Sandmans omnipresence in defence of classics

[gofastsandman]

Originally Posted by DonV

Oh hell yes GFS please keep them coming, HOWEVER please wait until at least my third cocktail, make that fourth cocktail before posting so I'll be able to fully comprehend! I'm a little slower than Spidy and need a head start.........thank you!

Happy to oblige Don.

I guess I`ll start at the beginning.

I think Reidy Clark built the first coaster in the neighborhood. Just a piece of plywood with 4
hard wheeled tires. Two by fours were used to hold and position the axles. We just bent pairs of opposing nails over the axles to hold them in place.

Mrs. Kelly owned Windsong. A beautiful property. The driveway went down hill off 6A and back up a steep hill to the house and past the knoll down to Barnstable harbor. I delivered her newspaper and asked if we could play with our coasters there.

She was a very sweet widow and said anytime you like.

It was an amazing layout. The drive up to the house split into 2 lanes on the right
which went down to the boat house. The left fork split into 3 lanes. We had 5 full lanes
to stage our races.

At first is was just about being clean and fast. Just a few of us. There were a few building
sites locally who kindly donated scraps of plywood and other goodies. Reidy`s dad owned
the local hardware store and soon he had lots of tots in his face asking for advice.

Well before long, there were maybe 10 different interpretations of our
Boogie Wagons. It was like being in the pits at a race. We all sized up each others
designs and decisions.

We were now filling all of the lanes and running down into the funnel.
Crashes occurred. Wonderful, multiple crashes. The coin had flipped.

We had gone to heaven.

The old plywood designs just got shredded.

Now we were seeing new H frame designs and perimeter frames still kindly donated
from local building sites.

It turned into a mini demo derby and we just could not stop laughing.
Up we went and down we went.
Each now looking for a specific target from the previous run.

Mrs. Kelly never said a word.

Thank you Mrs. Kelly.

[DonV]

"I think Reidy Clark built the first coaster in the neighborhood. Just a piece of plywood with 4
hard wheeled tires. Two by fours were used to hold and position the axles. We just bent pairs of opposing nails over the axles to hold them in place"

Three things I learned, of course at high down hill speed, 1. for a front "centering pin" in the steering's 2 x 4 axle you need more than just a 12d nail, 2. even though hard 1/2" copper tubing fit perfectly in the wagon wheels, with at least 6 nails bent over, it did not have the strength to handle the what we thought were massive G-forces we forced on it, 3. because of the design failures mentioned we also learned concrete does not feel a thing as you bust your butt!!

[gofastsandman]

Originally Posted by DonV

"I think Reidy Clark built the first coaster in the neighborhood. Just a piece of plywood with 4
hard wheeled tires. Two by fours were used to hold and position the axles. We just bent pairs of opposing nails over the axles to hold them in place"

Three things I learned, of course at high down hill speed, 1. for a front "centering pin" in the steering's 2 x 4 axle you need more than just a 12d nail, 2. even though hard 1/2" copper tubing fit perfectly in the wagon wheels, with at least 6 nails bent over, it did not have the strength to handle the what we thought were massive G-forces we forced on it, 3. because of the design failures mentioned we also learned concrete does not feel a thing as you bust your butt!!

1/2 inch bolt and a wide washer.

Hard surfaces are not meant for violent contact.

[gofastsandman]

In honor of the rebirth of CSC, I will veer off the road and into the ditch.
I had planned to follow the timeline, but sometimes you just have to ride
it out.

It was a Saturday after lunch. I had just put the 3 1/2 hp motah on my friend.
Papa, Mom and my older Sister Pif had come out to watch. My Sister was named Zeke for her first year of life.

Now, the lower driveway was paved down a short hill and ran out past my little shop
of horrors and turned to dirt. The dirt continued for about 150 feet and made a hard
90 degree left turn up to the fire roads and a neighbors right of way.

Papa said why don't you let your sister drive it.

Because she drives like %$#@

NO SWEARING.

She drives like crap.
Mom is afraid to get in the car with her and the last time you did,
you looked like a ghost. She ran the only red light in town.

Who told you that?

Mom did.

Let your sister drive it.

No, she`ll wreck it.

LET your sister drive it!

I don't want to.


Let her drive it. She has her drivers license.

Who gave it to her?

The state of NH.

Live free or die?

That`s not funny, LET your sister ride it!

Papa turned and bent over.

I always hated that.

Ok Pif.
Don't floor it.
You`ll never make the corner.
You don't know how to power slide.
There is a phone pole and cable straight ahead and a brook with woods to the left.

Papa is in front of me and to my right.
Pif to my left.
I walk around and in front of Papa, turn and give him my best
"thanks asshole" look.

