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| January 14, 2005 News |
| Pimp My Kart - Teardown Phase Begins |
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 | | Hank Sievers' 2000 PTK ready to be 'Pimped Out' |
Just when you thought your racing career was at a dead end, you get PIMPED! At least that's what happened to Homer Glen, IL’s Hank Sievers early last week when he was announced as the winner of the inaugural EPIC ‘Pimp My Kart’ promotion presented by Super Kart Illustrated. After reviewing countless entries, the EPIC Inc. staff choose Sievers' kart based on his racing credentials as well as the circumstances of his dilapidated shifter kart.
PMK: Chapter I
Born April 18, 1986, Sievers’ racing career started about nine years ago in Jr. Dragsters, moving into oval-track karting in 1997. Hank spent the next four years of his career competing in the local speedway wars of his home state of Illinois. Beginning in 2001, Sievers moved up again to regional late-model stock car racing. In 2004, he acquired his first shifter kart, a second-hand PTK/Honda 125cc. When receiving Hank's kart, it was clearly in need of some expert race preparation. Erik Penz and his staff of talented mechanics will attempt to resurrect the kart in time for this year's KMI Kart Expo scheduled for February 26-27.
 | | Rust is not a speed secret |
After receiving the kart this week, the guys at EPIC immediately set about the task of taking inventory and assessing the status of each component. One of the first pieces to be removed was the power plant - a 1997/99 Honda CR125 which was in obvious need of some TLC by someone who knows how to bring it back up to speed. The man for the job is Floyd Kindhart - a.k.a. ‘Pops’ - of Pops Performance Engines in Lake Dallas, Texas. Floyd is a regular vendor of the EPIC team and when it comes to preparing race motors, his prompt service and knowledge base are the best in the business. The engine for this project has now been ship to the PPE shop in Dallas and confidant that it will be returned as a top performing moto package.
As the chassis was stripped down to the bare frame and each part was removed, the guys at EPIC kept a running tab of what components could be re-used and what components were destined for the garbage. Unfortunately, the state of this circuit cruiser was much worse than originally anticipated so virtually the entire kart ended up in the junk pile. Certain unique chassis parts such as spindles, nerf- bars, and the bump shifter will be cleaned up, inspected, and either re-used or replaced with original PTK hardware during the build process. The Brembo brake calipers from the kart appeared to be salvageable, although they definitely need to be refurbished and outfitted with new seals and pads. Utilizing these brakes will be an asset later on in the build phase, as they should bolt directly to the spindles and bearing cassette without any required modification. Unfortunately the rotors, master cylinders, and brake lines are all too far worn to ever be competitive (and worthy of a pimped out kart) and inevitably will all have to be replaced.
 | | The PTK bare frame ready for bead blasting and new paint |
So as not to put the 'kart' before the horse, the first order of business is to investigate the actual frame and verify that it is straight and true before sending it out for bead blasting and giving it fresh powder-coat. Ed McGlone of Jaguar Performance is set up to do all of this and has a credible reputation for straightening kart frames that were deemed unfixable by their owners. Later this week, the bare PTK frame will be taken down to the Jaguar shop in Lawrenceville, GA and will immediately be placed on a precision level table to insure that it is straight. If the frame needs any tweaking, McGlone will then fixture the front clevises and rear bearing hangers into their original geometric positions and then work his magic on the frame members to bring this chassis back to factory spec, just like it came out of the weld fixture five years ago. Once the chassis is verified to be true, the frame will then be bead-blasted to remove all of the chipped paint and accumulated road grime. Jaguar Performance also has it’s own in-house powder-coating booth, thus giving the frame a premium paint treatment. Nothing but the best is expected from the guys at Jaguar so stay tuned to see the results of their labor during the first week of February when the frame is expected to be back at EPIC.
One of the greatest aspects of the ‘Pimp My Kart’ promotion is the ability for our team to bring together a culmination of aftermarket parts and components. There are a large number of manufactures in the North American karting industry who have designed and developed high-performance parts - far superior to most of the OE hardware we commonly see - but unfortunately these parts will forever be categorized as aftermarket and not available as standard equipment. There is no chassis or engine manufacturer that offers a custom package, so it becomes the responsibility of the kart shops to offer their clients a wide assortment of upgrades and options that he or she can completely customize their kart. Drivers come in all different sizes and have different performance requirements depending on what series they race. It is imperative to be able to set up your kart to be not only comfortable but also consistently fast and tunable. It is the aim of EPIC and the ‘Pimp My Kart’ team to do exactly this and hopefully will help put Hank at the front of the grid in his new pimped out ride.
 | | From a rolling kart to a pile of parts |
As EPIC goes through the build phase of the kart in early February, they will be turning to some of their preferred vendors and distributors to supply the project with the perfect aftermarket parts for the application. John's Kart Shop in Chicago, IL and Arsenal Pro Racing of Northern Florida are two supply houses that are already cued up and ready to help EPIC with this monumental task. Both entities have fast and efficient mail-order service, which will allow the build team to order various parts as they go through the build process. Stay tuned for details of the final build coming early February.
Visit http://www.erikpenz.com for more information on EPIC ‘Pimp My Kart’ project. |
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