Topic: What did you do to your non-motorcycle vehicle today?

[Don R]

 We had a golf cart engine fail to shut off, the key switch only disables the starter, it doesn't turn off the coil, that gets handled (or not) in a control box. Anyway, the brake was able to hold it in place while I tugged the throttle closed.
 Today I put on a return spring off of a Holley dominator and installed a full battery shut-off switch. They have a spring on the throttle on, side of the carb and a return spring. They fight each other for dominance. Not now, the throttle on, is solid and the return is strong enough. Now it will wear out the carb body since it has no bushings.

[Don R]

 For the first time in a decade the co2 system on the dragster has a leak, it runs the shifter and the throttle stop that we use to go 8.90 seconds. I'll be chasing that systems leak this afternoon and have a new regulator coming from Summit, they shipped already today. 

[Don R]

 Results of Club Car battery cut-off switch, $40 and an afternoon later, it still doesn't stop running if you turn off the battery. It just runs on that big old generator. I guess I'll need to ground the coil to stop it.

[BenelliSEI]

Results of Club Car battery cut-off switch, $40 and an afternoon later, it still doesn't stop running if you turn off the battery. It just runs on that big old generator. I guess I'll need to ground the coil to stop it.

Don….. The key switch in my Landmaster LM650 (Subaru 650cc. twin) fried itself. I cleverly installed a $12 “universal” key switch and same result. I had to put a toggle switch on the + coil lead. The original switch had two separate ON-OFF circuits and did both jobs. 

[BenelliSEI]

A few days and the LEXUS is bolted back together and straight (more or less). Brakes, alignment and mounting up eight new tires next. No smoothing or paint but good enough for the season final coming up next weekend. Three full days at Shannonville Motorsport Park. Practice, Qualifying and 20 hours of enduros.

[BenelliSEI]

Finished up final prep today. Alignment, corner weights, oil and filter change, etc., and mounted up 8 X new Hankook RS4 tires. Car is in the trailer, ready for next weekend.

Off to Shannonville Motorsports Park on Thursday afternoon. We have a Friday morning open practice and then a shorter, 4 hour enduro in the afternoon.  Eight hours on Saturday and Sunday too. Five hours of seat time each!

We’re currently leading the GT3 class, third overall and 30 points out of the overall Championship lead (one point per lap and bonus points for finishing top three in class.). A lot can happen over three full days of racing!

[dave500]

man you guys really have a lot of energy!and fun!

[BenelliSEI]

Dave…. The three guys I race with are 10-20 years younger than me. I figure as long as I can “keep up”, I will. I am the only one retired, so I actually do most of the prep work. Keeps me busy, that’s for sure!

[BenelliSEI]

While packing stuff for the weekend I realized that I had enough bits (mostly used but good) to build two front uprights, complete with bearings, seals, hubs and wheel studs. Easy to do at home with a press, not so easy at the track….. Now that we have a matched set of spares in the trailer, we’ll never need them! Best insurance.

[Don R]

 We actually used it, here it is in the lanes at Cordova, we were running good, lost round 2 by .003 saturday and on sunday we won round one and the Dad (me) made a mistake round 2 when we had a co2 leak and I forgot to turn the bottle back on.
 I hate changing our routine.

[Don R]

 Club car golf cart engine kill wire update, I installed a toggle switch to the ground wire in parallel to the "kill switch" in the control box.  It is grounded directly to the engine. It does not have any effect on the engine running. Golf cart 2 - Don 0
 Next, I'll try unplugging that wire to see if it needs voltage to run. According to the manual I found, it was a coil on flywheel type. Maybe that's with the Briggs engine not the 9hp Kawasaki.

[BenelliSEI]

Loaded all our crap in the big race trailer and we’re good to go Thursday.

[Kelly E]

Club car golf cart engine kill wire update, I installed a toggle switch to the ground wire in parallel to the "kill switch" in the control box.  It is grounded directly to the engine. It does not have any effect on the engine running. Golf cart 2 - Don 0
 Next, I'll try unplugging that wire to see if it needs voltage to run. According to the manual I found, it was a coil on flywheel type. Maybe that's with the Briggs engine not the 9hp Kawasaki.

You've really found a unique problem, most of us are trying to keep our stuff running and you can't shut your's off.

[Don R]

Club car golf cart engine kill wire update, I installed a toggle switch to the ground wire in parallel to the "kill switch" in the control box.  It is grounded directly to the engine. It does not have any effect on the engine running. Golf cart 2 - Don 0
 Next, I'll try unplugging that wire to see if it needs voltage to run. According to the manual I found, it was a coil on flywheel type. It's the 9hp Kawasaki FE290

You've really found a unique problem, most of us are trying to keep our stuff running and you can't shut yours off.

I'm thinking the coil kill wire is unhooked inside the fan housing and it's turning off by the throttle closing all of the way. I'm just sure it has nothing to do with the rev limiter and governor falling off. A runaway golf car in the pits can be expensive.
 A guy might need to actually use a meter and think for a minute or some other high tech remedy. L0L!

 Edit: The coil grounding wire was unplugged at the rev limiter. (also disconnected) Now the ignition key works properly.

 We had the same problem with Jr. Dragsters, if the wire comes off of the coil the kill button doesn't work. The cure was a cable operated spark plug grounder. I turned cars off several times by using my comb to flip the plug wire off.

