The Bench Racers Journal

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 64

Can it really be possible? After all this time we are finally on the way to Fabens Speedway right now? No that isnt right. I must have dozed off and been wishfully dreaming again. But after discussing everything with dad earlier, he agreed to let mom drive us to the track.

Dads work just isnt allowing much free time right now. Especially for a Friday afternoon. All of the window signs and price cards had to be delivered by Friday afternoon, so they can get distributed to all of the Safeway stores in the area and surrounding states over the weekend.

But tomorrow we are headed out to the track for our first practice day. Mom is not really excited about sitting out there all afternoon in the summer heat with nothing to do. She needs to get some shopping done and the usual stuff moms take care of during the week to keep a family alive and well.

She knows how much effort me and Steve have put in to everything just to get this far. So she has agreed to set aside a couple of hours for us. I told Frank that we were planning to make it out to the track this Friday for practice. You know just in case he wanted to meet up with us out there. I wasnt too sure about this tho. My first time out for a practice day and driving the karts on the track, compounded with the presence of the unknown, known only as a Frank.

From the few times hanging out in Franks garage, I dont remember seeing him actually do anything. He could be a total screw up or worse. Some people are naturally accident prone, even without lifting a finger. He did manage to push the electric garage door opener button without causing any collateral damage. I dont know anything else about Frank, except that he barks at people.

There is still half the summer left and now we have both the karts and equipment loaded into the back of the Ranchero. Mom seems to be a little bit more stressed than usual. She is concerned about other things that need to get done today.

But we are headed out to the track. Finally, after all this time, I will get to drive my own kart for the first time on a real racing track. Even tho before I have been on the same track with most of the same kart. But this time it is completely different. It will be the first time out with my own kart. This is so way over the top.

Me and Steve are rambling on about anything related to karts on the way out to the track. We are going over everything in our heads about what should have loaded and if we forgot something that might be needed. One thing I didnt even think of until we were leaving, is a tire pump. I grabbed the bicycle pump and tossed it in with all of the other stuff we thought might be necessary for out first debut on the track.

As we pull in to the parking lot of the track, I look around and see there are several other vehicles out here today. Checking out each of the different vehicles here, I spot a Volkswagen at one end of the parking lot where there is another access to the pits. Oh crap, Frank actually decided to show up. We unload all of our stuff and start carrying it in to the pit area. There is a 55 gallon trash drum we snag up for sitting a kart on, just in case any work is needing to be done. If for nothing else, we can put our trash in the barrel.

I take a look around the pits to see if Frank is anywhere to be seen. Standing up against the fence, there is someone with stringy hair and a white towel on top of his head. Nobody else looks familiar, so that must be him. I am a little bit nervous about hollering at him to come over right now. Just need to stay focused on our stuff so we can get on the track.

We have checked over both of the karts plenty of times before todays outing and even again right before loading everything up. All we need to do is top off the tank with gas. Then oil the chain really good, so it doesnt start kinking up anytime soon. Might as well check tires and write down the pressures in a notebook. My plan is to keep a record on everything we change out and try to accomplish today. Right now the tires are set at 16 psi on front and 20 psi on rear. That should be a good starting point.

Both engines fire right up and almost idle smooth with a slightly chuggy lope. Maybe just a little rich, which I think is about right for a cold engine. When warmed up, should be close to perfect out there running on the track. I am ready for this now. We push the karts up to the gridding area and put our helmets on. My ugly Buco could just as well be brand new right now from the way I am feeling about today.

Steve slaps the back of this ugly Buco helmet to get my attention. I am going to follow you around for a while. Is that OK with you? Sure Steve, that makes sense. Just keep a little distance at first going thru the turns. That way you wont run in to the back of me. Some of the turns you brake early and might not catch on at first.

Both of us pull on to the track at the same time. Steve immediately nails it and jumps out in front of me running full speed down the short straight. In the first turn, he taps the brake a little too hard and spins off the pavement, then stops. OK that wasnt too smart. I drive my kart down to him at the tracks edge. He gives me a thumbs up. I pat the back of my helmet. So now he pulls back on the track and right behind me this time. Then follows my kart like he first said was going to do.

We spend what seems like a good half hour just making laps. Not trying to do anything but get time on the track and a good feel for how the karts run. My kart seems close to what I remember before it was wrecked. Except it is steering in way to fast in some turns and not really responding so good in other turns. Hope it isnt anything critical to fix. Maybe it is something we can adjust here today.

Steve managed to stay on the track this whole time and only bumped me twice in one of the tighter turns. By the end of our first practice session, I was more comfortable running with him at a faster pace now. I hold up my hand and slow down as we approach the exit. Then pull off the track and in to the pits.

I drive back to where we are pitted and get out of the kart. Looks like Steve decided to stay on the track by himself for some solo laps. So now is a good time to try out the stop watch. Just like getting laps on the kart, I need to practice timing laps to be accurate as possible. Not that is will make so much difference right now. But when we run more laps and get up to speed, might eventually be a really big help. With the watch in my hand I head up to the fence where Steve can see me when he goes by in a few seconds. I hold the watch out for him to know what I want to do.

As he passes, give me the thumbs up and I wait until the start finish line for a marker to start the watch. He is now on the clock for his very first timed lap. After the one completed lap I signal at him to come in. The small gas tank should be about empty by now. Or at least getting very close. Mine is way down low.

Steve comes in a little too hot and slammed the brakes on, skidding to a stop. Jumps out of the kart and just starts rambling about how much fun that was. While he is going on and on about everything without catching a breath, I see the track attendant is on his way over and pointing at us. Hey Steve, that guy is coming over here. Sure doesnt look very happy. Guess he wants to talk to us. I wonder what is up?

Hey, you boys. We have rules out here for a reason. This is your first warning. No excessive speeding thru the pits. If it happens again, you can load up and go home. I just give him my innocent wave and apologize. No need to make any excuses. I thanked him for being so observant and understand his safety concerns. Please let us know anything we are doing immediately, so no one gets hurt because of our negligence.

He mellowed out and his demeanor changed a lot. OK boys, just so you know. I will be keeping my eyes on you today. I thanked him again and told him we were new and this is our first time to finally get to a track with our karts. You boys just use your heads and everything will be OK. If there are any questions, dont hesitate to ask me. Then he quickly left when there was a small mishap out there on the track.

Sorry, man I wasnt thinking. But this is so bad to the bones. I didnt realize how much fun it would be driving on the track. When can we get back out there? Just chill out Steve, we need to gas back up first. Hey my kart is having some steering issues. I need to look it over and try to figure out what isnt right about it.

OK, man I can wait a few minutes. Anything I can do to help? Yea Steve, sit in my kart and compare how it feels to yours. See what you think. Tell me if there is any difference. Steve sits down and moves the wheel back and forth. Heck yea, it feels real heavy when I turn it this way. But almost nothing when I turn it the other way.

When Steve said the it feels heavy, then something made sense now. Steve you are a genius! Yea man, tell me something I dont know. Oh, by the way what did I do? You know just for the record. Hey Steve push your kart over there where it is flat, on the concrete pad. Sit down, and hold the steering wheel straight and rigid.

I grab the right front tire with my hand and try to lift it just off the ground. Then do the same to the left tire. OK, Steve now get in my kart and do the same thing again. On Steves kart both front wheels felt almost equal trying to pick up one at a time. On my kart there is a huge difference. The right tire is very heavy and left tire takes almost no effort to lift up. I got it Steve! Here is the problem. Now just need to figure out what to do about it.

Steve I need a way to twist the frame a little bit. The front tires are not equal like on yours. If I can get the frame twisted a little bit then it should handle a lot better. After a few useless attempts that were complete failures, I figured out what we could try that might work.

Using a concrete cinder block under the right front tire, I got Steve to stand on the right rear tire. Then we both pushed our body weight down at the same time while I was on the left front tire. It took a few attempts to get the rhythm right, but we managed to both push down together and the frame actually twisted, instead one of us loosing our ba1ance or getting launched off the kart.

This small amount of commotion got the attention of the track attendant again. He came over and wanted to know why we were out here horsing around this time and making such a scene? I explained what we had done to fix the frame. He shook his head and told us to please be very careful. If we needed some help, just give him a holler. He didnt want anyone to get hurt out here today. Not on his watch.

So me and Steve are pushing the karts back over to our pit and there is someone with a white towel over his head looking at us. The towel is wet and laying down over most of his face. This is the first time I have actually seen two monkeys try to phuk a football. You punks usually make such a big hoop-de-doo when you go places? Steve points to me and asks if I know who this person is? Wait a minute. Is he that Frank guy?

Hey Frank, thought that was you earlier covering up your ugly face. Whats up? Funny kid, but not really. I dont want to burn the top of my head, if you just have to know. I didnt think Texas would be so much hotter than Ohio in the summer. How do you punks stand it?

Heck thats easy Frank, just let some hair grow back on the top of your head. Then you will be insulated from the Texas summer. About this time Steve just busts out laughing. Franks gets mad and starts to walk off. Gee Frank, I thought I was the one who could dish it out but not take it. Frank turns back around. Touche`

Well, it seems to be two against one right now. Thats not really fair.

Life isnt fair Frank.

So it isnt, Barry.

Besides Frank, you are more than twice as old as we are. That means you have more than double the experience anyway. So Frank, how is your kart running? Do you like the track? Oh by the way Frank, this is Steve. I think I might have mentioned about him once or twice.

Yea I figured as such. He looks at Steve and goes all WOOF, WOOF, WOOF at him. Now I got two punks to deal with today. Steve just looked over at Frank with a blank stare and nodded his head, but kept a safe distance.

Nope the kart is almost set up and ready. Just about to take it for a spin in a little while. I can already tell by just looking, this is a 10-84 track. Tell it without even taking my first lap.

Me and Steve just look over at each other and hunch our shoulders at the same time. OK Frank, I give. Whats a 10-84 track? Call me stupid, but I dont really have a clue what you mean.

Its simple kid, that is what gears you should be running. One look and I knew. Call it instinct or experience. I got it. You should change over if that isnt what you guys have on your karts already. Save you a bunch of time trying to figure it out for yourselves.

Well thanks Frank, for that insight. I will see what we have that will get us there.

So what is the hold up getting your kart on the track? Do you need some help or a spare hand to start it up? How does that new helmet feel? I need to make a few adjustments before we can get back out there. Steve, why dont you give Frank a hand?

Uh, well,.....I was just thinking about some stuff needing to be done on my kart. How about I get started on that and you give him a hand right now. Hey Steve, are you scared of Frank? I am fairly certain he has all of his shots. Then started laughing. Frank just looked over and goes WOOF, WOOF, WOOF.

Alright Frank lets get your kart on the track. Since you are here, no reason not to. Be back in a few Steve. Fill up the tanks, oil chains and check tires. I want to find out if my kart is handling better now. So its over to Franks pit area and I notice the engine is bolted on his Super experimental prototype Dart kart, but nothing is attached yet. Just exactly like it was when I saw the kart in the his garage last time.

Frank, didnt you bother to get your kart ready before now?

Yea I thought about it. But really not that much to do. Just figured I would get it all finished out here instead.

Well I can help if you want. Where is your fuel line? The throttle linkage needs to be hooked up too.

It took over 30 minutes helping Frank get his kart together. I was not surprised to find the motor mount bolts were loose either. For my own piece of mind I started looking over everything on his new super duper proto Dart kart. Checked all of the bolts to make sure nothing is loose. I set things up just like dad had gone over with me on the more critical stuff that can make a difference.

Steve had motioned to me back over at our pit. Whats up? Man that guy is a wack job. Maybe I will just keep my distance for a while. Sure Steve, Frank is a little strange. But remember he is a yankee. You gotta take that into consideration. So you wanna get some more track time while I finish helping Frank? Yea man, that sounds like a good plan.

So while my kart just sits there in the pits, Steve is out getting some valuable track time, and I am now stuck working on Franks one of a kind super Dart kart. There are so many little things that were just not right. Front wheel bolts were way too snug. Enough to cause noticeable rolling resistance on those little sealed ball bearings. Me and Frank ended up arguing about several things I knew were just not right.

I wanted Frank to get on the track, but his kart was no where near ready to do that just yet. Finally I convinced Frank to suit up. I had this. Just to trust me. I pointed out to Steve on the track. That guy is on the kart made from scrap pieces of tubing. Everything was put together by me and him. Do you see any problem with his kart running out there right now Frank? Do you?

There are some things that need done on your kart before you go out. I want to get everything right. So you dont have any mishaps. Please just let me get this done. Do you have your fuel already mixed up? Frank looked over at me. Well double damn, I knew there was something I was forgetting.

I just stopped working and dropped Franks tools on the ground where I was standing. Dang it Frank, just get in your kart.

After filling up his tank with my mixed gas, Frank is squirming around in his kart getting comfortable. Is the carburetor set close enough Frank?

Yea of course it is. I havent touched the motor since the last time it was raced in Ohio.

Frank, what do you usually set the needles at? Heck just forget that, never mind. I decided to set them where I thought they should be to start with. The low speed was open just about 1/2 of a turn. The high was almost closed off.

Frank, do these normally start about 1 turn open? Uh yea something like that.

OK, that is where they are right now. Can you adjust these while driving?

Yea sure no problem. Its not like I havent been already racing for the last couple of years, you know.

I grabbed the handle to the engines recoil starter and pulled on the rope. It looked like Frank just went into some kind of seizure fit. He is sitting there pumping the gas pedal back and forth just as fast as his foot can move. Frank what the heck are you doing?

This is what it takes to get the engine started kid. Been there done that.

Frank, get your foot off the gas pedal. Now hold your hand over the carburetor to choke it.

Fine whatever. It wont start that way.

Now the engine fires up on the next pull. Except Frank didnt bother to take his hand off the carburetor. This is starting to get frustrating. Frank, are you ready now?

Yea, hurry and start me up.

He does the gas pedal pumping again before I even pull the rope again. Frank! Stop that! So I pull the rope and the motor is now running. Then immediately I step in front of Franks kart and drop down to the ground. I grab the brake pedal and swat his right foot out of the way. Just hold on a second, Frank.

I push the brake down and rev the engine a couple of times. It starts to rev up but is trying to nose over. Frank, turn the low speed needle out just a hair. No Frank, the other low speed needle. No Frank, turn it out, not in. Dang it Frank, move your hand. So I tweak the needle out just a hair. Then rev it up again. OK, that sounds a lot better.

Frank, take it out for a spin. Stay away from Steve. OK? Just run it around a few laps. If I wave my hands at you, then come back in. GOT IT? He waves at me then nails it out of the pits on to the track. All the way down to the end of the front straightaway Frank never lets off. Then at the end he just parks it. I mean slams on the brake hard. Almost to a complete stop. I thought for sure he was going to spin off the end. But instead the kart is slightly pitched and barely even rolling forward.

Frank makes a slow move thru the turn, then just nails it after straightening the steering wheel. Again he is full bore until the next turn. Then slams on the brake to nearly a stop, negotiating the turn then back on the gas. OK this guys driving is really scary looking out there. I need to keep him and Steve away from each other. Someone is going to get hurt. And it aint gonna be me this time.

For several more laps, Franks driving style has not changed. Gotta hand it to him, if nothing else he is consistent. Sure not actually driving to make for a fast lap time. He is just drag racing from turn to turn. Kind of weird to watch. Either he is a major screw up or I still got a whole lot more to learn out here about driving.

This is nothing even close to any of the other drivers I watched back during spring break when we first came out here. There were some serious professional drivers that night too. Franks driving style is nothing I have ever witnessed before. Not sure what to think. So far everything I know about Frank is completely different from what is rational or even makes any sense.

During this time I had not payed any attention to Steve driving on the track. His lines look really smooth. He still seems a little bit cautious in the faster turns. But the tight ones you shut down for, he is carrying good speed out of them. Now Frank is just repeating the same thing on every turn. Not much difference on a fast sweeping turn or a slower tight turn.

Franks engine is just on and off four cycling at the very end of the longest straight. It pulls hard out of the turns. Plenty of smoke, so the carburetor is close enough for now. Maybe pinch it down just a little bit more when he comes back in from the track.

