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1960 BUG WASP Build
#1
Starting a long time ago 1975, my Dad would take me on a tour of his old neighborhood Hicksville NY and we would go to the fireman's drill team meet, each and every Memorial Day. On that walk he would point out his old home, elementary school, and every year he brought me to Mr. Kalendrero's house and he would show me his racing go kart.  My Dad loved seeing that kart and would tell me that he would like to race a kart one day.  That image was cemented in my mind, and later years my Dad and I built a go kart ourselves to fool around with at the train station parking lot.  I would even while at Hampton Raceway would go down the dirt road and watch the karts race.  I have been into anything with a motor for a long time and restored a few cars, bikes, and even Lionel trains, in the back of my plans was always a go kart.  Every once in a while would look at pics of vintage karting and check ebay but I never pulled the trigger.  Well last September it was time and I bought as some of you know an all original BUG WASP and picked it up in PA, well I was put in contact with Mike from NH, and he really wanted the kart.  Mike and I struck a deal and he ended up with the kart and I ended up with a project kart to build.  I spent the better half of the winter welding, grinding, sanding and scouring the continent for all the parts needed to put together the Bug pictured.  The process was awesome and I made a bunch on new friends along the way, the help that so many of you supplied is truly appreciated.  I presented the community with my kart at Nicholson and the compliments are truly humbling.  Now my Dad and I have a kart to play with and can't wait to have some fun with the old man fulfilling his dream of racing go karts.  I will let the story of the build process be told in pics, hope you enjoy.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   


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#2
Very nice, John. I'm a sucker for Bugs from '58 through '63. Pop had a '60 just like yours, though Pop's had an Mc10. Of course, the Bendix brake is a sacrilege! In '61, when Go Kart began selling the 800 with a Bendix, Bug and Go Kart were (supposedly) mortal enemies. I'm aware the Palmini juice brake is a pain to get restored, and a pain to maintain. Of course, the original '60 would've had either the small two-spoke, or slightly larger three-spoke Sputnik steering wheel, held to the 1/2" shaft with a tapered pin, but retrofitting a safer setup is a very wise decision. I remember my pal, Charlie Craibe, running down the back straight at Eau Gallie, FL Speedway, holding his Bug wheel up over his head! The pin had vibrated out. He went over the bank at the West end of the Speedway and we had to cut him out of the briar patch and pond down there! Great memories, and a very nice kart. Ted
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#3
(05-09-2018, 09:05 AM)ted johnson Wrote: Very nice, John. I'm a sucker for Bugs from '58 through '63. Pop had a '60 just like yours, though Pop's had an Mc10. Of course, the Bendix brake is a sacrilege! In '61, when Go Kart began selling the 800 with a Bendix, Bug and Go Kart were (supposedly) mortal enemies. I'm aware the Palmini juice brake is a pain to get restored, and a pain to maintain. Of course, the original '60 would've had either the small two-spoke, or slightly larger three-spoke Sputnik steering wheel, held to the 1/2" shaft with a tapered pin, but retrofitting a safer setup is a very wise decision. I remember my pal, Charlie Craibe, running down the back straight at Eau Gallie, FL Speedway, holding his Bug wheel up over his head! The pin had vibrated out. He went over the bank at the West end of the Speedway and we had to cut him out of the briar patch and pond down there! Great memories, and a very nice kart. Ted

Thanks for the compliments, I have the palmini breaks and the original steering wheel with shaft, but I wanted to use the kart so updates were required to fulfill safety regulations and the steering wheel, I thought was just kool.
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#4
Here's a terrible pic of my '61 Wasp/Mc20, taken behind Pop's lawn mower shop. Only time I ever ran a clutch or a recoil starter. They didn't stay there long! It was a weird kart. It was a '61, with the one-piece bent steering hoop/crossmember, and the Trophy brake, but it had the 1960 bent channel engine mounts like your '60. I guess Bug was using up leftover stock. Ted


