The Bench Racers Journal

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 82

So where are we going in such of a not so big hurry?

I thought about checking out some stuff at the hardware store. Got any gripes?

Nope, I dont need an excuse to hit Lindops.

Well Steve we are going to the other hardware store in Oats Plaza today. Its not that much farther anyway.

So how did you get your new protege off the phone so fast?

He aint my new protege and dont say sidekick either. I told him we would meet up today.

Oh man, you cant be serious? That kid wont shut up. He is going to be running his mouth nonstop. And I bet he is going to be talking mostly to you anyway.

The whole time we talked, he kept asking about what you thought about everything, or what you did to the engines. Guess he is going to be in for a big let down when he finds out you didnt hang the moon.

Relax Steve, you can share me once and a while. I gave Steve one of those big grins he always uses on me this time. All I gotta do is tell him you build our engines and he is all yours for the whole afternoon.

No way man, I will just sit there and put up with it today. I dont need that much attention, especially from him. Besides even tho he is a motor mouth, I never said he was stupid. Ignorant maybe, but stupid, no. He knows at least that much.

My arms started feeling the burn again from handling that chainsaw earlier, but not nearly as bad. We made good time pedaling up Ferguson and ended over at the hardware store. This store is almost new and lots bigger than the Lindops Ace Hardware store we usually like to hit.

Lindops Hardware is across in the older part of town. What i like about it is the old store was built back in the early 1920's. It reminds me of the general stores on all of the western shows I watch on tv.

As we pulled up on our bikes, there is Topher. He is sitting on one of the picnic tables for sale out in front of the store sipping on a bottle of Dr Pepper. He was wearing cargo shorts, a cool white polo shirt, and a baseball cap turned around backwards.

He also had the colar turned up on that shirt. Just how Lloyd Bridges playing as Mike Nelson always wears it in every single episode of Seahunt. What was a little bit over the top is the aviation glasses he was wearing. Those reflective ones all the air force pilots use. But really seemed to fit with him perfectly.

Hey guys, sure is cool for you to invite me here. I didnt have anything else going on. I was just sitting at home with nothing to do but watch the tube all day. But this is a lot cooler anyway. Do you guys live close around here? My house is almost on the other side of the track. Not too far I guess, on my bike, but sure would not want to walk it on foot.

Yea this is way too far for us to walk too. I think it is about the same distance to my house from here as it is to the track. Give or take a few footsteps.

So what were you wanting to check out here, Topher? Hardware stores are me and Steves home away from home. They got some of just about everything here. Aint that right Steve? Yea whatever you say. I am just here for the laughs.

Well I needed some bolts for my kart. But not sure about the sizes and stuff. Could you help me out with that?

No problem Topher. You wish is my command. Me or Terry will help you out all we can. Steve bowed down and rolled his arm out servant style.

Chris gave out the biggest grin I have seen from him so far. Like he was really enjoying all of this attention focused on him right now. You guys sure are funny around each other. I bet you have known each other like forever. I have moved around a few times, so dont have any really long time friends like that. I hope to stay in one place for a few years. Mom seems to think it could happen this time.

Well thats not exactly the way it is, Topher. Steve goes on with an explanation. I went to a private Catholic School and we didnt meet up until the fifth grade. But we seem to have a lot of the same interests. And Terry would be completely lost without me around fixing up all of his messes sometimes.

Chris responded back. Uh yea, oooookie? If you say so, that is not what I expected to hear.

Actually Topher, we both manage to help each other out when things get screwed up. I dont know how to explain it, but Steve can sort of do some things better than me and the other way around too.

If he breaks it, I fix it, If I breaks it, I fix it. Something like that.

Man you are so full of your self as usual.

Chill Steve, remember you just came along for the laughs. I am doing the best I can with what there is to work with.

Outside the hardware store Topher tells us he needs bolts that hold the shroud on his engine. They always vibrate loose and fall out. Some of those pins that will fit the wheels, and two more bolts for the exhaust thing. The stock muffler bolts are way too long.

I brought one of the old shroud bolts with me so it can be matched. But there are so many to pick from. How am I supposed to figure out which ones are the best? I replaced some of these already, but they still keep coming back out.

Well lets go in and see what they got. We go barging in to the hardware store making more noise than we should. Naturally everyone close by turns to give us that death stare. Like we are in a library and are supposed to be really quiet.

It is usually very quite in this store anyways. Almost like a museum with a collection of everything. It was overwhelming the first time I came in this place alone. With my dad, it was different. We talked about what was needed and walked right over to the correct isle and found everything that we were looking for. Well most of the time.

My first time alone, it was like walking into a really large room, like a gymnasium that was full of so much stuff you couldnt make out what anything actually was. Any noise made was echoed thru the store and I was too scared to even talk to a store clerk.

But now, I know where just about everything is in the store. Even things I have no interest in. I can talk chainsaws and lawnmowers with the department heads and even find a toliet bowl ring if needed, too.

Topher continued explaining, The last time I bought these same type of bolts for the shroud. He shows me a short 1/4" diameter bolt with a flat screwdriver slot. They fell off the next time I raced. What can I do so that doesnt happen again?

Did you have a lock washer under the bolt?

Well one of them had a funny looking washer. It looked like a star or something. But the others were gone already. Is that what I didnt do right? Would the washer keep it from coming off again?

Steve butts in saying that Topher also has the wrong type of bolts. This one he brought to match is what they use to put a stove together with. Not really strong enough for anything else. Then Steve pointed to a few bins down at the bottom in front of us. This is the stove bolt section. We need to move farther down the isle. Hey Terry, dont you think he should replace it with a hex head bolt?

Yea that will work better. Hey Topher, you need to find a 1/4"-20 hex head bolt that is at least 1/2" long. If you can find one that is 5/8" long will be even better. Then use a different type lock washer this time.

He immediately starts pulling steel drawers open looking at what sizes are marked inside the bins. He finally says, I found them. These are 1/4" here. Oh wait, never mind these are some type of gal-van, uh-ized lag screws it says here. And they got a square head. I guess these wont work.

Hey you are at the wrong end. All of that over there is for wood fences. Come down here where the regular nuts and bolts are. Steve pulled open a drawer labeled 1/4-20 hex head 1/2 - 1 1/2" Grade 5.

Hey, here are the ones you want. These are much stronger than those slotted ones are anyway. Do you see the three hash marks on the head there? That means they are Grade 5. They have the right length too. These are 5/8" long. Should be perfect and also use the full length of threads in the side cover.

Should I get a box of them Terry? Or just a few right now? Do you think these will end up falling out? I dont want to miss a race because of not having enough extras.

No, you shouldnt need but a few extras. With the right lock washer and these better grade bolts, they should stay put this time.

How do you know what ones are better? So why are the old ones not right for my motor then? What is Grade 5? Steve then points to a chart with symbols and explanations above the bolt bins. You should try reading this sometime.

Those screws would be fine for their original purpose Topher. But that engine was never intended to be used on a racing kart. That engine has likely been in production longer than you have been alive. It could sit out in a field hooked to an irrigation pump or on a lawnmower for years and nothing would ever come loose.

But when someone decided to put it on a kart, well, you find out real fast where there are shortcomings. Like you have been finding out already. What other ones do you need?

Oh yea, these other ones are for the exhaust thingy. The old ones are too long and bottomed out. I tried adding spacers, but they kept coming loose. I had to change the old muffler my motor came with.

Are you talking about your exhaust header? What kind is it?

It is the small one that just sticks straight out. I think it is aluminum. There is a slot on both sides and three holes on the end. I had that big muffler, but it finally broke. Another racer sold this one to me. I think he said it came off a chainsaw. It has been modified and will make my motor run a lot faster. That is what he told me anyway.

It does run faster now. Much better than when that big muffler was on it. The bolts for that big muffler are too long. So I used some of the extra shroud bolts instead. Like this one that came on it. But these here are barely long enough to hold it on.

OK, no problem. The big muffler uses bolts that are 1 1/4" inch long. You probably need some that are no longer than one inch. Then use those same lock washers like you picked up for the shroud. Does that get you everything?

Now I need some of those pins that fit in the slotted bolts for the wheels.

I think you mean cotter pins for castle nuts? Steve points down to the other end of the isle. Those will be down there. Do you know what size they are? We use either 3/32" or 1/8" diameter that are 1 1/2" long. Can you tell which size by looking?

Thanks Steve, you guys are super helpful. I would be here all day trying to figure out which ones to get. Let me see. Yea it is these here. I remember getting the smaller ones last time. Those fit real loose in the holes drilled in my axles. They dont always stay in place unless you add an extra bend to one.

Hey Terry, what brand of tools do you like? I dont really have any right now. Fish lets me use his, but they are usually scattered all over his shop. Its hard to find the right sizes that fit my kart. But he doesnt have some of the sizes that fits my kart either. I dont even have any tools to work on stuff at home.

Topher, it really depends on how much money you have to spend on them. The tools here are decent. They are a little bit cheaper than the ones Sears sells. But Craftsman tools are what I have. It has taken me a long time to finally get almost a full set.

If it wasnt for Christmas and birthdays, I wouldnt have much in the way of hand tools for my own. My dad has a full set in the garage. But I hate using them. They always seem to be getting left out. Not always by me either.

Just then Steve glared over at me. I know you dont mean me. I dont leave your dads tools out. I usually go around behind you and pick them up. No Steve, but you know my brothers are worse than I am.

Dad doesnt like it when he finds tools are all over the place. And since I use them most of the time, I get the blame. So I finally started putting a set together for myself. Mostly everything I would use working on the karts and engines. So far I have enough to get by with. But you never have enough tools. Never ever.

Well if you think Craftsman tools are the best for me, I will get what I need. Can you help pick out what I should buy first? Hey, would you mind riding over to Sears in Casa View? You can show me some of the tools I should start with. That would be so cool.

What do you think Steve? Hey, where did Steve go? Wasnt he just here a minute ago? Hey STEVE, where are you?

Sorry man, over here at the tools isle. When you started talking tools, I remembered something. Dad was wanting me to see what sizes they had in stock for wood chisels. He has a project I get to help him with. He wants to show me how to do some inlays or something like that. Maybe cut in some hinges or striker plate for a door too. I dont exactly know for sure.

Wow, you guys sure know how to do a lot of things. I wouldnt have a clue where to start on anything like that. I sure would like to learn how to fix my kart, but dont know anyone that can really show me what to do. Most everyone I know doesnt even know how to do it for themselves either.

Well Topher, hanging around me and Steve, you will get to hate doing everything yourself. After a point it gets overwhelming. The more you learn, the more there is to learn. It never stops. Just starts to snowball down the hill.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 83

Hey Steve, you up to an extended road trip? Like farther up Ferguson to Sears? It is still plenty early enough. We have the time, if you want to go?

Sure man, what are we going there for? Really Steve, you have to ask?

Oh yea, we can go to the tool and drool section. I am up for that. They have some decent wood working tools there too. I can play with those easily as the ones here. Lets get to it then.

After Topher paid for his small stash of hardware, we headed out a little bit farther from home. It was only another two miles, but a lot of traffic this time of day on Ferguson. So we took the back roads thru the neighborhood to get there.

When we got to Sears, it was nearly 1:30. The store closes at 4 pm. So we had plenty of time to see what we could not live without in the tool department. It was sort of a waste, since we were not doing much but hands on window shopping.

What are you thinking about getting for your first tools? Do you want to buy them as sets or just certain ones that you need to work on your kart? If you can afford the sets, it is a one time purchase. You will have most of what you need plus the other sizes that might work for other things later on.

This stuff gets expensive really fast. I have this small 1/4 inch drive socket set. It fits most of the things on our karts. A Crescent wrench works good enough for the larger sizes. Then a combination wrench set from 3/8 up to 3/4 like this one gets you covered pretty good. Except for a screwdriver set, that will do most of what you need to work on.

All of these tools would be so cool to have. I just about have have enough money to buy most of what you have suggested. But I dont have a way to get all of it home today. What do you think I should buy first?

Maybe I should go ahead and buy everything I can right now. None of it will do any good if I am missing part of what is needed to get any work done.

Are you serious? You have enough money to buy all of this? Huh? Oh no, I didnt bring that much with me. I wasnt planning on buying tools today. Only those parts from the hardware store.

Well, if you have enough money at home, what about putting all of this on lay-away? Then you can come back, pay off the ba1ance and take everything home when you have a way to carry all of it.

What a great idea! I didnt know I could do that. Alright then, help me pick out everything I need. I dont want to waste a lot of money just to have something I might not ever use tho. Can you help me with this?

Steve went to grab a shopping kart. We went thru some of the tool sets and made sure Topher had the right tools to do most of the work he would likely have to do on a kart. He decided on the larger set of screwdrivers, thinking there was other things at home they could be useful for.

