The Cave

Now you have your chassis pretty much ready to go. We can focus a little on basic set up.

We talked early about the rear hubs that you took off to make sure the axle is centered. We can put them back on and set from maximum rear width at 55’ or 140mm. The 140 is about an 1/8 inch wider, but 55’”for us old school and you have that 1/8 as security. Yes you should run max width as the base starting spot. You generally can narrow about an inch, but any more than that requires more chassis and or hub changes to achieve results. That gets into alot more than basic kart handling, for our purpose here, that is where you will start. Stock hubs on CRG and Maranello are 90mm. They work okay when the track comes in and we have some grip. You may be a bit loose at the start of the year.

Remember now is a good time to also set or make note of how much you can narrow when using your rain wheels. The new ASN/CIK rule is the tire must be wider than the new rear bumper and side pod. Doing it now will save you some time when it is raining out and speed up your change over time.

The front end should be checked for alignment. Always start by making sure the caster camber pills are in the neutral position. Front chassis height is another in depth tuning thing, I usually start with one spacer on the top and the rest underneath. This is a good neutral setting and leaves room to play. Next check the camber and toe. Set camber at 0 to .2mm positive. Why? As soon as you get into the kart, you load it so that it will increase the negative camber by .2 - .4mm, which is the desired amount. This is again a good neutral place to start. Set the toe to .4mm toe out, .2mm each side for the same reason cause as you load it, it will change .2-.4mm back to toe 0 or slight toe in. Ideally we set the front end up with the driver in it, but that can be tough to do in some cases. Note, if you have the new magnetic Snipers, be careful where you mount the tool as this can throw the front out big time. If you don’t have an alignment tool, you will need to convince someone to help you because without them, it is almost impossible. Install the front hubs or wheels on with no more than 15 mm spacer on the inside and the rest of your spacers on the outside. With CRG or Maranello, that is one wide and one narrow.

These settings will start you in a neutral starting point and you can fine tune from here. Most karts will work just fine from here on in and it takes a good consistent driver and understanding of what to do when adjusting from here.

Next since we haven’t put that seat back on yet, we can look at mounting it. This too is an art. If you fixed up that old seat and plugged all the wholes, good, we can start clean. The position of the seat is the single most important handling item for any kart. If this is wrong for the particular driver, then the kart will never handle right and all the info you read, study and think you know is out the window. You can find guides on the net for your chassis and are the best place to start. Based on your individual body style, you can make slight changes to this. Your comfort is second to proper weight distribution! We can adjust the steering wheel height and angle after, as with the pedals after the seat is in. Get some help with this step.

Seat struts. This is a bone of contention with me as guys put them on for the wrong reasons. They are not to help support the seat and hold it in place. They are used to transfer weight and must be properly installed if they are to work right for you. More is not always better. You should always start with NO struts on the kart. Work with the kart to get the setup working well and then add if you cannot get the proper grip. Use different hubs and axle stiffness first, then work on using the struts. Incorrectly mounted struts can also have a “negative” effect on making the kart work. I see a number of our members whose struts are on the kart wrong and they are slowing themselves down. But someone told them to put them on and they threw them on with negative effects or how to properly do this.

Once the seat is in, adjust the steering wheel height. This too is also wrong on 50% of the karts out there. With your hands in the 9 and 3 spots, where they are supposed to be, your hands should be equal height to your shoulders. Many of you lower it down which does not allow you to properly turn the wheel creating fatigue. If your arms are that tired after racing, you got problems. Could be the kart, but for God’s sake, get the wheel up and into the right spot. If you have it in the lower spot on the kart and you are a senior,, it is wrong already. Up and up guys. Look at the F1 and Indy guys, their wheels are not in their laps, I wonder why?? You are not out for a Sunday drive with your wrist draped over the wheel cruising for chicks. If you are a Junior who is still growing, you will have to check the seat position as I see many of you growing 1-2 inches over winter and most likely some since you fit the seat last spring. You position last year may not be right for this year, unless you grew into the proper position.

And finally the pedals. Use heel stops, you can’t support your feet right without them. They should be set so that you support your heel and weight with the stop, and the reason you have an ankle is you pivot the pedals. Do NOT use rough or abrasive sticky pads on the belly pan or pedals to hold or keep from slipping Then adjust the brake pedal so that you are putting “no” pressure on the brake pedal when sitting ready to go, ankle relaxed and weight on the heel stop. I also see this wrong alot and you have to force your foot back to much. If this happens, you have a problem riding the brake even if you think you aren’t causing fade and failure. Make sure you adjust the rod so it isn’t too tight either. Turn the wheel and make sure it doesn’t apply the brake when the right tie rod hits the brake rod. I have seen too alot, causing guys to have trouble turning to the left. It applies the brake when turning and they spin out without knowing why. Now you do.

