06-02-2020, 12:44 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-02-2020, 01:25 AM by Terry Bentley.)
Chapter 40
I had torn down a vertical shaft version of this motor before. It was on a lawnmower we found in the trash one day a couple years ago. That motor is even in a box stashed around here somewhere. But dont remember seeing anything like this before. The throws on crankshaft have extra plates welded on. Holly crap, Steve!!!! I yell way too loudly in his right ear.
I am positive that is not stock or original equipment. Still with my voice raised. Hey Steve? Are you thinking the same thing as I am? Well if its you talking way too loud right now, then yes, I am. Calm down before I go deaf, will you already? Oh sorry Steve, I am kind of mega hyped at the moment. OK, so what is it we are both supposed to be thinking right now?
Steve, Mr Cates said this is one of his first karts, right? Yea, so? What if this is already modified like everyone was trying a couple of years ago? Lets get this thing apart and find out. Like Right now! I am thinking we wont really have to do much making this motor any faster. That would be super collider!
So why dont we just remove the pipe here and look at the exhaust ports? Wouldnt that be a good indication of what is done? Yea, Steve that makes sense. Sometimes you can be such a buzzkill. What are you talking about? Nothing Steve, I was just thinking how cool it would be to find a completely modified engine. My feet are back down on the ground now. Go ahead and take that header pipe thingy off already.
Steve painstakingly or purposefully takes his sweet loving time in removing those two little 1/4 inch bolts. Dude are you doing that on purpose or what? What, what? Why are you taking so long? Get the bolts off already. Back off man, I am getting there. They are safety wired on and feel really tight. Like maybe loctited or possibly galled up. I dont want to break one off. Anyway, dont you have a date with a carburetor that you were drooling on over there somewhere?
Finally Steve gets the tubular pipe removed. Seemed like an eternity. I swear he intentionally took his time to do it. Sure enough the exhaust ports have been modified. They have been worked over very nicely. I dont think I have ever seen a cleaner job. At least in how I would try to do something similar. Even tho there was plenty of carbon built up, the ports looked perfectly machined, then ground smooth and blended very professionally.
The ports appear to have been slightly raised. All three were squared with a small radius in the corners. The outer two ports were even eyebrowed a lot to make for much better scavenging of exhaust gasses. Hey Steve? What was connected to this long exhaust pipe before? Before what? Steve questions back. Before I took a joy ride! When else do you think?
Uh, gee I dunno. It was fairly quiet. But wasnt quiet like a regular muffled engine at all. It didnt sound like the other engines now that I think about it either. Yes, there was a round looking canister of some type back there. I remember when you took off from the pits and the smoke was coming out from underneath. Mr Cates had said something about a port tuned exhaust. Something most guys didnt think made a lot of difference.
What do you mean a port tuned exhaust? Heck, I dont know. Just repeating what he told me when you drove out of the pits. Geez! I was more excited about seeing you finally making your first laps at the moment. Next time I will grill him with all of the interrogation techniques Hamilton Burger uses. How is that? Will that be good enough or do I need to use bamboo shoots too?
Sometimes Steve makes me laugh. Other times I dont know if he is half serious or actually just trying to be funny. This is one of those times. Ok Steve, if there was a muffler of some kind, then we need to find out where it went. And pronto! If it got torn off at the track, we may not ever find it again.
I know one thing Terry. Far as this kart went flying off the track and out there in the boonies, I doubt anybody else has been back in that deep and discovered anything laying around. It took me some time just finding the front wheel that night. I thought I knew exactly where the kart landed. But when we went back, nothing looked very much disturbed at all. Them kind of weeds that grows in all different ways and looked like your hair did the next morning.
So far, my little disaster flipping the kart earlier this year, has been a near blessing in disguise. We now have a complete kart with what looks to be so far is a fully modified racing engine. Even tho it is only competitive in the bushing class, I am good with that. But what is up with the funky muffler?
I had torn down a vertical shaft version of this motor before. It was on a lawnmower we found in the trash one day a couple years ago. That motor is even in a box stashed around here somewhere. But dont remember seeing anything like this before. The throws on crankshaft have extra plates welded on. Holly crap, Steve!!!! I yell way too loudly in his right ear.
I am positive that is not stock or original equipment. Still with my voice raised. Hey Steve? Are you thinking the same thing as I am? Well if its you talking way too loud right now, then yes, I am. Calm down before I go deaf, will you already? Oh sorry Steve, I am kind of mega hyped at the moment. OK, so what is it we are both supposed to be thinking right now?
Steve, Mr Cates said this is one of his first karts, right? Yea, so? What if this is already modified like everyone was trying a couple of years ago? Lets get this thing apart and find out. Like Right now! I am thinking we wont really have to do much making this motor any faster. That would be super collider!
So why dont we just remove the pipe here and look at the exhaust ports? Wouldnt that be a good indication of what is done? Yea, Steve that makes sense. Sometimes you can be such a buzzkill. What are you talking about? Nothing Steve, I was just thinking how cool it would be to find a completely modified engine. My feet are back down on the ground now. Go ahead and take that header pipe thingy off already.
Steve painstakingly or purposefully takes his sweet loving time in removing those two little 1/4 inch bolts. Dude are you doing that on purpose or what? What, what? Why are you taking so long? Get the bolts off already. Back off man, I am getting there. They are safety wired on and feel really tight. Like maybe loctited or possibly galled up. I dont want to break one off. Anyway, dont you have a date with a carburetor that you were drooling on over there somewhere?
Finally Steve gets the tubular pipe removed. Seemed like an eternity. I swear he intentionally took his time to do it. Sure enough the exhaust ports have been modified. They have been worked over very nicely. I dont think I have ever seen a cleaner job. At least in how I would try to do something similar. Even tho there was plenty of carbon built up, the ports looked perfectly machined, then ground smooth and blended very professionally.
The ports appear to have been slightly raised. All three were squared with a small radius in the corners. The outer two ports were even eyebrowed a lot to make for much better scavenging of exhaust gasses. Hey Steve? What was connected to this long exhaust pipe before? Before what? Steve questions back. Before I took a joy ride! When else do you think?
Uh, gee I dunno. It was fairly quiet. But wasnt quiet like a regular muffled engine at all. It didnt sound like the other engines now that I think about it either. Yes, there was a round looking canister of some type back there. I remember when you took off from the pits and the smoke was coming out from underneath. Mr Cates had said something about a port tuned exhaust. Something most guys didnt think made a lot of difference.
What do you mean a port tuned exhaust? Heck, I dont know. Just repeating what he told me when you drove out of the pits. Geez! I was more excited about seeing you finally making your first laps at the moment. Next time I will grill him with all of the interrogation techniques Hamilton Burger uses. How is that? Will that be good enough or do I need to use bamboo shoots too?
Sometimes Steve makes me laugh. Other times I dont know if he is half serious or actually just trying to be funny. This is one of those times. Ok Steve, if there was a muffler of some kind, then we need to find out where it went. And pronto! If it got torn off at the track, we may not ever find it again.
I know one thing Terry. Far as this kart went flying off the track and out there in the boonies, I doubt anybody else has been back in that deep and discovered anything laying around. It took me some time just finding the front wheel that night. I thought I knew exactly where the kart landed. But when we went back, nothing looked very much disturbed at all. Them kind of weeds that grows in all different ways and looked like your hair did the next morning.
So far, my little disaster flipping the kart earlier this year, has been a near blessing in disguise. We now have a complete kart with what looks to be so far is a fully modified racing engine. Even tho it is only competitive in the bushing class, I am good with that. But what is up with the funky muffler?