I motion for Steve to get off the track. He was starting to close in behind Frank. I dont want to see any altercation between them. Frank doesnt seem much aware of other drivers behind him at all. Steves kart looks like it is handling very well. I dont want to be fixing it because of an incident with Frank.

Man this kart is awesome! So what did you bring me in for? Isnt there still plenty of gas in the tank? Oh yea Steve probably is. Just wanted to check everything over real well since enough laps have been put on it now. You can use a rest anyway. You know, kinda like to pace yourself. Man I dont need no rest. Get me back out there.

Let me look it over first, then you can go.

Hey man, you havent been back out in your kart yet, why not?

Well I just got Frank running, so no I havent.

Terry, I will check over my kart. Why dont you get back out there and see if it now handles like you want it to?

Thanks Steve, that I can do.

Back out on the track I find out the kart is steering almost good as I remember from the first time getting to drive it. Still not perfect. Maybe find some waaaaaaay.YES, if I can weigh the front end and adjust until they are both equal? Perfect, I am getting this stuff figured out. Awesome!

A few more laps, and I see Frank just ahead of me. My kart is running very good. Maybe not quite fast as it did with the original engine, but is still running very strong thru the turns. Even without that little bit of extra speed at the end of the straightaway it is running what feels to be really fast. I am cautious about approaching Frank, and not sure if I should try to over take him or not.

Well, there is no way I can follow his line or the way he is driving thru these turns. I am all over him going into the turns, and it takes everything I can control myself from passing him on exiting them. I decide just going for it. Frank parks it at the end of the longest straight, I dive down under him and make a clean break for it. There are several more tight turns ahead. This should give me a chance at getting some distance on him.

Franks kart seems to have a lot more speed, but he wastes all of that when going thru the turns. I am making up all the difference everywhere except on the long straight. If I can get enough distance before the end of the long straight, then should be able to stay far enough ahead where he wont be able to pass me back.

On the first try, I let Frank back around me before the end of the long straight, then passed him right back on the sweeper. Carrying my speed well in that turn, I gained a lot more distance going thru the back side of track. Then he didnt have enough time to run me down and make a pass again. This worked out fairly well. Didnt take much effort to stay ahead and pull away quickly.

After a few more laps there was no sign of Frank behind me. I was satisfied with what I had experienced and learned from it. Frank is starting to become a useful tool out here today. That time I spent helping get his kart together has just paid off. Not the fact that my puny little Clinton beat him here today. But the chance to drive with a complete unknown that was anything but predictable.

I pulled off the track and then watched Frank just buzz on by. He has been out there plenty of laps. Guess about time to wave him in or he might just stay out until the tank is empty. Steve, can you roll my kart back? I am gonna get Frank off the track. Sure no prob. I am ready to get back out there anyway.

I go out to the edge of the track and motion for Frank to come in. It took about two laps before he finally responded back. Hum, what is up with that? I go back over and get Steves kart fired up so he can continue with some more time out there today. He zips on the track just like doing it for years. This is going to work out great. Both of us may finally start racing soon.

Mom is waving her hands and hollering at me across the track in the stands under the shade trees. She says time is about up. There are things she needs to get done today. Now I am totally bummed out from what she just told me. But an idea has just popped in my head. Mom, how much time do you need? She says a couple of hours at least.

Why not go ahead and do everything, then come back and pick us up? No way, I am going to leave you two boys out here by yourselves. God forbid, what is something happened to one of you, then what? Mom, Frank is out here with us today. If it is alright with him can we stay? Who is Frank?

Mom, just a fellow racer in the neighborhood. He is also a responsible adult. Well, if its no trouble then maybe. But I want to meet this Frank person first before I agree. Oh crap, that isnt what I was hoping for. This might just be a complete wash out. OK mom I will go talk it over with him and then you two can meet.

So Frank, how was it?

Hey kid, what did I tell you. Definitely a 10-84 track. Did you get your gears changed over already? Want to go out and run with me next time? There is one guy out there that is pretty fast. Didnt get a good look at who it was tho. It is likely someone that runs in a much faster class than I race. Must be burning alky. Sure smokes like it. Did you see who it was?

Oh sorry Frank, I got busy helping Steve so he could get back out on the track. I will keep watch next time. How long are you staying here today Frank?

Oh I dont know just whenever.

My mom wants to get some shopping done and I have to leave now. Unless you dont mind keeping that watchful eagle eye of yours on a couple of useless punks for a while. Do you mind?

Sure kid I can babysit you guys for a few more hours.

Great Frank. You didnt even refer to us a punks this time. There is hope for you after all. But you gotta meet my mom before she leaves. Can you put on your poker face? And please Frank, dont bark at her, please?

No way, there is no way I am going to leave you here with that strange man. What do you even know about him anyway? Ah mom, come on. He is just a guy that his wife divorced him and then moved down here to work at Texas Instruments. He is completely harmless. Besides the track attendant is out here too.

If something happened, I could not deal with it. Are you sure you trust him? Yes mom, everything is good. Besides I got Steve to back me up. Frank is strange, but completely harmless. Not so bad for a yankee. A yankee? Hes a yankee? Then no way at all. You know what they say about them. Mom please, it is alright. We will be fine for a couple of hours. Just like the last couple. Please go ahead and dont worry about anything.

Well ok then. I will be back in two hours. You better be here safe and sound when I return. No funny business either. I am taking your word about this Frank guy. I better not be making a mistake leaving. If anything happens, and he is to blame, I wont feel sorry for what I might do to him.

Geez that was a headache, but mom let us stay here while she had some errands to make. So how is the kart running Steve? It feels fine to me. But I dont have anything to compare to. You seem to be doing everything else but getting out on the track and run with me. What gives?

Sorry, but Franks kart was not even close to ready when we got here. I wanted you to get all the track time you could. I also did not want you to get tangled up out there with Frank. So just trying to keep you two separated on the track. His driving style is a little different than anything I have ever seen before.

Hey Frank! do you mind starting us? Me and Steve want to get some time out on the track together. Yea, I can do. Hop on in guys. Frank grabs the rope with both hands and jerks it through really hard. So hard that it lifted the back of my kart off the ground and caused the rope to break. Dang it. Well at least the engine is running. Frank be a little easier on Steves engine. Right! I gotcha. So me and Steve are back on the track together again.

I let Steve take the lead and followed him around for several laps. Just wanted to find out where my kart has any advantage. Steve is running really well. Just a little too tight in the turns. He is loosing some speed, but not bad if trying to hold his line against a competitor. Going down the long straight he brakes just a little before I normally like to. I dive underneath and pull ahead thru the turns.

I can feel Steves presence right behind me going thru this section of the track. But coming up on the short straight, he doesnt try to pass or pull up along side me. Another lap and I still can feel his kart right on my bumper. But he is not hitting me. Just the sound of another engine running extremely close.

On the long straight, I pull over for a second and let him by. He buzzes on past and heads into the turn. I pull back behind him and stay on his bumper all the way around. Another lap and I can still easily take him at the end of the long straight. But that is the only place I can do it. Otherwise we are very close to each other. I think it is time to start making some changes and see how it affects the karts are running against each other. Hopefully might be able to drop our lap times a little bit.

After we return to the pits, Frank comes over and tells us we are turning 33 to 34 second lap times. Wow, and accurate down to within a full second. What did you time us with Frank? A sun dial? He shows me his wrist watch. It is one of those military styles capable of just almost everything. He then tells me this watch can do just about anything but wipe his butt.

How about giving me a start if one of you guys dont mind. Think I am going to speed things up a bit. Oh, sorry about the starter rope. I wasnt expecting the engine to start up that easily. You probably just had a bad rope. Yea Frank, thats alright. Things happen. No big deal. I brought an extra one just in case.

Man that starter had brand new rope. The real heavy stuff too. Frank just yanked on it way too hard. Yea I know Steve. But if that is all we break today, I can live with it. We could still be at home working on the karts, not ever knowing if today would even come. But instead, we are here.

But since we are here, Frank has kept us from all the track time we could be getting. Why did you invite him anyway? You were stuck over there for half an hour working on his kart. Doesnt he even know how to do anything for himself? Steve, chill out. We would already be back home right now if not for him being out here. Besides he is good entertainment.

Go watch the way he drives out there. Here take the stop watch and try to get a decent time on him. Just dont say anything when we comes in, k? Yea whatever you want. I would really like some more track time. We will get there Steve. Dont fret about it. Anyway I want to make some adjustments first.

While Frank might have 10-84 gearing, he also has a lot taller tires. His kart has 6 inch wheels on the rear and looks like the tires are 12 inches tall. Both of our karts have 5 inch wheels and 11 tires. I put the same gear that the Cates originally had on Steves. Then I bolted a smaller one on mine.

We dont have a lot of gear changes. And they are only a few teeth different. Steve has the 78 tooth and mine is 76. Steves tires are almost brand new, mine are nearly worn out. I changed out the gears to the 76 on his and now I dropped down to a 74. I want to see how much difference it makes in Steves driving and mine when we are out there together again.

Steve comes back over and is laughing big time. He shows me the stop watch. Franks times had all been consistent. All consistently slower than 33.5 seconds. Man that guy cant drive. Or am I clueless about something? You sure dont drive anything like him. Do I look that bad out there? It sure dont feel like it.

Nope, I dont know what the deal is with his driving, Steve. Franks driving sucks tho. He is just drag racing between the turns. I am impressed, your driving is very smooth. That is why when you were ahead of me I wanted to find out how close you could be followed. I would seriously not recommend trying that behind Frank today.

Gee Terry, when I was following behind you, its like I could almost pass you anywhere. I was right there on your bumper most of time too. You brake just a little bit later than I am comfortable with yet. But following you, that gives me a better idea on how deep I can actually go in the turn before braking. It seems more difficult when I am in front. Does that even make any sense? Or just babbling too much?

Yea Steve, I know exactly what you are talking about. That is one reason I followed you so much after you chased me around all those laps at first. After a couple of laps being ahead, you start to choke up the turns a little bit tighter. But should be able to get better with nothing but more track time. Speaking of, lets get it.

Frank is coming off the track. We already fired up our engines and head back out again. I take the lead for the first few laps. Just want to get an idea of how the different gear feels. I would like to have our lap times out here together, but Frank doesnt seem reliable enough to get that. Definitely not from using his magic military watch.

This time around, Steve is now pulling up next to me in several places, he wasnt able to before. But again, if I didnt mess up the turn coming on the long straight, my kart would have a little more top speed. Just enough to pull ahead and go in to the next turn a little faster.

It would take all of the back section of the track for Steve to make the little bit of distance I gained. So we are really close in actual lap times. Just Steves kart has more advantage in the turns and mine of the straight. I think the gap has even closed up a little between us from before the gear change. But hard to tell without a stop watch and someone that can use it reliably.

We pull off again and coast to the pits. Now when exiting the track, if no one is in front of us, we just kill the engine and coast our way back to the pit. The track attendant doesnt seem to mind this way. Maybe it is because there is no noise or maybe we are keeping it slow and safe.

Frank is there waiting. He said we improved a little bit this time out. We are now running about 32-33 times. What ever I changed must have worked he says. So what did you change anyway? Frank, I took your advice and changed gears. Yea, that sounds right. I told you this is a 10-84 track. It sure did work.

Actually Frank, I went the other way. I took more teeth off from what was on there. So you are running 10-82 or something? Maybe I should drop a tooth just to make sure. No Frank, I am running a 10-74 on mine. We dont have doubles of anything, so Steve has a 76 on his right now. In heavy traffic, my gear might be too small, but with just me and him, we are really running close with each other.

Well I wonder what that other kart was geared earlier? Did you ever see him again. Steve then blurts out, You mean when Terry was out there running all over your rear bump.....I quickly nudged Steve hard in the ribs, so he would shut up. Then gave him a strong death stare, until he understood not to say anything else.

Yea Frank, I was out there running behind you earlier. I didnt get a good look at that driver you are talking about either. Maybe they already loaded up and left. Frank says that guy was probably running a modified engine. He swears it was running alky. Had to be or he would have been running right up there with it. Franks then shakes his head confirming this to himself.

Hey Steve, you had enough for the day? Yea man. I would like to go out for some more laps, but happy with what we done already so far today. You good? Yep, I think we did good today. Hope we can make a few more practice sessions out here, Then maybe start racing soon. Time to drink about a gallon of water and chill out for a while.

Frank, I think we are done for the day. What about you? Nope I want to do some experimenting then go back out. You can give me a hand if you want to? Or not. It should not take too long either way. Sure Frank, lets do it. What do you want to work on?

Well you got me to thinking about the gears. Maybe I will try a smaller one just to confirm things. This track is a lot different than what I am accustomed to. And the weather is nothing like what I am comfortable driving in at all. How much do you think I should change?

Frank, if you think you are close, I would not change more than two teeth at a time. Why not just drop down to an 82 and find out what difference it makes? Sure kid that sounds solid enough. You got one I could use? I didnt think to bring any extras today.

Oh sorry Frank, All I have is a couple of much smaller ones. You would have to shorten your chain to even use the largest I have. Maybe you should take advantage of the remaining time and just get used to this type of track. It sure cant hurt. There are a couple of turns you might try to drive a different line thru. Maybe I can go out to that turn and place a marker for you to try.

Hey Steve, I forgot about something. Remember the muffler that fell off the kart last spring? Oh heck yea, I totally forgot about it. Man I know right where it should be, too I will run over there and see if it is still around. Might get lucky. Or snake bit. Time for a hike out to the back forty. I am out of here.

Frank is back on the track doing exactly the same as his very first lap. Consistently awful in my opinion. He is consistent tho. Gotta hand that one to him. But not anything that could help short of real driving lessons. I sure dont know enough to be showing him how to drive. But anything would be an improvement. I will start at his worst turn.

At the end of the long straight Frank never turns in until the kart is so slow I could walk faster thru it. He seems to be all or none on that brake pedal. I dont know how to help change that either. He also wants to drive right in the middle of the track. He never deviates from this, even when there is another kart around him.

I have an idea. By standing at his current braking spot, he will become accustomed to using me for the marker after a couple of laps. Sort of what Steve was explaining earlier when following me around. If I can tell that is what Frank is doing, then will move just slightly farther down. Now see if his braking point changes. If nothing else this will be enough to believe I might be able to help him improve his driving eventually. Right now, anything is possible.

So it appears to me that Frank did take the bait. I moved back a couple of feet after he ran several laps. His braking changed like I was hoping. I did this on some of his worst turns to confirm it. So far so good. I motion at Frank to get off the track.

Back in the pits, Frank was not real happy with me. He thought I was going to actually do something out there. He says nothing changed by just me standing and looking at him drive by. I didnt want to argue and let slip out what I was trying.

Sorry Frank. I just wanted to get up and close how a kart actually makes it thru those turns. Then compare with what it looks like when I am doing the driving myself. Maybe see something that might help. I think you just need to get used to driving a different style track right now. If something looks very wrong, then we can work on that.

He seemed to be more agreeable now with what I told him. OK kid, that makes sense. I could always use some extra input when out on the track. Hard to do everything by myself all the time. Sometimes the only way to improve is having to rely on someone elses input. I am starting to trust you. Hope I aint making a mistake. My instinct isnt usually wrong. Dont want this time to be a first.

Frank, after a couple more practice days, I know you can get even faster that you are running right now. I sure plan to improve. It takes more than one time on any track to get really competitive. I dont have a problem putting in whatever it takes to get there either. If you plan on racing anytime soon I know you think the same way.

Hey kid, I dont need a lot of track time to get up to speed. This kart is fast. I mean really fast. Should have bought one of these a long time ago. Mic knows his chit. But it was fun out here today. I dont have a problem making a few more practice days before starting to race again.

I hear Steve yelling for all it is worth. I FOUND IT I FOUND IT. Then he comes back running just fast as his legs will carry him. What he found was nothing I was expecting. It was all rusted and looked sort of like a tin can. There was a small piece of tubing sticking out one end. A hose clamp that looks like holds the small pipe in place. Sort of weird. I guess it is a muffler of some kind. Odd looking for sure.

This muffler looks about 10 inches long. The diameter might be right at 4 inches. One end has a large opening that fits a 1 1/2 inch pipe which was still on the Clinton when we tore it apart. The small piece of tubing on the other end is about an inch in diameter.

