embarrassment bordering on getting really mad or extremely offended. I have not been around him so much yet to figure out how he reacts to things like this. HEY STOP MAKING FUN OF ME! IT WAS NOT FUNNY!
WOH there Chris, Steve was telling him, right before going back to laughing even harder.
This sure didnt help. Chris was now getting really mad. When I saw him ball up his fists, I decided to clear up a potential misunderstanding.
Hold on, Chris. Nobody is laughing at you. But you sure do tell an awesome good story. I could almost picture everything as you were describing it. So chill out and dont get mad because we are laughing at something totally hilarious that happened to you.
Steve was having trouble catching his breath. He would get a straight face then go off again laughing. Sorry man, but that was an awesome story. And totally hilarious. I wish I could come up with stuff like that. So did that really happen to you?
With the taste of tuna fish still in my mouth from lunch, I almost had a gag feeling when you told us it was cat food. Man I sure hope nothing like that ever happens to me. I would get grossed out just like you did. Maybe even worse.
Chris bowed up for a moment and just sat there before quietly looking down. Terry, is this something like we were talking about yesterday? About puppies?
Nail on the head Chris. Dont let it get to you. Not exactly like the examples I was referring to but very close to the same thing tho. So what does cat food taste like? Once again Steve took off laughing unable to catch a clean breath.
This time Chris got up and slugged me in the arm. He hit me hard, but not a mean type of slug tho. I noticed he now had a smirk on his face. It tastes like cat food. What else is it supposed to taste like? You guys are so dense sometimes. Then gave out a big squint eyed ear to ear grin at me.
So what was the deal about that open can of cat food?
Oh yea, I found out later the neighbors were out of town for a few days. Mom was asked if she could feed their pet cat.
Steve used up all of his laughing, like when dry heaving. There was nothing left, but he couldnt quit. Stop it already, I had enough. My sides are hurting like heck. Enough of the comedy routine. I cant take anymore. How about we put some karts together today before the sun sets. Steve finally stood up straight attempting to get his breathing under control.
A short while later the freshly painted parts were dry enough to handle. While Steve assembled the gas tanks and motor mount bases, Chris explained to me what he learned in Art class might work here very well to trace the outline on to the shroud.
So he layed out the wax paper over the large area of shroud, then kept rotating until the cat looked like it was about to jump right out at us. Perfect Chris, I like the way that looks. He used the tip of a ball point pen and traced out the lines. It will leave an indention in the fresh paint.
On the first shroud I held the wax paper in place while he traced it. The next one, he folded the edges over and used masking tape to keep in place. This one turned out much better. Sorry Terry, looks like yours is the prototype.
No problem Chris. After telling your cat fish story, I would not be mad if my panther was upside down. Oh make it laughing too. Once again Steve went into hysterics for a few more moments before finally getting it all out of his system. Me and Chris also got a good laugh at what was said.
Still way early in the day and were were sailing along just fine. The shrouds turned out great. Chris did an awesome job working with the small paint brush and followed the ball point tracer lines. The first line was grey for a solid background. Then followed with silver on top. The silver is not opaque, so it almost disappeared into the satin black finish.
At first I wanted to do the paint. But I was all pumped up and my hands just did not seem to settle down enough to leave the paint the lines smooth. I got frustrated and told Chris to try his luck. He sat there calmly, bit down on his lower lip, then looked like a master dragging the tip of brush around the trace lines.
I chose my shroud to find out what the red lines would look like. Mainly adding some accent to the outline Some of the red was following the inside of trace lines and other places to the outside of panther shape. It did add some contrast and depth to the silver grey outline, but not so much as I wanted. But at least this way I can tell the difference between the engines.
The one thing Chris did like about the red was when I touched up the eyes and teeth. He went ahead and did the same to the eyes on his panther. I have to admit it did make for a evil looking prowling cat with nothing but the eyes in red. Almost possessed.
By two o'clock, we had the karts finished. Right up until we realized they were not yet finished. Agh crap, I forgot to mount your tires Terry. I should have done those for you yesterday. I am sorry. I keep getting you sidetracked ever time.
