12-04-2021, 03:39 PM
Chapter 88
Another week has passed by. I have been beating the books like crazy. This stuff gets hard if I dont do the homework. If I slack off even for one day, Algebra does not make any sense. I still dont know what to do with it. Sure dont see much use for it right now. I sure hope it is good for something. But right now I dont have a clue what that would be.
There are just too many rules like if this way then you can only do it that way. You have to know all the rules or cant do the equations. Then dividing, or multiplying, or finding the common denominator, substituting, reducing...It never stops. I just dont get it.
If I focused all my spare time just on learning Algebra, it might make more sense. But what am I supposed to use it for? My brain would explode trying to figure out all of the laws regarding algebraic expressions. I know there is one expression on my face right now. An expression of pure disdain for this crap. Wow, disdain, another one of those words from last years language arts class I have never used before.
This weekend Chris is coming over with his kart. Fish or Paul Fisher, that sells concrete equipment and occasional grid steward at Fabens Speedway is bringing him over. We are going to find out how much trouble it will be to change his kart to a live axle model.
If not too complicated, I will try doing the work for him and then make some improvements on
his engine. This weekend will be a great time to modify two more carburetors on the Craftsman lathe too.
Chris is so eager to learn about things, I thought that would be perfect for him to see what it takes to bore out one of the chainsaw carburetors and make it into something worth putting on the kart engines.
I bet he gets a big kick from just being able to disassemble the carburetors before they get machined. He had asked how much trouble it was to replace diaphragms in his own carburetor. Now he can find out how to do a complete rebuild on one.
Another thing I need to get done is open up two more intake manifolds and make it so the larger chainsaw reed petals fit. Maybe this is something Chris might like to try doing himself for his own engine. I have several of the stock manifolds, so just in case one of them gets messed up, it wont be a problem.
I really hope grinding out the openings even bigger than we have them now, that the modified carburetor works well enough not to need buying the aftermarket Go-Power or Palmini intake manifold.
It would be cool if we can do a lot of modifications to the engines but keep them looking completely stock. The carburetor is one thing we cant do anything about. That stock float carburetor is dead in the water. So it is one thing that has obviously been changed.
But if the stock manifold will work well enough after opening it up even more, keeps the engines appearance more like original. No reason to tell anyone how much the manifold have been opened up. Especially if it works a lot better with the modified carburetor.
With some money I have managed to save up so far, I can almost buy new tires, or a new Bug rod, or an intake manifold. It would be cool if I could get all of these new parts for my kart. But what fun is there in just throwing money away on everything? Why not add a new Tillotson HL-115A carburetor while I am spending all that money?
So I figure about $40 on tires, $15 for the Bug rod, $25 for the carburetor, and that intake manifold is about $10. But it will also need a pyramid reed. So that is another 2 dollars. What is the problem here? It is only money. I am sure there are enough pop bottles at the car wash to cash in and pay for everything. Well maybe after a year of collecting them.
Fortunately I have most of the needed engine parts already. Steve had already decided to buy a new Bradfield rod. He also got a great deal on three of the six petal Go-Power pyramid reeds too. He just needs a new manifold for his engine now.
Friday afternoon is finally here and I am expecting Chris to show up eventually. He told me that Fish had to close up shop, before heading over here. He is spending the night so we can have more time working on stuff together.
Chris really seems interested in learning how to do things. I hope he is mechanically inclined enough when using tools. It would suck if it turns out he is an accident prone klutz. But I dont think that is the case. Well I sure hope that isnt the case.
Mom was holding up dinner for when Chris finally shows up. Paul Fisher came in the garage and he talked with my dad. I didnt know how well dad knew him. Dad thought he was someone that could be trusted at the track, but never mentioned anything else after that.
After the big meet and greets, Chris told Fish thanks and good bye. Chris was all into getting down and dirty working on his kart right then. He was just about to put on a work apron. That is until I grabbed his arm and told him it was dinner time.