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#5
(05-09-2018, 10:53 AM)ted johnson Wrote: Here's a terrible pic of my '61 Wasp/Mc20, taken behind Pop's lawn mower shop. Only time I ever ran a clutch or a recoil starter. They didn't stay there long! It was a weird kart. It was a '61, with the one-piece bent steering hoop/crossmember, and the Trophy brake, but it had the 1960 bent channel engine mounts like your '60. I guess Bug was using up leftover stock. Ted

your picture is amazing, it just feels like a more peaceful time,
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#6
I'm not sure. We had Khrushchev, Castro was fresh, the Cuban Missile Crisis was just ahead, and was VERY scary in Brevard County, FL, where I lived. I remember batteries of n1ke missiles along the West side of highway A1A. On the other hand, we had Allen Shepherd going to sub-orbit from our county, and Cape Canaveral was a hotbed of activity. Things were pretty exciting! Our Shriner-owned kart track in Rockledge was new, and we had a lot of good riding and racing there, and at the Eau Gallie Speedway as well. Polio was pretty much under control, thanks to Salk, and the new Sabin oral vaccine. Our West Melbourne kart shop was going pretty well, though Wyatt Enterprises in Cocoa put us in the shade by comparison. I was never a very good driver, but the engines Pop and I modified let me win a ton of A and B Super races. I was a Junior at Melbourne High School, skinny (!) with big ears, a flat top haircut, and VERY few girlfriends. Now, I'm fat, no hair for a flat top, and STILL NO GIRLFRIENDS! Wink Ted
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#7
that is a beautiful bug John  i have a 60 wasp as well running a Mc -10

(07-05-2018, 11:58 PM)steve cox Wrote: that is a beautiful bug John  i have a 60 wasp as well running a Mc -10


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#8
(07-05-2018, 11:58 PM)steve cox Wrote: that is a beautiful bug John  i have a 60 wasp as well running a Mc -10

(07-05-2018, 11:58 PM)steve cox Wrote: that is a beautiful bug John  i have a 60 wasp as well running a Mc -10

i really want a mc 10, yours looks so correct on there
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#9
'60 Wasp/Mc10 is a real classic. I remember in '60, Pop and I were at the old Eau Gallie (Florida) Speedway on a Sunday afternoon, running his Wasp/'10. The engine was still stock back then, thick ring piston and all. My friend Denny McCammon was there with his pop's Hoffco with twin 700 West Bends. We hooked up nose-to-tail and ran with inches separating us for lap after lap until one of us ran out of gas. Yep, we were still running gas and McCulloch oil back then. Neither of us could gain nor lose more than a couple of inches in all those laps on the 1/4 Mi. oval. That was a fun afternoon. A short time after, McCulloch sent my Pop a prototype factory 5.8 C.I. stroker kit, Pop did the Jim Butler port tricks on the '10, and then it was all over. Even the next year when I had my new Go Kart 800 with a ported Mc20, Pop could still outrun me with the stroked '10. I soon gave up and built a stroker of my own. Ted
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#10
(07-11-2018, 01:15 PM)ted johnson Wrote: '60 Wasp/Mc10 is a real classic. I remember in '60, Pop and I were at the old Eau Gallie (Florida) Speedway on a Sunday afternoon, running his Wasp/'10. The engine was still stock back then, thick ring piston and all. My friend Denny McCammon was there with his pop's Hoffco with twin 700 West Bends. We hooked up nose-to-tail and ran with inches separating us for lap after lap until one of us ran out of gas. Yep, we were still running gas and McCulloch oil back then. Neither of us could gain nor lose more than a couple of inches in all those laps on the 1/4 Mi. oval. That was a fun afternoon. A short time after, McCulloch sent my Pop a prototype factory 5.8 C.I. stroker kit, Pop did the Jim Butler port tricks on the '10, and then it was all over. Even the next year when I had my new Go Kart 800 with a ported Mc20, Pop could still outrun me with the stroked '10. I soon gave up and built a stroker of my own. Ted

Great stuff you guys!
Jim Waltz, West Sacramento, CA
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