The socket set he chose was the standard 1/4' drive set. Similar to mine minus a couple of luxury items. The sockets ranged from 3/16 to 1/2 inch. This set included a ratchet, short and long extension, and break over bar. He wanted to stay with only the wrenches that fit his kart. But after adding up the individual prices, it was cheaper to buy the medium size set and one extra size it didnt have.

I also told him to add a socket the set does not come with. He needed to grab the 9/16 socket to his tools. Then he should be set with the basics for now. Just remember what sizes you find out later that are needed so you can pick them up next time at the store.

Another two items he wanted is wire cutters and needle nose pliers. I can make use of these for a lot of things at home. This is getting expensive, but I knew eventually they would be have to be bought. This will also make it a lot easier if I need to do work on my bicycle too.

Time to head out I guess. Lets make some lay-away happen. As we were pushing thru the lawn and garden section, I saw a shiny new David Bradley chainsaw sitting up on display. I couldnt just pass on by. Topher, check this out. I grabbed the big chainsaw with only one hand and set it down on the floor. Hey pick this big dude up.

Topher reaches down and grabs it one handed with no luck. Then tries again with both hands. But the saw only tilted over slightly. Otherwise it didnt move from the floor. I got a big laugh seeing him try to pick it up. That dang thing is heavy.

I was using this exact same model all morning. By the time I got finished cutting up the tree, my arms were so tired, I couldnt even pick it back up off the ground. Just like you tried there. Can you imagine throwing one of these around all day every day?

Wow, I think it would be fun to play with. You know to try cutting up a tree. But no way could I ever use one all day. He then held up his arm trying to make his muscle more pronounced. But there wasnt any difference relaxed or in form.

As you can see muscles are not my strong point. With him saying that he followed by a slightly high pitched chuckle. Steve squeezed his arm trying to find a muscle. Man I would demand my money back if it was me. That followed by another chuckle from Topher.

Hey Steve I am going to hold on to the saw. You try to start it, OK? Heck no man, what if it actually fires up. Get real, there isnt any gas in the tank. And besides the kill switch is in the off position.

Steve got a hold of the pull handle and yanked really hard. The roped tightened up, jerked back and his hand broke free of the grab handle. What the heck? Is it locked up? Or does it have some serious compression?

Dude you are such a wimp. Let me show you how it is done. Hold on to it. And hold on tight. I dont want the chainsaw flying across the store. Yea man, I got it. If you are trying to show off, then go right ahead and try. I bet a coke you cant do any better.

Steve had just grabbed the rope and yanked without knowing what to expect. I pulled the rope up tight and rolled the engine over to top dead center. OK guys, watch this? Then making sure there was no slack, I pulled it thru hard and fast.

The chainsaw went gur-gur-gur-grgrger, then stopped. That is how you do it. OK Steve I have recuperated from this morning. You ready to try me at arm wrestling yet? Its been over 30 minutes, so I am good now.

Nah man, I will pass again. No reason for me to show you up. I dont want to embarrass you in front of the kid here. No reason to shatter his illusion of you so soon and let him down. Oh you know I was just kidding about the coke.

We seemed to catch the attention of a sales clerk. He came over, actually running, then started in to us about messing with the merchandise. You kids quit playing around with that. It is not a toy. Why do you kids think it is alright just to come in here and help yourselves to whatever you want? You kids have no business messing with something like this chainsaw, especially since you arent old enough to even use one.

This sales clerk kept ranting on about how kids should behave and if he had any say so in how they should be disciplined when defying their elders would set them straight.

About this time the store manager came over to see what all the commotion was. Edgar, what seems to be the problem here?

Sir, I was just explaining to these juvenile delinquents about life. I caught them here vandalizing this chainsaw inside the store for some reason. Kids these days just dont think before acting out. They just want to tear everything up. I doubt they were up to any good either. Just like those hoodlums back in Chicago. They are all the same everywhere. Nothing but trouble. What would have happened if the chainsaw started? I bet they didint even bother to think about that!

I looked up to the manager and said, Hello Mr Jackson how is it going today?

Just great, you boys staying out of trouble? So, are you breaking in my new sales clerk?

Sir, with all due respect, I have been employed by Sears for more than 4 years. I would hardly consider myself new with that much experience.

Edgar, there is a difference in kids showing interest in things and kids that like to vandalize. I dont think we have anything to worry about here. And you cant be serious about the possibility of this chainsaw actually starting up. I sure hope you are smarter than that.

Sir you just dont know how bad kids are these days, Well back in Chicago, there wasnt one day that past without some major trouble from these kind of juvenile delinquents. They are all the same. Turn you back for a second and they will rob you blind. Mark my words.

That will be all, Edgar.

So boys, you in the market for another chainsaw? Terry, how is that one holding up your grandfather bought a few years ago? I cant imagine it is worn out already. Oh I am so sorry to hear about his passing earlier this year. He will be missed by a lot of people.

Thank you sir, I appreciate that. His chainsaw still looks brand new. Sometimes a little bit hard to start when sitting up for a long time. Sure was heavy to haul around all morning cutting down a tree. I used it this morning helping out my grandmother. Man that sure was a workout.

I took this opportunity glancing over to Edgar and give him a smirky grin. Just could not help myself. He didnt look too happy right now for some reason.

Edgar, Mr Jackson goes on to say, I believe there are some customers in need of assistance over there with a mattress. Maybe you should head over to your department and see what help you might have to offer them. Edgar didnt respond back. Instead just turned and walked off.

Sorry boys, Edgar was just transferred down from Chicago. Seems he isnt too partial to kids. Maybe things are not so layed back up there in Chicago. He is sort of an uptight fellow as it is. I dont know yet if things are going to work out with him. He had several complaints from customers already. I dont take too kindly to that.

Well if there is anything I can help you boys with, be sure to let me know. Mr Jackson looks around and sees the shopping cart full of tools. So are these yours? Man that is a nice haul there.

Yes sir, Topher here is buying his first set of tools. We were trying to pick out only what he would need to start with.

So your name is Topher. Seems like I have seen you in the store one time before? Is that correct?

Yes sir, I was looking at the tools a few weeks ago. But didnt know what I should buy. Terry and Steve have been helping me a lot today. Then he holds out his hand and says, It is nice to meet you, Mr Jackson.

Likewise there Topher.

Mr Jackson reaches into his pocket and pulls out a few nickles. Hey I bet you boys could each use a bottle of pop. There is a machine right past the Lay-A-Way counter. Go help yourselves. You boys take care now. I need to get back to work. Looks like Edgar may be at it again.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 84

We finally make it over to the the Lay-a-way department, then piled up everything on the counter. After she totaled it up, I was in shock. I didnt expect it to be so much. Dude I am sorry. I didnt realize it was going to cost this much. Guess we got carried away.

Huh? What is the problem? I am not paying for it all today. Isnt that why you suggested to put it in lay-a-way?

Well yes, but I didnt realize it would be so much money. Can you afford all of this?

Yea Terry, I got it covered. Just didnt bring that much with me today. Mom told me whatever I needed, just to let her know. But dont waste a bunch of money buying things I dont really have use for.

If I put $20 on the lay-away, that leaves enough left over to buy lunch for you guys helping me out today. I never would have been able to figure what to do without the help from both of you.

As we walked out of the Sears store, I was still in shock. This kid dropped more money today than I have ever had in my pocket at any one time. Well anytime I didnt have a reason to save that much.

OK guys, we can eat at the Wyatts Cafeteria, that pizza place over there, or ride back down to the Dairyette. Which one do you want? I am sort of hungry. Sure hope you are too. I hate eating by myself all the time.

How about we hit the Dairyette? Dont you ride your bike down Oats Drive to get back home?

Yea Terry, that makes sense. But Gus Thomasson or Oates will get be back home about the same time. So it doesnt matter to me. But a root beer float is awfully tempting. How about cheeseburgers, tater tots and the floats? Sound good to you guys?

Do the tater tots come with melted cheese on top? Steve asked with a really big guilty grin. That could be a deal breaker if they dont. Tater tots are good. But tater tots with cheese are awesome.

Its my treat Steve. Whatever you guys want. Besides I always get them with cheese too. They are awesome with cheese. But I think pizza would have to be just a little bit more awesome, if I had to make a choice between them. You know just saying. But I do eat way too much pizza.

We raced back down Ferguson to the Dairyette. Not nearly as much traffic going back this way. We arrived at the Dariyette and headed for one of the outside tables. All the time I have eaten here, it has either been in a car or outside on a table. I dont recall ever going inside to eat. I dont even know what it looks like inside.

Hey, why dont we eat inside today? I have never even been in there before. We moved our bikes up close to the entrance and piled thru the door. There was a row of booths against the front windows. Somebody pick a booth. I dont want to sit on stools up at the counter.

After sitting down, the waitress came over with three glasses of water and ready to take our order. Topher asked if everyone was on the same page with what we decided earlier. Sounds good to me, Steve replied.

We need three cheeseburgers, all the way with grilled onions, a super size tater tot with cheese and three root beer floats. Dont hold back on that ice cream either.

Mam, can I get change please? Topher handed her a dollar bill. Then she promptly reached down to her coin changer clicking off and handing back a stack of dimes and nickles. Thank you very much, mam.

Topher hopped up and went over to the Rock-ola jukebox on the far wall and crammed it full of dimes. Then came back and sat down. I didnt know what you guys like, so tried to cover all the bases. We got some Hank Williams, Buddy Holley and Elvis. Oh and that new song from Jimmy Dean.

For the next hour we just made small talk. I was surprised that Topher didnt completely run out of steam with him going non stop about everything. He even managed a whole conversation while eating his cheeseburger.

It didnt take long to figure out that Topher was extremely intelligent and very perceptive. I remember Steve mentioning that Topher was anything but stupid. It was sort of hard to figure that out at first, since he doesnt really know much about how anything actually works.

But I could tell those gears in his head were working in overdrive as I went into detail about the kart engines, and what we had been doing trying all this stuff to get faster. This kid is like a dry sponge, as my grandfather would always use explaining how some people could absorb all kinds of information and process it.

But then went on with just the opposite when some people could absorb some things coming in one ear then go sailing right out the other one. My grandfather whistled wind sounds and making a curlycue with his finger with his explanation. This time, I am certain Topher was absorbing everything we talked about and it stayed inside that noggin of his for future reference.

Some people can recite what others have said, but not understand a single word. More like parroting what they hear from someone. I think Topher has a full grasp on just about everything we have talked about so far.

Its like explaining something new to a person then showing them a picture to further illustrate it. Thats when everything falls in to place and makes complete sense. When he sees an engine torn down into pieces, then a lot of stuff we talked about will come to make sense to him almost immediately.

We did find out Topher is 12 years old. Actually just turned 12 one month earlier, if that makes any difference. It seemed to make some difference to him. Even with the nonstop chatter from him, he still listened to every word when me and Steve were able to get one in.

He had attended a high end private school before his parents got a divorce, but now enrolled in 7th grade public school this year where he lives with his mom. He is on the track and swim team. But not all that interested in either of them.

We have been listening to him talk about some of the places he has been to. One in particular I found very hilarious. Well more like unbelievable. But I am starting to figure out that Topher is an anomaly.

At the 1961 Indy 500 race, the very one me and Steve both watched on separate televisions while discussing the race in detail over the phone, Topher was actually there. Like there, as in person.

His dad likes to go to the bigger races, including Daytona. He had been to so many places I have only heard about. Those bigger than life institutions that I only find out watching the Wide World of Sports and sometimes in the news. Or if real lucky watch live coverage on television.

Topher was there watching the race in real time close to the start finish line. He went into a lot more detail on many of the wrecks and incidents than were covered on TV. He was even involved in one incident and got a big kick out of telling us it actually included one of the Indy 500 drivers.

His dad had secured pit passes and even had access to the garages for them. Since he had some business to attend to, left Topher there alone to go exploring the track for the day. It is amazing what a kid can find out if he just happens to keep his eyes open and stays in the shadows with his mouth shut.

Trying to picture Topher with his mouth shut for any length of time seemed a little far fetched and way out of character for him, but I went with it. He had gone around the pits and managed to acquire a lot of autographs from many of the better known drivers.

Topher has a way of starting up conversations with complete strangers. Without any trouble at doing so. That does fit his personality. Maybe this is why I am here right now eating a cheeseburger with him. He is really fun to be around and loves talking about racing.

He had managed to get the autograph of Eddie Sachs. It is one he had missed several times at previous races, He went on how exciting it was to finally have that autograph. He has a lot of them from other drivers, but this one had been evading him for a long time.

So I was running for all it was worth heading back to our seats. Dad had returned and was up watching the days events. Nothing real exciting that day, just practice and later in the afternoon more time trials.

I made it up the stairwell and around the corner heading up to the next level of seats. There wasnt a lot of traffic so not really paying attention to who was around. But I ended up slamming into a man making the corner just then. I knocked some guy right on his butt. I mean slammed him and he went down hard. I bounced off and landed on my butt too.