I drug him into the kitchen and said to clean up. And dont forget to wash behind your ears. Then started laughing as I walked off. We sat down at the table as I introduced him to everyone there tonight that he did not know yet. He got really embarrassed for some reason when I introduced him to my sister.
Steve was also joining us, which was like all the time nowadays. Well when he wasnt in trouble with something at home. Chris and Steve took both of my brothers seats tonight. My oldest jerk of a brother is away at college, and the other one was out on a date with his girl friend of the week.
He had just rushed thru here after closing up the gas station for the evening. Then out the door he went. I dont know why he is so wound up to go out on a date after working all afternoon right after school. I would be more motivated to be less motivated about doing anything.
After everything quietened down, we were now ready to eat some chow. Alright time to dig in. I am hungry, lets eat. About this time Chris was reaching out to grab the plate piled with pork chops as mom bowed her head and started to give thanks.
I looked over to see Chris turn beet red in his face before realizing what was going on. He pulled back his arms quickly then lowered his head. After mom finished with the blessing, Chris just sat there as everyone else went grabbing for anything that smelled like food.
Mom made mention how well mannered and polite Chris was. Please feel free to help himself. This time Chris made very formal moves while carefully placing food on his plate. Watching him right before this I bet he would have stacked his plate like a kid at a pizza buffet. But after his slight embarrassment he went into full mannered child mode.
Wow, that was an awesome meal Terry. My mom works a lot and we dont eat home cooked meals very often. I could get spoiled real quick eating like this all the time. Chris went overboard right after we finished eating. He even asked to be excused after cleaning his plate spotless. Then thanked my mom nonstop saying how nice it was for him to be invited over this weekend.
When Chris offered to help with washing the dishes, I actually grabbed his neck and helped him walk outside. Dude quit laying it on so thick. You are making me and Steve look bad. Then Steve busted out laughing as I followed right behind.
We spent a ton of time checking over his kart. I measured everything and compared it to mine, just for reference. Chris was amazed at all of the tools and equipment there was in the garage. Even tho there was not that much stuff here.
Wow so cool to have a drill press. This must come in real handy all the time. Hey Terry, what is this over here on the table? That is my lathe, Chris. You might get a chance to use it tomorrow, if interested. I gotta modify a few more carburetors. I thought about showing you what is done to make one happen.
You will be the only other person privy to this information. I have not even revealed it to Steve yet. It is that hush hush on the down low how I made my secret weapon.
Wow, do you have a special carb that you have been running? Is it a lot faster? Are both of you running them right now?
Yes, yes and no.
Yes I have been running it.
Yes it is a lot faster after I machined one out.
But no, neither one of us are running one right now. I have only modified one of them so far. Just to make sure it works. I tried it on my engine the last time we practiced. Steve can give you a detailed report on how the carburetor works. Steve....I turn the microphone over to you.
Steve reaches out and acts like he takes a microphone from my hands. Yes Chris that carb he made is so fast, he wont even dare run it at the track. Since there is only one of them so far, it is too fast for me to even try keeping up with. So he chose not to use it for our first race.
I now turn the mic back over to the other moron acting just as stupid tonight, unless there are a few words you would like to tell the audience.
Chris got to laughing and could not stop. I slapped him on the back to finally shut him up. Dude it was not that funny.
You guys are stupid hilarious together. I cant help it. I am sorry. I will try to stop laughing. But then he went over the top again. I am sorry. Give me a minute and I will try to get it under control.
Chris worked back down to normal while me and Steve went to checking over his kart some more. We decided it would not be too much trouble to change over to a live axle. Wow that sure was a hard decision to make. Just like that. So no problem doing the swap.
The wheel base sure seemed long. But this I thought was common on a lot of the older dead axle karts. There was plenty of length behind the seat to shorten the wheel base closer to match newer models.
Sometime later dad came in asking what we were up to. I explained to him what the deal was and wanted to know what he thought was the best way to proceed. He did some measuring and realized the same thing about the wheelbase.
