1987 Margay Lynx AC

[sam bennett]

July 17th I picked up this Lynx just outside Orlando. I'd just finished the Express and didn't need another one, but the idea of this kart being jumped, or run down dirt roads the rest of it's life didn't appeal to me either. Coincidentally I'd been looking for a PCR PP100 to complete my 80's piston port engines and if it came with a kart, all the better. 

The young guy and I had been going back and forth on prices for weeks and finally one morning we struck up a deal. 
Here is one of the pics from the CL ad.


I got the kart home and my son and I started stripping it down right away. I was shocked how well preserved this kart was. Sure, there are the normal issues, but no frame/nerf bar damage. The gas tank wasn't too bad, and all the pieces were there.









Like on the Express, I measured and removed the steering supports so they could be re-chromed.  It took hours of grinding to get to the bare metal and polish to a mirror finish.
St. Louis plating did chrome for Margay over the years. All of the components on this kart when through a proper copper/nickel/chrome from the factory! Chrome comes off pretty easy, but the nickel was an absolute nightmare. 

In this picture are the supports back from chrome and welded back on. I have to mask them with PET tape so Mike at Hot Colors in Cocoa can blast and powder.


While waiting on the powder I started on the aluminum parts. 

[sam bennett]

Back from powder in about 2- weeks. The matching stand I made from some 1.25" 4130 which I'd been sitting on for years. 


I'm not sure what the color is named, but it's some transparent red over Porsche Silver. In the shade it's pretty mellow, but in the sun it explodes.


In early August I used my week off to get a batch of polishing done for the platers. It took every bit of  8-10 hour days for 6 days. The side nerfs were a challenge due to the sharp crimp bends. Someone thought it would be a good idea to beat the rear bumper off with a hammer.  Just more work...
If you've ever had the displeasure of trying to polish a front bumper it's quite frightening. To make the process more manageable, I remove the vertical teeth, polish everything, re-weld, and touch up polish.  Here is a picture of sometime near the middle of that process.



I believe when it was all said and done I'd sent close to 200 pieces to STL for plating. Somewhere near 100 hours of grinding and polishing. Here are some of them upon return








A rear axle can take between 4-5 hours in prep. Since they come zinc plated and zinc will contaminate the Nickel bath, you have to remove all of the plating before any grinding can begin. I usually blast it all, then take to my makeshift lathe to profile the surface. After that's done I spend the remaining 2 hours polishing. 

[sam bennett]

I'm a bit at odds with myself over what to do with exhausts? I'll spend weeks prepping some parts for chrome, but can't find the motivation to do the same for pipes. What I've done here is strip the painted pipe and removed the as much of the light carbon as I can in a caustic bath. Sometimes it all comes out and other times it doesn't. Then I soak in acid for a 8-12 hours to remove the rust and then back in the caustic to neutralize. From here I grind and polish the pipe, but not to the extent of the other parts.
The header and flex are just burnished. 



I think this picture is of the throttle and brake rods I made up from some 1/4 cold. I haven't owned a kart yet that didn't need a new set.



Although I made a new floor pan, I used the original bat wings which were kinda rough. 
]

Both Enginetics MC and Caliper had some internal corrosion and needed full rebuilds.  

[sam bennett]

So, here's what I know about the Lynx: Made from 1987 to 1996
The front end is 24.5" bolt to bolt.
Rear tubes are 23" from center to center.
The spindle KPI was 12* standard.
Caster could be adjusted at 12* or 18* with additional purchase.

Wheelbase is 40.5".
Left bias driver placement.
Keith had made mention there was a non A/C version of the Lynx for the long tracks or perhaps sit-up enduro.

compare to SR-16:
+ 1" longer wheelbase.
+2.5" wider in the front.
15* KPI
Center bias driver.

Thanks for reading.

[Sterling Brundick]

Absolutely beautiful Sam.  Beautiful.  Are you planing on running this piece of artwork or just put a frame around it??  One of these days when I am headed home to Jacksonville, I'm going to come down and see how you do all this bright work.  

Sterling

[Jim Waltz]

Very pretty, Sam!