A regular screw type hose clamp is tightened at the base of muffler. It must keep the small tube in place. I wonder if it is actually adjustable. Mr Cates did say something like a tuned exhaust. Is that what is does?

Hey Steve, lets hit the track one more time before calling it quits for the day. I want to swap over one of the intake manifolds. Help me put your kart up on the trash barrel and I will change it over. Right then, Steve made it abundantly clear about swapping out any parts was going to be on my engine, not his. Considering all the time we have spent to just now getting out on the track, I could understand why he didnt want anything altered on his kart just yet.

You can do whatever you want to do on your engine, but leave mine alone. Nothing personal, but for now I am happy with the way it is running. At least there will be one kart still running when we leave today. Hopefully two of them will still be running. But one for sure when we are finally done for the day.

Steve, you been out in the sun too long, You sure aint no fun. OK, I will just make my kart faster, and yours will still be slow. Got it.

Hey wait a minute, if you are going to make one faster, then no reason not to make both of them faster, right?

No Steve, you made a good point. No reason to take any chances. I will just change it out on my kart.

I do a quick swap out to a totally stock intake manifold. The reeds are very small and opening is so tiny. But I really want to find out how much if any real difference it makes compared to the ones with the larger reed petals. So now the kart is back down and both of us are ready to make a few more laps.

Frank, can you give us a start? Please be easy on the rope this time. I dont have any more starters with me today. After several attempts at pulling the rope, my kart finally starts up, but seems to be running really sluggish. I had to turn the low speed needle down a little bit just to get the kart to accelerate out of the pits.

After running down the short straight, I open it up expecting the kart to go, but it is still running way rich. By turning in the high speed needle, the kart finally clears out. Steve is running ahead and waiting for me to catch up with him. I have the gas pedal all the way down, but the engine just doesnt have that punch it did earlier. At full speed, there is no way I can run with Steve now. I am surprised how much difference there is in how the two intake manifolds perform.

With only a lap in, I call it quits. My expectations have been met. Tho I didnt expect this much difference, there is no other change made. So for my first real track proven test, it gives me the confidence to move ahead on other things that have been bouncing around in my noggin.

I motion for Steve to continue on the track. Now is the perfect opportunity to get a few lap times while he is still running out there. We need a decent baseline to improve on. I hurry up in the pits, grab the stopwatch and let him know what I am doing. The next few laps I get him on the clock. For each lap I clear and reset the watch on different points for reference, so he doesnt have to make a whole lap before getting the next one timed.

I am happy with what he is turning out there, especially by himself.. He isnt having as much trouble getting thru some of the faster turns now. His times should be nearly identical to mine. All three of the times I got for him were only a few tenths of a second apart. That is for some good consistent driving for us beginners today. Maybe he will work out well as I make the changes. This is turning out super good.

Frank comes over while Steve is still out making laps. Yea, he is running 33s. Obviously not nearly as fast as what I am getting along out there, but not too bad for the junior class. How long has he been driving anyway? Looks almost smooth as I am driving out there. Maybe a couple of things I can give him some pointers on. But otherwise not too bad.

Frank, please dont go offering him any driving advice. Today is the very first time for him to have ever driven a kart on any track. I like what I see and dont want anything to distract from how well he is doing out there. After a few more days practicing, then maybe work on something, if he starts picking up some bad habits. But for now, I think he is doing better than my first time out driving.

Frank, why dont you make a lap out there with Steve. He could use a good challenge by now. Just dont get too crazy with him. I dont want to end up fixing anything if you guys try to take each other out. Just let him know you are there and see how he responds to traffic when you buzz by him.

I motion to Steve to stay out there and get Franks kart ready while he suits up. After Steve passes the track entrance, Frank buzzes out there and runs Steve down. Steve lets him make the pass and then pulls in right behind. This is where I get really nervous. Will Steve be careful when Frank parks it in the next turn? Or will Steve be ready to take evasive action? Down the long straight Steve is staying almost up to Franks kart. Then he backs off a little before Frank does his signature style driving and parks it going into the turn.

Steve had just gone wide to the outside when Frank parked it. Steve is well back on the gas as Frank did his own thing. Frank is still driving right in the middle of the track. Steve barrels around on the outside and never lets up. By the time Frank gets back on the gas, Steve made an awesome move and covers good ground before setting up in the next turn.

Going thru the tight turns on the back side of track, Steve just pulls away from Frank. On the short front straight, Steve has enough ground covered that Frank has no chance of catching back up to him. Steve never lets off. He keeps the gas planted and now pulling on the long straight, Frank is still trying hard to catch up to the back of Steves kart. But there is too much ground for Frank to cover before the end of the straight. Steve is now gone. He hauls down the long straight and makes an even better run thru the fast sweeping turn where he overtook Frank on the previous lap.

I am literally jumping up and down, yelling at the top of my lungs. Go Steve, Go! GO! Wow this is awesome. OK settle down. Steve has just proven himself. I think he is more than ready to start racing fairly soon. Maybe I feel the same too. Time to move forward.

Steve pulls off the track while Frank zooms on by for a few more laps out there by himself. Steve coasts over to the pit and I can tell he has a big smile on his face. He gets out and just goes crazy. That was so awesome! Did you see me out there? Man when do we get to start racing for reals?. I am so ready right now!

Yea, that is what i was just thinking. If I can get enough money saved up then maybe start racing in a few weekends. That would be so cool. I feel like we are ready now. But still think we should make a couple more practice days out here first. We dont know what times our class is supposed to be running or if we would even be competitive yet.

Man I do not care about running up front. I sure dont expect we have much chance of that anyway. I just want to get out here and start racing soon as possible. But if you think a couple more days practicing might really help, I am willing to wait a little bit longer. At least we will be driving on the track. That is half the fun anyway.

Yea, I dont care if we are not that fast yet. It would be so cool if we were able to really competitive, but I would be happy just to try and keep up with the pack. We gotta start somewhere anyway. I would prefer to start at the back each heat and eventually work my way up. Learning how to drive in traffic is so much more intense than running away with it.

While me and Steve go around cleaning up the pit area and push our karts out to the parking lot, Frank is still on the track driving laps by himself. We are the only ones left out here today. Its about time mom should be finished with the shopping and headed back to pick us up.

We are sitting under a shade tree watching Frank making laps, and mom finally drives back in the parking lot. She suggests we hurry, so dinner wont be too late tonight. We get everything loaded up and Frank is still out there driving around. Mom is ready to go, like right now. I walk back in to the pits and try to flag Frank back in. He isnt bothering to acknowledge me tho.

After several laps, mom is now honking the horn. She is ready to leave. I finally just wave good-bye at Frank as he passes one more time. He still doesnt make any gesture back. Oh well, I tried. So as we are leaving the parking lot, I turn around one last time and see Frank is still just going around and around. Wonder whats up with him now?

I was more or less quiet on the way back home. I was also very thirsty. We didnt bother to bring anything to drink out here today. So yes one more item to add to our must have list next time we come out to the track. Its hard to believe we didnt even think about that. Oh well, that is not why I am sort of bummed out right now.

We get back home and unload everything. I go and kiss my mom, telling her a big thanks for taking us to the track today. Steve followed up right behind me. She said it wasnt that big of a deal. Maybe we can do it again soon, if we liked to.

Sure mom that would be great. We need a couple more days out there practicing before starting to race. At least that is what I thought would be a good plan. She said, that is a possibility if dad was still tied up with work next time.

Back in the garage we have everything pushed in and now start cleaning up the karts. Steve asks what my deal is? We finally got to the track and had an awesome time. But for some reason he thought I wasnt very excited about it.

No Steve, today was totally fantastic. I cant wait to get out there again. It cant come soon enough. But I was curious about Frank and why he wouldnt pull in or wave me off. Something is up with him. I was afraid since you basically cleaning his clock out there today, he might be really mad at me or something.

Ah man, why are you so upset about him? He was a total headache to deal with out there today. That guy is weird. I mean like a left hand thread. I sure wouldnt be concerned about him. If anything he should be glad we were out there.

Otherwise he would have never gotten his kart put together and even make a single lap. The guy didnt even bring any gas with him. How stupid is that? He should be thanking you for all that help. Hopefully the next time he remembers what he should bring out to the track.

I know Steve, but I am afraid he might be mad at me about how well we did today. At least comparing to him driving out there. He kept telling me how fast his kart was and everything I should be doing to get my kart set up like his. I sure didnt take any of his advice.

If I had done any of the things he suggested, we would have gone backwards. At his gearing, our motors would have turned to shrapnel. I left everything like Mr Cates had the kart setup and only did some simple changes that really seemed to help a lot.

I dont know, with Franks driving style, if anything would have made a difference in his lap times. He kept telling me how fast his kart was running. I admit his motor is a lot faster than ours for sure. But how do you think he would take it if I told him how bad I thought his driving was out there?

I still dont really know anything about Frank. But I also dont think he would appreciate me telling him stuff like that. He has some real issues with kids anyway. He seemed to start trusting me, but now I dont know what to do.

His driving skills are not anywhere close to what he thinks they are and has been telling me this whole time. But that is just my opinion. Even if it is obvious to anyone else that races. But I dont have any experience racing yet, and it is not my place to tell him what I think about it either.

Steve pops me hard on my back and tells me to get over it. Like right now or he is going home. Quit worrying about a problem that might not even exist. Ok Steve, you are right. I wont worry myself over it.

Lets look over the karts. I need to figure out a way to check that front end, so there is no issues when we get to the track. I dont want to be working on something out there that should have been addressed here in the garage.

When we were just running down the street, I didnt notice anything obvious as it was on the track today. So didnt catch that much difference there was in how it was handling. Now I want to get the front end fixed before we do anything else. There is no way we could get anything set up accurately from the way I tried to twist my frame at the track.

Steve suggested that maybe checking the frame and make sure it is actually square. Or at least the front end geometry is correct. I thought about what Steve just said and figured out a simple way to do just that. I proceed to pull the front wheels off my kart and then C-clamp a straight piece of square tubing under the front axle.

First I adjusted the toe-in to zero. Also clamped the steering wheel in place so the spindles were straight and inline with each other. Then use my machinist square as a height gauge. A quick check and sure enough one spindle was higher than the other. It had more negative camber too. Looking at the wear on both front tires also confirmed this to be true.

At first i was hoping the front axle could just be bent down a little bit more like we tried at the track earlier today. But after checking the angles of the welded front axle frame stubs, there was too much difference to adjust by bending it any more. Dad came in shortly after that and confirmed this immediately. His suggestion was to cut thru the weld from the bottom. Cut almost all the way to top of the axle tubing. Then push it down. If it needed any thing more, then make another cut with the axle stub pushed down enough to close the gap shut.

With the first cut it was almost right. After a second cut then closing the gap made the front end camber the same as other side. So I got brave and welded it up this time by myself. No burn thru and weld looked decent enough.

We put the wheels back on and Steve sat down in the kart while I tried lifting the wheels like we had done at the track. Now the left side was way too heavy. Me and Steve set the frame up again and jumped a few times. It didnt take much to tweak it back straight. Now both wheels felt the same.

Steve thought it would be cool if we could just weigh both wheels and get it spot on. Then Steve asked if we had a bathroom scale? Heck yea! That is perfect Steve. I will go get the one from my parents bathroom. Mom was going one way while I was slipping out the other way with the bathroom scales in hand behind my back.

Back in the garage, I put the scale under one wheel while Steve sits in the kart and holds the steering wheel straight and rigid. This actually worked out perfect. There was about 5 pounds difference in both the front wheels. After a few more attempts of twisting the frame, we got both wheels down to just about the same weight.

We also checked Steves frame while the scale was out here. His frame was right at two pounds difference. We jumped on his frame just a little bit and then so close, it was hard to measure the difference. Wow, with what we have learned today from practicing at the track and making adjustments this evening, I am confident we are going in the right direction. Our second trip to the track for the next practice should be a lot better.

We called it quits and Steve left and went home. For the whole weekend I focused on nothing but catching up on some mowing that had gotten way behind schedule. Also there were several chores that had been neglected too many times. Using the karts as an excuse isnt going to go over very well with either of my parents. Its keep up with my responsibilities or quit playing with the karts. Just that simple.

[Blaine Robert Young]

IT JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER.


SMOKEY

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 65

Well its already middle of the week. We havent done much since our first practice day last Friday. Steve has been very scarce too. Actually too scarce. His dad put him to work until school starts back up. He wasnt even sure if there was much chance of getting back out to the track any time soon. But if something changed, he was all for getting out there at the earliest opportunity.

I was bummed out and still wondering about Frank. So much that I braved up myself enough to drop by his house this afternoon. I saw that Volkswagen sitting in the driveway and the garage door was up. There is a very queezy feeling in my stomach right now. Almost enough to turn back around and go home. But that wasnt going to happen. I was already here now.

Hey Frank, hows it going? He doesnt look up or say anything. Great this is going to suck biggly. He is probably still mad about last week. I start to turn my bike around and leave. Frank was sitting there with his left side to me. He was at his desk and working on something. I was almost back out to the street before he finally hollered at me.

HEY! HEY!, Get back here!. WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING?

Uh, whats up Frank?

HUH? GET IN HERE! RIGHT NOW!

Thats OK, Frank I am more comfortable out here, if you dont mind.

OF COURSE I MIND!. GET IN HERE RIGHT NOW! I WANT TO TALK TO YOU!

Look Frank, uh sorry about last week. I didnt mean just to ditch you there.

YEA! WELL, THATS PAST TENSE ISNT IT! COME IN HERE AND SIT DOWN!

UH, maybe I will see you later Frank. You dont seem to be is a very good mood right now. Some other time, K?

OH HELL! Sorry kid! I had this earphone in my left ear. Listening to my self help audio tapes. Helps keeps my head on straight these days. It is hard to tell how loud I am talking with my ear plugged. Sorry bout that. What you been up to? Thought you would have dropped by before now.

Anyway I found out the problem. Come on over here and take a look at this. So I go ahead and walk into the garage. His kart is up on a stand and engine has been removed. It is sitting on the workbench and has been torn apart..

Check this out. I knew there must have been something wrong with my motor. Just that I hadnt realized how down on power it really was. Been since last summer when I last raced. Also new to this track here. So I didnt catch it until after all them laps I put in. Thought something was wrong when your buddy was almost able to run right up there with me.

After I fix this problem here, maybe we can hit another practice day at the track again. It sure helps when there is someone else to give a hand. I usually do all the wrenching and racing by myself. Nobody else to help out at all. Seemed my ex ole lady was using those times I was racing to have a meet and greet with my also ex-boss. She never was interested in coming out there to pit for me. But had no problem with me going out to the track most weekends.

Well, I am sure you dont care about my past troubles. Come on in and see this for yourself. After I came home, it bugged me to no end. I finally decided to pull the engine apart. I went thru every scenario that could have been a reason for my engine just not putting out the ponies I knew is was capable of. Sure nuf, I found the problem.

Frank had the crank out of his Westbend 580. I have never seen one of these torn down before. I missed out on the issue of modifying one of these engines by Jim Butler in Karting World. My curiosity got the best of me. I put my guard down and went all the way inside the garage to see what he was talking about. This motor must be just like the 700 we got from Gasset. The one that is now Steves. But neither of us had been focused enough to tear it down just yet.

Frank sticks the pto bearing on his finger. Then spins the bearing by using air pressure. That bearing starts spinning up really fast and you can hear it whine. Sure isnt supposed to sound like this. That there is pure friction. Bearing is complete trash. Its a wonder the motor ran at all.

Frank handed me the crank bearing. Here spin this and tell me what you think. I am almost positive that is the problem. Motor sure cant run right with that kind of drag. Bearing might as well be a bench vice clamped down on the crankshaft. Sure cant do anything in that condition. Surprised the bearing didnt totally self destruct.

I take the crank bearing in my hand. It looked really clean and shiny. Frank then hands me an air hose connected to his compressor. I copy what he had just done. But from my past experience, it sure isnt going on any of my fingers. not this time. Did at once. Dont want to repeat that mistake again. It hurt. Like a lot.