After a little bit more discussion we decided to shorten the wheelbase about 3 inches. This was still way more than the minimum of 40 inches and just enough clearance for the engine behind the seat hoop.
There was one thing that caught dads attention I would have never thought about. Well maybe would have figured something was wrong after taking it to the track then find out the kart did not handle anymore.
On this frame with a dead axle, there is no geometry on the front end. Normally, you need caster, maybe some kingpin inclination and even camber. There was no caster at all. So nothing that would keep the front end tracking straight.
Wow Geometry. That is on my school schedule for next year. Anyway that sort of explains about Chris telling me the kart does what it wants to if you let go of the steering wheel.
He said you had to hold on or suffer a serious merry-go-round ride. I first thought about how much trouble it was going to be cutting off the front axle and rotating it back to get some caster. So dad, do we have any options fixing the front end? Would it be easier to cut the spindle tubes off or cut the axle instead?
There is no reason to do either of those. All you need to do is heat up the frame section here. He then pointed the short section of tubing out past to where axle is welded to the main rails. You can rotate the axle back just enough to get the amount of caster needed to make it handle.
Since the kart and driver dont weigh very much, it doesnt need more than some caster to steer well. If you set it up square, the spindle will probably still have a slight amount of negative camber. Just from clearance in the kingpin bolts. That wont hurt at all. Likely do more good than anything.
After dad gave me the low down on doing the front end, he left us to work out any of the other issues we might find. We spent a while discussing what else was needed to do the conversion. Brakes were the first thing to decide on which way to go.
Chris, you have a few of choices here. Hydraulic or mechanical. Drum or disk. So what is it going to be? Your choice. None of them are cheap. The hydraulic will be the most expensive.
The mechanical drum like a Bendix will be on the low side. There are several different brands of drum brakes out there. That Bendix drum brake is near bullet proof. But I dont have experience with any of the others.
Hydraulic brakes would be so bad to the bones. Every car last year at the Indy 500 was equipped with the Airheart disk brakes. That is an impressive resume for those. I know they are not identical to the ones made for karts. But the design is supposed to be very similar.
Another hydraulic disk brake choice would be the Palmini. But I have been hearing those have a tendency of overheating the fluid and causing problems. That is mostly for the big engine classes. Doubt it would have any trouble with that massive Clinton power output.
I read an article in the Karting World magazine about some of the different brakes available right now. It was the March issue this year, I am fairly sure. They did a test on disk brakes and supposedly gave unbiased testing on each of them.
So you read that article and decide if disk brakes are what you want to change over to. That issue should be on the desk over there somewhere. But not going to suggest any of them without finding what ever you decide on someones kart first. Then we can get an up and close look before you buy it.
If you just want to keep it simple, go with the Bendix. You can get shoes at the kart shop across town. And likely some of the local guys selling parts at the track sometimes. Any other brake, well, you are on your own. I dont have any experience with the other stuff.
If you are still undecided after checking everything, we can go talk to Frank Price. He is a super smart engineer that works for Texas Instruments. He has one of those store bought educations. A whole lot of college and a framed piece of paper to even prove it. He is more than happy to show you how smart he is.
So my recommendation is whatever he suggests, just mark it off your list. That has worked for me every time I asked for his advice. I held strong to a serious face when explaining about Frank to Chris.
Well thanks for all of that advice. But I have already decided to just go with the Bendix brake and not have anything to worry about. Is everyone good with that decision? Or am I missing something?
You see, I already did some homework on what parts I need. I have also been checking what most of the guys out at the track are using. Only some of the fastest guys in the dual class are using hydraulic brakes right now.
Most of the single engine classes are split between mechanical disk and Bendix drum brakes. Well there are other drum brakes. But only one or two and they look sort of small for the job.
Those guys that mainly run the big races, well most of them run Airheart disk brakes. But they also have brand new equipment with the fastest engines too. That stuff is way more expensive for what I need right now.