After apologizing, I turned and looked up to see my dad above on the next level standing there staring down at me. Dad was stunned at what had just taken place for some reason. Dad, dad look what I got. I got it! Finally I got his autograph. Eddie Sachs signed my race program! I cant believe it. He signed it. I have his autograph!

Topher then went on explaining how his dad reacted. Dads mouth was covered with his hand and he was pointing to the man I knocked down. Yea dad, I know. I apologized to him. He said it was alright. No harm done.

But dad kept his mouth covered shaking his head back and forth. He finally just covered his face and looked down to the ground. Just like someone would do when completely overcome about something.

Dad I got his autograph. Isnt that awesome? But dad kept pointing to the man I knocked down. I finally stopped talking and looked at the man still sitting there on his butt. He finally picked himself up. So you got Eddies autograph? Pretty impressive, I dont even have that one.

Then this man reached out and grabbed the Indy 500 cap off my head. He pulled a marker from his shirt pocket and wrote something on my hat. Hey kid, here is another one for you. Just in case you dont have it yet. The man just smiled and put the hat back on my head.

I was still completely lost just then, still focused on my latest acquisition. I had been trying forever and now its mine. That is when I took an up and close look at the man I had crashed into and knocked on his butt. That is when something clicked in my head. How could I be so blind?

My jaw opened wide and I couldnt breathe. I swore my heart stopped beating for a whole minute. There was a burning sensation passing over my face too. It was so strong I felt it all the way down to my toes. This was followed by my heart kick starting up again and going into hyper speed.

The man patted me on my back and finally started to walk off. Enjoy the race son. But watch that speed in the turns.

OK, with this much of his story already told, me and Steve were completely hooked on every word. But why did he stop right there? Then he took the last bite of his cheeseburger and washed it down with a large gulp from the root beer float.

Topher sure wasnt holding back on telling the story. He sure wasnt being discreet either. When he is excited, the word quiet never plays into the equation.

I looked around the Dairyette and everyone in the place was staring right at us. Or should I say staring at Topher. It seems he managed to have everyone elses attention at the moment too. Not just mine and Steves.

Chris stayed there quietly chewing and finally sawllowing the last of his cheeseburger. After another gulp of the root beer float, he exhaled and just stopped moving for a moment. He looked back up at both of us again.

You are not going to believe this guys. I mean you wont believe me. I still cant believe it happened. Sometimes I might get too carried away with things. I wanted his autograph for so long and finally I had it right there in my hand too. My race program had his autograph! Eddie Sachs!

I looked at that man, and tried to say something. But it was hard for me to even breathe. Then finally I managed to choke out something. OH I am so sorry! I am such an idiot for not looking where I was going!

Then for some reason I held out my race program. Uh, sir, You can have it. I am so sorry. That is when he turned back around and spoke. It is quite alright, his autograph is worth more to you that it is to me. You go ahead keep it. But thanks for the offer. You take care. Then he was gone. Just like that the whole world had stopped for those few seconds.

I shook out of my trance and the world started back up again. I was in total disbelief of what I saw. It couldnt be. No way. What an idiot I am. How stupid can I be? Was it really him? No way that was not possible.

By now the whole place was completely quiet. Well except for Topher. He is actually very good at telling a story. I figured this aint his first rodeo in front of a crowd. He must be drawing this out for the dramatic effect.

Topher takes this time to stop talking and cram a couple of tater tots in his mouth. Then washing them down with the glass of water the waitress had brought us when we first took our seats.

OK guys, I finally removed the hat from my head and looked at what that man had written on it. Are you ready for this?

"To the fastest kid I have ever run up against A J Foyt"

That is the honest to gosh truth guys. I told you it was unbelievable. I still cant believe it happened. But it did happen. Just the way I said too. I have that hat sitting at home right now. I have AJ FOYTS autograph TOO!

The whole place had been totally silent. Then the clapping started up. Not like when one person starts then the rest follows in. The whole place was immediately a loud non stop clatter of applause from everyone in there.

Well, that is one story hard to beat. I sure wasnt going to try to top it either. Not that I had anything even close to tell about anyway. About this time I realized we should have eaten outside by ourselves. I dont do so well around lots of people.

When things went back down to normal, the music was now replacing the attention from the others here. We got back to a much quieter conversation about nothing in particular. It is odd to see Chris not talking about something. But his lack of conversation was being supplemented by slurping on his root beer float.

You had mentioned something about how you got your name Topher. But didnt give any real details at the track when I asked about it.

Well its not that exciting. It is really sort of embarrassing now thinking about it. I was not very old, like six. I had just started school and we were outside playing during recess with some of the older students.

Two of the guys were picking teams for a basketball game. I didnt know any of them at the time. One guy asked what my name was. I sort of was not paying attention just then, But I blurted out Chris ttttopher. It must have sounded like like my full name to him I guess.

OK Topher, can you play basket ball? I nodded my head up and down. But really never played before. I had been to see the Globetrotters and a Celtics game. So sort of knew how the game was played.

Good enough then, Topher you play left guard, kay? He told me this while pointing over to the far side of the court. For my first game, I just passed the ball and tried not to get in the way. I had never shot baskets before, but did a decent job passing the ball around.

Fortunately I didnt make any major mistakes during that game. The team captain told me "Good job there Topher". Next time you can be on my team again. Got it? I thanked him for picking me and felt good for the rest of the day. After school I practiced all afternoon trying to shoot baskets.

I sucked at first. But later when a guy came by to shoot baskets, I sat there watching him drop one in after another. He finally asked if I wanted to trade shots. I told him I wasnt very good. He said that he wasnt either not too long ago. You dont get any good by not ever trying.

So we shot baskets for a while. He explained to me how to make some different types of shots. By the time we finished I was getting the hang of it. Hey my name is Jeremy, what is yours. Without even thinking, I just spit out Topher. It just sort of stuck after that.

But that is not even the first time when I got the name. When I was even younger, everyone always called me Chris. I didnt know any different. Only my name was Chris because that is what everyone called me. Sometimes when mom was mad about something she would call me Chris-topher. You know sounding like my full name. But I didnt know my full name because nobody ever called me by it.

Since mom would call dad by two names when he did something wrong, I thought Chris Topher must be both of my names. It just slipped that time in school. I was nervous about playing with the older kids that day. Then later when shooting baskets with the other guy. It was stuck in my head and slipped out.

It wasnt until much later did I finally realize I had three full names and shared the last one with my family. When I was really young, why would I know any different until someone explained it to me. Does that make any sense of just sound like I was really stupid?

Wow I had never thought about it that way. It makes a whole lot of sense now after your story. Something that has always been assumed to be one way. Why would anybody really know differently?

Something so basic as your name and unless it was explained, you could only make an assumption based on what you have heard until knowing enough to realize what it actually is.

This got me to thinking about how many things in life are assumed. It may be years before you ever find out. But a lot of things are not so important that it would even matter. But what about those things that really do matter?

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 85

After Chris ran out of lifes lessons, we got back to talking about average stuff. Then Steve mentioned once again about maybe going back to Fabens and giving it one more shot.

Topher got really excited hearing this. Are you guys going to come back out to the track? That would be awesome. It was so fun racing last time with both of you.

Me and Steve had discussed the possibility about another night at the track. This track is way too close not to try again. Even tho our first attempt had been a complete failure with all of the good ole boys treatment from the people running the track.

I dont know about hitting Fabens again. He got screwed over hard last time. I still dont know why the spark plugs got broken. That really pissed me off in the last heat. Why would someone be so afraid of us that they would sabotage our karts.

Do what? What are you talking about? Both you guys ran the third heat. What happened? Chris was asking us about the spark plugs that had been broken.

Yea Topher. Uh, do you mind being called Chris or prefer Topher? Anyway at the start of the third heat both the karts would not start up. I jumped out looking around and saw the spark plugs had been broken. It was not an accident, because the rubber boot was split on mine.

Fortunately my dad kept extra spark plugs in his apron. You know we had talked about what might be good to have on the grid. In case one got fouled. I never thought about having to change both of them at the same time.

We got them changed out really quick. Steve had it easy, he stayed seated while I removed them and dad replaced the plugs. Just left me very pissed off when I finally got on the track. After the karts started back up the flag man held us there.

It was so smokey from the other karts just leaving, I couldnt see anything. Steve slammed on his brakes, and I swerved over so not to hit the back of his kart. There was some guy just standing in the hot pits not paying any attention to what was going on and I nearly ran him over.

Are you serious? Someone actually broke them so you guys might not make the last heat race? That really sucks. I didnt hear about that. I guess you dont have any idea of who would have done that either?

I guess the Westbend guys are on your list of suspects. That would make a lot of sense. But if nobody saw anything, I dont think you can accuse them of doing it. Do you think their dad could have done it during intermission?

Well I went over the karts right after the second heat race. Everything was ready. Then we spent time hashing out all of the things going on by then. When our last race came around, I didnt think about double checking the karts, since I made a good effort to have them ready.

Man I was so mad after finding both spark plugs broken off. I could accept one plug as broken. That is always something that could happen. But to have both of them busted for the one heat race that counts for the finish position, someone was definitely wanting to make sure we didnt run the last heat race.

That sure sucks for you guys. The first time you come out there to race and then everything that happened. I dont know what I would do if someone targeted me. I cant believe there are people out there that only see winning as a goal regardless how it is accomplished.

So do you guys plan to come back out and race again? If you do, then maybe we could pit together and then all of us keep an eye on our stuff. I sure dont mind keeping a watchful eye out for your karts. I can help you work on the karts too. Just tell me what you want done and make sure I do it the right way the first time.

I would really like to learn how to work on my kart. So any stuff you guys can teach me, I would be more than happy to help out on other things. Doesnt matter what it is either.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 86

It has been a week already and all that has been on my mind is the one conversation we had with Topher or now Chris. He thought it would be cool for me to call him Chris. But he still prefers Topher to his school friends and other guys he knows at the track.

Chris explained to me that Topher is the one unique identifying mark that sets him apart from just somebody named Chris. Especially since that is what he has gone by since first starting school. But after thinking it over, he decided he liked the idea of me using his actual name, instead of his nick.

I have to admit that getting to know Topher, or now with his permission, Chris, he doesnt need a unique nick name to use as an identifying mark to set him apart from just some other lunk head. He has that totally covered already.

It would be a challenge to go back to Fabens and try again, since we got hammered by the flagman in every heat race. But the competition was more than worth racing against. Especially since our karts handled and engines ran very well.

Even with those two Westbends being faster, it was still exciting to run with them by using some brains instead of relying on a lead foot. You cant beat someone all the time just from raw horsepower.

Raw horsepower is something none of the Clinton engines have against any Westbend in the Junior Bushing class. But taking full advantage of what you do have to work with can make a big difference.

The two brothers running those Westbends are much faster than every other driver in the class. But they dont work together on the track. The whole time they are leading, they also fight for position between each other.

By fighting for the lead position every lap, their times drop way back much slower. Some of the laps were even slower than what me and Steve had been running when working together. So long as we kept running inline with each other, it didnt take too long to catch up to them.

If they worked together for a few laps, nobody else would be able to catch up to them. Chris told me the two brothers had taken themselves out out of the race several times already. But for some reason every time this happened the heat race got a restart.

When asked why it was restarted, the flagman said all the drivers paid to race and deserved to get their track time. But when any other driver got taken out, for whatever reason, well that is racing, get used to it.

I thought no matter what we did, it would end up the same way as the one time we raced there. I didnt see how we could pull off anything if the flagman was only favoring his two kids running those Westbends.

Steve was right about his understanding of how the karts are set up and geared. My kart is faster in a straight line. But his kart can make up that difference thru the tighter turns or in traffic.

I could easily get caught behind a slightly slower kart and be stuck there, while Steve could pass us both and pull away. Unless the slower kart made a mistake somewhere, I might never get around it.

I dont know if it is so critical, but we are running two teeth different between almost identical setups. A 72 and 74. What if the best gear size is really a 73? As of right now only even numbers are available from any manufacturer. There is only a few companies even offering them right now.

Maybe if we are both geared the same, and with the modified carburetors ....... Wow, Steve might be right about running up there with the Westbends. Gears are grinding in my head thinking about what all it will take so we could do this.

I really need a new set of tires. Steves kart is just about perfect. Maybe try the modified carburetor on his kart to find out which gear works out best. The smaller 72 gear on my kart or the 74 gear on his kart.

Would it make the engine turn too much rpm with the modified carburetor and bigger gear? I guess we need to take another trip out to the track for some real testing this time.

Each time so far we went to the track for practice, Frank was there plagued with problems. I realized early on he was the problem for all of the problems he was having. It is not like I could tell him that.

Every time something went wrong, I focused on trying to figure out why. The only way any of the problems could happen is because Frank assumes the work he has done was done correctly. He way overthinks things for sure.

When he decided to set his kart up like he thought it should have been done originally, well thats when things went south fast. It would not handle and even worse was completely undriveable. While getting Frank sidetracked, like getting him driving Steves kart on the track, I tried to fix all of the fixes he had just fixed on his kart.

