Early Season Prep, February 19, 2000
- submitted by Jim
Since being hauled back from Cincinnati in mid-January, the kart had remained relatively untouched for a month. Having not maintained a "race shop" for over 15 years, some preparation to the work area was needed before we could do the preparation for the kart. Mainly it needed organization but heat was an essential too (hey, even when we were racing snowmobiles we had heat in the shop).
Our 1996 Margay Syncro kart as delivered.
One of the prime reasons we selected this kart was that it had a proven record. Kevin Picklesimer, the previous owner had placed in the top three final positions in the last two club championships. In speaking with him both when we visited him in December and when we picked the kart up in January, it was obvious he had worked a lot with the set up of the chassis and was very attentive to detail. That was exactly what we were looking for in a kart as we figured there to be a lot to learn in driving style and basic race maintenance and prep without having to sort out a chassis (and one without a suspension!) from scratch too.
What Kevin delivered to us was a kart that was pretty much race-ready once the rebuilt engine was broken it. So there wasn't too much to do to prep it for our first test session (which was later sprung on us on Feb. 26) other than personal comfort and detail issues. To me it was just as important that the girls be comfortable at the wheel so one of the first adjustments we made was to the height of the steering wheel. We were able to find a position that wasn't too high for them but neither too low for me and which reduced the tendancy to smash our elbows into the engine in right turns.
Tracy and Dana supervise the preliminary modifications.
We had to relocate the tachometer and temperature gage for me though. Typically, the kart crowd mounts the gages in the center of the steering wheel for unobstructed view of the displays. But the typical kart crowd also has much younger eyes. I quickly realized a delay in focusing from near to far and far to near - from out ahead of the front bumper to the gages (several inches away from my face) and back again. Our solution was to mount the tach/temp unit behind the steering wheel like a traditional dash board, viewing through the wheel. It was a change of only about 8" but at racing speed and in tight traffic the difference in re-focusing time can be crucial.
Tracy gets familiar with the new equipment
as another Central Ohio team-owner looks on.
Another modification that appealed to me (in spite of Kevin's recommendations against it) was a driver-reachable kill switch. Without one the only way to shut down the engine was to seal off the vent hole in the fuel cap. This was difficult for the driver to do and inconvenient at the least in the case of a stuck throttle or other emergency. So on went a simple toggle switch to ground off the ingition on demand. Every racer should have one.
Tracy brings Nige' up to speed on the new smells in the garage.
We also played around a little with the colors we hope to race under this year. As many of you know, Champ Car driver Greg Moore had always been a favorite of ours and his passing last October at Fontana was disheartening for us all. As the plans developed for our racing effort this year, it was suggested along the way that our kart carry the colors (but not necessarily the scheme) of the Players Racing Team as our own sort of tribute to Greg. Several sources and shades of paint were experimented with until the right conbination was procured.
During this time we also made our first attempts at mounting our own tires. I'm glad no one was watching us as it likely resembled a couple people mud-wrestling an alligator (it was a rain tire). Neither tire mounted completely, both beads at some point around the tire refusing to push completely out to the edge of the wheel rim. An order was placed shortly thereafter for a trick specialized tool for just this purpose. News groups report that it works. We'll see...
Race back to
2000