My kart has the small dual drums built into the sprockets on each wheel. I dont see how they can be made to work on the new axle. Even if they can, it takes a lot of adjustments to keep them working good. So I would like to use the Bendix.
There are a few karts with the Palmini disk. I do know one guy that mentioned the same thing about getting it hot and not working so well. But he is a big guy that is very hard on his equipment.
I have not heard anyone complain about the Bendix brake. So that is what I thought about getting. I had already decided this before coming over tonight. That is unless you have a good reason not to use it.
Chris I dont have experience with any others, but would consider several of the disk brakes,
just because they look cool. I would like to try them out for comparison. But the Bendix works so well with what little power a Clinton has to offer. No matter how much we do to that engine, brakes will never be an issue we should have to worry about.
If I had a choice to test them, one of those H&H disk brakes would be on top of my list. That Grant spot disk is something else I might consider. But it is so small I cant see it lasting for very long without changing out pads or something else wearing out all the time.
That H&H has two different styles to choose from. One style has lining on the disk and the other one use pads on the caliper. Either way, both of them have more surface area than any of the other disk brake kits.
But comparing to a Bendix, it has more lining surface area than all of the other brakes. Does that make it better or just not so likely to wear out real fast? Inquiring minds want to know. I stared down at Chris when saying this.
Since the Grant is considered a very good choice from the test article, I am figuring that most of the better brake assemblies available are way over built for the application. But that does make one less thing to have trouble with over time.
Another thing Chris, you need to consider is matching wheels after changing over to a live axle. The old 5 inch rear wheels would now be spares for the fronts. Your front wheels here are 4 inch. So you could try both sizes out and see which ones works best.
It would be a good idea to buy an extra rear wheel with the conversion kit. Then you dont have a problem if one gets damaged during the race. This is just my opinion, but makes sense to me.
Yea Terry, that sounds like a good idea to have a spare rear wheel. I need to write down everything we have talked about so I dont forget anything important. I just need pencil and paper.
Another week has passed by. I have been beating the books like crazy. This stuff gets hard if I dont do the homework. If I slack off even for one day, Algebra does not make any sense. I still dont know what to do with it. Sure dont see much use for it right now. I sure hope it is good for something. But right now I dont have a clue what that would be.
There are just too many rules like if this way then you can only do it that way. You have to know all the rules or cant do the equations. Then dividing, or multiplying, or finding the common denominator, substituting, reducing...It never stops. I just dont get it.
If I focused all my spare time just on learning Algebra, it might make more sense. But what am I supposed to use it for? My brain would explode trying to figure out all of the laws regarding algebraic expressions. I know there is one expression on my face right now. An expression of pure disdain for this crap. Wow, disdain, another one of those words from last years language arts class I have never used before.
This weekend Chris is coming over with his kart. Fish or Paul Fisher, that sells concrete equipment and occasional grid steward at Fabens Speedway is bringing him over. We are going to find out how much trouble it will be to change his kart to a live axle model.
If not too complicated, I will try doing the work for him and then make some improvements on
his engine. This weekend will be a great time to modify two more carburetors on the Craftsman lathe too.
Chris is so eager to learn about things, I thought that would be perfect for him to see what it takes to bore out one of the chainsaw carburetors and make it into something worth putting on the kart engines.
I bet he gets a big kick from just being able to disassemble the carburetors before they get machined. He had asked how much trouble it was to replace diaphragms in his own carburetor. Now he can find out how to do a complete rebuild on one.
Another thing I need to get done is open up two more intake manifolds and make it so the larger chainsaw reed petals fit. Maybe this is something Chris might like to try doing himself for his own engine. I have several of the stock manifolds, so just in case one of them gets messed up, it wont be a problem.
I really hope grinding out the openings even bigger than we have them now, that the modified carburetor works well enough not to need buying the aftermarket Go-Power or Palmini intake manifold.