An engineers job is to solve problems. But Frank has a way of causing more problems than he could ever fix. Some are not so hard to rectify. But the other ones are too extreme to do much good at the track.

I could barely keep a straight face when Frank thought he figured out why his kart got out of wack so fast after he did such a fantastic job setting it up. He assured me the frame, after just getting enough run time on the track, well it was sprung.

He went into an in depth explanation on how this very thing could happen. Since his kart being a prototype, it was not likely built in a jig. But more likely setup one time on just a fixture table.

So more likely, as I wear out this one word he was constantly using in his explanation, the frame was not perfectly fitted when getting welded together. It was probably forced down and clamped then welded. So that little bit of resistance on the frame rails would cause the weight distribution to go all crazy after having been run for a while.

I wonder if Frank actually sits around drinking too much beer all day thinking this crap up. I mean he is an engineer after all. So that highly educated brain of his is supposed to solve problems.

But the one problem he cant solve is Frank. I think that is what the problem really is. But Frank wont ever figure this out for himself. It must be some kind of yankee thing. It sure fits the way I see things when he is involved.

So he said that has to be the only thing which could possibly cause his kart to become undriveable so quickly. The only other reasoning was it must have been possessed. At least he sort of laughed when telling me this hypothesis.

But since Frank is the only guy available to keep an eye on us so we can go to the track for practice, I have to rely on him for that. Mom is definitely not all that trusting with him, well not trusting at all really, but so far me and Steve have not killed ourselves yet, under his careful watch.

I would also like to help Chris, much as I can, and maybe get his kart more up to speed. I had no idea his kart had a dead axle. The whole time at the races we were so plagued with distractions, I never had much chance to even check out it out.

He was seriously asking about converting his kart over to a live axle. That might work just fine. But the engine would need some improvements to push the extra drag. His engine is totally stock with exception for changing out the carburetor and getting rid of that stock muffler.

Those are also the two best first choices for increasing power from the engine. Some more improvements can then be done to make an even bigger difference. I have learned a lot from the little bit of testing we have actually accomplished so far.

So without actually going all crazy grinding the ports, a few changes and adjustments can yield about the same benefit. The modified carburetor is a big plus, but only after addressing the ridiculously small reed petals on the intake manifold.

Swapping out to an aftermarket manifold is a much better choice, but the bigger reed petals and opening up the stock intake passage makes a huge difference. More than worth it if you dont have a Go-Power or Palmini manifold to use.

I should set up mine and Steves engines identical, then we track test and make adjustments until getting them fast as possible. I could have the backup engine set up differently to try other things we have not worked out yet.

If there is a chance of Chris coming out there with us, would be even better to work on getting faster. But if relying on Frank for chaperone, might prove less than useful like from the previous two times on the track.

Each time we went to the track for testing, I spent all my practice time working on Franks super duper prototype Dart Special wannabe A-Bone. I was thinking his prototype kart might have been built right before the A-Bone was introduced. Now I am almost certain it was built even before the Super K chassis.

There were some major changes from his prototype to what is now a proven and extremely fast design, known as the Dart A-Bone. Would Frank be willing to update his kart? I know the steering shaft has to be changed out. That thing is so flimsy I could bend it in a hard run. Or even with a fence post as a track side repair.

After some measuring I found out the wheelbase is longer on his prototype frame. Converting from a dead to live axle, the wheelbase didnt change so much originally. But the A-Bone is a lot shorter. It might be easy enough to update his kart.

So why do I keep going overboard thinking about everyone elses stuff? Steve wants to go race at Fabens again, and I need to do what I can to make the karts faster to be competitive enough to run against the Westbends.

I know we can run with them. That is if they keep fighting for position racing against each other. We found that out quick enough. They also dont do so well in traffic or being pressured from someone else following them.

There is one other thing I realized running up with those brothers. They have a tendency to just turn into you or try to knock you off the track. If I made a clean pass, they would just ram into me and try to force my kart off into the weeds.

This sucks too. Every time we did make some ground on them, we were blamed for anything that could change the scoring if they didnt end up in front of us at the finish of the race.

When I tried out the modified carburetor on our second practice day, my kart was noticeably faster. But I also used the Palmini intake manifold with the four petal Go-Power reed. This type combination has been recommended in all of the hop-up articles I read in the magazines.

Up until this year the only bigger carburetor available was that McCulloch flat back model. Not the original Mc 10 carburetor made of magnesium, but the later style of aluminum having a larger bore and venturi.

A big improvement on any engine that had been equipped with the Tillotson is just swapping out to a McCulloch carburetor. Or even better for the higher horsepower engines, make sure you have two carburetors on your engine.

Last year, Tillotson did not have anything comparable to the aluminum Mac carburetor. But now they have the new HL-115A. It is supposed to make a huge difference over the HL-93 model that came on the Mc6 and later model Mc10 engines.

The biggest chainsaw carburetors made by Tillotson have a 13/16 bore, 11/16 venturi and 7/8 air horn. The new HL-115A is advertised as a 1 inch bore. But really is only 15/16 and steps out to one inch bore at the flange. It does have a larger 3/4 venturi and a one inch air horn.

If I could afford one of these, would really make the Clinton run faster. But Frank keeps saying it is way too big for such an anemic engine. He thought that one carburetor I modified on my little Craftsman lathe was actually the new HL-115A.

He just kept going on about showing good smarts, investing in that new carburetor instead of wasting my time modifying those smaller ones from older chainsaws

But naturally Franks Westbend 580, according to his engineers mind, would be more than enough capable enough to handling that almost HL-115A he thought my modified carburetor was. So naturally I interpret this to mean it should work just fine on the Clinton.

I have to admit after machining the carburetor out so big, which was originally a model HL-66A, easily looked like the new HL-115A. That is until you set them side by side. The only carburetor Frank had for comparison is the HL-88A on his engine. This modified carburetor looks huge compared to one on his Westbend.

The Tillotson HL-88A, which replaced the smaller HL-15A, has only one major difference. The throttle bore is slightly larger. It is bored out from 13/16 to 7/8 of an inch. Even most of the drilled passages are the same size.

I lucked out by copying the drilled fuel passages to match an HL-93A from a Mc10 engine. I found it in a box of parts we had been given last summer after cleaning up the scrap pile at Gasset, that small engine repair shop across the street from the Dairyette.

Mr Grimes was so impressed with how great of a job we did, he even paid us cash plus what we had agreed on originally. We made out good from that one Saturdays work. If not for all of the junk engines we got to keep, me and Steve would be sitting on the sidelines still trying to figure out how to put something together to race some day.

Copying the drilled passages from that HL-93A worked on the modified carburetor. It runs extremely well when using the Palmini manifold. So we might even be fast enough to run right up with those two Westbends. It is possible.

Time to set up the little 6 inch Craftsman lathe again and bore out at least two more of those chainsaw carburetors. It should not take much time since I am just repeating what has already been done. But now I dont have to wonder if it will work this time.

Originally my plan was to use those HL-87A model carburetors I have several of in the parts surplus. This particular model did not come with provisions for the choke assembly.

I thought these would work great without having to plug the choke shaft holes. But after boring one out, the casting was too thin and broke thru where the boss is for the shaft.

Another more critical reason for scraping the idea of using these is the fuel circuit is very complicated compared to the newer models. The high speed circuit is routed in a very odd mannered way. So much that I didnt want to chance it not working out after doing all of the machine work on one.

When we make it out for another practice or test session at the track, the one thing important is finding out if the stock manifolds we cleaned up and installed larger reeds in, runs good enough to use with the bored out carburetors. Otherwise we need to buy another Palmini or Go-Power manifold.

I keep thinking about helping out Chris getting his kart set up to be a lot more competitive. At our only race, me and Steve did great minus a few bad calls from the flagman. OK really every call made from the flagman that night. He didnt hold anything back on us.

At the end of every heat race, Chris was the only driver finishing consistently in front of all the other drivers in our class. Even tho he does not run fast enough to even be a factor against the two Westbends, he was still faster than all of the other entries that night.

If all three of us practice and work together, we should be able to give the Westbend guys a hard time. And even likely beat them at their own game. So long as they keep fighting against themselves for position, we could possibly beat them without even ganging up.

It would be awesome if we didnt have to block them after making a pass. Neither brother cared much about driving clean when me or Steve did get around them. They turned into our karts, cut us off, or intentionally tried to force us off the track.

With all of the chaos on the track, we are the only ones getting black flagged or disqualified for poor sportsmanship. That cant happen again if we have any chance of beating them at the next race. I want to make a clean pass, then we work together getting some distance on them. Then no way could we get accused of anything but putting on a good race.

I guess Steve is all for going to the track again. I still need to motivate myself more first. My thoughts have been leaning toward going to the Whizzer track next time. Mr. Pennington from school last year, said they have a great race program and lots of participation in every class.

They do run under GKCA rules or now what is officially going to be the International Kart Federation, or IKF, after the first of the year. So I would have to read up on what classes we can run with the engines in our stock pile. Sounds to me like more time and more money to get competitive.

It would be cool to move up to a faster class and use that McCulloch chainsaw engine. But I would be starting all over again trying to figure out what makes it run well. I still barely have a grasp on these Clintons.

As of right now I am just starting to understand a little bit about the Clintons. Even tho there isnt any real difference with other two stroke engines. There is no reason to abandon these engines just to step up to a faster class just because it is faster.

I bet it could get expensive if very many mistakes are made before getting everything working right. But so long as we have a lot of spare spares with the Clintons, we should stick with them. Especially since we cant really afford anything faster.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 87

Back on track to get back on the track. Well that is the plan. After throwing it out there talking with Chris and Steve, well we are all on the same page now. We all think it would be worth the trouble to try and take another stab at racing at Fabens.

Chris has been asking this whole time, starting back at the track after our first race, if we were planning to come out and race again. So I knew what he had to say and thought about it. I remember him being so excited about getting beat by us after each heat race too.

At first me and Steve just shot this back and forth in the garage one afternoon. We were going over what all needed to be done to our karts first. Since his kart is about perfect, we could get away with not much more than making some improvements to his engine.

I was really hoping to get new tires before putting so much time in everything else. I didnt think doing all that engine work without my kart better equipped to handle the improvements made much sense.

Steve thought my kart would be just fine. It had no problem the last time out there. But I do remember fighting it in several turns that I didnt have so much trouble with before that first race we had.

After a lot of thinking I realized the more I drove my kart, the harder it was to keep driving smoothly. I remember it starting to push in the faster turns. I had to over correct a few times but that would cause the rear end to finally break loose and try to come around.

So before we even commit for another practice day, tires are on my short list. The other modifications to the engines will be easy enough and hopefully get that all done while doing some side jobs saving up enough money for new tires.

We kept talking about the other things that would be worth taking care of before the next time we get to practice again. Steve asked how we were getting to the track this time. He mentioned the last two times were not so productive.

I shrugged my shoulders. Then mentioned that Frank was the only person to rely on for now. My mom did not have the time to spend out there all day sitting around while she had a family to run.

What about your older brother, not the oldest one that is a total jerk. His truck is big enough to carry all of our stuff.

I already asked him. He works just about everyday at the Shell station after school until closing. His girlfriend takes up all of the rest of his time. And since I know her birthday is coming up very soon, he is going to be working every chance he gets to make some extra money.

I had asked my dad about the possibility of one afternoon, but he said work is still keeping him over run. He was having to work some Saturdays now too. So if I wanted to go to the races on Saturday night, that might be doable. But not likely during the week for a practice.

Mom did volunteer to take us to the track like before if I gave her enough warning so she could work it in her schedule. But no last minute plans or would not happen. She still had to swap cars with dad to get the Ranchero.

Last year dad picked up a very slightly used English Ford station wagon. Not like the American version of a Ford station wagon, but it looks more like a miniature version of something built about 10 years earlier.

Mom drives everywhere in that little wagon. The only place she doesnt frequent is the gas station. I dont know if this car even uses gas to run. It has a tiny little flat head four cylinder engine that looks more like belonging in a small tractor. Oh it is also an import since built in England.

Mom told me it is the same deal as last time, I still needed a responsible adult out there or not happening. Then she told me that Frank would only be as a last resort, so try to find someone else first. She still did not trust than man.

I was sitting down at home just finishing up my homework. Even thinking about giving Chris a call. He has been very persistent about me calling him any time. But he ended up calling me and Steve both before I had a good reason to do so.

Now after meeting up with him and having a great time talking about karts and all the racing stories he had, it now felt I knew him enough to carry on a decent conversation over the phone.

I am not a big talker on the phone. Well, really I hate talking on the telephone to anybody. That is unless I have a good reason to discuss something useful with someone. But just calling to talk about nothing in particular, well that wasnt me.

I was much more comfortable when getting to know someone face to face first. Like what has just happened with Chris. I feel like I know him well enough to have a good conversation with out it being awkward like when that silence hits.

