[Fot] 25th Anniversary of the FOT 2021

Jerry Van Vlack jerryvv at roadrunner.com
Thu Dec 31 17:56:40 MST 2020 

Thankfully no one was injured and the house didn’t burn to the ground but I must say I began laughing at the 8 foot tall vapor fire and didn’t stop until the end. I wanted a go kart so bad but it never happened. There was a neighbor kid who mounted an engine on a wagon however and that thing would fly once he got it rolling. No issues with the hills around my Pittsburgh neighborhood either.
I agree Rick’s story is the best so far.
JVV

From: Scott Meredith via Fot 
Sent: Thursday, December 31, 2020 6:34 PM
To: fot at autox.team.net 
Subject: Re: [Fot] 25th Anniversary of the FOT 2021

Rick M. 
You win!




-----Original Message-----
From: Rick McCurdy via Fot <fot at autox.team.net>
To: Phil Gott <vfracing at aol.com>
Cc: Friends Of Triumph <fot at autox.team.net>
Sent: Thu, Dec 31, 2020 2:26 pm
Subject: Re: [Fot] 25th Anniversary of the FOT 2021


One Christmas (i might have been about 12 or 13 in ‘69 or ‘70), I asked for a go kart. Santa thought he would be just cool enough and I got a go kart frame. No engine. Some time later, the old Reo reel to reel mower gave up its motor for the cause. Of course, my folks would not let me ride the kart on the road, so it got beaten around the lawn and one day, I noticed the fuel line below the cylindrical brass tank leaking so I decided to repair it myself. 
With a propane torch and some solder... rookie mistake.
 
Needless to say, it didn’t go well. Just as I touched the offending leak with the torch, the tank lit up like a flame thrower, blowing a jet of fire about 8 feet straight up out of the vent hole. After a bit of ‘Holey crap!’ hyperventilating, I ran around to the back porch where my parents were enjoying a relaxing libation at the end of a fine summer day and I tried, without being too specific or panicky, to get my dad to come out front and help me with events unfolding at the entrance to the garage. Mom must have sensed some urgency and suggested Fred go out front and see what was the fuss (he was also nursing a back pain issue at the moment, and was somewhat reluctant to get out of his reclined position).
He did, and when we rounded the corner the flames were licking at the soffit. With eyebrows raised, he grabbed the kart and dragged it out to the lawn from under the house and frantically looked around for something to smother the fire. The green Astro turf carpet on the front porch proved to be the only thing within reach and he threw it over the kart and stepped back. Almost immediately, a hole appeared as the tank torched the rug. Then the top blew off and it was over. I don’t recall ever finding the top, but I did learn a thing or two about compression fittings that day. You don’t need to solder them to stop a leak.

Afterward, dad was pretty mellow about that, all things considered. I never heard about it again from him. But you know, I’d have never learned that lesson if the Kart came with an engine...

Rick McCurdy
Newburgh, NY


  On Dec 31, 2020, at 1:56 PM, Phil Gott via Fot <fot at autox.team.net> wrote:


  
Wish I had a picture of my go kart back in the day. Came with a very tired West Bend 2-stroke engine. Pretty Hot. But I got my hands on a Honda Super 90 motorcycle engine and 4 (or was it 5?) speed transmission. Cobbled it together. Went like crazy until the motor mounts bent and the chain wrapped around the sprocket. My first-ever spin......


Sent from my iPhone


  On Dec 31, 2020, at 12:57 PM, fubog1 via Fot <fot at autox.team.net> wrote:


   
  Great stuff here gang, keep it up!
  I was gonna tell of my twin briggs & stratton engine kart, but it pales compared to some of these stories...!
  Glen



  -----Original Message-----
  From: Erik Jacobsen via Fot <fot at autox.team.net>
  To: fubog1 <fubog1 at aol.com>; fubog1 via Fot <fot at autox.team.net>; garygret at sbcglobal.net <garygret at sbcglobal.net>; DAVE HOGYE <dlhogye at comcast.net>
  Sent: Thu, Dec 31, 2020 12:03 pm
  Subject: Re: [Fot] 25th Anniversary of the FOT 2021


  A miracle any of us survived to adulthood! 

  On Thursday, December 31, 2020, 10:58:34 AM CST, DAVE HOGYE via Fot <fot at autox.team.net> wrote: 


  In my freshman year of high school, a friend in took a washing machine apart, had the water pump in his hand and thought it looked just like a turbo charger.  We thought, why not attach it to a minibike engine.  Before attaching it to an engine, he somehow spun the pump up and another classmate thought he might put his finger in there.  The tip of his finger shot out of the other end and hit the ceiling.  We thought that was pretty funny.  I still do.  A pencil would have been a better idea. 
  Dave H. 
    On 12/31/2020 6:12 AM fubog1 via Fot <fot at autox.team.net> wrote: 
    Ok so how many others used to get up extra early on trash pickup day and scour the neighborhood for junk reel lawnmowers ? 
    Glen

    -----Original Message----- 
    From: Duncan Charlton via Fot <fot at autox.team.net> 
    To: Gary Schneider <garygret at sbcglobal.net> 
    Cc: fot at autox.team.net <fot at autox.team.net>; fubog1 <fubog1 at aol.com> 
    Sent: Thu, Dec 31, 2020 8:38 am 
    Subject: Re: [Fot] 25th Anniversary of the FOT 2021 


    I discovered the same as Gary did with the Tecumseh engine on my Rupp go-kart when I was 13 or 14.  After about a year of this the flywheel exploded, with the heavy magnet portion deciding to end its union with the rest of the lump.  I felt a big impact behind my right shoulder just before the engine suddenly lost power.  I was damned lucky that the chunk with the magnet (which must have weighed 2 or 3 lbs.) bounced off the steel tubing supporting the edge of the sheet metal seat pan, saving me from a serious injury.  I found the piece about 30 feet away in the grass. 
    Duncan 

    On Wed, Dec 30, 2020 at 10:39 PM Gary Schneider via Fot < fot at autox.team.net> wrote: 
      Glen, that's great! My dad built me a go-kart out of plywood and an old reel lawnmower when I was around that size or a little bigger. I discovered my first speed mod: it went lots faster if you tied a string to the throttle and pulled it open past the governor. Turned out not for very long though, a big BANG clang-a-lang-a-lang after a few hot laps of the yard. My first motorized device and the first engine I blew up. Ungrateful little hellion. Fortunately there was no photographic evidence or body cams to capture the guilty look. 
      Gary Schneider 
      On Wednesday, December 30, 2020, 9:13:16 AM CST, fubog1 via Fot < fot at autox.team.net> wrote: 
      Yes, yes, and yes. 
      Glen Efinger 
      ps- here's my picture in advance, the 1st racecar I ever built, my brother John is driver. 
      <glensfirstracecar.jpg>
      - 
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