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grease fittings
#1
Hi All getting ready to assemble my Blitz Kart just wondering at this point
is it a good thing to drill and install grease fittings on the front king pin collars 
i am assuming the answer is yes how many here do bother do to originality  when these Karts were built
and not many Kart makers did or is just a good coating of grease sufficient ?


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Richard Stamile
Oceanside NY.
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#2
I have seen them both ways. My original alley kat has none but my Swoopster and an early fox frame I have has them. If you really don’t plan on running it much then I would say it’s unnecessary.
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#3
(05-15-2020, 08:46 AM)Brad Rose Wrote: I have seen them both ways. My original alley kat has none but my Swoopster and an early fox frame I have has them.  If you really don’t plan on running it much then I would say it’s unnecessary.

Thanks Brad i think ill pass on it then i have enough to do on this project
Richard Stamile
Oceanside NY.
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#4
I've owned Lord knows how many karts over the last 62 years, and none had grease fittings in the kingpins. Most karters feel that excessive grease holds grit and wears the kingpin bolts. A SMALL squirt of oil before a weekend of running is all that's needed. Kroil is perfect, as it wicks into the space between bushing and kingpin. It's also great for steering shaft bushings and throttle/brake rod and pedal pivots. TJ
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#5
Thanks Ted i have Kroil and that's what i will use
Richard Stamile
Oceanside NY.
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#6
I recommend using new bolts, buttered up with wheel bearing grease.

Did you notice that, on a Blitz, the spindles are inside-out compared to most karts?   That is, the "barrel" is on the frame, and the U-strap is on the spindle. 

Two things to ponder, if you're the pondering type.  (Otherwise, stop here and go get the grease!)
1.  To make things fit, with the barrel on the frame, the kingpin bolts ended up being 1/2" instead of 5/8" as on most other karts.  That makes everything a bit more prone to wear (slop).
2.  If need be, you can always tighten things up by installing a bronze bushing into the barrel.  However, with the barrel affixed to the frame, success will be more difficult.  That's because you'd probably need four people to put the whole frame up on your drill press and keep the axis of the barrel OD aligned to drill press' spindle.  Careful, your drill bit will obviously want to follow the wallowed out hole.  If it does, your caster, camber and kingpin inclination will be whacked.

We have a couple of Blitz's with (somewhat) wobbly kingpins.

Maybe the "right" approach would be to use an adjustable reamer (or two) to gradually enlarge the barrel, without going crooked?

Hopefully somebody on here has a better way?

BTW, around 1965 when Wes Shoemaker took over making Blitz's (rebranding them "Outlaw") he cost-reduced a bunch of the things that made the Blitz special (and expensive).  And he flipped the spindles around.
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#7
Thanks for your input Doug looks like on this Kart only the right barrel is worn i may have to hump
the Blitz up on my Drill press now would be the time to do it while its still strip down if i go this far i may
as well change the diameter bolt to 5/8s
Richard Stamile
Oceanside NY.
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#8
Richard, there's no need for 5/8" spindle bolts on a kart. Of course, if it came that way, fine. Steering shaft, fine, kingpin bolts, no. Otherwise just use the same size bolt that fits the spindle and the bushings in the axle. I will go along with Doug on using new bolts and bushings, but I still maintain that grease is a grit catcher. Also, a reasonable fit, bolt-to-spindle is all that's needed. We don't need precision reaming. These are go karts, not Formula I cars. I will state flat out that the guys who do all the precision machining and fitting don't run one bit better than the guys who run their karts in the same form as they were made so long ago, in the thousands. You can put Terry Ives in the seat of a ratty kart, and he'll still outrun 90% of the "hot dogs" on the track. Now, if you get a kick out of doing the machine work, and want to showcase your skills, great. If you just want to run a vintage kart and have fun, don't try to reinvent the wheel! TJ
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#9
Ted i was just thinking the same i noticed wear only on the right barrel, the slop is coming from the bolt more the then
barrel by getting new bolts you will automatically tighten up any wobble i was making my assumption that it need attention
based on using the original bolts , I just want to run a vintage kart and have fun,
Thanks
Richard Stamile
Oceanside NY.
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#10
New kingpin bolts are easy to find, and McMaster Carr should have new Oilite bushings for the kingpins. If there's a tiny bit of play, I promise you'll never notice it on the track. If you use flanged bushings, there's no need for thrust washers. If you decide you want them, McMaster has hardened thrust washers that are intended for use with radial needle thrust bearings, but work fine against bronze bushings. The n1ke spindles do have a little play after eight years of use, but the kart runs as well and as straight as it did when I designed and built it. TJ
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