I look down and see the string pull tight.
Wide open.

We watch as Pif goes faster.

I am having bad thoughts.
The engine is mounted on a new larger pad on the left.
Centrifigal clutch driving the #36 chain to the Sears tire.

Faster she goes and the choice arrives.

I thought she would try to make the corner.

I was wrong.

She bailed out into the field on the right.

I watched my poor friend flip over the left front tire.
Up in the air they went.
Spinning violently out of control in what had become slow motion in my vision.

We all ran over.

My friend was in pieces.

My sister got up, turned, and asked me if her sweater was dirty.

It was at this precise moment in my young life that I realized there were
some fundamental differences between boys and girls.

Papa put his large hand on my shoulder.
He squeezed it a good bit and said if you touch her, I`ll kill you.

I went back to my little shop.
I was power sliding by dusk.

[gofastsandman]

Well where were we?

Pif stayed away from me for a few days.
A week later, she asked me if I wanted to ride her pony.

Can I run the only red light in town or is it too slow to kill all involved?

I will try my best to describe the look on her face.
Her lips pursed as if she had eaten a rotten lemon.
Her eyes retreated into their orbits.
Her brow furrowed and twitched.

That was my favorite part.
Her olive branch had turned to ash in an instant and she was concerned with the future.

That evening Papa asked me why I didn't want to ride her pony.

Hmmm, Sandy, slow down and think.
I had recently learned that daughters are graded on a curve and great
physical harm may come to those who ignore reason, no matter how
unreasonable this may seem.

Well Papa, my go cart is much faster, and I don't have to shovel shit before school.

Stop Swearing.

I see a trend here.

[flyingfrizzle]

Just got done watching "junk yard gold" on the motor trend app/channel this weekend. It was pretty good but this here is real Gold, "Sand Man Gold"

[gofastsandman]

Originally Posted by flyingfrizzle

Just got done watching "junk yard gold" on the motor trend app/channel this weekend. It was pretty good but this here is real Gold, "Sand Man Gold"

Thanks Friz!

I have tons of memories flooding back to me.
It is proving to be a fun ride indeed.

Joey Chitwood.

I loved watching Joey and his stunt drivers.

A ramp is what I needed.
Yes, a big ramp.
So, I went into my little shop and looked at my lumber stash.
Again, kindly donated by local building sites.

How high should I make this?
These four scraps of plywood would make it just under five feet long
and give me about 18 inches of launch altitude.

Measure measure. Saw saw.
Swat swat. Bang bang.

Pee Wee had stopped by to see what I was up to and started laughing.
Pee Wee`s dad was the town Fire Chief. More on that later...

Pee Wee asked if he could ride around the field as I finished building.
I stopped for a minnow to watch Pee Wee ride. He took a corner a bit too tight
and got her up on two wheels for a decent time.

Hmmm.

Well the ramp was ready and we talked about what might happen.

Pee Wee said we need fire like Joey!!!
The hose was readied nearby the launch pad.
Gasoline was poured in front of the ramp.
Pee Wee did the honors and tossed the match.

I hit the ramp and up I went through the flames and bang.

The force of the landing ripped the rear axle from the sistered nails
as the chain locked up and broke.

I came to a grinding sideways halt.

I wasn't quite sure what I had done, but I knew I wanted to do it again.

[Blue_Heron]

Originally Posted by gofastsandman

I may only be twelve, but I can see how everything works in my head.

Based on my observations, you see lots of things in your head, Sandy. Wouldn't be surprised if there were voices in there explaining the visions to you as well.



BTW, you should have asked mom for the Tecumseh engine. Much faster than the B&S. 40mph versus 25mph on my go kart with the same sprocket ratio. Damn, that brings back memories.

Dave

[gofastsandman]

Originally Posted by Blue_Heron

Based on my observations, you see lots of things in your head, Sandy. Wouldn't be surprised if there were voices in there explaining the visions to you as well.



BTW, you should have asked mom for the Tecumseh engine. Much faster than the B&S. 40mph versus 25mph on my go kart with the same sprocket ratio. Damn, that brings back memories.

Dave

There is an entire alternate civilization in my head Dave, but you knew that already.
Brown`s only had the two engines.

The 3 1/2 was the Tecumseh from the mini bike that brother Paul had twisted.
I was always plotting and scheming.

[DonV]

Yepper those B&S we easier to come by, not as fast but easier and safer on my body! My Dad came home and found a bunch of tools we took out to the shed, pretty much told us if we touched his horizontal shaft Tecumseh off his prized hand tiller he would beat the crap out of us! He seemed really serious, I mean like really serious, we stuck with our wimpy old B&S. No bodily damage done!