11-20-2021, 05:55 PM
Chapter 87
Back on track to get back on the track. Well that is the plan. After throwing it out there talking with Chris and Steve, well we are all on the same page now. We all think it would be worth the trouble to try and take another stab at racing at Fabens.
Chris has been asking this whole time, starting back at the track after our first race, if we were planning to come out and race again. So I knew what he had to say and thought about it. I remember him being so excited about getting beat by us after each heat race too.
At first me and Steve just shot this back and forth in the garage one afternoon. We were going over what all needed to be done to our karts first. Since his kart is about perfect, we could get away with not much more than making some improvements to his engine.
I was really hoping to get new tires before putting so much time in everything else. I didnt think doing all that engine work without my kart better equipped to handle the improvements made much sense.
Steve thought my kart would be just fine. It had no problem the last time out there. But I do remember fighting it in several turns that I didnt have so much trouble with before that first race we had.
After a lot of thinking I realized the more I drove my kart, the harder it was to keep driving smoothly. I remember it starting to push in the faster turns. I had to over correct a few times but that would cause the rear end to finally break loose and try to come around.
So before we even commit for another practice day, tires are on my short list. The other modifications to the engines will be easy enough and hopefully get that all done while doing some side jobs saving up enough money for new tires.
We kept talking about the other things that would be worth taking care of before the next time we get to practice again. Steve asked how we were getting to the track this time. He mentioned the last two times were not so productive.
I shrugged my shoulders. Then mentioned that Frank was the only person to rely on for now. My mom did not have the time to spend out there all day sitting around while she had a family to run.
What about your older brother, not the oldest one that is a total jerk. His truck is big enough to carry all of our stuff.
I already asked him. He works just about everyday at the Shell station after school until closing. His girlfriend takes up all of the rest of his time. And since I know her birthday is coming up very soon, he is going to be working every chance he gets to make some extra money.
I had asked my dad about the possibility of one afternoon, but he said work is still keeping him over run. He was having to work some Saturdays now too. So if I wanted to go to the races on Saturday night, that might be doable. But not likely during the week for a practice.
Mom did volunteer to take us to the track like before if I gave her enough warning so she could work it in her schedule. But no last minute plans or would not happen. She still had to swap cars with dad to get the Ranchero.
Last year dad picked up a very slightly used English Ford station wagon. Not like the American version of a Ford station wagon, but it looks more like a miniature version of something built about 10 years earlier.
Mom drives everywhere in that little wagon. The only place she doesnt frequent is the gas station. I dont know if this car even uses gas to run. It has a tiny little flat head four cylinder engine that looks more like belonging in a small tractor. Oh it is also an import since built in England.
Mom told me it is the same deal as last time, I still needed a responsible adult out there or not happening. Then she told me that Frank would only be as a last resort, so try to find someone else first. She still did not trust than man.
I was sitting down at home just finishing up my homework. Even thinking about giving Chris a call. He has been very persistent about me calling him any time. But he ended up calling me and Steve both before I had a good reason to do so.
Now after meeting up with him and having a great time talking about karts and all the racing stories he had, it now felt I knew him enough to carry on a decent conversation over the phone.
I am not a big talker on the phone. Well, really I hate talking on the telephone to anybody. That is unless I have a good reason to discuss something useful with someone. But just calling to talk about nothing in particular, well that wasnt me.
I was much more comfortable when getting to know someone face to face first. Like what has just happened with Chris. I feel like I know him well enough to have a good conversation with out it being awkward like when that silence hits.
I remember last year when a couple of girls in my class started just calling me up for no reason. I was usually busy doing stuff and didnt care so much to just sit there and listen to what they did all day.
For one of them to call me and ask my favorite color, or what brand shoes I liked to wear, well I just didnt get it. She might ask what I thought about or if I liked a certain friend of hers too.
I learned real quick about being careful of what I said or answered to those probing questions. If she asked me if I like someone in particular, I didnt realize it meant if I like liked her, not just liked her.
