Emmick Express Build

[sam bennett]

Back in February, I came across an ad for an Emmick Sprint kart. In the western states these aren't uncommon, but to find one in Florida is indeed a unique score. 
I wasn't able to determine what model it was based on the pictures alone. After some back and forth with the owner we were able to determine it was an Express (EX791). This was an important discovery for me because it was the same model kart I had from about 87-90.

Jerry Van Deusen's website was helpful with identification. http://www.vdm46.com/emmick-kart-id.html

  
The next morning I drove 1020 miles round trip to Pensacola and made it back just before midnight. This write-up is to document the restoration and what is involved with getting it show-ready.
Here are the pics from the CL ad.

 

 

 
Here is what is left after taking the kart down to just the chassis and nerf bars. Although some other web pics of the Express show different side nerfs, these were the exact same ones I had as a kid (minus the added extra tubes). They look like the Elite nerfs.



One of the things I wanted to do on this kart was try to preserve the chrome steering supports and lower front bumper, as opposed to painting over them. It appears these parts were nickel/chrome plated and welded to the unpainted chassis. I suppose they were taped and the chassis was then painted. The tape line was put high enough to cover the heat discoloration from welding.



Some additional tubes were welded to the factory nerfs to accommodate side fairings. After trimming them down to the original tube I realized they were just too beat up to re-use. The same goes for the rear bumper and lower front bumper. Luckily the upper front bumper was in excellent shape. 



The steering supports are rough. Most of the chrome is gone and rust/pitting has taken over. After noting the angle they were cut off and blasted. I took them over to the buffer and used SatinGlo to grind and profile the tubes. After this, they were polished using Emery and a sisal wheel, then a hard sewn denim wheel, and finally buffed with zirconium and loose cotton. This took just under 4 hours. 

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...Continuing with the steering supports. They haven't been chromed yet.





Emmick used ¾” .058 wall seam welded tube for all of the bumpers. I was fortunate to have both 2” and 3” dies for ¾” tube. After ordering some higher quality DOM I cut them into smaller lengths and did the same grind/polish method.





I measured the side nerfs and they were pretty straightforward. Both left and right get a 120* bend and the right gets an additional bend (I didn’t jot down the angle) to clear the engine mount. I had to re-polish everything because the die leaves deep grooves in the tube. Then I made the ½” wide tabs for the number plates. This took about 7 hrs from set up to tear down.

[sam bennett]

The lower front bumper wasn’t bent entirely straight, and it had some collision dents. Unlike the side nerfs, it uses a 3” bend radius and 90* bends. I’m deviating from the factory bumper by making it a slip-on instead of directly welded to the frame. I prefer this approach because I can replace it without further altering the chassis.



In order to make a slip-on lower front bumper I attached the upper to approximate the location for the bungs. The bungs are made from ¾” and 5/8” tube welded internally. Then notch the bungs to conform to the front axle. Then it’s a matter of cutting the lower bumper to size so that it has zero gap and sits squarely under the upper bumper. Drill the 2 holes for the bumper “teeth” and check the fit. 





Emmick used a steel tube with a bronze bushing insert for both gas and brake pedal anchors. It’s nice, but a properly sized steel tube will offer the same fit. So I whipped up some bushings, profiled to conform to the bumper, align, and weld. The entire process of making the bumper and polishing took every bit of 6hrs. 

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I'm going to switch gears and focus on the spindles and come back to the rear bumper later.



I threw them in the burnisher for an hour to see how they would clean up.



I decided I wanted a bright chrome finish on the spindles, so I began with Satin-Glo. I usually don't polish down welds, but in this case I figure it's o.k. The weld deposit is massive and some grinding won't affect anything.

]

Here is what they look like after polish and color. This took 4-5 hours.

[sam bennett]

Here are some yokes ready for chrome. It's about 2hrs to blast the zinc, grind, and polish.

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I burnished the bearing hangers and rear sprocket hub. The bearing hangers were in great shape, so I figured I could polish them up as well. The hangers took an hour.





A little known fact is some alloys of aluminum are the most reflective material known. Large telescope mirrors are made from aluminum for this reason.





While I was at it I did the rear caliper as well. Between cleaning, blasting the anodizing, and polishing the caliper has 2 hours.

[sam bennett]

I'll post more when I get back from work. I'll cover making pedals, polishing wheels, making a steering shaft, and more. In the meantime I'll suffer working in Lindau, Germany. But I'd rather be home working on the kart!
 
(That's our hotel for the last week.)

[David Luciani]

great article so far!

[thomas kelley]

sam,
i have the same kart and i need nerf bars
any chance you could bend me up a pair????
no need to polish or chrome
thanks
tk

[sam bennett]

Thanks Dave and Tom.
Tom PM sent.
I plan to have some interesting additions to this thread. Floorpans, more fabrication, as well as proper fastener selection for parts.
Im fortunate to have my 2nd kart back! I still remember when Ron Emmick asked my dad to switch from an Invader Mirage to the Express. Reno in 1988. He said he would make the front axle from a thin wall tube to help the YBN tires stick. That kart is long gone now.

Im almost a week away from being home. In Geneva today and Lyon tomorrow via Merrakech. Ill get more out on the forum after the 17th. My platers in Titusville have called to tell me my chrome order is ready.

I saved about $900 (yes, you read that correctly) by polishing my own parts for chrome.

[Scott Elkes]

Really enjoy reading the progress of your Emmick kart project. The time to document, share and telling a story on your project is a separate project in itself. Thank you for doing that.

[sam bennett]

I'm back in FL for two weeks to knock out some more on this kart. 

Pedals.


The old pedals were probably o.k., but they had some pits which would always bug me. So, it's just as easy to make some new ones. The steel I use is 3/8 cold rolled. Never buy hot rolled for pedals because the surface quality is bad and they tend to be softer. 
The most affordable way to bend these up is with a bar bender. I'm pretty sure they are available from Harbor Freight, Northern, or something like that. These machines won't bend tube, just solid bar stock. In the picture below


In the picture below I've already made the 90* bends with the flat bar die, and now just putting the arc in the pedal. The 90*s have extra length which I'll cut when the arc is done. 


Below is a picture of the finished pedal and the original. See what I mean about the pits? And the hole for the cotter pin could fit an airliner through it.



Then I make some tabs and weld them on both sides like original. Polish them for the final time and send them for plating.


Pedals and new removable bumper back from chrome.

[sam bennett]

The pedals took about 3 hours to bend, weld, and polish. I've made pedals from Stainless steel, but I don't think they are as strong as cold rolled because stainless has little or no carbon if I recall.

Spindles are back as well.



And the rest of the order. So I paid $400 for all of this below. I asked how much if they had to do all of the polishing and they said, "another $900".


Doing your own polishing allows you to select the level of quality of the final product. You painters in the forum know 90% of the finish is in the prep. 

If you want a mirror finish with no grind marks or pits, that's up to you. 












Chrome is pretty tough too. I'll chrome stuff you'll never see just because the thought of it rusting keeps me awake at night. For example, those two small sleeves at the bottom go between the king pin bearings on the chassis. They haven't seen the light of day since '86.
Like you, at the end of the day I enjoy doing this work. I put in the headphones, go to work, and suddenly is dinner time.