This should help you make adjustments and get yourself in the kart where you can actually physically drive the kart with the correct movements. It is far more important to get the basic positioning right, and using the correct technique then you think. MAKE this work for you, not but I like it this way. Top drivers if you look at them all sit and steering and react the same. Again I wonder why?

I have no problem wearing your practice ones down lower as you just don’t push as hard, if you feel some fade; you just stop and adjust up. Not in a race, as there is nothing worse than having a great race going on and suddenly your brakes go away on you, the grief itself isn’t worth it, trust me. Don’t think oh I will just start the year on new one and go from there. Better to go on the old and get your new ones ready for racing.
Do pads need break in? You better bet a big YES on this one. “Any” kart manufacture and style will tell you to break in the pads. They will last a lot longer and provide a longer more solid pedal feel. Every pad has a resin in it and you need to get this out. Only running them though a couple of heat cycles will get them ready. Also you heat treat the pad making it tougher and longer lasting. I put a new set of pads on for race in BC, and they didn’t make the 20 laps. I broke in the next set and I ran 4 race days on them and had them or practice afterwards. To break in the pads, run them at a “medium pace” for 5-8 laps, pull them out and let cool down. Reverse them and repeat. Two sessions seem to work best. I usually break in two to three sets at a time, usually when breaking in the engine as this is a great time saving method. When you let your engine cool off after its first session, you can either swap around or get the next set ready. On older spring loaded calliper to pads, this is a bit of a pain. Those bigger thicker pads still need to be broken in. The reversing around can be done on a daily basis instead of each race. Enough about the pads I think.

Now back to the calliper that has the pads removed. Hopefully there is no leakage around the piston area or you need to rebuild the calliper. A few small drops or sweat maybe noticed, this can be one of two things. Starting to leak, or your pads are real low and worn uneven. If you have to rebuild, I will not go to that length as that varies greatly on the system type. Let us make sure the area is clean and the piston moves freely.

While the pads are out, look real close at the rotor and rotor mounting area. Looks for cracks and if you have a floater system, check the spring washers, c clips and safety pins. It is not uncommon to see edge damage on the outside edge of the rotor. Take a small grinder and smooth them out, being careful not to hurt the pad contact area. Those new rotor protectors are a great idea and I strongly encourage you to use one. Next it is always good to scuff the rotor in the pad area with a soft brake refinish pad. This cleans up the rotor and creates a new deglazed surface. This makes the brake feel real solid as the pads have something to bite to. I scuff mine every couple of race days.

Now install the pads with attention to set and adjust to proper clearance using the correct shims. The pad should be as close as you can get it without touching the rotor. If the rotor is bent, give it a few taps with a “soft” blow hammer. Be careful not to wack it real hard. Once this is set, we can bleed the system.

Before we bleed we have one final check and that is the master. Check the front area and clean it up same as the calliper. Check the pivot pin and install a new front boot if yours is gone or the old one won’t say in place.

Remove the master cylinder fluid cap, remove the old fluid and fill with fresh stuff. Use bleeder lines and catch tanks to catch the old fluid and flush until the fluid is absolutely clean and the new stuff is through the whole system. If you have the older style system with no reservoir, or direct pressure feed system, you will need a “bleeder tool” to do this.

Do not on these direct pressure systems try to bleed by removing the small filler screw, filling it up, and then pumping the pedal while releasing the fluid at the calliper. You will notice you will lose your pedal and air is entering the system. You need the bleeder tool or you can make your own. You can do this by making a fitting that fits into the master fill hole and attach a tube to it. I have seen a syringe used but the rubber in it gets destroyed from the brake fluid. Once you have a tube that connects above the height of the calliper bleed screws, you need to “gravity” bleed the system. This is the only way on these systems to get the air out.

And finally, brake fluid. Never use just regular automotive dot 3. It is not up to the demand of racing. Get yourself a good quality dot 4 or dot 5 performance fluid. Never mix fluids with silicone and non-silicone fluids. You can get some good stuff from the motorcycle shops that works really well. Change your fluid at least every 2 race days and no more than this.