I had been playing around spinning up a ball bearing with an air hose one day. They sure can spin up really high. And they sure can stop all the sudden without any warning too. But when the bearing locks up the whole thing starts spinning instead of just the outer race. Like really quick. Just for a split second. Enough to wreak havoc on your finger. An immediate burning feeling and a layer of skin is ripped right off. One of those one time mistakes you dont forget, ever.

So this time I just pinch the outer race of bearing between my thumb and finger, then spin it up just for a second with the air hose. If it decided to lock up, then just the inner race would stop and cause me to drop it. Instead of my finger experiencing what that old McCulloch lawnmower had gone thru several times.

I noticed the bearing was very dry too. It did feel like there was a lot of friction, but a dry bearing will do that. Frank, when did you figure this out? I am just curious what lead you to find the problem after tearing your engine down. Might as well learn these things when I get the chance.

Well I will tell you exactly when, kid. After the motor was torn down, I washed everything up real good over there in my parts cleaner. Soon as I picked it up, just knew there was a problem when I tried to blow it clean with the air hose. Sure enough. Well you can feel it right now. Not smooth at all. Bet my engine was 20% down on power because of this.

You know most people would miss something like this completely. Fortunately in my profession, well I dont usually let things get by me. Not at all. New parts are on the way. Got some special ones thru work. They should be here by tomorrow. Hey take a look at the rings too. What do you think?

They probably could do with a change. Gotta keep these things in good condition to stay fast. That wear is uneven if you look really close. Just one more thing somebody else would overlook from lack of experience. Having an engineers mind has its perks. Can be a heavy burden to carry around too. But the advantages totally out weigh the down sides.

I looked over the rings really close. Then got under the desk light to try for a better look. Frank, do you have a small magnifying glass by chance? After digging in his desk drawer he hands one to me. Thanks Frank. Even under magnification, I really didnt see anything that looked that bad. If these are worn out or bad as he thinks, my engine should not even be able to fire up.

Well, if you say so Frank. The rings dont look that bad to me. But I dont have a lot of real world experience with highly precision racing engines either. Just learning as I go along. But if you are sure, at least I know what to look for now.

Yea I am fairly certain the rings and crank bearing caused my engine not to perform like it should have. Just been too long since I been driving on the track. Being a new track this time didnt help at all. That is most likely why I didnt figure things out soon as I made my first laps.

Oh by the way, I want to thank you for helping me last week. I went back over the kart and very pleased with how you adjusted some of the things so well. Maybe I was just expecting too much. You know it being a new prototype and everything. Mic said he built two of these, but this one had not been tested on the track yet. I guess this kart didnt get the final treatment and made track ready before I secured the deal to buy it from him.

Gee Frank, since I left the track last week, all I thought was that you must have been mad at me for something. Thought maybe you were mad since we loaded up and left while you were still out there running making laps. Mom was waiting and ready to leave. But you didnt come off the track when I tried to wave you in.

Oh sorry `bout that kid. I was so focused driving there on the track. Thought something just wasnt right. Didnt figure it out until just a couple of days ago. Sometimes I completely zone out to anything else when working on a problem. Sort of like a horse wearing binders. I put all my focus on the problem at hand. I knew something was off, just didnt zero in on it right at first.

Soon as those parts come in, my motor will be back together and ready to go out for another practice. I think you were right about getting some more track time. Sure cant hurt. I am in top notch shape, but my driving might could use some freshening up. Been too long since I was racing every weekend. It is a little bit different than just riding a bicycle you know.

I didnt even think about the new kart either. It handles really well, but completely different than the old Sears kart. So much different that is was a total distraction. Before, I had to really work hard to make that old kart get around the track at a decent lap time. Took a lot of focus to be competitive. But I managed real well. Anybody else that tried to drive it, couldnt make a fast lap at all.

Gee Frank, you didnt make any changes that could help the kart handle better?

Sure kid. Thats a given. I spent plenty of nights working on set up in the garage. When I finally got it to the track, the kart was good as it could be. Just didnt handle all that great. Especially compared to my Dart. This prototype is like good as it comes. I cant see how Mic could make any improvements that would help this kart get any better. It is really that good.

I am just a little surprised all that stuff was overlooked when I picked it up. Should probably call up Mic and complain. That kart should have been race ready when I bought it. I didnt expect to make any changes after I got the thing home.

At the kart shop they assured me all I needed to do is bolt an engine on and go racing. Guess it was just a little too much sales hype. Thats a lesson there for you kid. Dont always believe everything someone tells you. Got it?

Yep, Frank that is a good lesson. I sure dont take anybodys word for most stuff. Just use what I am told more or less as a guide. Everything else is on my back. You know Frank, they didnt really lie to you. A motor could be bolted on and someone start racing.

Did they say the kart would handle the best as it is set up for? Or that you should make adjustments as needed for given track conditions? Maybe you just assumed too much. Know what they say about when you assume....

Ok kid, enough of all this over analyzing crap. Making my head hurt. And it is still sunburned too. This is too much like being at work. I need a beer anyway.

Hey Frank, Steve really wants to get out to the track soon as possible. But his dad has him working for rest of the summer. He doesnt know if there is any chance for another trip right now.

I am good to go just about any day. Sure would be cool to get out there again real soon. There are some things I want to try out. I have been working on some Tillotson carburetors off older chainsaws. It would be really awesome if one of them actually works better than what I am running.

So far, I managed to open up the throttle bore from 13/16" to 7/8". Then machined the air horn from 7/8" to 15/16". Most of the venturi sizes are 11/16". I have one up to 3/4" so far. I dont know how much bigger it can go just yet. There has to be a maximum bore of the venturi at some point before it doesnt work so good on an engine.

There are some neat ideas I have sketched on paper that would be cool to make into real parts. Maybe I can get back on that tonight. Everything is still set up on the lathe right now. Just got side tracked from finally making it out for a practice day last week.

You have been doing what to them carbs? You really think you can improve on all those years of development? You out thinking all those engineers with years of experience that have developed them? Then you butcher one up on a lathe? Just like that, you think they can be made to run better? By just running a bigger drill bit thru the center?

Heck no Frank. A drill bit sure aint going to help any. That is obvious. What I am was thinking about doing is grinding some tool steel to match the existing shape. Then just go a little bit larger. Sort of trying to copy that new Tillotson HL-115. It is supposed to be the latest and greatest out right now. Not developed for a purposed chainsaw or anything like that. But for all out performance. You know, it is like the new super carb.

Every one of these chainsaw carburetors are very similar to each other. But the internal passages are all completely different. Yet there is little difference in how they perform. So that became the base to work from. After studying them for the last couple of months, things started making sense. Just not understanding why some are the way they happen to be.

Now I am going just beyond that with a couple of them bored out bigger. I also plan to simplify the fuel circuits. They are anywhere from basic to bizarre. But yet they all work. Not too much chance I can mess one up very bad, even at first.

You missed my point kid. Real engineers designed these carbs from scratch. You cant just rewrite basic laws of physics and fluid dynamics. It takes years of school to even learn enough to understand how complex a carburetor actually is and performs. Nobody can just look at one and decide it works better a particular way. Life isnt that simple or easy. If it was, I would be out of a job like yesteryear.

Frank I am not planning on changing the laws of physics. That wasnt my point. From all the carburetors I have torn apart, they all follow the same basic design. Just some are so horribly thought out, anything would be an improvement over how they are. Yet, some are so simple and run no different than the others.

I just wanted to bore one out large as the casting would allow without breaking thru somewhere. Then drill out the fuel circuit until it is metering correctly for real track conditions. I think is might end up being a little different than for cutting trees down.

Frank tell me something. If four high dollar college educated engineers were assigned a task separately at designing something, but not given any particulars. Just focusing on the end result. How much alike do you think each one of them would be?

Well that depends on several factors. But it is more than likely to think none of them would resemble each other very much. Yet they should perform with almost identical results. At least the successful ones would anyway. You know the ones that followed all of the given information.

Ok, Frank, I am taking all of the decent ones and trying to combine the best ideas of each. Then putting it all together in one. If it works then great. If not, I had fun taking the time and trying something.

Again you miss the point kid. Why spend all that time to reinvent what is already out there. You could just buy the newest model carburetor and have everything needed without burning down a dozen engines trying the hard way. They are not that expensive.

Frank, why even bother to modify your engine to make it faster then? It should be the best right out of the box. Isnt that the same thing you are saying? Please explain how it is any different?

Kid, an engine is an engine. Totally different than a carburetor. You have to factor in mass production costs and where some things cost too much for the little gains they may produce. A carb doesnt have so much to factor against its potential and costs. You get it now?

Heck no Frank, not at all. Now I am even more determined to make a go at it. That is what I am going to work on tonight when I get back home. But thanks for the insight. It now reassures me even more the direction I am going is worth the trouble.

Well kid, I think you are totally wasting your time. But you do have a very hard head. And seem to work thru problems better than some guys I have dealt with. Maybe you will get lucky and not tear up too much equipment before realizing what I am telling you is smart. Well good luck, anyway.

K, Frank, I am headed out. Might drop back by in a couple of days. Maybe your kart will be finished and we can plan another day at the track to practice. Talk to ya, later.

Well that really confirmed my first gut feeling about how to proceed with these old chainsaw carburetors. So far Frank has been batting a thousand on being consistently wrong about everything. At least from how I am understanding things. I am still going to take what he has to offer and sift thru it. But I am not going to take it as fact just because he is a college grade engineer and he says so.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 66

I finally rigged up a quick way to mount up these Tillotson carburetors to the small Craftsman lathe. It is just a flat plate with the right bolt pattern drilled and tapped with two studs. It is also centered to the lathe spindle. So makes it real simple to get the carb running true.

The throttle bore is easy enough to machine out larger. These castings are very thin where the butterfly fits. Opening the bore out to 7/8 inch, the wall thickness is less than 1/32". But there is plenty of meat around the flange and bosses so not to become an issue.

It is really straight forward to bore out the air horn. Hopefully it can be taken out even bigger than 15/16". One thing sticking in my head is wanting to add an extension to the end of the carb face. Then machine it to blend to the bore size of air horn. Also radius the outer face to help with the air flow. There are also several different shapes of the venturi on these. They all obviously work, but dont really know enough to choose one shape over the others.

From the transition point of venturi, or the large diameter before choking down, it will taper out bigger to the outer face of air horn. The small extension will continue this taper even farther before the large clean radius to outer face of extension.

This idea is sort of like bolting an Azusa velocity stack to the carb. But instead of being that long, will only lengthen the carburetor about one half inch. I wonder if there are any specific formulas that could get me an approximate length of carburetor or anything about length of air horn. It would make sense that there would be a certain length for optimum air flow at a particular rpm range.

The Azusa velocity stack looks really cool. But sure seems long. You gotta wonder if someone did all the leg work on it to come up with the length? Maybe this is something to run past Frank for some input, next time over to his place.

So my first major modification for the carburetor will be to machine a 1/2 inch thick aluminum spacer that is 1 3/4" outside diameter. Then drill the two mounting holes that measure 1 3/8" bolt circle. On the lathe it will be machined to blend the extension matching the air horn bore.

Wallah, I have something cool looking if nothing else. If there is a formula to follow, that would be great. But for now this is good enough to start with. The added length should improve incoming air speed at a given rpm and maybe increase the amount of flow, before compressing thru the venturi. Sounds plausible, and if I am on the right track, so to speak, may improve the performance of the engine enough for the effort.

Checking dimensions of some carbs in catalogs, I went with these more common ones. The HL-63 HL-87, HL-88, HL-92, HL-93 and HL-101 for comparing between each of them. They are all the same in basic appearance. Most of the difference is in how the fuel is being fed thru the passages. Below are the dimensions of some of these:

            throttle bore   venturi   air horn
HL-87         13/16"       11/16"    7/8"
HL-88           7/8"         11/16"    7/8"
HL-92         13/16"       11/16"     7/8"
HL-93           7/8"         11/16"    7/8"
HL-101         7/8"         11/16"     7/8"

After a lot of trial and error and a good bit of luck, I managed to bore the first carburetor out with success. Like a lot of success.

So basically all of the above carburetor bodies are of a similar casting. Some minor differences, but nothing affecting how much one can get bored.

I ended up with these finish dimensions using both HL-15 and HL-63 bodies practicing just for lathe fodder.

                        New   Old
Throttle bore     .890" .811"
Venturi             .780"  .687"
Air horn           1.015  .875"

I am so stoked about this first bored out carburetor. It turned out great. Unfortunately the completely finished carb body was no good before I started, since there is a big chunk broken out. It was only the first one to try and find out just how big it could go. The other one is not far behind to being finished out.

After figuring out how much I could get away with boring these, then added the air horn extension and went even farther. So one carburetor body is now bored with the extension and one without.

The first usable carb also has the air horn extension. I was able to open it up to 1.050" and taper down to the finished ID of carb body at 1.015". I dont have a clue yet if all of this modifying will actually help or not. But I can only hope. The next practice day cant come soon enough.

All of the holes drilled feeding the fuel circuit on these different carb models were mostly the same size. It looks like the best idea is to go with the hole sizes from the HL-93. Since it is the first carb built specific for the McCulloch Mc6 and Mc10 kart engines.

The fuel circuit is drilled very straight forward. Nothing like the earlier models used on a lot of chainsaws. Especially on what I discovered on the Tillotson HL-19, 63 AND 87. There are like 4 different variations of the one HL-19 carburetor. It was used on many of the earlier Super series chainsaws.

Just looking at how the fuel passages were routed thru the carburetor body to feed the low and high speed circuit is nothing that makes much sense. Especially in how simple the newer model HL-93 and some others I have torn apart are drilled. I dont understand why some of the these models seem to be so complicated.

Maybe this is something I can run by Frank. You know him being an engineer of some kind. Engineers are people who supposedly solve problems. I would be curious what his take is on why some of these earlier carbs seem more complicated of how the design is in fuel passages.

I ended up matching the fuel circuit to the HL-93. The throttle bore is about the same size. But the venturi and air horn are bigger. So if the engine wont stay running at idle from being lean, should be easy enough to open up the idle hole to the next drill size. If the engine starves thru the midrange when trying to accelerate, then the transition hole can be opened up a little bit more.

The same fix if motor falls over or acts like is starving for fuel at top speed. The high speed circuit can be opened up slightly more. This is also taking account for both high and low speed needles stay with in a certain range of adjustment. I hope it works out that easy. If I am right about this or can figure out if much different, can dial this carburetor in after some track time.

If things work out, maybe there wont be any reason to buy a bigger carburetor just to keep up with the competition.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 67

After all the effort I put into the first two practice carburetors, it was time to get some outside input about what has been done on them. So the only person convenient that I know with higher learning and kart racing experience is Frank. At least someone to have a discussion with about any possibilities of them working, or not working, from the mods that have been done. I dont know what to expect from this, and really no one else to turn to about it. Just about anything is better than a blank stare when I ask anybody else. But what Frank has to offer could be just as useless.

Today Frank was out in his garage again. He was intently focused on his pride and joy Dart super prototype kart. This is sort of a first to see him actually working on something at all. Except for his engine sitting torn apart on the desk during my last visit, I have not witnessed him doing real constructive work on anything. Maybe Frank has some hidden skills I have yet to discover. 

So I walk up behind him in the garage and spit out my usual, "Hey Frank". He just about jumps out of his skin. He then turns around and raises up his hands into some kind of judo or kungfu stance I have only seen in Japanese movies. Never in real life before now.

My first thought was maybe I am going to be made into chop suey if he had followed thru with that specialized lethal stance he was about to engage with just then. I did raise my hand up to block his karate chop. I didnt really block it more than just stopping him from slicing me in half. Not really, he didnt seem to have enough body strength to follow thru with his hand ax to cause any physical damage. Or maybe just being so disciplined that he was able to stop immediately when realizing that maybe I might not be a dangerous threat to his livelihood.

OH CRAP! Sorry bout that kid. Its my naturally ultra fast reflexes. Sometimes they are so automatic, even surprise myself of how quick I am. My instinct usually keeps the helpless and innocent from getting really hurt. Guess you are in that safe crowd or things might have ended up really bad for you right now. So whats up? I assume you need something, or is this an unlikely social visit?

