Emmick Express Build

[sam bennett]

You guys are too much. 

Jim. I built a rear kart from scratch. All polished tube. Took months. My platers said "it's too big for our tanks" after I was done! I wanted a nickel kart like your Invader. It was an incredible amount of work to grind and polish every bend and weld.






Here is the same Kart after getting blasted to death and powder coated.



Ted. Haha. I'd love to have you back out here chasing a few beers my friend. If I have an extended layover in AZ I'm coming to see you!

No updates today. 
My trip tomorrow was cancelled. Maybe powder calls to tell me the chassis is ready. I'm outta here likely Monday.

[ted johnson]

Sam, you'll always find an open door here! Bring ICE! A bit over 100 today. Just got back from picking up the 610 that Bonbright tweaked. I almost roasted out there. All I need is to get those CT wheels down to the vapor blast shop in Tucson, and my rear axle, and the rest of the Photon can go together.
The new rig is looking great all polished up. How do you keep it polished? Ted

[sam bennett]

I should've been done with this by now! In between being gone a lot, and the powder coater taking 2 months to get the color from Prismatic, I'm way behind. The color is a McCulloch yellow with a bright g0ld metallic top coat. The cloudy day is hiding the flake.
I started the reassembly this morning.


New removable front bumper.




New spindle bearings.




On the previous page I show making this new shaft. I was able to get a new bearing from Triangle Mfg in Osh Kosh. 


Here is the underside of the new style steering shaft. This design keeps me from using any shaft collars.



The bearing cassettes didn't go in easy and took off a little paint! 


I used some 12 pt stainless ARP bolts for the cassettes. 

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The previous posts show me making the side nerfs, rear bumper, and lower front bumper. The wheels are the same VanKs from page 2. 



I was really hung up on the steering supports during this resto. These are the same ones which were removed, rechromed, and rewelded before powder. 







Tomorrow will be the floor pan and maybe make some brake and throttle rods. Thanks for watching.

[sam bennett]

I got the floor pan and tank secured. Still messing around with the brake rod shape and length.


I like using these 3/16" large flange rivets. They are strictly decorative in this case because the pan sits on the tabs and doesn't hang from them. I back them up underneath with a #10 stainless washer.


The throttle rod came from a Margay and seems to work perfectly for this kart.


The cloudy day is hiding the sins on the fuel tank. It really took a beating and will need some well placed deals to hide the scars. 

[sam bennett]

What are you supposed to do with 3/8" tie rods you can't use? Try to make sliding seat supports out of them!

[sam bennett]

Of the variety of trades represented in automotive restoration, I've always admired the upholsterer. In the mid 80's my Dad took me to to his upholstery guy who went by the name "Horse Face Leon". No joke. And from what I remember, his face really didn't look that much like a horse. Horses had pointed ears... Lol. 

Some years back I bought this industrial walking-foot machine thinking, "if I can tig weld, how much harder is joining vinyl gonna be?" So, I gave it a whirl and quickly realized I have no business being behind one of these. And then I did the next best thing which was to ask my wife to bail me out of another problem. 

In about a day she came up this pretty faithful reproduction of the factory Emmick seat cover. I couldn't be any happier with the results. Now, if I could convince her to "help" me with seat covers for some more karts!

[ted johnson]

Sam, are you aware that Joel Christians is wizard at removing dents from our fuel tanks? He does a lot of other good things for we karters. He does machining, and can re work beat-up steering wheels and apply new vinyl. He's a pretty busy guy, as he has a "real" job, but he does nice work, is a gentleman, and charges a fair price, just as you do. If you PM me, I will give you his contact info. Ted