It would be cool if we can do a lot of modifications to the engines but keep them looking completely stock. The carburetor is one thing we cant do anything about. That stock float carburetor is dead in the water. So it is one thing that has obviously been changed.
But if the stock manifold will work well enough after opening it up even more, keeps the engines appearance more like original. No reason to tell anyone how much the manifold have been opened up. Especially if it works a lot better with the modified carburetor.
With some money I have managed to save up so far, I can almost buy new tires, or a new Bug rod, or an intake manifold. It would be cool if I could get all of these new parts for my kart. But what fun is there in just throwing money away on everything? Why not add a new Tillotson HL-115A carburetor while I am spending all that money?
So I figure about $40 on tires, $15 for the Bug rod, $25 for the carburetor, and that intake manifold is about $10. But it will also need a pyramid reed. So that is another 2 dollars. What is the problem here? It is only money. I am sure there are enough pop bottles at the car wash to cash in and pay for everything. Well maybe after a year of collecting them.
Fortunately I have most of the needed engine parts already. Steve had already decided to buy a new Bradfield rod. He also got a great deal on three of the six petal Go-Power pyramid reeds too. He just needs a new manifold for his engine now.
Friday afternoon is finally here and I am expecting Chris to show up eventually. He told me that Fish had to close up shop, before heading over here. He is spending the night so we can have more time working on stuff together.
Chris really seems interested in learning how to do things. I hope he is mechanically inclined enough when using tools. It would suck if it turns out he is an accident prone klutz. But I dont think that is the case. Well I sure hope that isnt the case.
Mom was holding up dinner for when Chris finally shows up. Paul Fisher came in the garage and he talked with my dad. I didnt know how well dad knew him. Dad thought he was someone that could be trusted at the track, but never mentioned anything else after that.
After the big meet and greets, Chris told Fish thanks and good bye. Chris was all into getting down and dirty working on his kart right then. He was just about to put on a work apron. That is until I grabbed his arm and told him it was dinner time.
I drug him into the kitchen and said to clean up. And dont forget to wash behind your ears. Then started laughing as I walked off. We sat down at the table as I introduced him to everyone there tonight that he did not know yet. He got really embarrassed for some reason when I introduced him to my sister.
Steve was also joining us, which was like all the time nowadays. Well when he wasnt in trouble with something at home. Chris and Steve took both of my brothers seats tonight. My oldest jerk of a brother is away at college, and the other one was out on a date with his girl friend of the week.
He had just rushed thru here after closing up the gas station for the evening. Then out the door he went. I dont know why he is so wound up to go out on a date after working all afternoon right after school. I would be more motivated to be less motivated about doing anything.
After everything quietened down, we were now ready to eat some chow. Alright time to dig in. I am hungry, lets eat. About this time Chris was reaching out to grab the plate piled with pork chops as mom bowed her head and started to give thanks.
I looked over to see Chris turn beet red in his face before realizing what was going on. He pulled back his arms quickly then lowered his head. After mom finished with the blessing, Chris just sat there as everyone else went grabbing for anything that smelled like food.
Mom made mention how well mannered and polite Chris was. Please feel free to help himself. This time Chris made very formal moves while carefully placing food on his plate. Watching him right before this I bet he would have stacked his plate like a kid at a pizza buffet. But after his slight embarrassment he went into full mannered child mode.
Wow, that was an awesome meal Terry. My mom works a lot and we dont eat home cooked meals very often. I could get spoiled real quick eating like this all the time. Chris went overboard right after we finished eating. He even asked to be excused after cleaning his plate spotless. Then thanked my mom nonstop saying how nice it was for him to be invited over this weekend.
When Chris offered to help with washing the dishes, I actually grabbed his neck and helped him walk outside. Dude quit laying it on so thick. You are making me and Steve look bad. Then Steve busted out laughing as I followed right behind.
We spent a ton of time checking over his kart. I measured everything and compared it to mine, just for reference. Chris was amazed at all of the tools and equipment there was in the garage. Even tho there was not that much stuff here.