Gee Frank, social is something too. So I guess you can say it is both. I just wanted to show you some things I have been working on. But I see you are busy working on the kart. I dont want to interrupt anything important. No problem to drop by some other time.

No trouble. Just decided to tear down the kart and do a real thorough super precision detail on reassembly. I realized after you finding some things that were questionable, maybe I should go thru the whole system. Since the motor is now ready to prove its worth, no reason to put it on a kart that isnt completely set up top notch for racing. The better this kart is set up now, the less effort it will take me to drive out there on the track. Ya know what I mean? So whatcha got goin on today?

Frank, promise you wont laugh. I have been beating around some ideas in my head for most of the summer. Finally focused some time on them and got a couple sorted out. These are two dead carburetor bodies. I have a lot of different models from various chainsaws. For the most part they all very similar. These here I went ahead and bored out just about big as I could go without cutting thru the casting anywhere. What do you think?

Well I gotta say they look really neat. I am guessing you have not tried them out yet. What formulas did you use to remap the fuel circuit? I assume you did recalculate everything, so the fuel delivery is correct . I already said you cant just run a bigger drill bit thru a hole without changing how the rest of a carb works.

Of course Frank, I realize that. It was surprising to me that there is very little difference in size of most of the fuel passages on any of the carbs I checked over before modifying these two here. It didnt matter what size throttle bore or venturi, most of the low and high speed orifices were basically the same size. My plan is to stick with how the HL-93 carburetor is drilled to start with. Then make adjustments from there if something does not work out so good.

That sounds like a solid plan and all, if you were a simpleton. But you do have to realize there are hundreds if not thousands of hours in research and development to successfully build just one of these carbs. Likely a whole fleet of specialized design engineers working for months or longer just to develop any of them. And that would be for a very specific application.

Things really go haywire when you throw a monkey wrench in there with these modern racing engines. The demand for properly metered fuel is so much more complex now for real on track race conditions. The engineers would have to rewrite the book on what they have developed up to date for industrial and commercial use of those carbs there.

I dont want to burst your bubble, but its like a one in a million chance either of these may actually work. I can almost guarantee they wont even work as well than before you got happy with a big drill bit. Things are just not that simple. If they were I would be long out of a job. So good try at doing some pretty machine work on what you got here, but dont expect too much when they get tested on the track.

Wow Frank, you sure know how to stroke someones ego. With all that confidence buildup, I might as well go jump in front of speeding locomotive. Just go get it over with already. I wasnt expecting these carburetors to be a bolt on and go faster super trick. But I dont have any problem working on figuring out what it will take to make them perform a lot better than the way they were when stock.

There is one model I have several of. I am hoping these will be my focus when everything has been worked out. You know all those highly technical engineer calculations you are talking about. The HL-87 does not have provisions for the choke assembly like all the others. That would be two less holes needing to get plugged for a clean pathway thru the air horn.

Tell ya what kid, I have a super duper deal for you. If you like playing around with these carbs so much, there are a couple of them around here you could have cheap. I mean like really cheap. So dont try your pathetic sales pitch on me this time. My Frank Price is firm. Well worth it considering what they cost new. All I want is a dollar for each of them. Nothing more and nothing less. Take it or leave it.

Frank goes over and starts shuffling thru things under his work bench. Then comes back with a very small cardboard box. He pulls out three Tillotson carburetors and sets them down in front of me. They look complete, and nothing in particular stands out about any of them. I check each one over carefully. These all have the long standard style throttle shaft. Easy to use on a kart engine by bolting on a small arm with swivel. I dont see any reason to pass these up.

What do you think kid? Interested or not?

I look at the model number stamped on each flange. One is an HL-35, an HL-65, and HL-66. So long as none of these has been butchered inside, I dont have a problem with snagging them up. OK, Frank, its a deal. Do you take personal checks?

Huh? You going to write me a check? Even if you do have a checking account, which is highly unlikely, H, E, double hockey pucks, NO. I dont want a personal check. Washingtons in silver or silver certificate. That is what I would prefer for payment. No haggling this time either, just real money. Got it?

Dont you mean hockey sticks Frank? Alright, here you go. Payment in full. Dont say I ever leave a debt hanging loose in a noose. Are these the only carburetors you got? You know so long as I am throwing George down the drain, what are a few more?

Before I take your money kid, just to be clear....I have tested quite a few carbys in real world race track conditions. Spent plenty of hours back to back with these very same carbs. None of them was nearly fast as that one over there on my personal Westbend 580. So if you think anything different about these, since they came from me, I am clearing the air about it right now. Dont make any assumptions since I am fast on the track. Just because they are in my spare parts bin, doesnt make them anything special. To me they are past tense.

Gee Frank, dont be so modest. I know anything coming from you is much better than what I own. All my parts have already been thrown away at least once before. So heck yea, these should be in near perfect operating condition. You know good used carburetors in top notch shape. So we have a deal. I like what I see. There are two here I dont think are in my stash. If nothing else I can surely use some parts from them. The throttle shafts are straight and dont have any play. Saves me a little bit of money not having to buy new ones when putting some of my other carburetors back together.

Oh well, I didnt think about keeping them for spare parts. Guess some of the pieces might be interchangeable. But I see the throttle shafts are different. What makes you so sure they would even work on the ones for yours you got there? I mean they dont just make a bunch of different parts that can all do the same thing. Too many pieces to keep in stock or have to be available in inventory for the manufacturer and repair shops. Just doesnt make a lot of sense if either shaft would work in place of the other one.

Dont know what to tell you Frank? But looking at the throttle shafts on your carburetors, they should bolt up right in place of the missing ones on mine. But it dont really matter. It they work then fine. If not, I will find something else. Hey Frank since we are talking carburetors look at what I got here. What do you think about how the fuel circuit is run in one of these HL-87 carburetors?

I am completely lost on why they designed the fuel circuit this way. Just does not make sense to me. But then again I am not a college educated engineer. I have not figured out why that brass tube is pressed into where the high speed needle goes. This is one thing that is a hold up on boring any of these particular ones out just yet. I want to understand how it works first. Then if no special reason, go ahead with my plans.

I would like to use this model carburetor since there are several in my pile of parts. Also the holes for choke shaft are not drilled like I already mentioned. One less thing to plug and machine back out. But if something is weird about the high speed circuit, then will just pass on them and use some of the others.


HL-87

Well this is a strange duck. I dont know why it is done this way. Let me study it for a moment. How about snagging me a beer out of the Frigidaire. A cold one sure can help the ole brain do its job sometimes. Just make sure the bottle doesnt get all shaken up there. Dont even think about pulling that one on me. I wasnt born yesterday. There is a bottle opener hanging on the wall next to the fridge. Go ahead and pop the cap, just so there is no funny business.

Frank I am hurt. How can you think I would do something childish like that? Its not like I am some depraved 10 year old child that is desperate for attention. I might actually think about doing something like that. But at 13, it would only be a passing thought. I could never act on an impulse like that no matter how strong the urge is. Well so far as you know I wouldnt.

During the few minutes Frank studied this Tillotson HL-87 carburetor, he downed that first beer in not much more than one big gulp. Then two more right after that, before going into depth about the workings on the fuel circuit. Well I will tell you something right now. This carb looks like a complete custom job. A real professional build too. Probably built engine specific for a particular purpose. Do you know what type of racing machine is it built for?

I am fairly certain it came off a McCulloch chainsaw Frank. The chainsaw actually fell off a work truck. Owner didnt want to spend what the broken parts would cost to replace. So just went ahead and bought a newer saw. Its one of their lower end saws too. I believe it is a model 1-41.

Well one thing for sure I will tell you kid, this carby cant be stock. No way. Just from how it is designed. It would cost a ton of money to mass produce them like the way this one here is made. It also looks like specifically developed for high rpm use. There doesnt seem to be any way to feed fuel to the low speed circuit. Just look at how the passage is run right here. Take my word, this baby has to be a one off special.

Are you  for sure it came off that particular saw? Maybe someone was building a special competition saw or something like that. I have worked over plenty of carbs in the last few years. I dont normally miss something like obvious as this. Converted a couple over to alky too. Nothing like this one will function on a stock engine. Another thing you mentioned about the choke. Mark my words, I know what I am talking about. They dont build production carbs without chokes.

Whatever you say Frank. I will keep that in mind. So whats the story on these old carburetors of yours anyway? Do you remember much about testing any of them? Like this one HL-35? I see the low speed needle is screwed in all the way. The head of needle is almost touching the body. I didnt think they would screw in that far. Looks a lot more than the other needles will go.

Oh yea, that one is a complete dud. Must be a factory glitch. You know they sometimes slip thru quality control. It sure didnt want to idle at all. Just loaded up and died every time I tried to get it going. When I finally got it to somewhat idle in the pits, that sucker would just lay flat over and die when giving it gas. If I could ever make it out on the track, it just would not run worth a damn.

Then if I get it working out on the straights, any slow turn at all, would usually be running too rich to clear out and not accelerate again. Just didnt bother past that. I had others that were ready to try out. So there was no reason spending any time with that one. Just too many issues from the start.

You see the red one right there came off my first kart. It was one of those from Sears. Talking about one heavy tank! I learned how to really drive well on that kart. This old red carb was the only thing left undamaged after the motor finally cratered. It was a Power Products AH-82. One of those earlier styles made of magnesium. That engine was horribly out of ba1ance when you put the revs to it. `Bout shook my teeth loose every time I tried to drive it. After the motor went caboom, I bought the Westbend 580. Good engine that one is.

Last summer I was running it and just remember hearing a loud pop! Then that very carb in your hand shot forward and landed right in my lap. I was really hauling ace down the straight that one time. Nearly leading the race too. Fortunately there was enough speed for me to coast it back all the way to the pits. I looked behind and the jug had broken off and was gone. I mean literally gone. As in missing. What was left of the piston and rod had kept rotating and slinging around and nearly cut the crankcase in half. Sure made a lot of racket. There were bits and pieces of that engine all over the track.

I tried that carb on my Westbend once, but for some reason, could never get it to even fire up. Like it would not pump fuel. I never tore it apart past the one time to see what was up about it. Lost interest after that. The Westbend has a newer style bigger carb. An HL-88. Saw no reason to test anything else. You get a really fast package, then no reason to screw things up by changing parts out all the time. Eventually something goes wrong and another dead motor. Racing can get real expensive that way.

Alright Frank, thanks for all the information, but I gotta cut out. So you think it is just a complete waste of my time modifying these carburetors? Is that what I understand? You dont expect me to have any luck making something from them. OK, makes a little bit of sense. But I am still having fun working on them. Maybe just for kicks, I will get one together and try it out next time there is a practice day. If it sucks really bad, you can be an "I told you so". Wont hurt my feelings at all.

Kid you dont just make something expecting it to work well without a lot of calculations to confirm the outcome is what you are after. You are just playing Russian roulette. Otherwise, if you like playing with them, well, more power to ya. The finish looks first quality on these two here. It is a shame things are not that simple. Otherwise everybody with a hand drill would be doing that work for themselves. The real ambitious ones would be trying to pass them off as something special and sell for a good penny or two.

Take it easy Frank. Check you later.

Back at home I went ahead and tore apart these three carburetors from Frank. My curiosity was up and really wanted to find out why the two of them were not working properly. It sure wasnt too difficult to see why the HL-35 was having troubles. After removing the welch plug, I found a tiny piece of the body was actually broken off. It is very small boss where the low speed needle seats. That explains why the needle looked like it was screwed in too far too. Because it was.


HL-35

Someone either bottomed out the low speed needle too hard or maybe tried to force a high speed needle in there by mistake. OK, one down. If the needles were left where he had last tried to run the carburetor, then explains a lot. The high speed needle is almost screwed in all the way. It was set way too lean. Might have been the only way to get it  running in the pits. Out on the track it would not do anything but starve for fuel. Now which of the other two should I look over next?

Frank said the red carburetor would not pump any fuel. Wonder exactly what he meant? I also decided to drill out the welch plug on this one. Then looked over everything under a really bright light and good magnifying glass. This carburetor is extremely clean looking inside. If I could remove whats left of the ugly paint, it should look like new underneath.


HL-66

After soaking the carburetor in lacquer thinner, I scrubbed it really well using a small paint brush with the bristles cut down very short. Works great to remove buildup this way. The paint dissolved quickly and was all washed off. Sure enough the carb does look just like new again. 


HL-66 clean

Alright why would this one not pump any fuel? It is the stock HL-66 carburetor for a Power products AH-82. Fuel passes thru this way and pumps down here and finally fills is the chamber. It was working fine when we had it on the engine before that thing blew up. Everything looks correct. Did Frank maybe put the carburetor on wrong? Naw, he surely would not overlook something that obvious. He is after all, an engineer.

I compared this carburetor to the other one which is an HL-65 These are very similar. They both have the same casting number. Also both are used on Power Products engines. It should be close enough for comparison. I looked over both of them carefully, but nothing jumped out. That is until I saw something different between the two. There is a small brass restrictor in the hole that feeds the pulse pressure from crankcase to pumper diaphragm on the flange.


HL-66-1a

The HL-65 carburetor has a standard 1/8 " hole drilled. It is just like most of the others. This red HL-66 carburetor has a brass plug pressed in that hole. There is a very small orifice drilled thru in center of the brass plug. It is only 0.040" in diameter. I checked it with the shank of a number 60 drill bit.

If this is the problem, then why is the plug even there? I looked thru some of the kart mags for possible answers. Sure enough there is an ad for the Sears kart with choice of engines. The PP-82 has a top mounted gas tank. Hey maybe that is the problem. If there is a top mounted tank, then it will gravity feed to carburetor. There is no need for a fuel pump. Or maybe it pumps too much when using it set up this way. So a restrictor was added to keep that from happening.

Franks new Dart super prototype special model has a seat mounted gas tank. The top of tank would barely sit much higher than the carburetor. But it would need to be filled up mostly full to feed the carburetor without a working fuel pump. Could it be something really this simple? Maybe I should confirm everything I am basing this on before making any conclusion.

After much thinking, I decided to use this HL-66 for the first carburetor to officially bore out for testing on an engine. After cutting up those two bad carburetor bodies for practice, this one with be the real deal. By drilling out that brass plug, to match all of the others, now the pumper diaphragm should work correctly. Then drill out some of the orifices in the fuel passages to better match the HL-93.

If this carburetor can fire up and run decent on an engine in the garage, then will be ready for the first track test. Well after some more time to get a baseline to work from. Get the kart running good consistent lap times, then swap out to this new to me bored carburetor and see what happens.

So after tearing the HL-66 completely apart, there was something odd. It actually looks like someone ran a big drill bit thru the venturi. It measures just about 3/4 of an inch, but in a very rough looking hole. From the diameter of the venturi, it just goes straight back until the step for throttle bore. Thats not right. Someone has actually attempted to modify this carburetor the same way Frank was saying would not work. But he didnt mention any problems with this carburetor when it was used on his Power Products engine.

I measured the carburetor all over. Then made sure to record the sizes of each orifice in the fuel circuit. The air horn was 7/8", throttle bore was 13/16", and the venturi originally should have been 11/16". The size is cast into the body under the stacks in the fuel chamber. The red HL-66 and this other HL-65 share the same casting number of 011774 and both should have the same 11/16 venturi.

I tore the HL-65 carburetor apart and checked all of the hole sizes. Everything was the same as the HL-66 except for one hole. It is what I have seen referred to as an air premix orifice. It is drilled thru the outer ring face of venturi that feeds air to the main fuel channel in the venturi. On the HL-66 carburetor for a kart engine, the air premix orifice is drilled out larger at 0.037". This HL-65 carburetor, which is correct for a Power Products chainsaw using the AH-81 engine, is drilled to only 0.026".

So for the first official modified carburetor, this red HL-66 gets the full treatment. I was disappointed to find out the horrible drill bit job to make the venturi larger is offset a lot. I wasnt sure if it would even clean up being so far off center. I have not bored one out much larger than 3/4" yet. Since that is as big as the new HL-115 comes, I didnt know what to expect with going any larger. But this is uncharted territory right now. There really is nothing to loose going forward with any of these. I am going to just do this one really big.

