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| February 15, 2005 News |
| Pimp My Kart – Early Stages of Kart Reincarnation |
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After several months of planning and preparation, the inaugural "Pimp My Kart" program is now into full swing! Announced as the lucky winner at the outset of the New Year, Illinois native Hank Sievers enthusiastically handed over his dilapidated 2001 PTK/Honda CR125 to the boys at EPIC Inc. for a comprehensive shifter kart transformation. From there, it was on!
PMK: Chapter II
 | | The frame rails had been 'squashed' from an improper fitting motor mount and needed to be replaced |
Once in-house, the crew at EPIC immediately disassembled the kart and consequently opened the first chapter of what has now become the Pimp My Kart Saga. Much to their dismay, Erik Penz and his staff at EPIC Inc. concluded that apart from the motor and the actual frame itself, the entire kart was essentially junk! After the engine was boxed up and sent out to Pop's Performance Engines in Dallas, TX to begin its own process of resurrection, the chassis was put under the lamp and further scrutinized.
With all the grease and accumulated road grime washed away, the frame was then placed on the examination table and unfortunately some additional bad news was brought to light. While the frame was found to still be relatively straight and square, there was clear evidence that an improperly sized motor mount had pinched the frame rails to a point where they were now permanently "ovalized". The tubing was clearly squashed beyond the point of any feasible repair and so the only possible solution would be to cut out the corresponding sections of frame rail and weld in place new members using a precision welding jig. This process would require some special equipment, as well as immediate attention due to the tight scheduling constraints of the project.
To get this job done, the experts at Jaguar Performance were called in to work their magic. Ed McGlone, the owner and proprietor of Jaguar Karts, has a long-standing reputation in the industry for bringing go-kart frames ‘back from the dead.' Jaguar had already volunteered to pimp out Hank’s ride with a new custom powder coat finish for his kart frame and so it was natural for McGlone to assume the responsibility for making repairs to the frame while they had it stripped down to its bare-metal finish. This gracious gesture undoubtedly saved the day and thankfully kept the project on track! Back in the EPIC shop, the remainder of the original PTK chassis components was reluctantly thrown into the scrap bin and it was then time to go to the phone and start sourcing all new 'pimp' parts and accessories.
 | | The 2001 PTK frame, stripped of its original paint, now ready for a series of modification |
One of the first calls to go out was to Ed Valcher at John's Kart Shop in Chicago, IL. Ed had just received in some new bodywork from his supplier, Righetti Ridolfi, and he was willing to sponsor the project with a complete new body kit provided, of course, that it would fit the frame. All sounded good until it was then discovered that the new CIK/FIA approved body necessitated the use of matching homologated nerf bars -which unfortunately would not fit the older-style PTK chassis -and so the dialogue soon came to an abrupt pause. This silence lasted about a split second before it was decided that the Righetti Ridolfi body was simply too 'pimp' to pass up and so the call was placed on hold while Jaguar Performance was brought up on the speed dial. With the exchange of just a few words (and some mumbled excuses as to why the paint stripping was taking longer than promised) it was mutually decided that McGlone and his crack team of fabricators would also modify the frame to accommodate the updated nerf bars. OK then, easy! Done! Without a moment lost or wasted, John's Kart Shop shipped out a complete new body kit directly from their warehouse location in Chicago, IL straight to Jaguar's shop in Lawrenceville, GA. McGlone and his team had all the new nerf bars and plastic in-hand within two days time and the process was seamless. What wasn't so quick or easy, however, was the paint stripping process of the original PTK powder coat.
While it was originally anticipated that the turn-around time required to strip and bead-blast the frame would take about two days, in reality, it ended up taking about two weeks. Some things are better left unexplained and in this particular instance we'll have to exercise our Constitutional rights and refrain from disclosing the details as to how the original paint was actually removed. (You never know how many of our friends down at OSHA and the EPA may also be karting enthusiasts!) In an effort to protect our sponsors and to prevent incriminating our beloved colleagues; suffice to say that with enough "treatment", eventually all of the original paint was removed from the frame.
Once it was safe to handle, a final bead-blasting process was then utilized to give the steel tubing a perfect texture for the anticipated new powder coat. From there, the chassis was brought back in-house to the Jaguar fabrication shop and the frame was fitted into a temporary welding fixture. The sections of frame rails that had been damaged from the motor mount were carefully cut out using hand-held die grinders and the ends of the tubes were deburred and dressed for welding. New tubes of the exact same diameter and wall thickness were laid into place and welded in such a manner so as to prevent any "weld-pull" or adverse effects of heat. Go-kart frames are generally designed to be very rigid in the area of the motor mount so this tends to be one of the few areas where you can get away with replacing the frame members and not encountering any detrimental effects to chassis handling.
 | | The forward nerf-bar fittings were removed and new ones are welded in place to accommodate the updated bodywork |
Next up was to cut and remove the forward nerf bar mounts. Again, this was done by hand very carefully so as to avoid gouging the frame rails or removing any excess material that may later have an effect on the torsional rigidity of the chassis. New nerf bar "spuds" were tacked in place to accommodate the different mounting points of the updated CIK nerf bars and then welded complete using a special technique that minimizes heat and potential weld distortion. Once all of the modifications had been completed and the weld joints had cooled thoroughly, the frame was placed on a precision level table and verified to be perfectly square, undoubtedly straighter than it was when it first came out of the original fixture back in 2001!
With the chassis now expertly prepped, our team was ready to make the big step…laying down the color. And oh, what a color! Suffice it to say that the inaugural Pimp My Kart package will be making a big statement. Check back on Thursday morning for our report on the paint application!
As always, glimpses into the first Pimp My Kart build can be found at the EPIC Inc. website – http://www.erikpenz.com. Stay tuned to EKN for the announcement of additional Pimp My Kart partners, as well! |
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