Wow so cool to have a drill press. This must come in real handy all the time. Hey Terry, what is this over here on the table? That is my lathe, Chris. You might get a chance to use it tomorrow, if interested. I gotta modify a few more carburetors. I thought about showing you what is done to make one happen.
You will be the only other person privy to this information. I have not even revealed it to Steve yet. It is that hush hush on the down low how I made my secret weapon.
Wow, do you have a special carb that you have been running? Is it a lot faster? Are both of you running them right now?
Yes, yes and no.
Yes I have been running it.
Yes it is a lot faster after I machined one out.
But no, neither one of us are running one right now. I have only modified one of them so far. Just to make sure it works. I tried it on my engine the last time we practiced. Steve can give you a detailed report on how the carburetor works. Steve....I turn the microphone over to you.
Steve reaches out and acts like he takes a microphone from my hands. Yes Chris that carb he made is so fast, he wont even dare run it at the track. Since there is only one of them so far, it is too fast for me to even try keeping up with. So he chose not to use it for our first race.
I now turn the mic back over to the other moron acting just as stupid tonight, unless there are a few words you would like to tell the audience.
Chris got to laughing and could not stop. I slapped him on the back to finally shut him up. Dude it was not that funny.
You guys are stupid hilarious together. I cant help it. I am sorry. I will try to stop laughing. But then he went over the top again. I am sorry. Give me a minute and I will try to get it under control.
Chris worked back down to normal while me and Steve went to checking over his kart some more. We decided it would not be too much trouble to change over to a live axle. Wow that sure was a hard decision to make. Just like that. So no problem doing the swap.
The wheel base sure seemed long. But this I thought was common on a lot of the older dead axle karts. There was plenty of length behind the seat to shorten the wheel base closer to match newer models.
Sometime later dad came in asking what we were up to. I explained to him what the deal was and wanted to know what he thought was the best way to proceed. He did some measuring and realized the same thing about the wheelbase.
After a little bit more discussion we decided to shorten the wheelbase about 3 inches. This was still way more than the minimum of 40 inches and just enough clearance for the engine behind the seat hoop.
There was one thing that caught dads attention I would have never thought about. Well maybe would have figured something was wrong after taking it to the track then find out the kart did not handle anymore.
On this frame with a dead axle, there is no geometry on the front end. Normally, you need caster, maybe some kingpin inclination and even camber. There was no caster at all. So nothing that would keep the front end tracking straight.
Wow Geometry. That is on my school schedule for next year. Anyway that sort of explains about Chris telling me the kart does what it wants to if you let go of the steering wheel.
He said you had to hold on or suffer a serious merry-go-round ride. I first thought about how much trouble it was going to be cutting off the front axle and rotating it back to get some caster. So dad, do we have any options fixing the front end? Would it be easier to cut the spindle tubes off or cut the axle instead?
There is no reason to do either of those. All you need to do is heat up the frame section here. He then pointed the short section of tubing out past to where axle is welded to the main rails. You can rotate the axle back just enough to get the amount of caster needed to make it handle.
Since the kart and driver dont weigh very much, it doesnt need more than some caster to steer well. If you set it up square, the spindle will probably still have a slight amount of negative camber. Just from clearance in the kingpin bolts. That wont hurt at all. Likely do more good than anything.
After dad gave me the low down on doing the front end, he left us to work out any of the other issues we might find. We spent a while discussing what else was needed to do the conversion. Brakes were the first thing to decide on which way to go.
Chris, you have a few of choices here. Hydraulic or mechanical. Drum or disk. So what is it going to be? Your choice. None of them are cheap. The hydraulic will be the most expensive.
The mechanical drum like a Bendix will be on the low side. There are several different brands of drum brakes out there. That Bendix drum brake is near bullet proof. But I dont have experience with any of the others.