Again I hate to talk on the phone. There are no set rules for someone to read so I dont go putting my foot in my mouth or say something that means something else. Geez, why does it have to be so complicated?
Sometimes me and Steve would be working on something trying to get finished. I would sit there for a few minutes and listen to what she did all day, then hand the phone over to Steve. He would just move his head up and down saying uh-huh, yea, yes, uh-huh. She just kept babbling on without even knowing it was someone else.
We both sort of wondered if this is what it was going to be like if asking one of them to a school dance sometime. Maybe I could hold out right now. I wanted to race and girls sure didnt make it any easier for this to happen.
I have not called Chris before now, since I didnt know enough about him yet to talk about anything. I didnt want to just rattle on about my kart. Not unless he was asking about some things worth talking about.
But thinking back, Chris didnt leave much opening the one time he called me. I just listened to him going on about everything relevant to his kart. So maybe it wont be a problem keeping up a conversation with him.
Hey Chris, this is Terry. You asked me to call sometime, so I decided to do that. You got a few minutes?
Hey Terry, it is nice to talk with you. Yes I have all the time in the world.
Well, me and Steve had a great time hanging out last Saturday. It was fun and I liked listening to all of the stories you told us. Oh yea, thanks for buying lunch. That was very considerate of you.
Terry, it was more than worth it. You and Steve helped me out a lot more than you might realize. I feel more confident that I can do stuff on my kart now. And maybe even call you to ask questions if I get stumped with something.
Yea no problem with that. Me and Steve have been going over and over about racing again at Fabens. I thought the whole night sucked bigly, but the actual racing was awesome.
At the end of each heat race, you were right up there consistently. I dont know how often you race, but I am guessing you run fairly fast compared to most of the other guys.
Something else I had no idea about either. I didnt know if we would even be competitive for our first race. I had been working on my kart trying to do everything possible to make it faster. We had two practice days that sort of helped to get the karts running good.
But after the races, I realized most of the other drivers still had completely stock engines and not really done anything to get their karts to go faster. I see this probably is the reason why you managed to run faster consistently.
Yea Terry, there are only a few fast guys left in our class. Those two brothers are now the only fast ones running out there now. All of the others are just some that hardly even race all the time.
There are a whole bunch of us, but rarely do the same ones show up every week. Our class would be huge if most of them showed up the same night. But none of them are any faster than what you saw out there.
They show up with the kart and dont really do anything but unload it and run. I wish I knew enough to make my kart go faster. It does run better than when I first got it, but still not so fast.
I cant run even close to those Westbend brothers. Most of the time, I finish in third place since the other guys dont do anything to their karts. I have finished ahead of the Westbend guys a few times in heat races, but that is only because they invert the first heat starting positions.
Sometimes they get stuck behind some super slow guys in the class. I have never started in front of those brothers in the third heat race. Not that is would have made any difference. Soon as the flag drops they are gone.
I wanted to ask you some more about changing my kart over to a two wheel pull. Do you think it would be a smart thing to do? Would I need to do much to my motor so it would run fast enough?
Is it a lot of work to change my kart over to a two wheel pull? Is this something you could help me with? I thought you guys told me you built Steves kart from scratch? Did you really do that?
Yea Chris, we built his kart after repairing my kart. Didnt you say something about seeing that frame after the wreck last spring? I never saw it until the next afternoon. I was more of less missing in action for the night.
Steve had talked Mr Cates out of what was left of his kart. I was more than surprised to find that out the next day. Even tho it was nothing but twisted and broken pieces of tubing, I had a kart. Just may have needed a little bit of work before I could actually race it.
Gee Terry, when I saw what was left of that kart, I thought NO WAY!. There was nothing left of it. Then I wondered what happened to the guy driving it. Did they haul him to the hospital? I never found out anything after that except that one Greg guy got thrown out for good.
I still cant believe it was the same one that crashed. How did you not break every bone in your body? I mean your kart looks just like a normal kart now. When I tried to follow you guys, it sure looked like the kart handles awesome. I have no idea if my kart even handles right or not.
