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Dana |
29 July - Progress
Giving everyone the benefit of the doubt, it is possible the problems we were having with the Horstman FX-100 clutch were self-induced. It came to light that some miscommunication had taken place with regards to the grade of threadlocking compound to to use on the more substantial nuts holding everything together. In our defense, the owner's manual illustrated using Loctite 290 (penetrating, wicking, permanent threadlocker) in one picture and Loctite 242 (serviceable) in another but in the text only referred to "Loctite" whenever an application was directed. With some clarification and a few replacement parts from Gary Gebhart of Horstman we decided to give the new clutches one more chance to prove themselves.
On Friday night we ran both karts (both wearing the FX-100s) at Circleville Raceway Park with Tracy doing the testing of her #99 kart and Eric testing #13. With each lap we tentatively allowed ourselves to think we'd found the combination but before we could feel to confident the RPM spiked under Eric's foot and the #13 coasted to a stop at Turn 4.
Of the two karts we feared a failure on the #13 more. When it had spun loose at about 14,000 rpm on Dana's first qualifying lap last week it took a long time to stop jangling around on the edge of the crankshaft and really excavated at lot of metal from the carefully machined taper on the inside of the drive hub. We did our best to clean it up and lap the really gruesome stuff out but in the end there was just too much material missing between the mating surfaces to hold. When that that bond slipped Friday the force overwhelmed the torque and Loctite holding the jam nut and a rapid chain reaction ensued. But Tracy's 99 kart, the drive hub of which didn't have nearly the abuse of the other one, seemed to be content working as a team with the motor. Based on the successful completion of about six sessions with the 99 kart, we decided to proceed with our plans to travel to South Bend for a day of practice.
Tracy had never driven at Michiana Raceway Park and it had been 3 years since Dana had. The South Bend round of the Great Lakes SuperKarts! USA Klein Tools Pro Tour was just two weeks away and while we intended to participate in Friday practice, Tracy would not be able to attend on August 11 due to orientation day at Mt. Carmel School of Nursing (to which Tracy has been accepted as a second-year student). Had both clutches held up the plan would have been to have both Tracy and Dana practice on this Saturday. With Dana's kart broken, she was told she had the day off and would have to do her re-familiarizing on the Friday of the race weekend.
With the drive hub on Dana's Horstman obviously unusable, the decision was made to let Tracy continue to use the Horstman and put a PRD clutch together from the pieces we still had laying around. This would not only be economical but could also prove interesting by running one of each the rest of the season and comparing performance and maintenance. We had almost everything we needed to do that except the clutch springs and then it occurred to me that the kart shop at MRP was a Rotax dealer, surely well stocked in Rotax springs. Dana was notified that she was back on again.
We arrived at MRP around noon. Eric and Todd have learned the routine so well already that we are breaking pit support set up records every time we pile out of the Monster Truck (our new Excursion tow vehicle). In this case I'm certain there were people in the MRP pits that, unless they were watching very closely, must have thought the canopy, table, supplies, tools, karts and stands just sprung from our tiny trailer like a cartoon or one of those self-inflating life boats.
One problem resolved, a new one pops up
We got Tracy out first, she being the priority for the day. But once she was out attention was focused on getting the EOM clutch together on Dana's kart. Parts were purchased, an air impact was borrowed and we were in business. The track configuration was set for a club race the following day but it exposed Tracy to about 75% of the track she'll be seeing at the SKUSA event. Both ladies had very good sessions, enjoying the track and their driving despite the terrible oppressive heat and humidity. Dana did not have fond memories of her previous visit to MRP but that was largely due to frustrations with the kart's handling that weekend. This time both ladies were thrilled with the handling and that makes for a more satisfying run. Eric got out in Tracy's kart for a couple sessions too and found the kart equally well balanced. (If you are curious as to who was faster, Eric or Tracy, in Tracy's kart, you will have to ask them - I'm not getting in the middle of that.)
Both clutches stayed where they were supposed to but that's not to say that the Horstman was trouble-free. For the second weekend in a row the four screws holding the drive sprocket to the clutch drum backed out. These, according to Horstman were epoxied in at the factory and should be JB Weld-ed in when being replaced. Sounds a little like an act of desperation to me but we'll follow Horstman's recommendation for next week's race at The Commercial Point Grand Prix of Karting. If the JB Weld doesn't hold then, those screws may have a little real welding in their future.
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