And that’s it for the brakes. If you need help please say so as you don’t want to lose these things!!

From the cave was named by Helen as my garage is known as the Cave. We will start this week on part two on getting ready for the season.

Now we have it cleaned , we want to try to keep it clean. To make this easy as we can, you need to purchase some Kleen Flo Kleen Slip. Auto Electric or APP on Albert Street carry it. Spray everything with it and let it sit 24 hours. Again, no other product is acceptable and this is optional too you to do, but it sure makes it easy to keep clean, plus it lubes and seals up for moisture. Many other racers just keep up with the WD40, remember last time, that big can you got, right, on the trip to get the 5 and 6mm lock nuts at CTC in the bolt bin.

Remember to replace all of the lock nuts when putting the bolts back in. On the front end, make sure you use new ones on the spindle bolts as they if you remember from last month, we found came loose??

“Rule” note #1, if you remove a lock nut, you replace a lock nut, everytime you take it off or it is not a lock nut anymore. This is a common mistake we all make. That’s why they come loose on the spindles, we loosen them, adjust and retighten, good time now to replace it as you won’t during the season.

“Rule” note #2; All of you, throw those damm impacts away. The only place I have ever seen an impact used on a “race car” including F1 or even Nascar is on the wheels. But that is steel on steel. YOU should NOT ever use it anywhere on a kart. I hope I don’t have to say this again. You note I don’t let anyone use on my kart ever. Even on the wheels, the steel studs on the hubs are mounted into “aluminium” and they get wrecked by hammering the wheel nuts on, both at the threads and where they go into the hub. The studs are not available separately so keep hammering and I will sell you new hubs! You can also damage the rims. That’s a couple of hundred for me!

Now’s a good time to tie up the electrical wires and throttle cable . One method that is common and many like it is to cut a piece of fuel line into ½ inch pieces. You run your nylon tie through it, wrap around the tube you are attaching to, and then back through the little piece of fuel line, and then attach your cable or wire to it. This provides a plastic dampener between the frame and the wire or cable and attaches it so it is snug. This does a couple of very key things, wires should never ever be attached to a steel tube as it can wear and cause them item to short out. As does over tightening directly to the steel tube, they wear. The dampening keeps the cable or wire from moving around as well. Good idea, very good to get in the habit of this one.

Rule note #3; do not use so many tie straps to hold wires and fuel line solid to a tube. This is another big common mistake thinking this will secure and hold in place. Bad, very very bad. All wires should float to avoid contact and stress tearing them, same for the fuel line and throttle cable. Some of you tie them down so much that causes problems on the track, then you tie down even harder. Stop it, make sure they can’t get loose or tugged, route them in a way they have some room to move. Starter switches are a no no on the steering wheel. It might look cool, but the wires are small and can break very easily, if the relay one loses contact, the kart stops.

Good idea to change the gear case oil while you can easily access the filler sight glass. Just makes it easy at this point. I assume you found the cracks and wear on the bottom of the seat. You may need someone to fix up the fibreglass for you. You still have time as the seat should go on last anyways. Leave it off for now.

If you took the axle out and cleaned those miserable areas known as the bearing cassette holder, make sure the motor mount adjuster is back in place before putting the axle back in, this can be a pain trying to get the screws and nuts back on after. The mount should be mounted right at the bottom and flush to the chassis. ROKS use a flat mount and in order for the adjuster to work right, it has to be moved down from the stock holes that have the nutsert in them. Remember, on CRG or Maranello, Do not use the nutsert location, go lower, right down on the main tubes!

Let’s get that axle back in place. You had to move the brake or you may have removed it as an assemble. I have found on some karts that I left the master on and removed at one time. However, no matter how you did it, let’s mount it all back. Make sure to align the rotor in the center of the calliper, not the pads, the pads should float back and forth. If they didn’t you have some brake work to do, not that we won’t be tacking that beast anyways. You will note the axle can go up and down. I always run my chassis low, it gives the best grip in most situations. In order for that to happen, the axle must be jammed all the way up in the holder. Also double check the axle is square to the frame. There generally isn’t any movement this way, however if it isn’t square, better get it to me so we can check to make sure the chassis isn’t tweaked. Also make sure the first centering you did aligns the axle side to side, measure from the end of the axle, not the hub to the outside cassette carrier. Many members leave the hubs on to do this, but this can have a huge effect on the handling. Once the axle is in, we will talk about the hubs later.