I remember last year when a couple of girls in my class started just calling me up for no reason. I was usually busy doing stuff and didnt care so much to just sit there and listen to what they did all day.

For one of them to call me and ask my favorite color, or what brand shoes I liked to wear, well I just didnt get it. She might ask what I thought about or if I liked a certain friend of hers too.

I learned real quick about being careful of what I said or answered to those probing questions. If she asked me if I like someone in particular, I didnt realize it meant if I like liked her, not just liked her.

Again I hate to talk on the phone. There are no set rules for someone to read so I dont go putting my foot in my mouth or say something that means something else. Geez, why does it have to be so complicated?

Sometimes me and Steve would be working on something trying to get finished. I would sit there for a few minutes and listen to what she did all day, then hand the phone over to Steve. He would just move his head up and down saying uh-huh, yea, yes, uh-huh. She just kept babbling on without even knowing it was someone else.

We both sort of wondered if this is what it was going to be like if asking one of them to a school dance sometime. Maybe I could hold out right now. I wanted to race and girls sure didnt make it any easier for this to happen.

I have not called Chris before now, since I didnt know enough about him yet to talk about anything. I didnt want to just rattle on about my kart. Not unless he was asking about some things worth talking about.

But thinking back, Chris didnt leave much opening the one time he called me. I just listened to him going on about everything relevant to his kart. So maybe it wont be a problem keeping up a conversation with him.

Hey Chris, this is Terry. You asked me to call sometime, so I decided to do that. You got a few minutes?

Hey Terry, it is nice to talk with you. Yes I have all the time in the world.

Well, me and Steve had a great time hanging out last Saturday. It was fun and I liked listening to all of the stories you told us. Oh yea, thanks for buying lunch. That was very considerate of you.

Terry, it was more than worth it. You and Steve helped me out a lot more than you might realize. I feel more confident that I can do stuff on my kart now. And maybe even call you to ask questions if I get stumped with something.

Yea no problem with that. Me and Steve have been going over and over about racing again at Fabens. I thought the whole night sucked bigly, but the actual racing was awesome.

At the end of each heat race, you were right up there consistently. I dont know how often you race, but I am guessing you run fairly fast compared to most of the other guys.

Something else I had no idea about either. I didnt know if we would even be competitive for our first race. I had been working on my kart trying to do everything possible to make it faster. We had two practice days that sort of helped to get the karts running good.

But after the races, I realized most of the other drivers still had completely stock engines and not really done anything to get their karts to go faster. I see this probably is the reason why you managed to run faster consistently.

Yea Terry, there are only a few fast guys left in our class. Those two brothers are now the only fast ones running out there now. All of the others are just some that hardly even race all the time.

There are a whole bunch of us, but rarely do the same ones show up every week. Our class would be huge if most of them showed up the same night. But none of them are any faster than what you saw out there.

They show up with the kart and dont really do anything but unload it and run. I wish I knew enough to make my kart go faster. It does run better than when I first got it, but still not so fast.

I cant run even close to those Westbend brothers. Most of the time, I finish in third place since the other guys dont do anything to their karts. I have finished ahead of the Westbend guys a few times in heat races, but that is only because they invert the first heat starting positions.

Sometimes they get stuck behind some super slow guys in the class. I have never started in front of those brothers in the third heat race. Not that is would have made any difference. Soon as the flag drops they are gone.

I wanted to ask you some more about changing my kart over to a two wheel pull. Do you think it would be a smart thing to do? Would I need to do much to my motor so it would run fast enough?

Is it a lot of work to change my kart over to a two wheel pull? Is this something you could help me with? I thought you guys told me you built Steves kart from scratch? Did you really do that?

Yea Chris, we built his kart after repairing my kart. Didnt you say something about seeing that frame after the wreck last spring? I never saw it until the next afternoon. I was more of less missing in action for the night.

Steve had talked Mr Cates out of what was left of his kart. I was more than surprised to find that out the next day. Even tho it was nothing but twisted and broken pieces of tubing, I had a kart. Just may have needed a little bit of work before I could actually race it.

Gee Terry, when I saw what was left of that kart, I thought NO WAY!. There was nothing left of it. Then I wondered what happened to the guy driving it. Did they haul him to the hospital? I never found out anything after that except that one Greg guy got thrown out for good.

I still cant believe it was the same one that crashed. How did you not break every bone in your body? I mean your kart looks just like a normal kart now. When I tried to follow you guys, it sure looked like the kart handles awesome. I have no idea if my kart even handles right or not.

Fish has tried to explain to me how a one wheel pull kart does not handle anything like what he calls a locked axle. He says my kart just steers in so easily when turning the wheel. If I let go of it, the kart more or less does what it wants too. I have to make sure and hold on tight.

My kart is real easy for me to drive. Fish said a locked axle is more like driving a real race car. The rear wheels are fighting each other instead of allowing the frame to make the turn. And the front wheels are battling out trying to steer or just push straight.

But he also told me the one rear wheel would not spin coming out of tighter turns like it does sometimes now. If I push it too hard in one really tight turn, my motor pulled wheel spins like crazy. I loose a lot of speed when it happens too. I even had to change that one tire already.

I have been careful going thru the tight turn not to let the wheel spin like it did. It is the only part of the track where other guys I usually run with will pass me most of the time.

This is why I thought about changing it over to a two wheel locked axle. Do you think it would be worth doing? I hope to move up to a faster class sometime when I know more and can work on my stuff better. I know the motors are a lot more expensive and the extra up keep, so dont want to find myself broken every race.

Well Chris, I dont think it is a bad idea. I know what you are talking about on your dead axle. That is a one wheel pull as you call it. Changing over to a live axle should not be too difficult. I dont think on your frame would even be a problem to do at all.

Azusa Engineering and Flexo Products both offer decent kits for sale that have most of what you need to do the conversion. But there are a lot of other parts you need besides just the kit. So it might get more expensive than you think.

Terry, how much would you charge to change over my kart if I buy the parts? Could you tell me everything I need so I can go ahead and get what is needed?

Heck Chris, I dont know exactly what it would take right now on your kart. But I am not thinking it would be too difficult. Maybe after I look over your kart and check out what comes in some of the kits, then figure if we can do it without too much trouble.

The real reason I called tho, is me and Steve had been talking about going to Fabens again. I thought it would be fun to help you get faster and we might practice a couple of times before going back.

If you want that axle changed over, that would take some extra time. But if we get everything working after it is swapped out, you should be a lot faster with some engine work.

Wow, would you really do that for me? You will help me get my kart running faster for reals? I promise to be your full time pit crew if you are willing to help me with anything at all that improves my kart or even just me. Heck just helping me out on the phone when I call if there is a problem.

Me and Steve have a ton of engine parts to play with. So we can try some things without worrying if it doesnt work and blows up an engine. I hate to think about loosing an engine, but we cant get much faster without trying something out first to see if it works or not.

Right now we have our engines running good. There are some more things I want to do to them. I also think it would be a good idea to do some of the same things on your engine before going to the track for a practice day.

It would be so cool if we can all go back out there and run with the Westbends. But that requires a lot of work before any chance of something really happening like that. When me and Steve have our karts set up right, it should not be too much trouble to get yours running about the same.

Wow are you serious about helping me? I cant believe someone would do that. Are you really serious? Not joshing me? That would be so awesome. I cant imagine what it is going to feel like running fast as you guys did.

Terry will you tell me everything I should do to my kart to make it right? You know not just the uh, you said it is called a live axle? But whatever you think is not right.

Yea Chris, me and Steve will look over your kart real close then let you know what we think. If it is too much for me to tackle, I will let you know that instead.

Do you guys have a good place to work on your karts? I usually keep mine at the Fish shop. Well Pauls shop. But he doesnt have any tools that I could use to change the axle out.

Fish doesnt have a welder at his shop. It is mostly to keep his inventory of concrete equipment. There is a welding shop he uses sometimes, but I dont think the work they do is all that good. At least from some of the welds I saw on repairs they did on his equipment.

I guess you have a way to weld. Or do you get a shop to do it for you?

No Chris, my dad has a welder and taught me and Steve how to weld. I sure could use some more practice, but can manage welding bearing hangers on a frame. Much more serious than that, I will get dad to help out.

It must be so cool to be able to do stuff like that. I would love to know how to make things. I dont know anyone that has the tools or interested to teach me either. But I sure would like to learn.

Me and Chris went over all kinds of things about the karts and what made sense to do first, if his kart was getting a live axle. The other thing I mentioned is tires. A good set of tires is needed after the axle change.

Chris got really excited about this. He told me Paul Fisher can get tires wholesale, since he buys a lot of them for concrete equipment. The company has all types of tires and sells them to kart shops too.

Wow Chris are you serious? Do you think he could get me a set? That is one thing I am desperately needing to make my kart handle better. The last time out I was having a little bit of trouble getting the kart around the track.

Just tell me what size tires you need and I will get him to order them right now. They will be delivered in a few days.

Well I need to save up some money first. Maybe I can find out how much they will cost and then figure out what to do.

At least tell me the sizes you need and I will find out how much they cost.

OK, that sounds like a good idea. Thanks Chris. I need 3.40/3.00-5 for fronts and 4.10/3.50-5 for rears. I would prefer something besides Tex-cons.

My kart has 4.10/3.50-5 tires on the rear right now. But they are so hard. We put some off brand tires the size I told you on Steves kart. These work way better. When I drove his kart the front end was very positive and it didnt bind up when turning at all.

I have been noticing my kart not steering so well lately. I turn, then have to turn farther for it to even steer in now. But there are no wear indicators left on my tires either. The Tex-cons are also a lot narrower than Steves even tho they are the same size.

I want to change over to 5 inch front wheels this time. Mr Cates left us with a lot of spare parts. So I am swapping those out. Steves kart has 5 inch wheels on front and it just feels so much better. His tires dont look like they are trying to roll off the wheels as much going thru the turns either.

Chris, there is one thing you need to buy if any modifications are going to get done on your engine. You need a Bradfield rod. Well, its the rod Bug Engineering sells. I dont know if the local kart shop has them or will have to order one thru the mail. Mr Cates said he talked to Tom Pierson at Bug.

They cost about $15. But worth every penny. You wont have to worry about breaking a rod after changing it out. Then you can really step up on what can be done to your engine. There is nothing else to worry about breaking if we dont get crazy with too many mods.

Gee Terry, I saw those for sale in the kart magazines. That rod looks huge. Looks more like what a real race car would have in there. I had the intake manifold off my motor once. Dont see how one could fit in there from the picture.

Well, I didnt take it a part. The bolts had come loose and I just couldnt help myself not to take a peak inside and see what the engine looks like. I sure wasnt impressed. But I had no idea what I was looking at either.

The whole time after putting it back together I was wondering how long before the motor would explode. I sure didnt know any different or if I didnt do something I should have since it was taken off.

Wow Chris, you tore the engine apart and put it back together and it still runs. You might just make an good mechanic after some more time working on engines.

Yea right I didnt have a clue what I was looking at or even how that motor even works. I just put it back together the way it came apart.

See, that is the first step of becoming a good mechanic. You can put things back together the way they came apart. You are a natural. Most guys I know couldnt even do that using a repair manual with a step by step tutorial.

Please dont lead me on Terry. I know you are just trying to build up my confidence. I can also tell when someone is blowing smoke up my butt. I might not know how to do very much right now, but I dont think of myself as stupid.

Sorry Chris, just calling it as I see it. You can do that on the telephone you know. OK I will not try to be a morale booster anymore. So do you want me to warn you before you make a major fubar?

Haha, I dont mind you warning me before I screw something up. But what is a ...what did you say?

Nothing Chris, just Steve told me what Mr Cates referred to his kart as after I sort of took it on that joy ride.

Well it is getting late. I got school tomorrow. So will hollar back another day. Talk to you later.

Yea Terry, thanks for calling and offering to help me out. You dont know how much I appreciate that. Good bye.

Wow, that has to be the longest time I have ever talked to any one on the telephone. Chris wasnt even going on nonstop about everything this time either. He seemed to be on top of what we talked about. It is going to be so cool if I get a new set of tires. Maybe I can afford to buy a set now. Well just need a little bit more money.

I sure cant believe how long this phone call was. If I were to write a book, this could fill a whole chapter. Man how do people do it all day? Just sit there and talk non stop all the time. I dont get it. How does anyone expect to get things done?

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 88

Another week has passed by. I have been beating the books like crazy. This stuff gets hard if I dont do the homework. If I slack off even for one day, Algebra does not make any sense. I still dont know what to do with it. Sure dont see much use for it right now. I sure hope it is good for something. But right now I dont have a clue what that would be.

There are just too many rules like if this way then you can only do it that way. You have to know all the rules or cant do the equations. Then dividing, or multiplying, or finding the common denominator, substituting, reducing...It never stops. I just dont get it.