[Terry in Australia]

My old Bolens ride on mower decided that it had retired (no idea why, it’s been carefully parked under a tree for 20 years) and all the tyres were flat, along with the battery. By chance I saw the exact same model in better condition (it goes) on FB MP so bought it. Used it to drag the old one out after successfully pumping up 3 of the tyres, then curiosity got the better of me and I started to play with the old one, and realised that the engine was seized. Bugger.

I did my special hack of inserting an alloy rod through the spark plug hole and belting sh1t out of the piston, but it was locked solid. I sprayed some Inox lubricant down the spark plug hole and left it for a few days. Today I decided to take the head off, and after removing the engine cover I realised that the crank was moving slightly so checked the oil, then slowly turned the engine by hand until it freed up. Sprayed some carb cleaner into the carb, checked that the linkages were free, hooked up a battery and it fired right up! Woohoo! Filled the tank and it started and ran like a new one. The seat has rusted off, it needs at least one tyre and a battery, and should be good for another 20 years or so…

[grcamna2]

My old Bolens ride on mower decided that it had retired (no idea why, it’s been carefully parked under a tree for 20 years) and all the tyres were flat, along with the battery. By chance I saw the exact same model in better condition (it goes) on FB MP so bought it. Used it to drag the old one out after successfully pumping up 3 of the tyres, then curiosity got the better of me and I started to play with the old one, and realised that the engine was seized. Bugger.

I did my special hack of inserting an alloy rod through the spark plug hole and belting sh1t out of the piston, but it was locked solid. I sprayed some Inox lubricant down the spark plug hole and left it for a few days. Today I decided to take the head off, and after removing the engine cover I realised that the crank was moving slightly so checked the oil, then slowly turned the engine by hand until it freed up. Sprayed some carb cleaner into the carb, checked that the linkages were free, hooked up a battery and it fired right up! Woohoo! Filled the tank and it started and ran like a new one. The seat has rusted off, it needs at least one tyre and a battery, and should be good for another 20 years or so…

Lol ! 

[Stev-o]

Went to start up the ol Chevy last week but the battery was dead dead dead! I had put date of install on it - 7 years ago, so I am not complaining at all.  Found a battery on sale, this one has side terminals which I hate, but was 100 bucks out the door with a 3 year warranty.  Popped it in and after warming up for about 5 min, running good!

The battery is located behind the driver's seat in it's own little compartment, simple to access.



Out for a test drive.  This is a new bridge my friend had built after the old bridge was washed away in the deadly Cen Tex floods Fourth of July weekend...

[BenelliSEI]

Three days at Shannonville proved a real test. Friday we ran a four-hour race, each doing a one-hour stint. 108 laps of the long track and first in GT3. Jeff was suddenly very ill, so Tim did a double session.
     Tim and John did the 3.5 hour Saturday morning race and won GT3. Alan and Jeff were slated for the afternoon race and four laps in the RF spindle snapped. The disc also broke so the wheel/tire, hub and wheel nuts went through the infield. The car came back on the flat bed with a very twisted RF fender! Note the nicely machined groove inside the wheel rim. We had a built upright but no disc..... Laura Gourley (Tim’s wife) drove down to the shop, found what we needed and met a crew member in Port Hope. Alan managed to run another 30 laps (30 more points) before the race ended.....
      Sunday morning Jeff and Alan (not feeling great) finished 2nd in GT3. In the afternoon race Tim and John finished 1st in GT3. I almost blew a two lap lead in the last 15 minutes. Started racing with Doug Elcomb (son of a very good racer friend, in a GT2 Acura). We ran together for 10-15 laps and then I let him by on the back straight. Chasing him into Corner 3 (at 80-85 mph) I either stepped the LR tire onto the grass, or missed a downshift? Flew off to the outside, sideways at a high rate of knots, and slammed the outside curb. Bent something in the front end and seriously toed in the LF. Managed to finish the last 10 minutes, still one lap up.
      Terrific season. In the past 16 races we've failed to score once (we did finish), a fourth, two seconds, and 12 first places. Haven't seen the final standings yet, but I believe we handily won GT3 for the year and finished 2nd overall in the Championship. The car did over 2,000 laps in 2025.
+500 laps in one year is a record for me. Next year will be my 57th season. Great! J.

[Kelly E]

Well, at least it wasn't boring.

Nice job on finishing so well throughout the whole season.

[BenelliSEI]

Well, at least it wasn't boring.

Nice job on finishing so well throughout the whole season.

Thanks Kelly! The four other guys are a really good bunch. They’re all “racers” at heart and drive very well. We don’t have the fastest car, but we get great results. Tim has a really nice, 5th wheel RV. The beer is always cold. We really have way too much fun……..!

[Don R]

 Awesome season, John and team!

[BenelliSEI]

Awesome season, John and team!

Thanks Don….. you know what it takes.

[Stev-o]

Three days at Shannonville proved a real test....

Great recap, congrats on a an excellent season.

[BenelliSEI]

Three days at Shannonville proved a real test....

Great recap, congrats on a an excellent season.

Thanks Steve….. after perfect weather and a superfund weekend, can’t wait until next season!

[Don R]

Awesome season, John and team!

Thanks Don….. you know what it takes.

 The will to win is easy, the will to prepare to win is harder.