Again Chris, no problemo, we got plenty of daylight left today. I am feeling good about everything we have done so far and something like that sure isnt going to get me bent out of shape. Give me a hand, while Steve is mounting up the the other engines first.
We lifted up my kart and set it on the saw horses. Chris immediately grabbed the wire cutters from work bench, handing them off to me. Then went and fished out the big socket and break over bar from toolbox. I removed the cotter pins about the time he was walking back over to the kart.
While I was holding down the brake pedal, Chris was not having so much luck loosening up the big nut on rear axle. Hold on Chris, you are doing it all wrong. You dont have any leverage that way. I showed him how to stand with legs slightly apart and one in front while pushing down on the break over bar.
Chris did not take it so well, when I told him he was doing this all wrong. A very agitated expression came over his face immediately. Then he strong armed the break over bar out in front of him handing it off to me. He did this without giving any eye contact.
Try standing in front of the axle on left side then behind on the right side while breaking the nut loose. Wrap you hand around the underside of socket to support it while pushing down with your other hand on the bar. Hold the bar almost parallel with the floor or angled slightly down. Just something comfortable for you to get a good solid grip on.
Wow Terry, that made so much difference. I didnt realize how much until trying what you showed me. Sometimes I think I got things all figured out just to find out how much I still have no clue about. Working with tools is so new to me. I usually have a good idea of how to do stuff. Well I guess other stuff that has nothing to do with mechanical things and working with real hand tools.
Gee Chris, dont they teach you anything about the laws of physics in school these days? At first I thought Chris was going to get bent out of shape again, but he managed to stop and take a deep breath.
No they didnt. I need to talk to someone about that. You would think with me being in the seventh grade, that is something I should already be plenty well versed in by now. This was followed up by his unique double chuckle.
It was obvious that Chris was being very sarcastic with his answer. I liked how he managed to work thru he frustration like that instead of coping an attitude or having a small melt down.
Chris removed the big nuts holding the rear wheels on, while I pulled the front ones off. He put all of the loose pieces in a tin can and placed it in the seat of my kart. Then went digging out the tools he needed to disassemble the wheels.
![[Image: attachment.php?aid=5351]](https://www.vintagekartforum.com/attachment.php?aid=5351)
Chris kept at it changing out the tires, while I followed behind Steve attaching fuel lines and throttle linkage. I was being very particular and almost anal about setting the linkage just right. Making sure there was no overtravel on the pedal that could snap off the throttle shaft.
There was no reason to ever allow something like this to happen. By adjusting the compression spring on throttle linkage rod from pedal, it acts like a stop when fully depressed. Then making sure there was just a slight amount of play in the cable itself at swivel on carburetor shaft before pedal has been pushed down. Now when pedal is pressed down all the way, carb had just fully opened.
I also considered adding a small diameter return spring that fits over the cable itself. This would be placed in between the swivel on carburetor shaft and bracket bolted to intake manifold where the cable stop is. But first I had to find the right size compression spring. Just something else needed to follow up on next time at the hardware store.
Chris was asking how much air should be put in the tires. He went total speed demon swapping them out. I told him about 20 pounds on each to seat them. But first I wanted to check over his work.
He seemed to be slightly perturbed about me not trusting what he had done. I told him it was not about trust. It was assurance there would not be a problem just in case something was overlooked. So while I check over the wheels, you need to make sure Steve tightened down all of the bolts on the engine mounts. This made Chris feel a little bit more important being part of the team instead of just being a helper or in the way.
Steve was having trouble with something. Then handed the part over to Chris. Here chase the threads with a tap and dont screw it up. He handed Chris the tools and pointed to the pedestal mounted vice and told him to use it on this one hole. Chris went right over to it and seemed to know what he was doing this time. After all of the work done on his kart in the last couple of weeks, he has gained some confidence in himself using a lot of the tools.
![[Image: attachment.php?aid=5352]](https://www.vintagekartforum.com/attachment.php?aid=5352)
Everything looks good, except this. Chris stopped working in a panicked stance. What do you mean except this...