Fish has tried to explain to me how a one wheel pull kart does not handle anything like what he calls a locked axle. He says my kart just steers in so easily when turning the wheel. If I let go of it, the kart more or less does what it wants too. I have to make sure and hold on tight.
My kart is real easy for me to drive. Fish said a locked axle is more like driving a real race car. The rear wheels are fighting each other instead of allowing the frame to make the turn. And the front wheels are battling out trying to steer or just push straight.
But he also told me the one rear wheel would not spin coming out of tighter turns like it does sometimes now. If I push it too hard in one really tight turn, my motor pulled wheel spins like crazy. I loose a lot of speed when it happens too. I even had to change that one tire already.
I have been careful going thru the tight turn not to let the wheel spin like it did. It is the only part of the track where other guys I usually run with will pass me most of the time.
This is why I thought about changing it over to a two wheel locked axle. Do you think it would be worth doing? I hope to move up to a faster class sometime when I know more and can work on my stuff better. I know the motors are a lot more expensive and the extra up keep, so dont want to find myself broken every race.
Well Chris, I dont think it is a bad idea. I know what you are talking about on your dead axle. That is a one wheel pull as you call it. Changing over to a live axle should not be too difficult. I dont think on your frame would even be a problem to do at all.
Azusa Engineering and Flexo Products both offer decent kits for sale that have most of what you need to do the conversion. But there are a lot of other parts you need besides just the kit. So it might get more expensive than you think.
Terry, how much would you charge to change over my kart if I buy the parts? Could you tell me everything I need so I can go ahead and get what is needed?
Heck Chris, I dont know exactly what it would take right now on your kart. But I am not thinking it would be too difficult. Maybe after I look over your kart and check out what comes in some of the kits, then figure if we can do it without too much trouble.
The real reason I called tho, is me and Steve had been talking about going to Fabens again. I thought it would be fun to help you get faster and we might practice a couple of times before going back.
If you want that axle changed over, that would take some extra time. But if we get everything working after it is swapped out, you should be a lot faster with some engine work.
Wow, would you really do that for me? You will help me get my kart running faster for reals? I promise to be your full time pit crew if you are willing to help me with anything at all that improves my kart or even just me. Heck just helping me out on the phone when I call if there is a problem.
Me and Steve have a ton of engine parts to play with. So we can try some things without worrying if it doesnt work and blows up an engine. I hate to think about loosing an engine, but we cant get much faster without trying something out first to see if it works or not.
Right now we have our engines running good. There are some more things I want to do to them. I also think it would be a good idea to do some of the same things on your engine before going to the track for a practice day.
It would be so cool if we can all go back out there and run with the Westbends. But that requires a lot of work before any chance of something really happening like that. When me and Steve have our karts set up right, it should not be too much trouble to get yours running about the same.
Wow are you serious about helping me? I cant believe someone would do that. Are you really serious? Not joshing me? That would be so awesome. I cant imagine what it is going to feel like running fast as you guys did.
Terry will you tell me everything I should do to my kart to make it right? You know not just the uh, you said it is called a live axle? But whatever you think is not right.
Yea Chris, me and Steve will look over your kart real close then let you know what we think. If it is too much for me to tackle, I will let you know that instead.
Do you guys have a good place to work on your karts? I usually keep mine at the Fish shop. Well Pauls shop. But he doesnt have any tools that I could use to change the axle out.
Fish doesnt have a welder at his shop. It is mostly to keep his inventory of concrete equipment. There is a welding shop he uses sometimes, but I dont think the work they do is all that good. At least from some of the welds I saw on repairs they did on his equipment.
I guess you have a way to weld. Or do you get a shop to do it for you?
No Chris, my dad has a welder and taught me and Steve how to weld. I sure could use some more practice, but can manage welding bearing hangers on a frame. Much more serious than that, I will get dad to help out.
It must be so cool to be able to do stuff like that. I would love to know how to make things. I dont know anyone that has the tools or interested to teach me either. But I sure would like to learn.
Me and Chris went over all kinds of things about the karts and what made sense to do first, if his kart was getting a live axle. The other thing I mentioned is tires. A good set of tires is needed after the axle change.