Belly pan next, some put the tank back in first. Before the tank goes in at which every time you choose to do so, clean it first. To do this I use a little varsol and swish around for a bit, then flush with hot water and dry. You will be amazed how clean it becomes. The belly pan bolts are a pain as you found out when removing them. The nuts were probably worn off along with part of the bolt. I have some in stock if yours are not long enough. One thing I now due to prevent this is actually get a ¼ inch washer and put the taper bolt in from the bottom. The washer is big enough the taper fits up inside and remains flat enough to allow from more clearance under the kart. I find it works better this way and seems Armando does too, as he puts them in this way on all Maranello’s. Don’t worry much about the rubbers between the floor pan and chassis, they do not affect the handling as some will tell you. You can replace them if you want, make some or buy some flat rubber washers at home depot. I don’t and very few keep them around in stock. Don’t forget to check the pan mounts and tap them back into place before attaching. If you have gone off track, you may find a couple bent up.

By now it should like a kart again and you haven’t spent a whole lot yet of cash yet. But you probably see they kart taking shape and looking pretty nice again. Doesn’t take a high-end tech to do this stuff either, just a little time. Having a heated cave does help.

1. Remove the fuel tank and throw all the fuel lines away, all of them. YOU will replace them all and you will replace with the Tygon you will come and buy from me. Yes it is 3 times more than the crap at Canadian Tire’s (ctc in the future) and from other shops,” but” it does not harden and is simply the best. Replacing it will allow you to reattach and reseal any air leaks that may cause multiple problems. I don’t care if you don’t like the yellow, just don’t care, and yes there are other colours and it looks neat, but it hardens in a very short time and creates leaks.. When removing the lines be very careful as many of the fittings are plastic and they too become brittle and may break. I cut the line on an angle with “sharp” side cutters as not to put pressure on the plastic fitting that will happen when using a knife. It is then easy to remove the line. You can save some of it as it makes great crankcase breather lines only and save you a few pennies.

2. Remove the belly pan and seat. If the engine is still on, you can leave it, but at this time you will notice how much access you now have. Remove all wire tires holding everything else on kart to gain access to the tubing. I will be very surprised if by this time you don’t have a list of things that need attention. I forgot and assumed the side pods and all four wheels will already off the kart, if not, off they go. My list and I haven’t even seen your kart will tell me you need some new lock nuts, tapered head bolts. Have a clip board handy to make notes and start your list of parts you need.

3. At this point, the cleaning can start. Spray the entire kart with WD 40 and let it soak for a bit. Take care not to spray on the brake pads and rotor. All plastic and steel can be sprayed. At this point, I like to remove the whole axle assembly including the bearing carriers. As an assembly it is easy and quick to get back in. You can then check the rear axle bearings for play and condition. I take a little pick and gently bend up the bearing seal if so equipped on each side so I can spray cleaner into the bearing. This is real messy. You can do it on the kart as well, continue to spray and clean until the bearing spins smoothly. It takes a number of times to get them cleaned out so be ready for some time spent here.

4. Wipe the kart down with rags and you will find it looks pretty good except the bottom. “WD works the best”. DO not use any other degreaser or cleaner. You will find spray nine, super clean, simple green and others leave residue and will damage the finish on many of the parts. WD 40 only, do I have to tell you again and I know for a fact, nothing works better. I will simply not believe you when you say well I used this and? I have tried them all. Last time WD40. Gets lots. I buy bulk and put into spray bottles. It is the cheapest as I use lots. Note, it also removes surface rust and with a little elbow grease cleans up the exhaust pipe when using a plastic scrubber.

5. Now you can start looking over the rest of the kart, you would have seen any cracks when cleaning (another reason for the removal and cleaning process) as well the list should be pretty big on things you found. Not to scare you, but the lists is usually little things like nuts bolts bent or worn out, nylon tie, Check the front end by wiggling the wheel up and down and side to side. Secure the steering so it doesn’t move which will allow you to find rod ends or parts that have play. There is always a little bit in the spindle bolt, but tighten it up first to see if it just didn’t come loose.

6. Up to know this should have only taken you about an hour to hour and half unless you removed the axle. That’s it. By now you will be panicking about how much work you have to do and we are just getting started. I do this 3 -4 times a year on my kart so I don’t feel for you. Get me your list of necessary parts so you have them as we start the re-assembly process.