If I focused all my spare time just on learning Algebra, it might make more sense. But what am I supposed to use it for? My brain would explode trying to figure out all of the laws regarding algebraic expressions. I know there is one expression on my face right now. An expression of pure disdain for this crap. Wow, disdain, another one of those words from last years language arts class I have never used before.

This weekend Chris is coming over with his kart. Fish or Paul Fisher, that sells concrete equipment and occasional grid steward at Fabens Speedway is bringing him over. We are going to find out how much trouble it will be to change his kart to a live axle model.

If not too complicated, I will try doing the work for him and then make some improvements on
his engine. This weekend will be a great time to modify two more carburetors on the Craftsman lathe too.

Chris is so eager to learn about things, I thought that would be perfect for him to see what it takes to bore out one of the chainsaw carburetors and make it into something worth putting on the kart engines.

I bet he gets a big kick from just being able to disassemble the carburetors before they get machined. He had asked how much trouble it was to replace diaphragms in his own carburetor. Now he can find out how to do a complete rebuild on one.

Another thing I need to get done is open up two more intake manifolds and make it so the larger chainsaw reed petals fit. Maybe this is something Chris might like to try doing himself for his own engine. I have several of the stock manifolds, so just in case one of them gets messed up, it wont be a problem.

I really hope grinding out the openings even bigger than we have them now, that the modified carburetor works well enough not to need buying the aftermarket Go-Power or Palmini intake manifold.

It would be cool if we can do a lot of modifications to the engines but keep them looking completely stock. The carburetor is one thing we cant do anything about. That stock float carburetor is dead in the water. So it is one thing that has obviously been changed.

But if the stock manifold will work well enough after opening it up even more, keeps the engines appearance more like original. No reason to tell anyone how much the manifold have been opened up. Especially if it works a lot better with the modified carburetor.

With some money I have managed to save up so far, I can almost buy new tires, or a new Bug rod, or an intake manifold. It would be cool if I could get all of these new parts for my kart. But what fun is there in just throwing money away on everything? Why not add a new Tillotson HL-115A carburetor while I am spending all that money?

So I figure about $40 on tires, $15 for the Bug rod, $25 for the carburetor, and that intake manifold is about $10. But it will also need a pyramid reed. So that is another 2 dollars. What is the problem here? It is only money. I am sure there are enough pop bottles at the car wash to cash in and pay for everything. Well maybe after a year of collecting them.

Fortunately I have most of the needed engine parts already. Steve had already decided to buy a new Bradfield rod. He also got a great deal on three of the six petal Go-Power pyramid reeds too. He just needs a new manifold for his engine now.

Friday afternoon is finally here and I am expecting Chris to show up eventually. He told me that Fish had to close up shop, before heading over here. He is spending the night so we can have more time working on stuff together.

Chris really seems interested in learning how to do things. I hope he is mechanically inclined enough when using tools. It would suck if it turns out he is an accident prone klutz. But I dont think that is the case. Well I sure hope that isnt the case.

Mom was holding up dinner for when Chris finally shows up. Paul Fisher came in the garage and he talked with my dad. I didnt know how well dad knew him. Dad thought he was someone that could be trusted at the track, but never mentioned anything else after that.

After the big meet and greets, Chris told Fish thanks and good bye. Chris was all into getting down and dirty working on his kart right then. He was just about to put on a work apron. That is until I grabbed his arm and told him it was dinner time.

I drug him into the kitchen and said to clean up. And dont forget to wash behind your ears. Then started laughing as I walked off. We sat down at the table as I introduced him to everyone there tonight that he did not know yet. He got really embarrassed for some reason when I introduced him to my sister.

Steve was also joining us, which was like all the time nowadays. Well when he wasnt in trouble with something at home. Chris and Steve took both of my brothers seats tonight. My oldest jerk of a brother is away at college, and the other one was out on a date with his girl friend of the week.

He had just rushed thru here after closing up the gas station for the evening. Then out the door he went. I dont know why he is so wound up to go out on a date after working all afternoon right after school. I would be more motivated to be less motivated about doing anything.

After everything quietened down, we were now ready to eat some chow. Alright time to dig in. I am hungry, lets eat. About this time Chris was reaching out to grab the plate piled with pork chops as mom bowed her head and started to give thanks.

I looked over to see Chris turn beet red in his face before realizing what was going on. He pulled back his arms quickly then lowered his head. After mom finished with the blessing, Chris just sat there as everyone else went grabbing for anything that smelled like food.

Mom made mention how well mannered and polite Chris was. Please feel free to help himself. This time Chris made very formal moves while carefully placing food on his plate. Watching him right before this I bet he would have stacked his plate like a kid at a pizza buffet. But after his slight embarrassment he went into full mannered child mode.

Wow, that was an awesome meal Terry. My mom works a lot and we dont eat home cooked meals very often. I could get spoiled real quick eating like this all the time. Chris went overboard right after we finished eating. He even asked to be excused after cleaning his plate spotless. Then thanked my mom nonstop saying how nice it was for him to be invited over this weekend.

When Chris offered to help with washing the dishes, I actually grabbed his neck and helped him walk outside. Dude quit laying it on so thick. You are making me and Steve look bad. Then Steve busted out laughing as I followed right behind.

We spent a ton of time checking over his kart. I measured everything and compared it to mine, just for reference. Chris was amazed at all of the tools and equipment there was in the garage. Even tho there was not that much stuff here.

Wow so cool to have a drill press. This must come in real handy all the time. Hey Terry, what is this over here on the table? That is my lathe, Chris. You might get a chance to use it tomorrow, if interested. I gotta modify a few more carburetors. I thought about showing you what is done to make one happen.

You will be the only other person privy to this information. I have not even revealed it to Steve yet. It is that hush hush on the down low how I made my secret weapon.

Wow, do you have a special carb that you have been running? Is it a lot faster? Are both of you running them right now?

Yes, yes and no.
Yes I have been running it.
Yes it is a lot faster after I machined one out.
But no, neither one of us are running one right now. I have only modified one of them so far. Just to make sure it works. I tried it on my engine the last time we practiced. Steve can give you a detailed report on how the carburetor works. Steve....I turn the microphone over to you.

Steve reaches out and acts like he takes a microphone from my hands. Yes Chris that carb he made is so fast, he wont even dare run it at the track. Since there is only one of them so far, it is too fast for me to even try keeping up with. So he chose not to use it for our first race.

I now turn the mic back over to the other moron acting just as stupid tonight, unless there are a few words you would like to tell the audience.

Chris got to laughing and could not stop. I slapped him on the back to finally shut him up. Dude it was not that funny.

You guys are stupid hilarious together. I cant help it. I am sorry. I will try to stop laughing. But then he went over the top again. I am sorry. Give me a minute and I will try to get it under control.

Chris worked back down to normal while me and Steve went to checking over his kart some more. We decided it would not be too much trouble to change over to a live axle. Wow that sure was a hard decision to make. Just like that. So no problem doing the swap.

The wheel base sure seemed long. But this I thought was common on a lot of the older dead axle karts. There was plenty of length behind the seat to shorten the wheel base closer to match newer models.

Sometime later dad came in asking what we were up to. I explained to him what the deal was and wanted to know what he thought was the best way to proceed. He did some measuring and realized the same thing about the wheelbase.

After a little bit more discussion we decided to shorten the wheelbase about 3 inches. This was still way more than the minimum of 40 inches and just enough clearance for the engine behind the seat hoop.

There was one thing that caught dads attention I would have never thought about. Well maybe would have figured something was wrong after taking it to the track then find out the kart did not handle anymore.

On this frame with a dead axle, there is no geometry on the front end. Normally, you need caster, maybe some kingpin inclination and even camber. There was no caster at all. So nothing that would keep the front end tracking straight.

Wow Geometry. That is on my school schedule for next year. Anyway that sort of explains about Chris telling me the kart does what it wants to if you let go of the steering wheel.

He said you had to hold on or suffer a serious merry-go-round ride. I first thought about how much trouble it was going to be cutting off the front axle and rotating it back to get some caster. So dad, do we have any options fixing the front end? Would it be easier to cut the spindle tubes off or cut the axle instead?

There is no reason to do either of those. All you need to do is heat up the frame section here. He then pointed the short section of tubing out past to where axle is welded to the main rails. You can rotate the axle back just enough to get the amount of caster needed to make it handle.

Since the kart and driver dont weigh very much, it doesnt need more than some caster to steer well. If you set it up square, the spindle will probably still have a slight amount of negative camber. Just from clearance in the kingpin bolts. That wont hurt at all. Likely do more good than anything.

After dad gave me the low down on doing the front end, he left us to work out any of the other issues we might find. We spent a while discussing what else was needed to do the conversion. Brakes were the first thing to decide on which way to go.

Chris, you have a few of choices here. Hydraulic or mechanical. Drum or disk. So what is it going to be? Your choice. None of them are cheap. The hydraulic will be the most expensive.

The mechanical drum like a Bendix will be on the low side. There are several different brands of drum brakes out there. That Bendix drum brake is near bullet proof. But I dont have experience with any of the others.

Hydraulic brakes would be so bad to the bones. Every car last year at the Indy 500 was equipped with the Airheart disk brakes. That is an impressive resume for those. I know they are not identical to the ones made for karts. But the design is supposed to be very similar.

Another hydraulic disk brake choice would be the Palmini. But I have been hearing those have a tendency of overheating the fluid and causing problems. That is mostly for the big engine classes. Doubt it would have any trouble with that massive Clinton power output.

I read an article in the Karting World magazine about some of the different brakes available right now. It was the March issue this year, I am fairly sure. They did a test on disk brakes and supposedly gave unbiased testing on each of them.

So you read that article and decide if disk brakes are what you want to change over to. That issue should be on the desk over there somewhere. But not going to suggest any of them without finding what ever you decide on someones kart first. Then we can get an up and close look before you buy it.

If you just want to keep it simple, go with the Bendix. You can get shoes at the kart shop across town. And likely some of the local guys selling parts at the track sometimes. Any other brake, well, you are on your own. I dont have any experience with the other stuff.

If you are still undecided after checking everything, we can go talk to Frank Price. He is a super smart engineer that works for Texas Instruments. He has one of those store bought educations. A whole lot of college and a framed piece of paper to even prove it. He is more than happy to show you how smart he is.

So my recommendation is whatever he suggests, just mark it off your list. That has worked for me every time I asked for his advice. I held strong to a serious face when explaining about Frank to Chris.

Well thanks for all of that advice. But I have already decided to just go with the Bendix brake and not have anything to worry about. Is everyone good with that decision? Or am I missing something?

You see, I already did some homework on what parts I need. I have also been checking what most of the guys out at the track are using. Only some of the fastest guys in the dual class are using hydraulic brakes right now.

Most of the single engine classes are split between mechanical disk and Bendix drum brakes. Well there are other drum brakes. But only one or two and they look sort of small for the job.

Those guys that mainly run the big races, well most of them run Airheart disk brakes. But they also have brand new equipment with the fastest engines too. That stuff is way more expensive for what I need right now.

My kart has the small dual drums built into the sprockets on each wheel. I dont see how they can be made to work on the new axle. Even if they can, it takes a lot of adjustments to keep them working good. So I would like to use the Bendix.

There are a few karts with the Palmini disk. I do know one guy that mentioned the same thing about getting it hot and not working so well. But he is a big guy that is very hard on his equipment.

I have not heard anyone complain about the Bendix brake. So that is what I thought about getting. I had already decided this before coming over tonight. That is unless you have a good reason not to use it.

Chris I dont have experience with any others, but would consider several of the disk brakes,

just because they look cool. I would like to try them out for comparison. But the Bendix works so well with what little power a Clinton has to offer. No matter how much we do to that engine, brakes will never be an issue we should have to worry about.

If I had a choice to test them, one of those H&H disk brakes would be on top of my list. That Grant spot disk is something else I might consider. But it is so small I cant see it lasting for very long without changing out pads or something else wearing out all the time.

That H&H has two different styles to choose from. One style has lining on the disk and the other one use pads on the caliper. Either way, both of them have more surface area than any of the other disk brake kits.

But comparing to a Bendix, it has more lining surface area than all of the other brakes. Does that make it better or just not so likely to wear out real fast? Inquiring minds want to know. I stared down at Chris when saying this.

Since the Grant is considered a very good choice from the test article, I am figuring that most of the better brake assemblies available are way over built for the application. But that does make one less thing to have trouble with over time.

Another thing Chris, you need to consider is matching wheels after changing over to a live axle. The old 5 inch rear wheels would now be spares for the fronts. Your front wheels here are 4 inch. So you could try both sizes out and see which ones works best.

It would be a good idea to buy an extra rear wheel with the conversion kit. Then you dont have a problem if one gets damaged during the race. This is just my opinion, but makes sense to me.