I showed him the problem. Before airing up the tires, always make sure the tube is centered. Two of these here have the valve stems way out of whack. I pinched the tire slightly and rotated it enough for the stem to be centered now. Not seriously angled like it was.
OK I get it. One more thing I needed to learn now instead of finding out on the track broke down watching you guys racing around taking the checkered flag. Got it locked in my head now. He did a turn of the pretend key by his head and put it away in his pocket.
Watching Chris mount the wheels back on my kart, I noticed he took a little bit more effort making sure everything was just perfect as he knows how to do. Not getting over confident with something simple as this. It was too easy making a mistake overlooking a small detail from being careless or not paying enough attention.
We were standing in front of our three karts admiring them. They are finally sitting there all put back together. Steve then made a comment about how ugly my kart was. When we built his new frame, he spent some time and cleaned it up to bare shiny metal. Since then he has kept it wiped down with oil so the frame does not start rusting.
After every time it has been run, that little bit of oil film picks up all of the dust floating around in the air. Fortunately it only takes a few minutes to wipe the dust off leaving a very nice looking bare frame.
We did a decent paint job since Chris thought how nice his kart would look after all of the work we did. I only had a half quart of industrial glossy black. Sure made his kart look almost new. His dad bought this kart used and Chris never knew what it would have looked like before. He is very happy with how it does look now.
My kart frame was a complete disaster after the wreck. Over a few weeks we managed to piece is all back together with scraps of one inch square tubing. So some of the frame sections are still showing the original paint. Or paints, since I am not sure what the original color was.
I didnt bother with making my frame all nice anything. Being pretty did not get me to the track any sooner by spending extra time so it would win a beauty contest. I do have regrets not putting the effort in making it look at least a little better. But that time was used to build Steve his kart, modify our engines and upgrade the frame for Chris so his would be more competitive.
I figured so long as that ugly Buco brand helmet is strapped on my head, the kart makes for a perfect match. But looking down at how cool the engines are, I may have to put some time in making my kart more presentable. Well not until we have some major free time between racing on the weekends.
The first thing Chris thought when reading the note, is that his mom had used the cat food to make the tuna fish sandwich.
By the time Chris made it this far telling us the story, me and Steve both had tears in our eyes from laughing so hard. Every time Steve looked over at Chris he busted out laughing that much more.
I noticed Chris had shut up and there was a look of embarrassment bordering on getting really mad or extremely offended. I have not been around him so much yet to figure out how he reacts to things like this. HEY STOP MAKING FUN OF ME! IT WAS NOT FUNNY!
WOH there Chris, Steve was telling him, right before going back to laughing even harder.
This sure didnt help. Chris was now getting really mad. When I saw him ball up his fists, I decided to clear up a potential misunderstanding.
Hold on, Chris. Nobody is laughing at you. But you sure do tell an awesome good story. I could almost picture everything as you were describing it. So chill out and dont get mad because we are laughing at something totally hilarious that happened to you.
Steve was having trouble catching his breath. He would get a straight face then go off again laughing. Sorry man, but that was an awesome story. And totally hilarious. I wish I could come up with stuff like that. So did that really happen to you?
With the taste of tuna fish still in my mouth from lunch, I almost had a gag feeling when you told us it was cat food. Man I sure hope nothing like that ever happens to me. I would get grossed out just like you did. Maybe even worse.
Chris bowed up for a moment and just sat there before quietly looking down. Terry, is this something like we were talking about yesterday? About puppies?
Nail on the head Chris. Dont let it get to you. Not exactly like the examples I was referring to but very close to the same thing tho. So what does cat food taste like? Once again Steve took off laughing unable to catch a clean breath.
This time Chris got up and slugged me in the arm. He hit me hard, but not a mean type of slug tho. I noticed he now had a smirk on his face. It tastes like cat food. What else is it supposed to taste like? You guys are so dense sometimes. Then gave out a big squint eyed ear to ear grin at me.
So what was the deal about that open can of cat food?
Oh yea, I found out later the neighbors were out of town for a few days. Mom was asked if she could feed their pet cat.