For the tooling, I got lucky. Grandpa had a 5 gallon bucket full of old reamers. He had picked up from an auction thru work. Straight ones, adjustable, and tapered ones. All sizes from 1/8" up to over 1 1/4". After the first couple of attempts on those initial test subjects, I came up with only needing two reamers to do everything at first. That is to get just slightly larger than a 3/4 venturi. But since this one carburetor needs some cleanup on the venturi, I will have to bore it out on the lathe. Just big enough until it is running true again.

The first thing I tried was to use a 7/8" reamer in the air horn to help center the carburetor on the fixture. So no fine adjustments needed to getting it running true. Next was to run the 15/16" reamer in until it reached the base of venturi. Then follow up with a 1" reamer. I found an odd reamer that had a pilot. It looks like something that would align bore kingpins of some kind of big truck. It is another 0.015" larger and slightly tapered down smaller at one end.

Now the air horn is mostly finished. Before flipping the carburetor over, the venturi was opened up large enough running true with the bore. Now the carburetor was turned around and using a 13/16" reamer to help center it on the lathe. There is one very strange looking reamer in the bucket that has a long shallow taper from 1/2" to a 7/8" straight diameter. This one worked out perfectly to open up the throttle bore and then a gradual taper down to the venturi diameter.

Another thing done was to blend the base of air horn to taper sharply down to the venturi. A one inch diameter 90 degree countersink did the trick. I tried one more thing since going this far already. There was a few different Morse taper reamers. One of these was just larger than one inch at the small end. It is the number 4 Morse taper. This opened up the air horn slightly larger tapering out to the flange face. Now the only thing left to do was just blend and polish everything with emory cloth until it looked just right.  

With this first carburetor finished, below are the dimensions of the newly modified HL-66 carburetor.

HL-66     Old      New                       HL-115
Throttle  0.810   0.880"                     0.937"
Venturi   0.687"  0.830"                     0.750"
Air horn  0.875"  1.015 up to 1.030"   1.00"

I drilled out all of the fuel passages to match the HL-93. Comparing the dimensions between every one of the carburetors that I checked out, the HL-93 seemed to be an good average of all the others. A few orifices were slightly smaller and some larger. But none were very far off from the majority of the slightly smaller chainsaw carburetors. This leaves me with some room to drill out the passages larger if something still doesnt work right.

So that ugly looking red carburetor is now a beautiful work of art. Frank might be right. This carburetor could completely suck. But I am willing to stay with it until it does work. Hopefully a lot better than the original. And maybe even good as the new HL-115. A kid can still dream cant he?

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 68
Before I actually braved myself to butcher the HL-66 in to the new dream carburetor, the other lathe fodder had already taken a transition from stock to not salvageable. Tho neither of the first two donors were usable anyway.

Originally I made attempts to bore out one HL-15. It had a small piece broken out of the body, so was completely useless. It became my test subject just to find out what was way too big.


HL-15

At first I tried opening up the throttle bore. The stock diameter is 13/16". There was no trouble taking this out to 7/8". So with this one modification, I could convert most earlier carburetors to the newer ones that were now available with the 7/8" throttle bore. There was little or no difference in size of orifices feeding the fuel circuits.

Other than minor differences between models, you could upgrade most of these chainsaw carburetors to the newer ones on the Westbend, Power Products and Mac engines available for kart racing. So that was not any big deal. Drilling out some of the orifices of the earlier models was simple enough. But there probably wont be a real big difference in performance on the track. The carburetor was still limited to the same small 11/16" venturi.

I wanted to find out how much bigger these earlier models could be bored. My next attempt was to open up the throttle bore larger like the new HL-115. Even tho the HL-115 is advertised as a one inch bore, that is not completely accurate. The outer face of the mounting flange is bored up to one inch. But the actual throttle bore is stepped down to only 15/16".

Now after pushing thru a larger 15/16" reamer, I found the limits to these earlier carburetor bodies. At this bore size the low speed circuit cavity was cut thru and now unusable. So I know the throttle bores can only go up to 7/8".


HL-15 bored thru

It looks like most if not all of the earlier castings will be limited to the 7/8" bore. The HL-115 is a different casting that has more material to allow for the larger diameter throttle bore.

The next thing I wanted to find out is how much bigger the air horn could be opened up. This worked out with good results. The stock diameter of the air horn on all of the models I have checked is 7/8". The first attempt was to push a 15/16" reamer in the horn. It went well with no signs of cutting thru anywhere.

No reason to hold back. Next I went ahead and tried a one inch reamer. This worked well and there is enough wall thickness to be acceptable. One step closer to opening up these earlier models to possibly match the performance of new HL-115. It has a one inch bore air horn with a lot to spare.

Even tho the body is very thin around the air horn, I pushed it up slightly larger. Using a number 4 morse tapered reamer, I was able to open up the air horn another 0.015" and it tapers out larger to 1.030" at the flange. This should be good enough. There is a very thin wall now on the body around the air horn. This is as large as I am going. There is not much wall thickness, but no signs of being a problem.

Using that long tapered reamer from mounting flange side of carburetor body, the throttle bore was taken to as large as possible at 0.880". With the long shallow taper of this one particular reamer it transitioned smoothly down to the the bore size of venturi. It appears the venturi could be taken up to almost the throttle bore size, but that would likely become useless. Since the venturi would now be much less effective.


Enlarged venturi/airhorn

Side by side one is stock and the other is bored out as much as I see is possible.

After some trial and error, I was content with the venturi opening up to about 0.830". This was achieved by using that long tapered reamer for throttle bore. It was run in deep enough to open up the venturi. With the gradual taper if ended up working perfect to take the venturi out to 0.830 and smooth transition back to the throttle bore.

I am now more or less satisfied with the results of air horn and venturi. There is still more to work on here. But for now I am ready for the real working finished version of this carburetor.

Most of the carburetors I have looked at, the throttle bore is just a straight cut in to the body, just far enough for the butterfly to clear. With this one tapered reamer, instead that step is now a smooth transition angled down to the diameter of venturi bore.

I felt like it was worth the trouble doing. This may not be a performance enhancement in actual function, but a psychological standpoint it was all there. The original stock float bowl carburetor that came on the Clinton A-490 had a very small 1/2" venturi. That carburetor was longer than a Tillotson, and had a very long shallow taper from throttle bore choking down to the venturi.

This float bowl carburetor was something manufactured about ten years earlier. Likely before someone figured out it didnt really make enough difference in performance to go to the effort with that smooth transition. But now, after almost doubling the horsepower and pushing the rpm way above the intended usage, I dont see how it could not be of some improvement. Even if it was only a slight gain.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 69

So this one modified HL-66 carburetor is actually a reality. I went ahead and assembled it with new diaphragms and needle/seat. My first thought was just staying with the nylon needle and rubber seat. It seemed to work decent enough on all of the chainsaw carburetors. When I was at Gassets shop, Mr Grimes gave me a quick tutorial on how to set up the inlet control lever and check the needle to make sure it holds pressure. He did not tell me how much pressure or any reliable way to test. Just apply some light air pressure and check for any leakage around the needle.

I kept testing all of the carburetors that were still partially assembled with the internal parts. Not one of them gave me any idea of repetitive numbers so there is no baseline to go by. I was somewhat frustrated by the time dad walked in the garage. He asked what I has having trouble with. After some explanation, he was surprised I was so in depth with how these carburetors actually functioned.

After some trial and error, dad managed to rig up some tubing with a pointed rubber tip. It was attached to a small regulator and pressure gauge tied into the compressor. He finally worked things out to reliably test the pressure at which the needle maintains before opening and then bleeding off. If I opened the control valve on regulator very slowly, the pressure on gauge would start to climb. Most of the chainsaw carburetors that would still hold pressure started bleeding off around six pounds. Really anything and everything on either side of that pressure.

Now I was more interested in the HL-93. It was in good condition. After setting it up on the pressure tester, I managed to get it consistently bleeding at 7-8 pounds. After comparing the different springs that are used under the inlet control levers, I was satisfied these readings were close to accurate.

All of these carburetors used the same short soft spring that was bronze looking in color. After checking the parts list, I noticed some of the newer model carburetors had changed over to a stiffer spring. It was longer, silver in color and had more coils. With this spring the pressure held right at 10 pounds.

After thinking it over, I made the decision to go with the HL-115 parts. Another trip to Gasset secured these tiny pieces needed to go forward with the first test carburetor. I showed Mr Grimes what had been put together for testing these carburetors. He thought it was a really neat looking gadget and interesting. But didnt know what benefit it have with rebuilding these carburetors.

I asked Mr Grimes if there was any difference in performance if the pressures varied up and down too much. He had absolutely no clue and never seen any information in print on making these adjustments for any engine. He changed these parts only if the carburetor was not working correctly. If that didnt fix anything then changed out with a new carburetor.

Once again, I am looking at things that may not make any difference. So far I have not found any information in repair manuals either. The tuning pages covering Tillotson carburetors did not disclose any details. Only if carburetor was not working properly, then clean well and use the correct major repair kit.

For my own curiosity, I decided to start testing the carburetors we are running. Keep records on all of the different readings between them. Then maybe a pattern would show itself eventually. If I could get a general setting to shoot for, then might make these carburetors work more consistently. Or do the Frank Price way, and just throw the carburetor in a box if it doesnt work the first time around the track.

So now I have an one off super custom extremely modified untested carburetor, that looks really cool, but no information on how to set it up and no clue what to start the needles at. That is not a solid way to start out for a test day. Or is it? Well at least the karts are running well. Well enough to use as a baseline to make changes for comparisons with each one. That is somewhat helpful. I am so ready to make another trip out to the track.

But first it would be a really good idea to try out this carburetor on an engine in the garage. Make sure it will start up and if I am lucky it might actually idle. Then see if the engine will accelerate without laying over or loading up. That would be a good first test to make sure if what I have been working on will even make it to the track without being a complete failure.

Right now this sure would be a good time to make a few trips down the street again. But I know better than trying that stunt again. It would save a bunch of time to find out if the carburetor does or does not work at all. But maybe if I try it out on an engine, and load it down with the brake pedal depressed, could give me a good enough idea of what to expect. If I was still a clueless 12 year old kid, then the street would be my first choice without even considering the consequences. It just makes sense. But I cant go down that road, well the street anymore. I am grown up now at 13. I should start acting like an adult since I am nearly one.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 70

I dont know when we will get another trip out to the track. My mind has been very preoccupied working out things to test, if that day happens anytime soon. The super modified HL-66 that had come off Franks blown up Power Products looks so cool. I can not believe the transformation from the appearance when he sold the three old carburetors to me just a few days ago. After the paint was cleaned off, this one carburetor looks brand new.

After the serious modifications that were attempted using the lathe, it just made this carburetor look even more awesome. I dont have any idea if it will work or not. It would really be cool to find out. But until then....

Well I decided to drop by Franks house again. It has only been a few days since I bought those three old Tillotsons from him. There is no way Frank will recognize his old carburetor now. If he doesnt figure it out I am not going to tell him otherwise.

After riding my bike over, I saw Frank was in his garage. Just sitting there at his desk talking to himself. He had something plugged in to his left ear again. He is listening, and it looks so strange watching him carry on a conversation with no one. Must be another one of those self help tapes he was talking about. Wonder where his reel to reel player is? I dont see it anywhere.

Hey Frank! Whats up? HEY THERE KID!. OH HECK HOLD ON. He pulls that plug out of his ear. OK now I can talk. Whats up?

Hows your kart, Frank? Did you get it finished yet?

Sure did. This baby is spot on perfect. I wont need to do anything the next trip out to the track. Well except drive the kart. That wont even be much effort at all. I got it set up just good as it gets. This kart here could almost drive itself around the track. That is how well it is set up now. I found several things that were just not right. It is surprising how just a quarter turn of a screw could make or break your max speed.

I figure there were several things I managed to fix that hampered my potential last time out. With a lame engine down on horsepower and now factoring the kart was no where near close to being right, well, lucky I made any consistent laps at all. I figure another second or two easily off my lap times is not even being optimistic either. I am going to set the track on fire out there. So what you got going on today? Anything news worthy?

Frank, I just stopped by to hang out for a few. I also have something to show you. Take a look at this. What do you think? I pull the untested new looking Tillotson HL-66 out of a small box. Then acting very careful handling it, I held it out to Frank. Be careful Frank, it is like brand new looking aint it?

Frank lets out with a very impressed whistle. Then sets the carburetor down next to the one that goes on his Westbend. Wow, this one here is a real beauty.



Well kid, you finally showed some smarts. I knew if you listened to me long enough, well you would figure it out. I know what I am talking about. I see you finally got off your hard headed ideas and picked up this new carby. This must be the new HL-115A that just came out a few months ago. It sure looks like a fine piece of racing equipment. Tillotson did not hold back on this one at all. Really made this for all out racing. It is pure bolt on horsepower.

I knew if you listened to my advice long enough, some of it would eventually sink into that thick skull on your shoulders. You buying this new carb is a good sign of smarts. I give good advice. But cant make people take it. The really smart ones have to figure some stuff out for themselves. Sometimes just gotta be that little birdie in their ear.

Looking over this Tilly carb, I see they went all out pure racing performance in designing this one. It is one impressive engineering marvel to even look at. If this doesnt make a big difference, you got something else seriously wrong.

This baby otta make any decent engine really scream. Look how big that venturi is there. My finger fits right thru it. This one is going to really breathe some air to an engine that is properly setup to handle it.

So you must have been doing a bunch of work to save this much money. That baby is pushing right at $25. Cant say it is a real bargain, but even at that price, maybe a steal when it increases the horse power of a good engine.

So what engine you plan to run this on anyway?  Did you even give much thought to that? You know this baby is probably way too big to help out one of them little Clintons of yours. Even if you did get it to run, would likely turn it in to shrapnel. Wouldnt want to be a round when that happens.

All that time you put into those wimpy chainsaw carbs seems like a big waste now, doesnt it? There is no way you could get one of those tiny carbs bored anywhere close to how big this new hot rod carb is punched out.

I can think of a bunch of things that would have been more worth your time than wasting it on those old carbs. But you would not listen to anyone. Guess you sort of feel a little foolish now thinking about it.

Wow Frank, you sure do talk a lot. Is there an off switch I can flip somewhere? I can tell you really like that carburetor tho. Looks cool dont it? Why dont you think is will work on my Clinton? Just because it is twice as big comparing it to the original stock float bowl carburetor that engine comes with?

Yea kid that is one good reason to figure out it is way too big. Your engine barely puts out more than 2 ponies anyway. Then you think just bolting on a really big high performance carb like this one, will make it instantly fast? I guess you need a course in basic engineering. Maybe a crash course will do you some good. Dont know if I have the patience to beat the facts into that hard head of yours. I might end up pulling out the rest of my hair trying to get a good education to stick to any of your brain cells.

Well, Frank, all I can do is waste more time to find out for myself. But since you did bring up those old crappy chainsaw carburetors, I was wanting to ask you some questions. One in particular. What was the deal with that old red carburetor I got from you the other day? The one from your Power Products AH-82. I know you said it would not pump any fuel.

You know, I am almost sorry for selling those old junky carbs to you now. I see it as wasted money. Then here you go spend this much more hard earned cash of a super trick carb right after buying those old ones from me. You just need to accept your losses and give up that sinking ship. You got the best of the best carby right here, and still want to waste time with those old ones.

Frank I just want to learn things, not buy my way to the front. There is no fun in that at all. Couldnt afford it that way either. You really have no idea how much it will satisfy me if this pretty carburetor here works out better than other ones on the kart engines right now. Even if you think it is too big for my Clinton, I still want to try it out just because. You know I just have to.

Well to tell you the truth kid, I would want to try it on any engine I had, just because it looks so fast. I know you wont be happy with the results, but I would be tempted to do the same, if I was you without an engineers education. Even before my years in college, I would have already known this new carb would just be too much for your engine. Just common sense. I guess it is something that comes with age and experience. A brain already full of smarts doesnt hurt either.

Frank, you told me your old red carburetor would not pump fuel right? That you had tried it out on the Westbend? What gas tank did you use? I an just trying to figure a few things out, but need some information to confirm what I am thinking.