Yea Terry, that sounds like a good idea to have a spare rear wheel. I need to write down everything we have talked about so I dont forget anything important. I just need pencil and paper.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 89

After taking some more measurements, me and Steve decided to keep the existing motor mount and just do a solid weld to frame. We could get really creative and figure a way to isolate it in rubber using grommets and welded tabs. But no way to know if it works out until after some track testing. So a solid welded mount similar to how it is on most live axle karts will be the easiest way to go.

Steve suggested adding two more axle bearings and modify the fixed mount to full floating similar to Franks super prototype Dart special. At first I thought he was joking around, poking fun at Frank. Since Frank always reminds us just how great his prototype special is so special.

I could see him suggesting that in fun, but it might be another option. We would have to fabricate something like the bearing hangers that comes in the live axle conversion kit. Just dont have to be so beefy like the ones with the Azusa kits. We could cut them out of some thinner steel plate and should work just fine.

Back to more decisions with the steering shaft. It is enclosed but still only 1/2 inch diameter. The steering wheel is a full circle, but all welded together to the shaft. So a larger 5/8 diameter replacement shaft is the way to go. Then Chris can choose any one of the new style steering wheels that bolts to a hub.

Of course the most obvious reason replacing the steering wheel is to get a larger diameter padded grip. This should make it so much easier to drive his kart. Not to mention how much better it looks being dished and chrome plated too.

After going over everything that we thought needed to be replaced, Chris had a fairly long list. He even had to stop and resharpen the pencil before finishing up with the list. I was not sure how much it would all cost, but Chris didnt seem to be concerned about that. He was very excited about getting all of this work done on his kart tho.

It was so much later than I had realized. It was nearly 2:30 in the morning. I noticed Chris had already fallen asleep two times. Once he almost fell off the stool at the work bench after dozing off.

So I figured it was time to call it a night. Steve had already made arrangements early on to stay over tonight too. There is no way he would be allowed to go home this late anyway. If he did, it would only happen once.

So I told Chris to hold on and put his arms over my shoulders from behind, then drug him inside to the spare bedroom. Really my oldest brothers room. But since he is in college, it is now hardly used at all. Steve does not like my oldest brother at all so refuses to use his room when he stays over.

Chris seemed to enjoy this little bit of extra attention I was giving him. At first he tried to walk with me while I was helping him in, but ended up letting his feet drag along behind while he was laughing.

I always thought how cool it would be for my brothers to treat me like this. You know like making me feel like they really liked me. But it is not likely I would have been so lucky.

Actually if that is the only thing I have to complain about.....Well I guess it really is. Just thinking about not having divorced parents like so many people do now is enough for me to have no reason complaining about anything.

Steve decided crashing on one of the easy chairs in the den. He liked those chairs a lot. Even tho we hardly ever spend any time in the house, it is the go to room when watching the television.

The next morning I had a weird feeling, or maybe was still dreaming when I woke up. After opening my eyes Chris was standing over me looking down. Hey Terry, it is almost 7:30. Are you ever going to get up?

Chris go away and let me sleep in this morning. I know this has to be a dream I am having right now. Nobody in their right mind would get up this early on a Saturday.

Come on Terry get up already. Your mom said breakfast will be on the table in a few minutes. She was laughing when telling me to come in here and try to get you up. I dont want to eat alone by myself. She is cooking bacon and eggs. Do you know how long it has been since I ate a real good breakfast like that at home? Besides Steve is watching tv right now waiting on you. He is hungry too.

Well Chris, Steve is always hungry, so get used to that. I tried to get out of my bed but as usual standing up too quick I just fell backwards. My body absolutely rejects the idea of being removed from bed this early and is rebelling with the only way it knows how.

What the heck did you do to your hair Terry? How does it stand up all messy like that? Huh do what? I looked in the mirror. No that is my usual morning hair. Whats wrong with it? I tried to focus in on Chris and realized every hair on his head was no different than last night. There is no way he can wake up in the morning and not have messed up hair.

I finally got up, for what reason is still to be determined. But breakfast does smell good. I am not usually an early morning eater of such things on the weekends, but today I will give it a try.

Actually I rarely even make it up early enough for breakfast on school days. So what is so great about getting up this early anyway? Wow breakfast does smell really good for some reason.

My mom had a shocked look on her face when I dragged my not so happy body in and sat down at the table. Steve came in slightly surprised too. Wow this is a first. I hope this aint a sign the world is going to end today or something like that.

I decided to ignore everyone and went to chowing down. Mom had followed up the meager amounts of bacon and eggs with a big stack of pancakes. Orange juice topped off the meal.

Mom made sure Chris had a large glass of milk to wash down his hearty appetite. She also made a comment about Chris eating every bit as much as me and Steve did. Well mom he is a growing boy just like your favorite son here.

Well I was just thinking how nice it would be for my favorite son to clean off the table after everyone finishes eating and maybe even wash the dishes.

Since there are a couple of extra mouths that are joining us for lunch, I need to make a trip to the grocery store. Oh really mom, who is coming over? Mom made a good solid grab and pinch on my ear lobe then reminded me to make sure the dishes are also dried before getting side tracked with anything else. Yes mom. I love you too.

Good bye boys, See you back inside for lunch about 12:00, give or take. Terry your dad will be home for lunch. So dont leave a mess out there in the garage for him to get upset about. You know he gets a little cranky when working on the weekends. Yes mom. Good bye.

OK since you guys made two thirds of the mess, both of you can help me clean up. Steve then said, No way man, I am still a guest in this house. Besides I would never make you do the dishes in my house.

Heck no Steve, but your mom sure would not have any problem volunteering me to help you do them.

Sorry, but I can at least keep Chris entertained while you get them done. Come on Chris lets head out to the garage and do some real mans work. Chris had a huge grin on his face showing those pearly whites following Steve out the back door without saying a word.

It took nearly 30 minutes before getting everything cleaned up washed and then finally dried. I was mad at both of them, but not really. I do have it too easy most of the time. So an occasional chore wont kill me.

Besides mom is likely planning to do burgers on the grill. It is more than worth sitting down to lunch with a nice home cooked cheese burger. She will probably make us a plate full of tater tots too. With melted cheese of course.

By the time I made it out to the garage would have been roughly the earliest I might normally be crawling my way out of bed on a weekend. So nothing has really changed this morning making it out to work in the garage.

Except I have been up nearly two hours, eaten a hearty breakfast, but now I am already feeling hungry again. And I have also washed the dishes, including drying them off too. That was important to include while complaining to myself right now. Especially if no one else cares to listen to me.

I walked in to find Steve and Chris had already stripped his kart completely down to the bare frame. Even cut off the steering shaft and full length tube running from the steering hoop to the front axle.

What took you so long? Dishes dont take near that much time to wash. You didnt even have that many to clean. Man you are slow.

So genius, how do we go about setting the caster on the front axle? Your dad didnt get too detailed about how it should be done. I dont want to be the one to screw things up. That is your job.

Oh yea, forgot to mention, I gotta shag after lunch. Mom has a list a mile long by now for chores to do today. That would be carried over from yesterday. And probably tomorrows chores on todays list too.

I managed to convince her that your mom had made arrangements for a big lunch, which includes yours truly here, otherwise I would have already gone home.

Wow I wasnt ready to get this involved on the kart until we had a good idea of what parts that were going to be used. But I guess it doesnt matter now. The steering shaft kit will be the same as what we put on your kart.

I thought about how to do the front end. First clamp a piece of that four inch wide channel iron under the front axle. Just mainly something to measure from, like when we fixed the front axle on my kart last time.

I had an idea of using long pieces of 1/2 inch all thread to run thru those spindle tubes that are welded on the front axle. Then we can measure high and low to keep the camber adjustment correct.

For the caster we can set up the combination square to the angle it is going to be bent back to. So did we decide what angle it should be?

Well Terry, you are going to be so proud of us. Or maybe not. We actually talked about that while you were in the kitchen doing womans work. Chris had a good idea since we didnt have a clue where to set it at. Or even really what it is good for.

Chris was fumbling thru the June issue of Karting World. It has the complete specifications to over 150 karts. Well that is what it said on the cover. I guess that is what caught our attention when talking over what to do on the front axle. So we just need to add all of them up and divide by 150, plus or minus, to get the average. Sound like a good plan?

Ha-ha, sure Steve get started writing down all 150 of them. But first I want to check out the specs on a few particular models. Hey, that is the same issue with the mods done to a Clinton engine.

Oh yea, it might be that issue, so what?

So did you bother reading any of it this time?

Well it was sort of boring. The article seemed more focused on complaining about class weights and other crap. I didnt bother reading too much farther. If that is the stuff you gotta sift thru just to find out how to modify an engine, I will pass this time.

I told Chris to start reading it while I tore down his kart. But he insisted doing the work himself. Hey Chris hold up your hands. Chris held up his dirty greasy hands smiling.

Look Terry, Chris still has all of his fingers and finger nails still attached with no bloody stains on the floor anywhere .... yet. I know the day is young and there is a lot more work to do. But this is a good start for him.

He figured out really fast the different wrench sizes. It is not like when your buddy Greg Mullins was digging thru the tools and looked at every single wrench each time to find a certain size.

I told Chris what size, and he zeroed on it quick enough. He didnt go thru all of the wrenches one at a time to find the right size. If I needed a 9/16, he didnt go looking at the 3/4 to see what size was stamped on the wrench.

He actually reached down to one that looked close to a 9/16 span and confirmed thats what it was. Now tell me anyone else you know who can do that? Well besides me of course. Name one other person. I bet you cant.

Heck, the next time he didnt even bother to look but where he had put that wrench down after using it. He might suck as a driver, but could make a great pit crew. Chris smiled really big before catching on to what Steve had just said.

I am kidding man, just kidding. Relax. Your driving doesnt suck that bad. Well it wont when you get a decent handling kart to drive. Then Steve returned a big grin back to Chris.

Is this the crap I have to put up with hanging around you guys from now on?

No Chris, it will usually be a lot worse. Steve is being very considerate to you for some reason. If you want to know how bad Steve really is, I will tell you something he likes to do.

We will go to the mall for no reason except for being really bored. So Steve will walk up to someones baby sitting in a carriage. He stares at the poor little brat and makes a horrible face that scares it so bad the kid poops in the diaper the starts balling its eyes out.

Steve bails real quick before the mom goes off on him. Then he is looking for another little kid to do the same again. All of this for his own sadistic pleasure. He gets a few brats crying that starts a chain reaction. Not much after that the mall is full of screaming babies. And they also stink up a storm.

Oh man, not that lame story again. It wasnt even funny the first time you tried to tell someone that. It only happened once and that was an accident. I doubt Chris thinks I would be so bad to freak out someones brat kid. That is just cruel. Now your oldest brother? Well that is a different story.

So Steve, did you think about stealing the kids candy when you got the chance? Chris gave out a chuckle. Well I dont believe that either one of you would do something that awful. It is just down right mean.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 90

We had been working all morning nonstop, which is rare. Mainly because there have been no mishaps so far. But the day was still young. It sure didnt seem that long before mom was hollering at us. It was already lunch time. Wow, where has the day gone? Oh well, I am hungry, uh starving. Wonder whats for lunch?

We headed inside to find the table set up with a plate full of burger meat right off the grill. There was every bit of the fixins to build whatever you want to make all the way up to a super deluxe cheeseburger.

You boys are filthy, so after making your burgers, maybe you should eat outside on the patio table. I will bring out some drinks for all of you in just a little while. So dont shake too much dirt off yourselves or I will be cleaning in here all day.

We chowed down our delicious burgers outside, which is always a lot better than eating inside, weather permitting of course. Chris got back to talking about what else could be done on his kart today. He wanted to make the best of the time he spent here. Since he didnt know when the next time would be able to come back over.

After some more discussion, we thought about getting the front axle taken care of. Make sure the castor is set right and then start putting the kart back together.

When that is finished, we can get to working on his engine. I asked him if he wanted to modify his intake manifold or machine the carburetors on the lathe. I was surprised that he was more than willing to help with both, if there was enough time.

I didnt think there was enough time today that we could do both, but try to get started and see how much could be done. Even tho the carburetors would be cool to do with him here, it wasnt something he could actually work on by himself. He would mostly be watching me. So that will be the last thing on the to-do list.

Since I have only made one carburetor so far, trying to explain to Chris how to do the work himself would be almost useless. I was not even sure of the exact tooling that was used last time. After those first attempts with the junk carburetor bodies, most everything was narrowed down to just a few reamers to do the job for the next carburetors. But there was also a lot of guess work involved with that first one.

Back to working on the frame, we slid in some 1/2 inch rods thru the spindle tubes on frame. So I cut the old steering shaft in two pieces for this. It did the job just fine. Using hose clamps worked to keep them in place. They fit tight enough so we could measure above and below to make sure the camber didnt change.

The old steering shaft pieces also made it easier to rotate the front axle back to get the castor in we needed. A lot stronger than using all thread. After looking thru the specifications list in the June Karting World magazine, I went with 10 degrees castor. If it was not enough, should be easy enough to add more later.