Chris got really excited about this. He told me Paul Fisher can get tires wholesale, since he buys a lot of them for concrete equipment. The company has all types of tires and sells them to kart shops too.
Wow Chris are you serious? Do you think he could get me a set? That is one thing I am desperately needing to make my kart handle better. The last time out I was having a little bit of trouble getting the kart around the track.
Just tell me what size tires you need and I will get him to order them right now. They will be delivered in a few days.
Well I need to save up some money first. Maybe I can find out how much they will cost and then figure out what to do.
At least tell me the sizes you need and I will find out how much they cost.
OK, that sounds like a good idea. Thanks Chris. I need 3.40/3.00-5 for fronts and 4.10/3.50-5 for rears. I would prefer something besides Tex-cons.
My kart has 4.10/3.50-5 tires on the rear right now. But they are so hard. We put some off brand tires the size I told you on Steves kart. These work way better. When I drove his kart the front end was very positive and it didnt bind up when turning at all.
I have been noticing my kart not steering so well lately. I turn, then have to turn farther for it to even steer in now. But there are no wear indicators left on my tires either. The Tex-cons are also a lot narrower than Steves even tho they are the same size.
I want to change over to 5 inch front wheels this time. Mr Cates left us with a lot of spare parts. So I am swapping those out. Steves kart has 5 inch wheels on front and it just feels so much better. His tires dont look like they are trying to roll off the wheels as much going thru the turns either.
Chris, there is one thing you need to buy if any modifications are going to get done on your engine. You need a Bradfield rod. Well, its the rod Bug Engineering sells. I dont know if the local kart shop has them or will have to order one thru the mail. Mr Cates said he talked to Tom Pierson at Bug.
They cost about $15. But worth every penny. You wont have to worry about breaking a rod after changing it out. Then you can really step up on what can be done to your engine. There is nothing else to worry about breaking if we dont get crazy with too many mods.
Gee Terry, I saw those for sale in the kart magazines. That rod looks huge. Looks more like what a real race car would have in there. I had the intake manifold off my motor once. Dont see how one could fit in there from the picture.
Well, I didnt take it a part. The bolts had come loose and I just couldnt help myself not to take a peak inside and see what the engine looks like. I sure wasnt impressed. But I had no idea what I was looking at either.
The whole time after putting it back together I was wondering how long before the motor would explode. I sure didnt know any different or if I didnt do something I should have since it was taken off.
Wow Chris, you tore the engine apart and put it back together and it still runs. You might just make an good mechanic after some more time working on engines.
Yea right I didnt have a clue what I was looking at or even how that motor even works. I just put it back together the way it came apart.
See, that is the first step of becoming a good mechanic. You can put things back together the way they came apart. You are a natural. Most guys I know couldnt even do that using a repair manual with a step by step tutorial.
Please dont lead me on Terry. I know you are just trying to build up my confidence. I can also tell when someone is blowing smoke up my butt. I might not know how to do very much right now, but I dont think of myself as stupid.
Sorry Chris, just calling it as I see it. You can do that on the telephone you know. OK I will not try to be a morale booster anymore. So do you want me to warn you before you make a major fubar?
Haha, I dont mind you warning me before I screw something up. But what is a ...what did you say?
Nothing Chris, just Steve told me what Mr Cates referred to his kart as after I sort of took it on that joy ride.
Well it is getting late. I got school tomorrow. So will hollar back another day. Talk to you later.
Yea Terry, thanks for calling and offering to help me out. You dont know how much I appreciate that. Good bye.
Wow, that has to be the longest time I have ever talked to any one on the telephone. Chris wasnt even going on nonstop about everything this time either. He seemed to be on top of what we talked about. It is going to be so cool if I get a new set of tires. Maybe I can afford to buy a set now. Well just need a little bit more money.
I sure cant believe how long this phone call was. If I were to write a book, this could fill a whole chapter. Man how do people do it all day? Just sit there and talk non stop all the time. I dont get it. How does anyone expect to get things done?
