Kurtis Kart Return

[REAR]

At the 2015 running of THE BIG ONE a very unique kart showed up that was built by Indy car builder Frank Kurtis and it ended up in the hands of Wisconsin's Brian Sheridan who proceeded to do a killer restoration on the kart featuring a Terry Sullivan built Clinton engine.

The finished results of Brian and Terry's impeccable workmanship was then sent to historical karting reporter Mr. Frank Weir who did a complete run down on the karts history and the restoration process which Frank then sent off to Vroom Magazine for publication in their January issue.

Thanks are in order to all 3 of these fine gentlemen plus all of the fine folks at Vroom for helping to preserve and share America's early karting history with the world. If you would like a subscription to Vroom so you can view the complete Kurtis story subscriptions can be had at http://www.vroomkart.com

Below is a link to the original tread with some insight into the kart that was on the REAR website when the kart was first discovered plus a few pictures Frank sent to us from the magazine article.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3896 - original thread

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You never know what might show up at THE BIG ONE.

R.E.A.R.

[dave bright]

Great job everyone ! That looks different from when it was out in the barn. I kinda knew it would receive a fine restoration.

[steve welte]

Back to 1960/61 at our go kart track in Germantown Hills, IL. a racer named Norm Van Alsteen of Peoria, IL. would show up each weekend with his Kurtis, powered with dual Homelite K 82's. It was a strange sight to watch him brake and turn into the tight turns. With the knee action front it would pick up the inside rear wheel inches off the track. A sight you never forget.

[ted johnson]

That's the way the Duke Fox Champ Kart acted, too. Scared the crap out of me the time I test drove one. VERY uncomfortable feeling when you're used to a decent handling rig. Ted

[Chris Marchand]

That frame had a quarter midget body on it at some point. All the Qtr midget nerf bars were with it when Don Thompson bought it from me. As a Quarter midget maybe all those moving suspension parts helped around the oval .

[Brian Sheridan]

Guys,
I appreciated the kind remarks about the Kurtis Kart. It was a fun project to do, but required a fair amount to metal work, and engineering, to bring it back to life. Let me clear up a few misconceptions about the Kurtis Kart design. Frank made race cars, and lots of them. He made a ton of 1/4 midgets. The 1/4 midget frame is the basis of the Kurtis Kart, but that is about it, the axles are different, the seat tubing is actually the tubing he used for the 1/4 midget roll bar. All karts had sheet metal steering shaft supports, where as the 1/4 midgets had a full hoop to support the body. All the 1/4 midgets had 4 cycle engines with completely different engine mounts, that were welded into the 2" main tubing rails. So yes, they are from the same family, but about the same as a Camaro and a Firebird are the same.
Brian

[Brian Sheridan]

OK,
Lets talk Kurtis Kart handling:
I think this note should go out to my good friend Ted. Ted, I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better. When I built the Shamrock CCL Race Karts, I spent over 100 hour engineering the front end steering and axle loading. The Shamrock kart was known as a very easy kart to steer and drive. So when I heard all the very negative comments about the Kurtis Kart and it's performance, I decided to try to get to the bottom of the deal. It's mostly about "bump steer". I'm very surprised that Frank did not see it. The front axle has 2 tie rods, not a single tie rod and a long cross rod. What that means is, as the front suspension moves, and the center steering shaft and pitman arm stay stationary, the wheels constantly move in and out, making the kart dart all over the place. I have tried this kart with both set-ups, big difference. I have both tie rod set-ups restored, this karts is a show kart and a driver, like all my karts. I have no desire to get killed, so the link, drag link set-up is on the kart.
Brian
PS, The original steering set-up would probably work just fine on the dirt, where you constantly sideways.

[Brian Sheridan]

Guys,
Now that it is safely in my shop, I can spill the beans about a Kurtis I just bought:
Two weeks ago, an ad showed up in a northern California Craigslist selling an odd old go kart. It was supposed to be a home built, by a guy from the aircraft industry. It was a Kurtis Kart, very ruff, but mostly all there. I immediately call the guy and offer to buy the kart. He did not want to sell to anyone out of state, because he had no idea how to ship it. He had bought it at a garage sale. So I called Terry Ive's to see if he could take it down to Riverside. Terry being the great guy, that he is, immediately said yes. So, I offered the seller another $80.00 to drive it 30 minutes over to Terry's home, which he did. Down at Riverside most everyone thought that I had lost my mind, why had I bought this piece of junk. Tom Kelly brought it back to the Midwest, and I picked it up this morning.
This Kurtis Kart, the piece of junk, had caught my eye for some reason, but I could not put my finger on why. Going through tons of photo's that Chris Kurtis & his friends had given me, the light bulb finally went on. It is a very early pre-production kart, built before the production karts like my #203 Kurtis Kart. I think it's fairly easy to say that it maybe the earliest Kurtis ever found. Now the hard work begins, stay tuned...
Brian

[ted johnson]

Brian, I'd imagine that the bump steer would be enhanced on the Kurtis by the suspended front axle. Back in '61, not knowing better, I changed my Bug Wasp from tie rod/drag link steer to two short tie rods, because I thought it looked better. I actually noticed very little difference in the handling, presumably because the Bug was a very stiff chassis. Most rear steer karts had two short tie rods, but perhaps the stiff frames meant little bump steer.
Thanks for the kind comment on my health, Brian. I go tomorrow to have blood drawn, and the 20th to see Doc for results. I'm hoping he'll allow me to run Tucson at the end of March. I also have a ton of work left on the Photon. Have a good Sunday! Ted