Steve used up all of his laughing, like when dry heaving. There was nothing left, but he couldnt quit. Stop it already, I had enough. My sides are hurting like heck. Enough of the comedy routine. I cant take anymore. How about we put some karts together today before the sun sets. Steve finally stood up straight attempting to get his breathing under control.
A short while later the freshly painted parts were dry enough to handle. While Steve assembled the gas tanks and motor mount bases, Chris explained to me what he learned in Art class might work here very well to trace the outline on to the shroud.
So he layed out the wax paper over the large area of shroud, then kept rotating until the cat looked like it was about to jump right out at us. Perfect Chris, I like the way that looks. He used the tip of a ball point pen and traced out the lines. It will leave an indention in the fresh paint.
On the first shroud I held the wax paper in place while he traced it. The next one, he folded the edges over and used masking tape to keep in place. This one turned out much better. Sorry Terry, looks like yours is the prototype.
No problem Chris. After telling your cat fish story, I would not be mad if my panther was upside down. Oh make it laughing too. Once again Steve went into hysterics for a few more moments before finally getting it all out of his system. Me and Chris also got a good laugh at what was said.
Still way early in the day and were were sailing along just fine. The shrouds turned out great. Chris did an awesome job working with the small paint brush and followed the ball point tracer lines. The first line was grey for a solid background. Then followed with silver on top. The silver is not opaque, so it almost disappeared into the satin black finish.
At first I wanted to do the paint. But I was all pumped up and my hands just did not seem to settle down enough to leave the paint the lines smooth. I got frustrated and told Chris to try his luck. He sat there calmly, bit down on his lower lip, then looked like a master dragging the tip of brush around the trace lines.
I chose my shroud to find out what the red lines would look like. Mainly adding some accent to the outline Some of the red was following the inside of trace lines and other places to the outside of panther shape. It did add some contrast and depth to the silver grey outline, but not so much as I wanted. But at least this way I can tell the difference between the engines.
The one thing Chris did like about the red was when I touched up the eyes and teeth. He went ahead and did the same to the eyes on his panther. I have to admit it did make for a evil looking prowling cat with nothing but the eyes in red. Almost possessed.
By two o'clock, we had the karts finished. Right up until we realized they were not yet finished. Agh crap, I forgot to mount your tires Terry. I should have done those for you yesterday. I am sorry. I keep getting you sidetracked ever time.
Again Chris, no problemo, we got plenty of daylight left today. I am feeling good about everything we have done so far and something like that sure isnt going to get me bent out of shape. Give me a hand, while Steve is mounting up the the other engines first.
We lifted up my kart and set it on the saw horses. Chris immediately grabbed the wire cutters from work bench, handing them off to me. Then went and fished out the big socket and break over bar from toolbox. I removed the cotter pins about the time he was walking back over to the kart.
While I was holding down the brake pedal, Chris was not having so much luck loosening up the big nut on rear axle. Hold on Chris, you are doing it all wrong. You dont have any leverage that way. I showed him how to stand with legs slightly apart and one in front while pushing down on the break over bar.
Chris did not take it so well, when I told him he was doing this all wrong. A very agitated expression came over his face immediately. Then he strong armed the break over bar out in front of him handing it off to me. He did this without giving any eye contact.
Try standing in front of the axle on left side then behind on the right side while breaking the nut loose. Wrap you hand around the underside of socket to support it while pushing down with your other hand on the bar. Hold the bar almost parallel with the floor or angled slightly down. Just something comfortable for you to get a good solid grip on.
Wow Terry, that made so much difference. I didnt realize how much until trying what you showed me. Sometimes I think I got things all figured out just to find out how much I still have no clue about. Working with tools is so new to me. I usually have a good idea of how to do stuff. Well I guess other stuff that has nothing to do with mechanical things and working with real hand tools.
Gee Chris, dont they teach you anything about the laws of physics in school these days? At first I thought Chris was going to get bent out of shape again, but he managed to stop and take a deep breath.
No they didnt. I need to talk to someone about that. You would think with me being in the seventh grade, that is something I should already be plenty well versed in by now. This was followed up by his unique double chuckle.