Back on track to get back on the track. Well that is the plan. After throwing it out there talking with Chris and Steve, well we are all on the same page now. We all think it would be worth the trouble to try and take another stab at racing at Fabens.
Chris has been asking this whole time, starting back at the track after our first race, if we were planning to come out and race again. So I knew what he had to say and thought about it. I remember him being so excited about getting beat by us after each heat race too.
At first me and Steve just shot this back and forth in the garage one afternoon. We were going over what all needed to be done to our karts first. Since his kart is about perfect, we could get away with not much more than making some improvements to his engine.
I was really hoping to get new tires before putting so much time in everything else. I didnt think doing all that engine work without my kart better equipped to handle the improvements made much sense.
Steve thought my kart would be just fine. It had no problem the last time out there. But I do remember fighting it in several turns that I didnt have so much trouble with before that first race we had.
After a lot of thinking I realized the more I drove my kart, the harder it was to keep driving smoothly. I remember it starting to push in the faster turns. I had to over correct a few times but that would cause the rear end to finally break loose and try to come around.
So before we even commit for another practice day, tires are on my short list. The other modifications to the engines will be easy enough and hopefully get that all done while doing some side jobs saving up enough money for new tires.
We kept talking about the other things that would be worth taking care of before the next time we get to practice again. Steve asked how we were getting to the track this time. He mentioned the last two times were not so productive.
I shrugged my shoulders. Then mentioned that Frank was the only person to rely on for now. My mom did not have the time to spend out there all day sitting around while she had a family to run.
What about your older brother, not the oldest one that is a total jerk. His truck is big enough to carry all of our stuff.
I already asked him. He works just about everyday at the Shell station after school until closing. His girlfriend takes up all of the rest of his time. And since I know her birthday is coming up very soon, he is going to be working every chance he gets to make some extra money.
I had asked my dad about the possibility of one afternoon, but he said work is still keeping him over run. He was having to work some Saturdays now too. So if I wanted to go to the races on Saturday night, that might be doable. But not likely during the week for a practice.
Mom did volunteer to take us to the track like before if I gave her enough warning so she could work it in her schedule. But no last minute plans or would not happen. She still had to swap cars with dad to get the Ranchero.
Last year dad picked up a very slightly used English Ford station wagon. Not like the American version of a Ford station wagon, but it looks more like a miniature version of something built about 10 years earlier.
Mom drives everywhere in that little wagon. The only place she doesnt frequent is the gas station. I dont know if this car even uses gas to run. It has a tiny little flat head four cylinder engine that looks more like belonging in a small tractor. Oh it is also an import since built in England.
Mom told me it is the same deal as last time, I still needed a responsible adult out there or not happening. Then she told me that Frank would only be as a last resort, so try to find someone else first. She still did not trust than man.
I was sitting down at home just finishing up my homework. Even thinking about giving Chris a call. He has been very persistent about me calling him any time. But he ended up calling me and Steve both before I had a good reason to do so.
Now after meeting up with him and having a great time talking about karts and all the racing stories he had, it now felt I knew him enough to carry on a decent conversation over the phone.
I am not a big talker on the phone. Well, really I hate talking on the telephone to anybody. That is unless I have a good reason to discuss something useful with someone. But just calling to talk about nothing in particular, well that wasnt me.
I was much more comfortable when getting to know someone face to face first. Like what has just happened with Chris. I feel like I know him well enough to have a good conversation with out it being awkward like when that silence hits.
I remember last year when a couple of girls in my class started just calling me up for no reason. I was usually busy doing stuff and didnt care so much to just sit there and listen to what they did all day.
For one of them to call me and ask my favorite color, or what brand shoes I liked to wear, well I just didnt get it. She might ask what I thought about or if I liked a certain friend of hers too.
I learned real quick about being careful of what I said or answered to those probing questions. If she asked me if I like someone in particular, I didnt realize it meant if I like liked her, not just liked her.
Again I hate to talk on the phone. There are no set rules for someone to read so I dont go putting my foot in my mouth or say something that means something else. Geez, why does it have to be so complicated?
