The Bench Racers Journal

[Terry Bentley]

Chapter 102

No Terry, just joshing with you. White wall tires might look cool on a car. But not so much for racing. I wouldnt get them for my kart. Hey, didnt you tell me you needed tires? Or something like that?

Yep, I gotta save up enough money to pick up a set. Did you remember to check on prices thru Paul, or Fish, as you call him? I dont think it is worth risking another race without replacing them either. Maybe not even the next practice session.

Oh I am sorry. Completely forgot. I was working over at the shop helping Fish. Then he got busy with customers. I left a list of things for him to order for me on his desk. So I can find out when I go there after school on Monday.

So do you hang out over at his shop a lot?

Yes sir, sure do. Almost every day after school. I get my homework done first, then help around the shop. Mainly sweeping and cleaning up. I even do inventory for him sometimes. Then stock the shelves when orders come in.

You mean like a real job?

Yea, but he doesnt pay me with money. He said it would work out better for me and him if he buys things I need for my kart. Since he can write off most of the expenses, he can help me out better than what he would be paying me. Plus I am not old enough to work yet. Not even part time.

Wow that sounds like a decent deal to me. So Chris, how do you know Paul anyway? I mean is it from the track or what?

No, he used to be my neighbor before we moved into our house. When I lived in apartments, he was the next door neighbor. His shop is not too far from where I live now. But the apartments are on the other side from where his shop is.

When mom had to work late, I would sometimes hang out at his place until she got home. Fish started taking me to the track last year. I got hooked really quick. But my parents had divorced and I was stuck in limbo. My mom had no way to help me if I got a kart.

I think my dad felt guilty about everything. He showed up last Christmas with my kart. But since he moved out of town, I didnt have much way to get it to the track by myself.

Fish has a kart and used to race a lot. But has been stuck working at the races a lot more lately. I think he likes helping out there more than actual racing. His kart is an older model. Even older than mine is.

He has been helping me out there a bunch. But I can tell he doesnt know all that much about working on them. Especially the engine. Everything you have helped me with I had no idea about at all. He does more scratching his head than knows which way to turn a wrench.

I have asked questions on how to do things from a bunch of racers at the track. But only a few of them are very helpful. There are some of the really fast guys that seem to know how to work on engines. But they laugh when I tell them I have a Clinton.

Most people out there try to be helpful, but dont act like they know what to do themselves. I mean they will give me a start when Fish is working the grid or something. But if it doesnt fire right up, they dont know what to do.

I was so impressed when you and Steve came out there. You guys actually did work on your karts between the heat races. I mean like gassed them up, checked tire pressure and even made sure all of the bolts were snugged up.

I remember you guys did something I sure didnt understand that night. It was after the first heat race. You pushed your kart around a few different places, while Steve sat in the seat. Then told him to hold the steering wheel straight.

I saw you trying to lift one front wheel slightly off the ground. Then you did the same to the other side. I couldnt figure out what you were going to all that trouble for. Nobody else ever does stuff like that between the heat races. Was there something wrong? What were you doing?

Oh, I forgot about that. Nothing really that important Chris. After fixing my frame the first time, I didnt get it back perfect and the front end would not steer so well. It turned easily one way and sort of just plowed when turning it the other way.

What I was checking for is making sure both front wheels felt about the same weight lifting off the ground. I had fixed the problem and the kart was handling great at the last practice session we had. But during that race the front end went to pushing more than I remembered it doing.

I had to throw my body weight around a little bit to make the kart get thru some of the tighter turns. That is what I remembered it handling like when the front end was messed up. But it felt more like the same steering both ways this time. Later when I got home, realizing the front tires had no wear indicators left showing on them.

Besides the tires I have are Tex-cons. They are OK for tires, but a lot harder than other brands. They have little slices across the tread to help get better grip. But if no more rubber is left, well they are worn out.

So I hope to get enough money saved up before our next race. I have a lot of it already, but not all the way there yet. A few more jobs mowing, and if nothing unexpected comes up, I will let you know and hopefully Paul with allow me to buy new tires thru him.

OK, Terry. But he wont mind doing that at all. Since you have been helping me out, he feels a lot better now that my kart is getting upgraded and maybe even a lot faster. He said he didnt know what to do  on my engine.

He keeps reminding me he can put gas in the tank and oil in the crankcase, then pull the rope. But when it comes to working on a kart engine he is completely lost. He says he still doesnt understand how an engine can run on watered down oil and not blow up.  