Fine kid, what do you want to know? This is like ancient history to me. All of it went in to file 13. My old Power Products 82 had a small gas tank mounted on top of the engine. There was not a tank for the Westbend, so I bolted that old one to the rear cross member on the Sears kart. It had good flow running out. I did all of the checks when it wouldnt pump fuel. After confirming fuel supply was not the problem, decided to quit wasting any more time thinking it might be better than the newer one on my Weatbend. What difference does it make anyway?

Frank, I just wanted to confirm what my thoughts were about why it didnt work on your engine. That is all. When I got back home, I tore those carburetors apart to figure out why the two of them didnt work. Are you interested in what I found out?

Well kid, tell you the truth, it doesnt really matter now. I dont have any reason to run either of those ancient carbs on my engine. I already told you this engine of mine has a much bigger carb from the factory. Those others were just a waste of time. Just like you trying to bore out the chainsaw carbs you been toying with. Give it up already. Just a waste of your time. You are too smart to keep going backwards. Look forward, not behind you.

Just to prove my point, I remembered after you left here the other day, there is something about that red carb. I sent it out to a real professional tuner. He guaranteed me all kinds of improved performance with his precision modifications. I paid some serious coin for a custom bored out carb job. Maybe that is why my old engine finally took a dump. Or maybe not. But it didnt run any faster than the previous time out of the gate.

Took some fiddling just to make it start and get around the first few laps. It ran about the same as before. Then the motor finally took its last breath. Ancient history. Learned my lesson and fortunately didnt cost me my lifes savings. Motor had a ton of hours on it anyway. My Westbend had already been bought. I was planning to retire the big ole PP, but ended up retiring itself.

One of the first things I did was to swap carbs around. Since that red one was supposed to be so hopped up, I wanted to find out for myself if it was faster than the new one. Common sense already told me otherwise, but curiosity get the best of me. Guess I know how you feel about this new carby of yours here. But experience keeps me from going down that road much anymore these days.

So Frank, I dont guess you have any reason to give this carburetor a test run on your Westbend 580. More than likely even your engine is not set up for a bigger carburetor like this one here is. I guess it will just have to sit on the shelf until I get a future project engine in line to being built up for the kart.

Kid, I will tell you that my engine may just be about perfect enough for this new carby to make some improvements on. That HL-88 is not a bad choice, but a little bit more breathing would not hurt my engine at all. With everything I have done to the engine getting it back up to top notch condition, then going over the chassis, that hot rod carb will be like icing on the cake. You can leave it over here and I will get it bolted on my engine and be ready for the next trip out to the track.

Well Frank, I might let you get the chance to try it out. But not until I see how well your kart is running before making any changes. You know just to get a base line first. Too many changes at one time is not real smart the way I see things. Really a complete waste. You could go right past the perfect setup and find yourself peddling backwards.

Besides you still need to get used to how your new kart handles and driving a new track. Then figure out what gear is better. Maybe after all that, when your lap times are really consistently fast, then we can do a back to back swap. If there is any noticeable gains, then make some adjustments to find out how much faster it could be with some fine tuning.

OK kid, all that sounds like a whole lot of work the hard way. I can tell by the seat of my pants what is faster out there driving without relying on lap times. This just takes a lot of experience and mechanical expertise. I got all of that plenty covered.

Well Frank, maybe we can bolt it on there the next trip out to the track. Until then, I am going to try it out on my Clinton anyway. May turn out being a complete waste of time. But like you said, curiosity can get in the way of just good old common sense. Since I am not old enough to have a lot of good old common sense, then will just have to learn the hard way.

So what all did you find wrong with your kart? You say it is all ready to go now, what did you have to do to it?

Just all of the usual kid. Real poor fitting parts, bolts too loose or too tight. Drag on the steering, and toe was way off too.

How far was the toe off? Where did you end up setting it back at?

Well kid, I thought it over plenty. You can scrub off speed with either toed in or out. I know many manufacturers have their own recommendations. I decided to go with zero. Cant ever go wrong there. I think setting up anywhere else is just compensating for manufacturing defects. I checked this frame over thoroughly. It is spot on square. So I went with the least amount of drag. I will tell you this kart is set up right.

I walked over to Franks super fast prototype Dart kart and started looking it over really close. The steering seems a little tight Frank. Whats up with that?

Well kid, I adjusted all of the slack out of the spindles. Any looser and the front end geometry goes completely caddy wompass. I mean instant negative camber. You could see it real obvious when just sitting on the floor. Cant think of any reason for that kind of poor adjustment. Most everything was just like that all over the chassis too. Just not up to snuff. I took care of all those problems. Next time on the track, this kart will be nothing but a blur when I go buzzing by the pits.

I grabbed the rear tire and spun it over. I was surprised it didnt roll so smoothly, like dad had gone over with me on my kart. Isnt the rear axle a little bit tight Frank?

Nope, that axle is as loose as possible. I went over it especially close. Got those locking collars both located and indexed the same so the least amount of binding. No other way to do it and get any better. Sure dont want that axle to be getting worn out by spinning loosely in the bearings. I also tightened up the bearing flangettes, so they stay solid in place. You dont want the axle to be flexing any more than the frame is.

Something else, I also repacked the axle bearings with some really expensive aircraft grease. No chance of it thinning down and then just slings all out. Sure dont want to have them end up like the crank bearing on my Westbend. With the amount of grease I managed to fill in those bearings, they should last a life time. Probably out last the wheel bearings on my Volkswagen.

Wow it sure sounds like you got everything taken care of Frank. So when are you thinking about another day out to the track? I havent talked to Steve for a while, but I should be good any day. Do you want to try again another Friday?

That could work out for me kid. Do you want to meet out there like last time?

I need to check things over with my mom first. But if its a go, I will drop by and confirm it. Sound good?

Yea kid, just give me a heads up by the day before. Otherwise I will assume it is not going to work out.

I will let you know something. Well gotta jet out of here. Smell ya later Frank. I snagged my like new looking carburetor out of Franks hands, He seemed a little reluctant to let it go. We did a quick tug of war until he finally gave in. I carefully put it back in its own little box. Then got on my bike and headed back home.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 71

Back in the garage, it has been taking some getting used to working by myself on the kart stuff. Seems so quiet without Steve hanging around just about every day. It is amazing what floats around in your head without any distractions that are usually going on. Actually Steve is usually asking questions about things he is not sure about. Sometimes I know what he is asking other times not so much. But his curiosity has helped me be so much more aware of things, than when just working by myself.

Even tho Frank was adamant....Wow that word was on one of our last spelling tests. I had never used it before now. Hmmm. Anyway, just sure as he was about this carburetor not working on the Clinton engine, I was even more positive it would. If our practice motors can gain a lot more power just by opening up the intake manifold, tells me otherwise. Taking off that tiny float bowl carburetor and replacing with the HL-15 sure didnt cause any problems. It was amazing just how much better a few adjustments made the engine run.

The more time I just sit here thinking about it, the more I am sure about the direction this is all going. Just confirming this by how poorly the engine ran when changing back to the completely stock manifold. That is one thing keeping me motivated with working on these Clintons.

Dad said some folks just want to see how much power can be had from such a low horsepower engine. I am starting to understand the motivation for doing this. Maybe there are some people who get so wrapped up in exploring what potential an engine like this has to offer, they find tinkering with it satisfactory enough. They could try their results on practice day, then go home and do more tuning. I cant imagine going to this much effort and never finding out if it is even competitive to race or not. But that is just me.

Right now, it would be really cool to build up one of the Clinton E-65 blocks. Well one of the chainsaw engines that is the same as an E-65. There are things I keep thinking about that hopefully will help out on making my Clinton bushing engine run a lot better.

Looking over the differences between the A-490 block and E-65, there is one thing I had not picked up until much later. Really not until a few weeks ago. Comparing the combustion chambers in both engine blocks it looks like the E-65 has a whole lot more compression.

Doing a visual from bottom of the block, I can see the head is shaped more like top of the piston on the E-65. But the A-490 is just big and uniform in shape. More or less like a flattened dome. if such a thing exists. It has a lot more dead space. So if I am right, compression is like really low, compared to the E-65. Just need to figure out a simple way to measure both of them.

There is also a noticeable difference in both the pistons too. The A-490 only has two rings. But they are really thick. The E-65 piston has three much thinner piston rings. Does the engine really need this many? These engines are built for longevity, not for racing. I wonder what would happen if I used the E-65 piston and left off one or even two rings. Would it be way down on compression, or would be still be about the same?

Looking over the piston rings, there is very little actual wear. Well far as the ring gap. They show to be completely seated in. But does the engine really need three rings to run as well?

I wonder what would happen if I filled in the ring gaps with some Devcon putty, Marine-Tex, or some type of high temp epoxy? Without the rings in place it seems like there would be a problem with the fuel/air mix escaping out the ring grooves around the piston as it is coming down and ports open up.

The E-65 piston also has a higher crown than the A-490. That should make for more compression if used in the A-490 block. Maybe the A-490 has to have lower compression mainly because it has that bushing rod. This sounds like it could make sense. But also since it is an industrial engine that is made to last for years without needing to be rebuilt very often, then it might still work out well for racing for the a much shorter duration.

One more thing I had not considered before. The A-490 or Panther series engines were never designed for kart racing. They are only designed for commercial and industrial work. This could mean to be used anywhere. Way out in the country where there is no electricity. Even places without high grade gasoline. These are supposed to be able to even run on white gas. That would be much lower octane than what is at the pumps nowadays.

To make one of these Clintons really fast for racing purposes, I dont think longevity would be on top of the list of things that is considered really important. You would just need to rebuild it after so many hours of use. This is the same in professional forms of racing. So no real difference here.

I keep going on and on about modifying an engine and still have not even had the chance to actually race yet. But everything I have been doing has worked out way better than expected. I know there will be some point it all hits a brick wall, Then nothing further will do much good.

A really fast engine is useless if it can not stay running for the whole race. A really reliable engine is not very useful if it doesnt produce enough power to be competitive. Where do I draw the line between the two here?

Maybe if I go crazy on one of the E-65 engines to find out just how fast one of them can be made to run, and then try to step up the A-490 a little bit at a time so maybe it wont likely self destruct the first time out on the track.

If we try to keep a close eye on the piston and rod, to maybe catch something before it breaks, then keep the engine from blowing up. This just requires us to tear the engines apart after each race. It sure seems like a lot of work doing things this way. But also seems like a good plan to stay on top of how well the engines take to all of the modifications.

A small but possibly useful brain fart popped right out of my head. Just like a burp. Since we have all of these engines... Several are already torn down sitting in boxes under the work bench. Maybe it would be worth the effort in finding out what does and doesnt pan out or fit between the two different style engines.

There should be a fairly easy way to check the volume of each engines combustion chambers with piston at top dead center. Then calculate the compression ratio. Or the very least make sure the E-65 piston will work out alright in the A-490 block. According to the article in June issue of Karting World, there is some modification needing to be done so the E-65 piston will work in the A-490 block.

I dont know why it has taken so long to find out all of the things that have been swirling around in my head. With a garage full of dead engines to work with, I should have spent the time more wisely figuring out what could make these Clintons run faster. There are more than enough parts to confirm what I have been contemplating about.

The more I read about what modifications have been done to these bushing engines, the more I realize what is possible that has not been already covered in articles yet. For me and Steve, our engines dont have to follow GKCA guidelines so much as they just have to be legal for our local track for now. Until we actually start racing this is not even an issue yet.

Since I am trying to stay focused on the Clinton A-400/490 engine, then that is what I must keep front row center for now. Over the course of the last few months, I have disassembled most of these engines already. There are some good parts that should make for a couple of decent engines. I am really impressed with how well the two stock engines we currently have are running. But there is so much that could be done to them to make even faster.

One of the first things I finally realized is how much difference, just visually, in the compression comparing the bushing engine to the chainsaw models, like the E-65 variants. In several articles it is mentioned using the E-65 piston in place of the stock A-400 piston. But two of the articles make reference to modifications needing to be done to the crown just for the piston to fit.

Well today, this will all be put to rest one way or another. After tearing apart a few bushing models and a donor chainsaw E-65 style, I have the three ringed piston sitting next to the stock A-400 piston for comparison. There is definitely a noticeable difference in the crown height. But more important, how much actual difference is there that it wont interchange directly with the A-400 piston?

After removing the rings and swapping over to the stock bushing rod, I installed this E-65 piston in an A-400 block. The first problem I encountered is the skirt is a lot longer. It actually hits the crankshaft when trying to bolt on the rod cap. I see by comparing the two crankshafts why the skirt hits. The crankshaft on the E-65 has much more relief cut on the counterweights. The outer face on both throws is cut at about a 45 degree angle. It is cut a lot larger or deeper than on the A-400 crank.

Having both pistons sitting together with a pin slid thru, the E-65 piston skirt is much longer. This is a non issue, since the stock piston would be getting cut down shorter anyway. Simple fix would be to use the little 6 inch Craftsman lathe and cut the skirt shorter for clearance. So no big problem yet. After that has been taken care of, I can now install the E-65 piston in the A-400 block again. With the skirt shortened, the rod can drop down far enough for the cap to be installed. It is time to find out what needs to be done to the crown of the E-65 piston.

Rotating the crankshaft over as the piston rises up to top dead center.....No problems at all. It turns over completely around just fine. But how close is the piston from hitting the head? By removing the rod cap, I rotate the piston back up to top dead center. Then with my finger, the rod is lifted up off the crank until it hits the head.

At least there is some clearance. By using my trusty vernier caliper, it is fairly easy to measure the travel of piston thru the spark plug hole. The piston can raise up an additional 0.040" of an inch before it hits the head. OK not a lot, but should be a reasonable amount of clearance for the engine to run without any problem. Or will I be reminded of these last words right after motor turns to shrapnel?

One thing now has been confirmed. The E-65 piston fits without needing the crown cut down and rewelded, like has been written in two articles I have read. Even if some material has to be removed off the top of the E-65 piston, it is thick enough that should not need to be welded back up.

The next thing needing to be resolved is how much trouble it is to swap out the crankshafts. I am really leaning toward the E-65 crankshaft and needle bearing rod in our motors. It had been mentioned earlier and plans were to already build them this way. But when we actually got close to finishing the karts, I went ahead and left everything stock with the bushing rods for now.

Both me and Steve have the A-490 style block with a ball bearing on the clutch side of engine. I have been measuring both the E-65 and A-490 blocks and can find no real difference for the crankshaft to have problems fitting. If you bore out the A-400 block to use a ball bearing on the pto, there would be adequate clearance for the E-65 crankshaft.

The E-65 crankshaft is shorter on the pto since it doesnt have that long bushing used in the A-400. This could cause a problem with clutch or chain clearances. One remedy would be to remove material off the block where the mounting bosses are cast on the pto face. If using the stock motor mount, this is not an issue at all. It even appears like there will still be enough of the screw hole bosses to use the face for a different style motor mount, if so desired. Similar to how most other motor mounts are attached.

Another thing I spent a lot of time working out is the compression differences between both styles engines and using the E-65 piston in place of the stock one in the A-490. I needed some way to measure the volume of combustion chamber with the different parts. This lead me to another visit to Bailey Crankshaft. Mr Floyd Bailey had been some tremendous help several months ago with straightening the rear axle on my kart.

Mr Bailey seemed to take some real interest in all of the progress that had been made on my kart project since the last time we talked. My next hurdle was figuring out a way to measure the combustion chamber of the engines. He builds automobile racing engines for the local dirt track guys who run at the Devils Bowl. There is a ton of modifications, he explained to me, working over cylinder heads on both the six and eight cylinder engines that are used for racing.

Checking the combustion chambers and making sure they are all exactly the same is very critical to achieving the best performance from a racing engine. He showed me a glass burette made by Pyrex. But he said these were extremely expensive. This is also not something he could loan out or really comfortable allowing the use of, even at his shop.

After some fumbling around, he pulled out an old dusty box from a storage closet. Then more digging, he held out a plastic burette in front of me. Here, take this. It should work for what you need. This one is too small for the size combustion chambers on the racing engines. This one has to be refilled two or three times for each chamber. That didnt set well with me using it. I didnt feel it was very accurate that way.