Sometimes me and Steve would be working on something trying to get finished. I would sit there for a few minutes and listen to what she did all day, then hand the phone over to Steve. He would just move his head up and down saying uh-huh, yea, yes, uh-huh. She just kept babbling on without even knowing it was someone else.
We both sort of wondered if this is what it was going to be like if asking one of them to a school dance sometime. Maybe I could hold out right now. I wanted to race and girls sure didnt make it any easier for this to happen.
I have not called Chris before now, since I didnt know enough about him yet to talk about anything. I didnt want to just rattle on about my kart. Not unless he was asking about some things worth talking about.
But thinking back, Chris didnt leave much opening the one time he called me. I just listened to him going on about everything relevant to his kart. So maybe it wont be a problem keeping up a conversation with him.
Hey Chris, this is Terry. You asked me to call sometime, so I decided to do that. You got a few minutes?
Hey Terry, it is nice to talk with you. Yes I have all the time in the world.
Well, me and Steve had a great time hanging out last Saturday. It was fun and I liked listening to all of the stories you told us. Oh yea, thanks for buying lunch. That was very considerate of you.
Terry, it was more than worth it. You and Steve helped me out a lot more than you might realize. I feel more confident that I can do stuff on my kart now. And maybe even call you to ask questions if I get stumped with something.
Yea no problem with that. Me and Steve have been going over and over about racing again at Fabens. I thought the whole night sucked bigly, but the actual racing was awesome.
At the end of each heat race, you were right up there consistently. I dont know how often you race, but I am guessing you run fairly fast compared to most of the other guys.
Something else I had no idea about either. I didnt know if we would even be competitive for our first race. I had been working on my kart trying to do everything possible to make it faster. We had two practice days that sort of helped to get the karts running good.
But after the races, I realized most of the other drivers still had completely stock engines and not really done anything to get their karts to go faster. I see this probably is the reason why you managed to run faster consistently.
Yea Terry, there are only a few fast guys left in our class. Those two brothers are now the only fast ones running out there now. All of the others are just some that hardly even race all the time.
There are a whole bunch of us, but rarely do the same ones show up every week. Our class would be huge if most of them showed up the same night. But none of them are any faster than what you saw out there.
They show up with the kart and dont really do anything but unload it and run. I wish I knew enough to make my kart go faster. It does run better than when I first got it, but still not so fast.
I cant run even close to those Westbend brothers. Most of the time, I finish in third place since the other guys dont do anything to their karts. I have finished ahead of the Westbend guys a few times in heat races, but that is only because they invert the first heat starting positions.
Sometimes they get stuck behind some super slow guys in the class. I have never started in front of those brothers in the third heat race. Not that is would have made any difference. Soon as the flag drops they are gone.
I wanted to ask you some more about changing my kart over to a two wheel pull. Do you think it would be a smart thing to do? Would I need to do much to my motor so it would run fast enough?
Is it a lot of work to change my kart over to a two wheel pull? Is this something you could help me with? I thought you guys told me you built Steves kart from scratch? Did you really do that?
Yea Chris, we built his kart after repairing my kart. Didnt you say something about seeing that frame after the wreck last spring? I never saw it until the next afternoon. I was more of less missing in action for the night.
Steve had talked Mr Cates out of what was left of his kart. I was more than surprised to find that out the next day. Even tho it was nothing but twisted and broken pieces of tubing, I had a kart. Just may have needed a little bit of work before I could actually race it.
Gee Terry, when I saw what was left of that kart, I thought NO WAY!. There was nothing left of it. Then I wondered what happened to the guy driving it. Did they haul him to the hospital? I never found out anything after that except that one Greg guy got thrown out for good.
I still cant believe it was the same one that crashed. How did you not break every bone in your body? I mean your kart looks just like a normal kart now. When I tried to follow you guys, it sure looked like the kart handles awesome. I have no idea if my kart even handles right or not.