Hey Chris, we are burning daylight. You better get back focused on your kart. Oh yea, when you put your wheels together only run the small bolts down snug at first. Dont tighten them up until they are mounted on the axle or front spindles.

OK Terry, that is how I will do it then. After about thirty minutes of wrestling with the wheels and new tires, Chris had all four of them snugged up finger tight and ready to move forward.

While Chris was assembling his wheels, I got curious. That Azusa Mark II hub is like brand new so far as I have seen advertised in the mags like Chris mentioned. It wasnt even a few months ago I didnt remember seeing any ad Azusa for offering the Mark II Vari-hub.

The first magazine I checked out was August issue of Karting World. For some reason I still have not had the chance to read this issue completely thru yet. Right there on the inside cover I see the Asusa full page ad for some of their products. There was a tiny picture of that sprocket hub. They have the standard quick change sprocket hub. The Azusa Vari-hub.


August 1961 Karting World Azusa ad

At a glance, this sprocket hub looked no different than the new one Chris had just bought. Well, so I first thought. But it is a very tiny picture in the ad.  Looking closer it sort of looks more like the Hands sprocket hub. But it is advertised to retail at $4.95. Wow that is a lot different in price than what Chris payed for his.

While Chris was busy, I walked over and looked at his new sprocket hub more closely. Oh wow, there is a lot of difference. The new one uses four bolts to tighten that tapered hub. After some more digging, I found a half page ad for just the first Vari-hub Azusa sells. It has three bolts to secure the tapered center piece.


April Karting World page 89. Half page ad.

Still thumbing thru a few more magazines, I saw the new ad on the first inside page of my September issue. It had just arrived a few days ago. A whole page just for this new Azusa Mark II Vari-hub. It now sells for $2.95.

Man that is more like it. This new one has a double taper bushing with a reinforced key way. This one looks like it may also be lighter with the recessed slots on the outer diameter between each sprocket bolt hole.The new sprocket hub has thinner reinforcing ribs but also twice as many.


Sept 1961 Karting World Azusa Mark II full page ad

So they redesigned it, strengthened it, and made it lighter. Then dropped the price down from $4.95 to $2.95. I am sold. I was surprised to see in the August issue that early model was still being advertised.

OK Chris go ahead and slide your almost new wheels on the nearly new rear axle bolted to what appears to be a new kart. Make sure it goes on very easy and also slides over that piece of key stock on the axle. Run that big nut down snug.

You can use a wrench or just put some hand muscle to it. Wait a minute, you dont have any real muscles yet, so better use the wrench. Choke up on the wrench so you dont have any leverage. But only run it up until the nut stops. It doesnt need to be like actually tight.

The next important thing is to roll the axle over and look closely at the wheel. Make sure that wheel is running straight and true. If you are satisfied, go ahead and tighten up those three small bolts in the center.

He grabbed the wheel spinning it over. Wow this axle sure runs free. Looking closely while it was spinning, Chris asked, What happens if the wheel is not running straight? How am I supposed to fix that?

There are a couple of ways you can do it Chris, assuming the wheel is not bent. First you can try just popping the tire with your hand or using a mallet. Sometimes the wheel only needs a little bit of coaxing to find its happy spot. You might not always be able to get it perfect, but closer the better.

Tapping on the wheel is another way. Use a rubber hammer or rawhide mallet. Maybe even the wooden handle of some tool. Just be careful you dont hit it very hard. Only light taps with something besides a steel hammer. That is the wrong tool to use around those wheels or any wheels for that matter. With some patience along with a little bit of practice, most any wheel that is not all jacked up will run almost perfectly true.

When spinning them over look where the high side is. It should be the opposite on the other wheel half. So the high side, that is where you tap down. Dont get crazy. Take your time and everything will go together the way you want it to. You get impatient or frustrated, things always end up broken. So dont do that. Well that is the problem Steve has sometimes.

Now for your front wheels. It does not matter if using Timken bearings or sealed ball bearings, go ahead and tighten the wheels only using your hand. But do get it snugged up really good for now. Go thru the same process like on your rear wheels. Spin, tap, spin, then tighten the three bolts.

After you are satisfied with the front wheels running true, adjust that nut like we already talked about. You got all of that Chris?

Got it covered Terry. I will put the front wheels on and make sure they are running true. Then adjust the wheel nut just like you showed me.