Hydraulic brakes would be so bad to the bones. Every car last year at the Indy 500 was equipped with the Airheart disk brakes. That is an impressive resume for those. I know they are not identical to the ones made for karts. But the design is supposed to be very similar.
Another hydraulic disk brake choice would be the Palmini. But I have been hearing those have a tendency of overheating the fluid and causing problems. That is mostly for the big engine classes. Doubt it would have any trouble with that massive Clinton power output.
I read an article in the Karting World magazine about some of the different brakes available right now. It was the March issue this year, I am fairly sure. They did a test on disk brakes and supposedly gave unbiased testing on each of them.
So you read that article and decide if disk brakes are what you want to change over to. That issue should be on the desk over there somewhere. But not going to suggest any of them without finding what ever you decide on someones kart first. Then we can get an up and close look before you buy it.
If you just want to keep it simple, go with the Bendix. You can get shoes at the kart shop across town. And likely some of the local guys selling parts at the track sometimes. Any other brake, well, you are on your own. I dont have any experience with the other stuff.
If you are still undecided after checking everything, we can go talk to Frank Price. He is a super smart engineer that works for Texas Instruments. He has one of those store bought educations. A whole lot of college and a framed piece of paper to even prove it. He is more than happy to show you how smart he is.
So my recommendation is whatever he suggests, just mark it off your list. That has worked for me every time I asked for his advice. I held strong to a serious face when explaining about Frank to Chris.
Well thanks for all of that advice. But I have already decided to just go with the Bendix brake and not have anything to worry about. Is everyone good with that decision? Or am I missing something?
You see, I already did some homework on what parts I need. I have also been checking what most of the guys out at the track are using. Only some of the fastest guys in the dual class are using hydraulic brakes right now.
Most of the single engine classes are split between mechanical disk and Bendix drum brakes. Well there are other drum brakes. But only one or two and they look sort of small for the job.
Those guys that mainly run the big races, well most of them run Airheart disk brakes. But they also have brand new equipment with the fastest engines too. That stuff is way more expensive for what I need right now.
My kart has the small dual drums built into the sprockets on each wheel. I dont see how they can be made to work on the new axle. Even if they can, it takes a lot of adjustments to keep them working good. So I would like to use the Bendix.
There are a few karts with the Palmini disk. I do know one guy that mentioned the same thing about getting it hot and not working so well. But he is a big guy that is very hard on his equipment.
I have not heard anyone complain about the Bendix brake. So that is what I thought about getting. I had already decided this before coming over tonight. That is unless you have a good reason not to use it.
Chris I dont have experience with any others, but would consider several of the disk brakes,
just because they look cool. I would like to try them out for comparison. But the Bendix works so well with what little power a Clinton has to offer. No matter how much we do to that engine, brakes will never be an issue we should have to worry about.
If I had a choice to test them, one of those H&H disk brakes would be on top of my list. That Grant spot disk is something else I might consider. But it is so small I cant see it lasting for very long without changing out pads or something else wearing out all the time.
That H&H has two different styles to choose from. One style has lining on the disk and the other one use pads on the caliper. Either way, both of them have more surface area than any of the other disk brake kits.
But comparing to a Bendix, it has more lining surface area than all of the other brakes. Does that make it better or just not so likely to wear out real fast? Inquiring minds want to know. I stared down at Chris when saying this.
Since the Grant is considered a very good choice from the test article, I am figuring that most of the better brake assemblies available are way over built for the application. But that does make one less thing to have trouble with over time.
Another thing Chris, you need to consider is matching wheels after changing over to a live axle. The old 5 inch rear wheels would now be spares for the fronts. Your front wheels here are 4 inch. So you could try both sizes out and see which ones works best.
It would be a good idea to buy an extra rear wheel with the conversion kit. Then you dont have a problem if one gets damaged during the race. This is just my opinion, but makes sense to me.
Yea Terry, that sounds like a good idea to have a spare rear wheel. I need to write down everything we have talked about so I dont forget anything important. I just need pencil and paper.