Re: One man's idea is....
Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2016 3:02 am
Guys,
Brian here,
The Kurtis Kraft Kart is completely torn down. The horrible repair job on the front axle is completely fixed, and the bent axle straightened. Whoever tried to repair the axle, welded over a very large crack in the tubing, a little scary. To understand this kart, you need to understand Frank Kurtis. This kart is the 500 JR quarter midget, with the body removed, and the steering hoop replaced by a triangle sheet metal steering support, exactly like the Percival Hellcat part. The front axle hangers are the same part as the Hellcat. Frank designed the Hellcat, and made parts for it.
Here's the real story about this first of 4 Kurtis-Kraft kart designs:
When Art invented the go kart, he worked for Kurtis, as a metal fabricator. He asked Frank if he was interested in building the little karts, and Frank said no, that Kurtis-Kraft build rear race cars, not toys. Remember that by this time, Kurtis had won INDY 5 times with his cars, and he had built sports cars as well. He built over 1000 midget race cars. So Art went off and started Caretta, and we all know the rest of the story. Frank was left holding the bag, so to speak, when go karts really took off, so he pulled the body off the 500 JR and called it a go kart, so he had something to sell.
So, where does all this information come from? Arlen Kurtis, Franks son is 82, and living in California. Arlen worked at Kurtis-Kraft / The Kurtis Company, before & after a short stint in the Navy. Arlen even built the 500 JR QM & karts. Arlen & I have spent hours on the phone talking about Kurtis race car history, and the Kurtis Kart. Arlen is digging me up some NOS decals, and photo's so that I can see what the correct seat cover looks like. The kart was sold with a Clinton engine, so I'm putting a Clinton E65 engine on it, that Terry is restoring for me right now. The paint color is up for grabs, because Arlen told me that whatever paint was in the spray booth that week, from painting race car frames was what was used to paint the karts. Many were painted black. I'm taking a ton of photo's of the kart as it gets transformed back to new 1958 condition. I'll post some here from time to time. One thing this project won't be is inexpensive. I'll bet I top $2000.00 before it's completed. You will see it at the 2016 TBO, running, no trailer queens out of this shop...
Brian Sheridan
Brian here,
The Kurtis Kraft Kart is completely torn down. The horrible repair job on the front axle is completely fixed, and the bent axle straightened. Whoever tried to repair the axle, welded over a very large crack in the tubing, a little scary. To understand this kart, you need to understand Frank Kurtis. This kart is the 500 JR quarter midget, with the body removed, and the steering hoop replaced by a triangle sheet metal steering support, exactly like the Percival Hellcat part. The front axle hangers are the same part as the Hellcat. Frank designed the Hellcat, and made parts for it.
Here's the real story about this first of 4 Kurtis-Kraft kart designs:
When Art invented the go kart, he worked for Kurtis, as a metal fabricator. He asked Frank if he was interested in building the little karts, and Frank said no, that Kurtis-Kraft build rear race cars, not toys. Remember that by this time, Kurtis had won INDY 5 times with his cars, and he had built sports cars as well. He built over 1000 midget race cars. So Art went off and started Caretta, and we all know the rest of the story. Frank was left holding the bag, so to speak, when go karts really took off, so he pulled the body off the 500 JR and called it a go kart, so he had something to sell.
So, where does all this information come from? Arlen Kurtis, Franks son is 82, and living in California. Arlen worked at Kurtis-Kraft / The Kurtis Company, before & after a short stint in the Navy. Arlen even built the 500 JR QM & karts. Arlen & I have spent hours on the phone talking about Kurtis race car history, and the Kurtis Kart. Arlen is digging me up some NOS decals, and photo's so that I can see what the correct seat cover looks like. The kart was sold with a Clinton engine, so I'm putting a Clinton E65 engine on it, that Terry is restoring for me right now. The paint color is up for grabs, because Arlen told me that whatever paint was in the spray booth that week, from painting race car frames was what was used to paint the karts. Many were painted black. I'm taking a ton of photo's of the kart as it gets transformed back to new 1958 condition. I'll post some here from time to time. One thing this project won't be is inexpensive. I'll bet I top $2000.00 before it's completed. You will see it at the 2016 TBO, running, no trailer queens out of this shop...
Brian Sheridan
