That’s the biggy, only reason I don’t do bottom end is I don’t have the special tools - pullers, DTI etc.
Yes you can be competitive not rebuilding every race, can you be if you don’t put new boots on each race?..depends if the others do or not.
So essentially someone who rebuilds his engine top end every 4 races will have a disadvantage against a racer who rebuilds his engine top end every 2 races. That makes sense
Yes but in club racing, folks tend to be more focused on longetivity as opposed to performance. So I wouldn’t get too focused on how fresh your engine is until running regional races.
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This is the situation I’m in now. I’m probably going to a newer chassis this year. I don’t expect the new one to be any quicker, what I expect is that I’m protecting myself from the point in time that the older chassis may start to fall off.
Back to the bigger conversation on time on engines, etc…it’s entertaining to read everyone’s calculation on how much time they’ll put on something in a given season and not seeing anyone account for practice time. I put just as much practice time on my stuff this year as I did race time. I practiced less in the middle of the season but put a good bit of practice in pre-season and then at the end when my performance started to suffer from not enough practice time.
This isn’t necessarily true. Modern engines are pretty forgiving.
Don’t get it in your head that you need to be spending big bucks to be competitive. There are plenty of fast guys running well-worn engines and old chassis. You might have to work a little harder or learn to drive/tune better, but just because your engine has 2 more hours on it than some other guy, doesn’t mean you’re at a disadvantage.
Too often I see people complaining that “the only reason I’m slow is because I don’t have as much money as Driver X!” Money gets you to a point but this is karting, so driving and tuning are worth much more. Hate to see lack of funds used as a crutch to excuse poor preparation.
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This is the least attractive excuse and most common one on message boards from ex-karters. It just comes off as salty and whiny. Drive what you got, drive it well. You quit because of money, no need to tear down others dreams just because you can no longer afford to chase yours.
Also, let’s get to relative performance… if you race x30 club, comparing yourself to a Norberg is pointless. Sure, you could technically be as fast as him, or Jarsocrak et al, but that’s not what you are doing. You aren’t racin pro, and all that that entails. Even if you had the seat time and talent of these guys, it’s a different world, I bet, with different motivations and goals.
I guess the issue is that we all kart in our little insular islands. We see the big names and think that that’s the brass ring.
Is it really? Do I need to place at Nats to have a karting career? Nah. Not the way I define a career in karting.
Someday I will try, though, maybe. Can’t help wanting to try.
Yeah I understand what you guys are saying, it feels better knowing I don’t have to be a lot of rebuilds and maintenance to be competitive at the local/regional level as long as I do it on a regular time frame.
And I know comparing myself to someone like Norberg is stupid, he’s a pro with different ambitions. I just wanted to know if I could compete and challenge for the podium at the regional level without spilling my cash. Also, I was wanting to race in the Florida Winter Tour eventually, once I am good with the regional and local races on a Rok or x30, so racing Norberg may be something I’ll do since he’ll be there with plenty other good drivers.
I’ve also heard the whining of “I lost cause he has more money thing” too. I wasn’t trying to sound like that lol I believe racing skill is number 1 factor in winning races, money only buys you a little breathing room.
Did not mean to imply that you were, I was reacting to TJs thoughts. Certainly it would be a heck of an experience doing the winter tour down there and you should, if that’s what you want to do.
A favorite karting memory of mine is winning the WKA Grand Nationals in 2011 with mismatched bodywork, half a decal kit, a dirty suit, a helmet I painted myself, my dad on the wrenches, and two engines in trailer, against teams with 50’ haulers, full tent programs, shelves and shelves of engines, and multiple chassis to play with.
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Yeah it would, im planning on racing winter tour once I settle into Rok racing at the regional level, so I’m looking to race there in a few years. May race there next year or two for lo206 class before switching to Rok if I do
Best way to win, other teams spent all that money for nothing lol
That’s not the case at all, sometimes you can even make a case for the opposite where engines can make slightly more power with time on them.
Don’t psych yourself out.
As it was mentioned, don’t think you need to rebuild constantly, or that a fresher motor is faster. Of course that comes with a caveat as to how used the used motor is. I have 2 motors that I switch between, 1 is for practice (has 14 hours on top end), the other (has 5 hours on top end) is for the bigger races we go to. In the last race we ran the practice motor on the unofficial practice day, then switched motors for the race. They both were turning the same lap times on the track. Also, when the motor is fresh, it’s a little tighter in the cylinder and may need to wear in some before you get peak performance.
The fastest motor is a motor just before it expires. At least that is what my dad always said.
oh! so really I don’t need to worry so much about rebuilds. I mean it’ll still be important but I shouldn’t be all worried about creating a fixed maintenance schedule for it then.
I found this maintenance schedule on the ROK GP motor manual, would this be a good maintenance schedule to follow? Also, what exactly goes in a top end rebuild and a bottom end rebuild? Is it mainly the pistons or cylinders or everything? I don’t see a engine rebuild timeframe here on the manual so I was thinking doing for 8 race days one top end rebuild a season and one bottom end rebuild every other season
Fully agree. A freshly built ‘tight’ engine is often a tad slower than a well run in free engine.
Don’t get hung up on rebuilds to go faster, only to rebuild it before it fails.
The maintenance schedule that you posted seems to stretch things to a ridiculous extreme. Considering the amount of time the average kart racer puts on his engine it would be 2 years or so before changing the spark plug. Bottom end bearings could be as much as 6 years.
I see absolutely nothing there that is remotely realistic.
So what schedule should I try to use for a club/regional level?
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Spark plug weekly, piston 8 hours, bottom end 16 hours. For most club racers that would be a top end (piston) at half season and a complete rebuild after the end of the season.
So a top end rebuild is just the piston or does it include anything else? And what is included in the bottom end rebuild?
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