So before we got started, Steve jumped in and decided to make sure the 4 inch channel iron was laying flat on bottom of the frame. He had to grind down some of the welds on the floor pan. Then spent even more time draw filing the channel iron to confirm it was flat.

I could not believe how far overboard he went doing this. Wrapping a wooden block with Emory cloth, then working at 45 degree angles to the length of channel, he crosshatched the flat side where we would be measuring the caster angle of the front axle. Now there are 90 degree crisscrossed lines left from the sanding.

After deciding to go with 10 degrees caster, I went ahead and cut out a template from sheet metal that fit under the axle sitting on the channel iron. Instead of trying to eyeball the combination square we have a 10 degree angle to push up against the rod sticking down below the axle tube.

Dad explained to me that I should heat the axle to a very slight dull glow of orange. The colder the better. He had tried to beat in my head the importance to not over heat the axle tube. Just hot enough until the axle would start to rotate when using a lot of force.

He said to spread the heat around, absolutely do not concentrate it on one spot just to start getting it hot enough. This could make the axle tubing brittle, especially if it cooled down too fast. Uniform coverage of heat was the big secret here.

As the frame section was heated, I slowly worked the torch around until it was a dull glowing orange color. Here Steve, I handed him the torch, keep it just like this. I grabbed the steel rod that was running thru those short tubes where the spindles fits over. I believe this is called a Reverse Elliot Clevis describing the style of spindle mounting on the front axle.

The frame put up a lot of resistance, but I was able to rotate the axle back just enough until we had 10 degrees of caster. Chris was holding the sheet metal template against the steel rod sticking down below the spindle tube sitting on the channel iron under the frame. When the rod angle lined up with the template, we had it licked.

Way to go everyone. We now have some geometry in the front axle. Chris your kart should track straight and handle when turning the wheel now. Chris had nothing to say but a big smile across his face.

Before Steve left for home to do chores, he suggested again converting over to a swing mount instead of welding it back on. As Steve was walking out of the garage he spun around and headed over to the desk at the far corner of the back wall.

After thumbing thru a few magazines he found it on the outside back cover of one issue. Even looking thru a magnifying glass he gave up. Hey Terry, do you have any pictures of Franks super duper special?

Yea, I did get some of them the last time we practiced out there. Remember he was wanting a good action picture to send to one of the magazines for a cover shot. But the only real action pics of him was pushing his kart off the track. Well besides me flipping over him in the pits. But there are some close ups of the frame, if that helps any. I took them when working on his frame.

Yes those would be perfect. Go get them. Hurry up too. I gotta get home asap. I ran inside to my room and grabbed my box full of the kart pictures. After he went digging thru them, one caught his attention. Yea right here. This is exactly what I wanted to see.

Terry, see the bearing hangers on Franks kart? What if we copy these using some of that steel plate over there? If we do this, all that has to be changed is flip them over upside down. Then use these instead of Chris having to buy a complete axle kit.

Look here, where the frame bends up before the dead axle tube is welded on. It is done this way to drop the frame lower to the ground. If you weld those Dart bearing hangers on upside down, you know where the opening is on top, the ride height should be just about perfect this way.

Another thing super cool is welding a section of that old axle tube across between these hangers like on the Dart, so there will be a rear bumper. Chris wont have to worry about getting rear ended so much this way and breaking anything on his engine. You know like a spark plug or something.

Wow Steve, that is a great idea! I can even go over to Franks and trace out a template of his bearing hangers. Then Chris can try cutting them out of the steel plate. I bet he would like to do something like that too. Wouldnt you Chris? He just shrugged his shoulders. Sure I guess.

Me and Chris can go ahead and start on that right now. I am sure Frank is home. Thanks Steve, you were a big help today. Or would you prefer making those bearing hangers for Chris? I know you like making things like that.

Naw, thats OK. I am sure Chris would like to make them himself. He was so excited to do all that work on his kart. You should have seen him tearing it apart earlier. He is going to be good at this after some more time. Its a shame you took so long washing the dishes this morning.

It is a good thing my bike has a rack on back of it. Chris is still small enough not to be a problem riding two up on the bike. When me and Steve ever tried two up, usually ended up in a small disaster. I decided to drop in on Frank and hopefully we can trace a cardboard pattern of his bearing hangers.

I warned Chris about Frank. Not only is he a yankee, but also barks at people. I remember Frank telling me about a dog that wouldnt stop barking and taking nips at him. So he grabbed the dog and bit it on the ear. The dog cried in pain but no longer annoyed Frank after that. I was surprised Frank didnt tell me the dog later died of rabies.

As we rode up to Franks house I was surprised with what I saw. Frank actually working was the first surprise. But it was him wearing a straw hat riding on a lawnmower in his front yard that first caught my attention.

The straw hat had provisions for two cans. One on either side. He had two beers in that hat connected to a tube running down in his mouth. As he was mowing the yard, also consuming two beers at the same time.

Ingenious, not really, more hilarious, only if someone else but Frank. I have sort of figured out Frank did certain things just to get attention from other people. Since he moved down here, I dont know how many people he has made friends with yet.

But getting to know Frank over the last few months, I am thinking it has not been that many. Maybe if he didnt act like a yankee, it would be easier for him to make friends. I dont really know tho.

Early on I was more afraid of Frank, but realized he was mostly harmless and full of hot air. I also would not have just waltzed right into his garage like I am doing now.

So Frank was going in circles drinking his warmed over beer out in the sun today. I took Chris inside the garage and started checking over that one off super Dart proto race special kart he is so proud of.

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 91

Frank had his kart up on a stand, so it would be easy enough to remove just one rear wheel and trace out a template of his bearing hanger. Frank finally finished mowing and pulling right up inside of his garage with the mower engine running at full speed blowing dust and grass clippings everywhere.

Frank started yelling. So what are you punks doing to my kart? I dont remember inviting anyone over today for a bench racing session.

HEY FRANK KILL IT ALREADY! You are choking us with all of the smoke in here.

Huh, do what, I cant hear you! The mower is running!

Then kill it Frank.

Oh wait a minute, let me kill the engine. OK that is better. So what the H-E-double hockey pucks are you doing to my kart? Who is that other punk you got there?

Hold on I need refills, you guys want one?

No thanks Frank. But you already knew that.

Oh Frank, this here is Chris. Chris, this strange guy is Frank. He says his vet has given him all of the shots, so you should be safe enough in case he bites you.

Frank holds out his hand and offers a shake. Glad to meet you. Woof, woof, woof.

Chris held out his hand and shook Franks. They kept shaking up and down over and over.

OK kid that is enough, you can let go already. Chris had a very surprised look on his face. I cant let go, my hand is stuck. Chris tried to pull away, but no luck letting go of Franks hand.

Frank started laughing while sipping on his fresh cold beer. Gotcha! Two sided tape. Pretty cool huh! Bet you never thought about using it for that.

OK Frank real funny, now let go already. By this time Chris was more withdrawn for the moment. He didnt seem very excited to be here, even if getting something done for his kart.

Dont worry Chris, he wont bite. And if you are uncomfortable right now, it only gets worse the the more you hang around him. Just look at it like you are getting a shot at the doctors office. It is a lot worse thinking about it than really hurts when getting stabbed by the needle.

Gee Frank, if you were twice as funny, I still wouldnt laugh. So whats going on?. I have been busy with school or would have dropped by before now. But I need some help, and you might be able to assist me even without doing anything. Just the right kind of help you like to offer.

OK so whats up? I thought you would have stopped by before now. Since the last time at the track was fairly successful I figured on another practice before too long. But havent seen you since then.

Frank, I just told you why. I got my head in the books with too many hard classes this year. Right now I want to help Chris convert his kart over to a live axle setup. After checking over everything, we decided to make some bearing hangers like are used on your kart, mainly to add a rear bumper to protect his engine.

I thought about tracing a template from your kart, then making a pair of them using some steel plate I have.

Gee kiddo, uh sorry Larry, those hangers are cheap enough, why not just buy them?

Because we are making them, that is why.

You sure like doing things the hard way. Sometimes you need to listen to people with good advice. It will save you a ton of headaches.

Yea Frank, well I am hard headed, you know that. My head only aches when people keep telling me not to waste all my time making things. So can we make a trace of your hangers or not?

Well I sure the heck aint going to tear my kart all apart just so you can trace it out. I aint going to sit here all day and watch you do it either. That just doesnt show good smarts. They are not that expensive to buy.

No Frank, all I need to do is remove one wheel. Actually the right wheel would be just fine. If there are no objections, will you let me borrow your kart just long enough to trace it out on a piece of cardboard.

I have the bearings, so dont even need to trace around them. Just more or less the overall outline of your bearing hanger. I can punch a hole in the cardboard and draw around the hanger. It should work perfect that way.

All this time Chris has been quiet, which isnt like him at all around people. He is actually sort of keeping himself behind me while I was talking with Frank.

Come on Chris, Franks bark is a lot worse than his bite, so stop hiding behind me. His teeth have been filed down so they dont break the skin anyway. Saying this with a serious look on my face didnt make Chris any less tense.

Thats OK, I am fine right where I am. But if he barks at me again, I will....Well I will stay right here behind you for now.

OK fill me in on what has been happening in the world of karts while you destroy my kart. But I dont have all day to baby sit you two guys, so cut it short.

I handed Chris wire cutters and pointed him to the rear wheel. Then spent the next ten minutes going over everything related to our first night racing at the track.

After a moment to catch my breath, I followed up with what we are doing to get ready to go back and try to race again without the setbacks. Chris was going to be working with us this time to run against the two Westbend guys out there.

The thick piece of paper or card material I brought easily worked to make a good template. All I had to do is press it around the edge to leave a perfect outline of his bearing hanger from the dirty oily residue.

Frank was surprised we had made a night of racing. I explained to him my dad sort of blindsided me Friday before the race about going to the track. I was not expecting him to do that or planning to race so soon.

After we talked for a while, I needed to get out of there and back to work on a Simplex. If we could make these bearing hangers today, might even get them tack welded on.

Frank, I want to make another day of practice soon as possible. Well just soon as we get Chris up and running. This should work out perfect, since we are setting up to run against those Westbends. So Frank, you get to become our target to practice against preparing for our next race.

Frank was getting stupid acting from the beer, so I thought it a good time to bail out of there. Chris is still way too uptight for some reason. When he doesnt talk almost nonstop about anything racing, something is wrong.

Well wrong in this situation. The whole time Chris had been in the garage working on his own kart, his mind was busy focused on how things were done. Not talking about anything of interest. But completely absorbed in all of the work we were doing on his kart.

I thanked Frank and told him I would be back over when we are getting close to going to the track for practice. Then we bailed out of there heading back home. Chris was very quiet on the way back. In fact he never said a word until we pulled up to the garage.

That Frank guy is strange. How do you know him anyway? I was getting cold chills just standing there. Doesnt he make you feel uncomfortable?

No not really. Well at first, I thought something was off about him. But later finding out he was a yankee, it made a lot more sense. So I just ignore those strange vibes he gives off.

Well next time we go over there, leave me out of the we. I will find something to keep busy with, instead of having to fight off this nervous feeling I have right now. It is not worth it to me.

Sorry Chris, I wont make you go over there again. But he is probably going to be babysitting us at the track when we make a practice day. So you need to get comfortable being around him. Otherwise everything we are working on is a waste of time.

I know what you are talking about being around him. My first time I was totally weirded out for a while. But the next time was not nearly as bad. Steve is the same way. He doesnt like being around Frank at all.

So you want to do some work today? Or just stand here and complain about Frank the yank. If we can get these two bearing hangers made, then maybe tack weld them on your frame. This would be a good goal to aim for and we can start back assembling when your parts come in.

You know what parts are needed before we can put your frame back together. So next week see what you can come up with. Either go to Ward Guys kart shop or maybe order some of the parts from Azusa or another kart shop.

After some serious thinking, I decided to cut a template out of a piece of sheet metal first. Something thin enough so it would be fast and easy to make. This would have been another good project for Chris to make. But the only way it would get done quickly is do the work myself.

Chris watched me cut out the template using different tools around the garage. Mainly a pair of tin snips to start with. Then some clean up using the bench grinder. In a very short time I had a finished part. During this time I didnt explain anything I was doing. Just pushing forward to get these bearing hangers turned into a reality. Next I spaced the template off the steel plate with a thick washer, then fired up the cutting torch to make quick work of getting two of them done.

With the two hangers clamped together, the holes were drilled for the bearings to mount on. After bolting them together, Chris spent the rest of the afternoon using the bench grinder, hand grinder and files to finish out the bearing hangers as a matched pair.

I was surprised how focused Chris stayed the whole time until they were finished. By late afternoon, we had them clamped to his frame. For now that is far as we would go. Not until all of the parts were test fitted would these be welded on the frame permanently.

Shortly after we had tackled this work, Paul Fisher arrived to pick up Chris. Hey you two, how about helping me out tonight at the track. I need corner marshals and you guys are more than qualified for the job.