Fish has tried to explain to me how a one wheel pull kart does not handle anything like what he calls a locked axle. He says my kart just steers in so easily when turning the wheel. If I let go of it, the kart more or less does what it wants too. I have to make sure and hold on tight.
My kart is real easy for me to drive. Fish said a locked axle is more like driving a real race car. The rear wheels are fighting each other instead of allowing the frame to make the turn. And the front wheels are battling out trying to steer or just push straight.
But he also told me the one rear wheel would not spin coming out of tighter turns like it does sometimes now. If I push it too hard in one really tight turn, my motor pulled wheel spins like crazy. I loose a lot of speed when it happens too. I even had to change that one tire already.
I have been careful going thru the tight turn not to let the wheel spin like it did. It is the only part of the track where other guys I usually run with will pass me most of the time.
This is why I thought about changing it over to a two wheel locked axle. Do you think it would be worth doing? I hope to move up to a faster class sometime when I know more and can work on my stuff better. I know the motors are a lot more expensive and the extra up keep, so dont want to find myself broken every race.
Well Chris, I dont think it is a bad idea. I know what you are talking about on your dead axle. That is a one wheel pull as you call it. Changing over to a live axle should not be too difficult. I dont think on your frame would even be a problem to do at all.
Azusa Engineering and Flexo Products both offer decent kits for sale that have most of what you need to do the conversion. But there are a lot of other parts you need besides just the kit. So it might get more expensive than you think.
Terry, how much would you charge to change over my kart if I buy the parts? Could you tell me everything I need so I can go ahead and get what is needed?
Heck Chris, I dont know exactly what it would take right now on your kart. But I am not thinking it would be too difficult. Maybe after I look over your kart and check out what comes in some of the kits, then figure if we can do it without too much trouble.
The real reason I called tho, is me and Steve had been talking about going to Fabens again. I thought it would be fun to help you get faster and we might practice a couple of times before going back.
If you want that axle changed over, that would take some extra time. But if we get everything working after it is swapped out, you should be a lot faster with some engine work.
Wow, would you really do that for me? You will help me get my kart running faster for reals? I promise to be your full time pit crew if you are willing to help me with anything at all that improves my kart or even just me. Heck just helping me out on the phone when I call if there is a problem.
Me and Steve have a ton of engine parts to play with. So we can try some things without worrying if it doesnt work and blows up an engine. I hate to think about loosing an engine, but we cant get much faster without trying something out first to see if it works or not.
Right now we have our engines running good. There are some more things I want to do to them. I also think it would be a good idea to do some of the same things on your engine before going to the track for a practice day.
It would be so cool if we can all go back out there and run with the Westbends. But that requires a lot of work before any chance of something really happening like that. When me and Steve have our karts set up right, it should not be too much trouble to get yours running about the same.
Wow are you serious about helping me? I cant believe someone would do that. Are you really serious? Not joshing me? That would be so awesome. I cant imagine what it is going to feel like running fast as you guys did.
Terry will you tell me everything I should do to my kart to make it right? You know not just the uh, you said it is called a live axle? But whatever you think is not right.
Yea Chris, me and Steve will look over your kart real close then let you know what we think. If it is too much for me to tackle, I will let you know that instead.
Do you guys have a good place to work on your karts? I usually keep mine at the Fish shop. Well Pauls shop. But he doesnt have any tools that I could use to change the axle out.
Fish doesnt have a welder at his shop. It is mostly to keep his inventory of concrete equipment. There is a welding shop he uses sometimes, but I dont think the work they do is all that good. At least from some of the welds I saw on repairs they did on his equipment.
I guess you have a way to weld. Or do you get a shop to do it for you?
No Chris, my dad has a welder and taught me and Steve how to weld. I sure could use some more practice, but can manage welding bearing hangers on a frame. Much more serious than that, I will get dad to help out.
It must be so cool to be able to do stuff like that. I would love to know how to make things. I dont know anyone that has the tools or interested to teach me either. But I sure would like to learn.
Me and Chris went over all kinds of things about the karts and what made sense to do first, if his kart was getting a live axle. The other thing I mentioned is tires. A good set of tires is needed after the axle change.