It was obvious that Chris was being very sarcastic with his answer. I liked how he managed to work thru he frustration like that instead of coping an attitude or having a small melt down.
Chris removed the big nuts holding the rear wheels on, while I pulled the front ones off. He put all of the loose pieces in a tin can and placed it in the seat of my kart. Then went digging out the tools he needed to disassemble the wheels.
Chris kept at it changing out the tires, while I followed behind Steve attaching fuel lines and throttle linkage. I was being very particular and almost anal about setting the linkage just right. Making sure there was no overtravel on the pedal that could snap off the throttle shaft.
There was no reason to ever allow something like this to happen. By adjusting the compression spring on throttle linkage rod from pedal, it acts like a stop when fully depressed. Then making sure there was just a slight amount of play in the cable itself at swivel on carburetor shaft before pedal has been pushed down. Now when pedal is pressed down all the way, carb had just fully opened.
I also considered adding a small diameter return spring that fits over the cable itself. This would be placed in between the swivel on carburetor shaft and bracket bolted to intake manifold where the cable stop is. But first I had to find the right size compression spring. Just something else needed to follow up on next time at the hardware store.
Chris was asking how much air should be put in the tires. He went total speed demon swapping them out. I told him about 20 pounds on each to seat them. But first I wanted to check over his work.
He seemed to be slightly perturbed about me not trusting what he had done. I told him it was not about trust. It was assurance there would not be a problem just in case something was overlooked. So while I check over the wheels, you need to make sure Steve tightened down all of the bolts on the engine mounts. This made Chris feel a little bit more important being part of the team instead of just being a helper or in the way.
Steve was having trouble with something. Then handed the part over to Chris. Here chase the threads with a tap and dont screw it up. He handed Chris the tools and pointed to the pedestal mounted vice and told him to use it on this one hole. Chris went right over to it and seemed to know what he was doing this time. After all of the work done on his kart in the last couple of weeks, he has gained some confidence in himself using a lot of the tools.
Everything looks good, except this. Chris stopped working in a panicked stance. What do you mean except this...
I showed him the problem. Before airing up the tires, always make sure the tube is centered. Two of these here have the valve stems way out of whack. I pinched the tire slightly and rotated it enough for the stem to be centered now. Not seriously angled like it was.
OK I get it. One more thing I needed to learn now instead of finding out on the track broke down watching you guys racing around taking the checkered flag. Got it locked in my head now. He did a turn of the pretend key by his head and put it away in his pocket.
Watching Chris mount the wheels back on my kart, I noticed he took a little bit more effort making sure everything was just perfect as he knows how to do. Not getting over confident with something simple as this. It was too easy making a mistake overlooking a small detail from being careless or not paying enough attention.
We were standing in front of our three karts admiring them. They are finally sitting there all put back together. Steve then made a comment about how ugly my kart was. When we built his new frame, he spent some time and cleaned it up to bare shiny metal. Since then he has kept it wiped down with oil so the frame does not start rusting.
After every time it has been run, that little bit of oil film picks up all of the dust floating around in the air. Fortunately it only takes a few minutes to wipe the dust off leaving a very nice looking bare frame.
We did a decent paint job since Chris thought how nice his kart would look after all of the work we did. I only had a half quart of industrial glossy black. Sure made his kart look almost new. His dad bought this kart used and Chris never knew what it would have looked like before. He is very happy with how it does look now.
My kart frame was a complete disaster after the wreck. Over a few weeks we managed to piece is all back together with scraps of one inch square tubing. So some of the frame sections are still showing the original paint. Or paints, since I am not sure what the original color was.
I didnt bother with making my frame all nice anything. Being pretty did not get me to the track any sooner by spending extra time so it would win a beauty contest. I do have regrets not putting the effort in making it look at least a little better. But that time was used to build Steve his kart, modify our engines and upgrade the frame for Chris so his would be more competitive.
I figured so long as that ugly Buco brand helmet is strapped on my head, the kart makes for a perfect match. But looking down at how cool the engines are, I may have to put some time in making my kart more presentable. Well not until we have some major free time between racing on the weekends.