Since I have not used this one in years, it wont be missed. Just get it back to me when you are done. If that glass one ever breaks, I have to rely on this one as a back up until a replacement can be had. Mr Bailey quickly shoed me out the door and on my way. He was right in the middle of grinding a crankshaft and doesnt like an audience when doing them.

So back home and out to the garage again. Now with this plastic burette, I can actually do precision measurements of the combustion chambers on each engine and different pistons. This is great. The first thing was to disassemble the engines and make sure the tops of every piston is clean spotless. Also just as important, is the combustion chamber in each engine block. I see all of them have a lot of carbon buildup that would make the measurements useless when comparing to each other.

The first measurements will be just using all stock original parts. Do this on all of the same model engines. I can see how close each of them are to the others. The A-400 is first to get checked. After everything is cleaned and wiped dry of excess oil, I assembled the piston and crankshaft. Then bolt on the side cover to hold the crankshaft perfectly in place. After setting the engine level on the work bench, the piston was rolled up to exact top dead center.

At first I thought water would be good enough. Nope, it seemed to leak down and out everywhere. Mr Bailey said he used hydraulic oil, since there is a 55 gallon drum full in his shop. It is used in most of the machinery, like crankshaft grinders.

After drying everything out, the next thing to try was motor oil. This resolved the leakage everywhere. But may be way to thick. The oil took forever to drain out of the tip. Then I had to wait for residue to settle in the burette before getting an accurate reading of the amount.

After several more attempts using what was on hand in the garage, my final decision was diluting transmission fluid with plain old kerosene. Just about half and half, this mix drains out of the burette fairly fast, and not have to wait too long for it to settle either. For now this reddish 50/50 blend is what will be used when taking readings.

My main focus was checking with the stock piston in the A-400/490, then swapping it out with the E-65 piston. This is a good time to find out the size of the combustion chamber on the E-65 too. Another half hour and most of the readings that were of interest to me were jotted down on paper.

This plastic burette from Mr Bailey will only hold 25 cc. I was surprised to find out with the stock piston in the A-490 measured 23.6 cc. Wow, sure glad it wasnt larger or I would have to refill this thing. The next measurement was checking the size of an E-65. It was much smaller at 16.4 cc. My last measurement was after swapping E-65 piston into the A-490 block. This measured out at 21.5 cc.

Doing some overly simple math, it works out to a 2.1 cc difference between the two pistons. That means one thing I see as very important. More compression. But how much compression? Now it is time to do the math on actual displacement on the engines. This should be simple enough since they both are the same size.

2.125 X 2.125 X .7854 X 1.625. Since the combustion chamber readings are in cubic centimeters, maybe the displacement should be the same. Let me convert the bore and stroke over to metric. Man there are just too many types of numbering systems. Then you mix them together. Its a wonder anything ever checks out right.

One more time. 5.3975cm(2.125") X 5.375cm(2.125") X .7854 X 4.1275cm(1.625) = 94.442 cc.

If I understood Mr Baileys explanation to calculate compression ratio: (displacement plus combustion chamber volume) divided by combustion chamber volume. But wait, there is more...There is always more. I have to adjust for the volume of spark plug hole before finishing the calculations. The root diameter of a 14mm X 1mm thread on a spark plug is 13mm. The depth is just over 3/8 of an inch. Actually closer to 10.5mm. Sure makes things easier by using the metric scale on my vernier caliper this time.

So the volume of the spark plug hole works out to 1.3cm X 1.3cm X .7854 X 1.05cm = 1.3937. Alright for this I think 1.4 should be close enough. After all there is a small chamfer on the top of the threads. I know that made you laugh. It was supposed to be funny. Now the final volume works out to A-490 stock piston 23.6 - 1.4 = 22.2. A-490 with E-65 piston, 21.5 - 1.4 = 20.1. Then the E-65 is 16.4 - 1.4 = 15.0.

Finally for calculating the compression ration using stock piston in the A-490 is now 94.442 + 22.2 then divide by 22.2 which equals 5.25 to 1 compression ratio. Wow what a bunch of work just to figure that an A-490 has such a low compression ratio.

Next is the important one. A-490 with E-65 piston. (94.442 + 20.1) / 20.1 = 5.7 to 1. That sounds a little bit better. My goal for all out modified would be close to 6 to 1 with a bushing. So this might work out great.

The E-65 checked at (94.442 + 15) / 15 = 7.3 to 1. Much higher since it has a needle bearing rod and is a much faster engine. This is surprisingly close to the compression ratio on that new McCulloch Mc-20 engine that came out recently. At least according to an article I read in one of the magazines, it is supposed to be 7.5 to 1.

After all of this work with math and the motor is no closer to being together. It is still sitting on the work bench in pieces. Just like it has been for months. That sure is a lot of effort converting inches to metric. Then using an equation so the compression ratio can be calculated. Now what do I do with all this technical information? Well record it in my notebook of course. That way I can write a whole chapter on how to spend the entire evening and still not get anything actually done.

When that jerk Greg Mullins came over last month and called me and Steve nothing but bench racers, it sort of got me ticked off. Well most everything he did that day set me off. But now I realize even tho he was making fun of us, in reality, he was not wrong. A lot of what I have been doing all this time is nothing but bench racing. There are a whole lot of things that must be done long before the green flag drops.

I am also starting to understand what Frank is always talking about. You must do all of the calculations to confirm and reach the objective. You cant just guess your way there. I wonder if this is the type of stuff he goes about doing all day. Day in and day out. Oh, how that would give me a headache. Dealing with a little bit of number crunching is tolerable, but all day every day. Nope that is not for me.

I find it interesting now remembering how Frank was going on about telling me how fast he can tell his kart is running just driving by the seat of his pants. Not relying on a stopwatch, which is how I am working towards getting faster at the track. This is just the opposite to what Frank preaches, but he swears you cant get things done without all of the calculations. I just dont get him sometimes. Not at all.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 72

Steve called me late last night. I had not talked all that much to him since our only practice day at the track. He was asking all kinds of questions about getting back to the track. Wanted to know if I had been making changes to the karts that would make them any faster or if they are ready to go out again.

After he finally ran out of steam and took a breath, I filled him in on anything important that had been done since the last time we talked. Unfortunately it didnt amount to much. He says work has kept him worn out and he is going stir crazy about not getting to do anything else. I let him know that next Friday was tentative for another practice day. He just about hung up on me saying he would call right back.

It had to be more than 30 minutes later when the phone finally rang again. I almost gave up. But when Steve says he is going to do something, then just about a given it will happen. If nothing else, he is 100% good on his word. But also reliable on other attributes as well. Wow there is another word I remember from a spelling test in school.

Steve was almost ecstatic telling me it is a go for him. He should be free Friday afternoon. But he still had to work in the morning helping his dad. Then could be available early as lunch time. I still had to convince mom to do a repeat of last trip out to the track. Then if she was a go, I needed to make a trip over to Franks house and confirm everything with him.

So today I got busy trying to make this coming Fridays practice day into a reality. After begging mom for a ride to the track, she agreed. Basically if an adult was there to oversee us, she would go do her shopping again like last time. She was not comfortable about Frank being that one adult, but since last time had no serious mishaps, she reluctantly allowed it.

The first thing I needed to do was let Frank know practice day was definitely a go for Friday. It is still too early and he would not be home from work yet. This is one thing needing to get done before Thursday. Just to confirm he is really going to make it out to the track like the same as last time. If he ends up not going I dont have anyone else to rely on while mom goes shopping. This could end up a bust.

There was a ton of stuff I wanted to try out this time with the setup, but needed to limit it to things that would not take away too much from actual drive time on the track. After making a list that was way too long, I shortened it down to only a couple of minor changes at first. But decided just getting to the track was more important right now than what we could possibly test. Maybe focus on swapping to the Palmini intake manifold with the Homelite four petal reed cage.

If I can do this without Steve or Frank knowing, then change over to the modified Tillotson HL-66 carburetor. By changing parts over one at a time, I will get the chance to find out how each change affects the way the engine performs. For now Steve would stay in the dark about the carburetor. He does not know I finally got one machined on the lathe and put together. I dont know yet how well it will work and if it will even run like the existing HL-15 carburetors we are currently using.

Steve will be more than happy with just getting all the track time he can handle. This also lets me use him for a comparison with each part swapped. I will come off the track, make a quick change then get right back out there. We ran so close to each other the last time, it should be a perfect way to tell how things are working without relying on a stop watch just yet.

I also want to see how reliable Frank is when using a real stop watch, instead of his military do everything but wipe your butt watch. If he can take our lap times with some consistency, it gives me and Steve a real solid baseline to work from. Otherwise we will just be out there together spinning our wheels seeing who ends up being faster without even knowing if lap times were improved or not.

If there is enough time it would be awesome to try out the tuned muffler that was originally on the Cates kart. I still dont have a clue if it might be faster or not. I sure dont understand how it works anyway. There needs to be a new bracket made so it can be clamped to the frame. That shouldnt be too much trouble. Just gotta make it happen if time allows. Take the parts out there and have everything ready to bolt on the kart.

It was getting late enough now so I decided to head over to Franks house. Just to make sure he can go. Then I will focus on making sure the karts are ready and prepare for some things to test out when we get there. He should be already home by now. Sure enough, his Volkswagen is sitting there in the driveway. Good so far.

The garage door is open and Frank has a beer in hand sitting at his desk. Hey Frank, lets go to the track Friday. He jerked around really fast and then realized what I had just said. Oh hey kid. So we are a go for Friday? Yep, just so long as you actually make it out there. You have to babysit us again. That is, if its alright. Sure kid, You can work in exchange for my pay. He gave out a big grin after what he just said.

If I have to work hard as last time Frank, you will be getting a bill from me. OK kid fair enough. You got me there. Sitting on Franks desk were a few magazines. One was the July issue of Racing Karts. I dont see this magazine very often. It occasionally shows up on the news stand. But have never read an issue before.

Since Frank was more than content just sitting there quietly absorbing his beer, I decided to grab up the magazine and started thumbing thru the pages. There is another in depth article I noticed covering modifications to the Clinton bushing engines. This article made claim to actually having the Worlds Fastest Clinton. It has some great detail on doing all sorts of modifications.

The first thing I noticed is how much better this article is than last months Karting World by Jim Butler. I was so mad after reading that article. The fist three pages were nothing but ranting about class weights and how unfair the class structure is. What the heck does that have to do with modifying a dang ole bushing engine?

On the fourth page that article finally started in on disassembling the engine. The pictures of the actual modifications were worth more than what had been written. Not anything really jaw dropping or extraordinary. As I have been slowly figuring things out for myself, would have lead to something close to what he has covered.

But this new article here is based on a fathers own work he did for his sons engine. Ray Netherton is a mechanical engineer at the Atomic Radiation Laboratory in California. Now this article is very detailed with specifics and pictures so just about anybody could modify their own engine. How cool is that!

Frank started droning on about what he planned to do to his engine, so I sort of just tuned him right out for the moment. My only focus was reading this article and without any interruption. Everything I read last month was also here, but there was more specifics and references to certain parts. There was actual dimensions, both widths and height to the ports too.

Here is another reference to modifying the E-65 piston so it would fit the A-490. It is very specific about having to cut the crown down 1/8" shorter on the E-65 piston and rewelding it. I dont understand this at all. I have already confirmed for myself with real original Clinton parts.

The combustion chamber is huge on the A-490. Even tho the E-65 piston is taller, it is not enough to be cut down and rewelded. It is not that much different. Maybe this is one of those parrot things that just keeps getting repeated but nobody bothers to actually check out. This is the first thing I checked out for myself.

Very good detail here on modifying the ignition to get the coil laminates closer to the flywheel. That makes a lot of sense. Hopefully I can modify our engines as it is described. Does not appear to be too much trouble. I may need to figure out a fairly reliable way to check the actual measurement with the flywheel installed. That is the only thing I see as a possible issue. A piece of feeler gauge to confirm the correct air gap. But how to hold it in place to tighten the bolts, Hmm?

Both articles cover the addition of those extra boost ports, by welding some tubing from lower crankcase to either side of existing intake ports. Just about the same way that has become fairly common on the Westbend 580. Well before the 5-port model came out anyway. This is one modification I have decided to stay away from. My brain has been working on something else that may not be nearly as effective, but should still improve the performance noticeably.

I dont remember where exactly, but read about some mention to the points cam on the crankshaft. This is something I will need to take a close look at. Since both mine and Steves engines are right hand drive, the points cam should be changed out to ones from the right hand drive E-65. There are claims made in one article this is likely the reason a reverse rotating engine is considerably down on power compared to the standard one.

Wow I wasnt even thinking. When these engines were put together a few weeks ago, I had just swapped everything over from the chainsaw E-65 engines. So the correct points cam is already installed. Check that one off the list. Must be some more of them smarts Frank is always whispering out loud. Hope my brain can hold all of them.

After finishing reading the article, there are several things I was not sure about before that have sort of been answered. Good, from what is printed in this article here, I am definitely going in the right direction with the work done already. But the thing about cutting the piston crown is still bugging me. Is there something I have been overlooking all this time? That would really suck if the piston has to be welded in order to run correctly.

This article also covers the flywheel issues with how heavy the stock cast iron ones are. He uses one from the E-65. I have already figured that one out. I am still hoping there may be some decent gains using the super lightened cast iron flywheel. There could be some benefit on certain types of tracks.

This is just one more thing to confirm at a later date. I know removing a lot of those fins should make a huge difference. May not be as much with swapping out to the really lightweight aluminum flywheel from the E-65. Especially an aluminum flywheel that the fins have also been machined down. But I hope to try these out at the track soon enough.

Sorry I was not listening. What did you say Frank? I was telling you about all of the changes that were made on my kart here and how it should perform. This kart is really going to be impressive out there. With the engine running better than new and the chassis just about near perfect...You will be eating my dust kid. Mark my words.

Wow Frank, for me to eat your dust, you would have to drive off the track to stir some up first. That shouldnt be difficult for you to do. I will make sure to have my camera out there Friday and catch everything on film. This could be so epic. Any other things I should expect?

Ha-ha-ha kid. You are not even so funny. You just wait until I get out there. I will be the one to show you up. And yes bring your camera. If you can take a good enough picture of me speeding around the track, I might even send a copy to one of the magazines so they can put it on the cover. You may even get a issue autographed for free, kid. As in no charge.

After Frank finally shut up, I noticed a piece of graph paper on his desk that was under the stack of magazines. It charted some interesting dyno runs and the changes being made for each one. The engine in question was a Westbend 580. Same engine like Frank has on his super duper proto Dart by Rupp chassis. This chart showed quite a lot of different modifications and results from dyno runs for each change.

I studied the chart for a few minutes while Frank was staring intently at me. I kinda got the idea that he was really wanting to tell me about these mods listed and the horsepower gains that were made. But looking it over, some of the changes seemed like total bull crap to me. Obviously I dont have all the years of knowledge and engineering education as Frank, but a few of the numbers looked more like fantasy than reality.

Yep kid, that is what my engine over there could be capable of with the right choice of mods done to her. I am more than good driving. Just that alone means I dont need to go so far like some of the things listed there. No matter how fast an engine is, she still has to be reliable or no way to finish a race. I would not go all out on her just yet. But a few promising mods there would really make this kart of mine scream. More than it is already is going to do at the track next time.

I bet you cant wait to see how fast she is going to be out there kid. At your age, I could not just sit still and wait sometimes. Just like Christmas. It about drives you crazy waiting and waiting. But you will get to see soon enough first hand what this baby here is going to do.

Hey kid, you have any idea what the track record is out there? It might be getting broken. Maybe fairly soon too. I can feel it in my bones. You just know sometimes when things are right. It could be one of those days. And you get to be a first hand eyewitness to all of it.

Well Frank, if you run that good when we get back out there, I will be glad to see it in person. I will even get it on film. But sorry, I dont have any color film. Now if you want to buy a roll...otherwise your cover picture on that magazine will have to be a lame old black and white. Oh well. Better than nothing I guess. I gotta jet out of here. See you at the track. You are positive Friday is good, right? I get the nod from him. OK, later Frank. Dont let me down.