Chris got really excited about this. He told me Paul Fisher can get tires wholesale, since he buys a lot of them for concrete equipment. The company has all types of tires and sells them to kart shops too.
Wow Chris are you serious? Do you think he could get me a set? That is one thing I am desperately needing to make my kart handle better. The last time out I was having a little bit of trouble getting the kart around the track.
Just tell me what size tires you need and I will get him to order them right now. They will be delivered in a few days.
Well I need to save up some money first. Maybe I can find out how much they will cost and then figure out what to do.
At least tell me the sizes you need and I will find out how much they cost.
OK, that sounds like a good idea. Thanks Chris. I need 3.40/3.00-5 for fronts and 4.10/3.50-5 for rears. I would prefer something besides Tex-cons.
My kart has 4.10/3.50-5 tires on the rear right now. But they are so hard. We put some off brand tires the size I told you on Steves kart. These work way better. When I drove his kart the front end was very positive and it didnt bind up when turning at all.
I have been noticing my kart not steering so well lately. I turn, then have to turn farther for it to even steer in now. But there are no wear indicators left on my tires either. The Tex-cons are also a lot narrower than Steves even tho they are the same size.
I want to change over to 5 inch front wheels this time. Mr Cates left us with a lot of spare parts. So I am swapping those out. Steves kart has 5 inch wheels on front and it just feels so much better. His tires dont look like they are trying to roll off the wheels as much going thru the turns either.
Chris, there is one thing you need to buy if any modifications are going to get done on your engine. You need a Bradfield rod. Well, its the rod Bug Engineering sells. I dont know if the local kart shop has them or will have to order one thru the mail. Mr Cates said he talked to Tom Pierson at Bug.
They cost about $15. But worth every penny. You wont have to worry about breaking a rod after changing it out. Then you can really step up on what can be done to your engine. There is nothing else to worry about breaking if we dont get crazy with too many mods.
Gee Terry, I saw those for sale in the kart magazines. That rod looks huge. Looks more like what a real race car would have in there. I had the intake manifold off my motor once. Dont see how one could fit in there from the picture.
Well, I didnt take it a part. The bolts had come loose and I just couldnt help myself not to take a peak inside and see what the engine looks like. I sure wasnt impressed. But I had no idea what I was looking at either.
The whole time after putting it back together I was wondering how long before the motor would explode. I sure didnt know any different or if I didnt do something I should have since it was taken off.
Wow Chris, you tore the engine apart and put it back together and it still runs. You might just make an good mechanic after some more time working on engines.
Yea right I didnt have a clue what I was looking at or even how that motor even works. I just put it back together the way it came apart.
See, that is the first step of becoming a good mechanic. You can put things back together the way they came apart. You are a natural. Most guys I know couldnt even do that using a repair manual with a step by step tutorial.
Please dont lead me on Terry. I know you are just trying to build up my confidence. I can also tell when someone is blowing smoke up my butt. I might not know how to do very much right now, but I dont think of myself as stupid.
Sorry Chris, just calling it as I see it. You can do that on the telephone you know. OK I will not try to be a morale booster anymore. So do you want me to warn you before you make a major fubar?
Haha, I dont mind you warning me before I screw something up. But what is a ...what did you say?
Nothing Chris, just Steve told me what Mr Cates referred to his kart as after I sort of took it on that joy ride.
Well it is getting late. I got school tomorrow. So will hollar back another day. Talk to you later.
Yea Terry, thanks for calling and offering to help me out. You dont know how much I appreciate that. Good bye.
Wow, that has to be the longest time I have ever talked to any one on the telephone. Chris wasnt even going on nonstop about everything this time either. He seemed to be on top of what we talked about. It is going to be so cool if I get a new set of tires. Maybe I can afford to buy a set now. Well just need a little bit more money.
I sure cant believe how long this phone call was. If I were to write a book, this could fill a whole chapter. Man how do people do it all day? Just sit there and talk non stop all the time. I dont get it. How does anyone expect to get things done?