How To Set Up A Stock Kitty Cat

By Bill Tripp, KIDS PERFORMANCE, Yorkville, IL.

There is one decision that must be made before you do anything!  Is your Kitty Cat going to be used for pleasure or racing, because the two just don't mix.  Unless, of course, you plan on burning a lot of midnight oil before each race.

In setting up a Kitty Cat there are two KEY WORDS, ALIGNMENT and FRICTION.  If certain components are out of alignment, that creates friction.  So if you have a problem with one or the other or both that does only one thing, REDUCES HORSE POWER!

You must start by stripping the sled down to the tunnel.  First put back in your head shaft, making sure that it turns O.K.  Reinstall the track into the sled.  Tighten down the head shaft.  Spin the head shaft with the track, making sure the bogie wheels on the shaft spin real free.

THIS SHOULD BE CHECKED AFTER EACH WEEKEND OF RACING.

Install tail shaft back into sled.  Make sure to adjust it square. Keep spinning the track as you are adjusting it. Stop when it feels right to you.  DO NOT MAKE IT TOO TIGHT!

Now on to the front end.  With the front end all disassembled, look at the spindles and the triangle that sits on top of it. Make sure it fits tight: THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT.

If the triangle fits loose on the spindle there are two things you can do:

1. Take a center punch and peen over the edge around the square so that it fits over the spindle tight.

2. Buy new ones.

When checking this, also make sure the spindles are in good shape.  Fit the spindle in the chassis and see if it wiggles around If it does, you need to tighten it up. Get some plastic shims ranging in thickness from .0025 to .015.  Once you have them tightened up, go ahead and install your triangle plates.

Now to the steering rods.  You should get rid of the over the top type of ball joint because they become very sloppy.  Replace them with a heim joint because it gives you more surface area on the ball.  Your steering will always be tighter in this area, which is a good safety factor.

Now install the ski and tighten the coupling to the spindle.  Don't over tighten, just take the slop out of it.  Tighten up the leaf springs a little to take the slop out of that (when you go to a heim joint, you may have to notch the frame for the tie rod to go through).

The next thing is to have your engine checked to see about getting the maximum horsepower available.  Suzuki and Kawasaki engines both put out3.3 hp.  I have seen engines as low as 2.6 hp out of the box, but with a few adjustments you can get it up to 3.3 hp.  Checking this can be done try finding someone who has a dynamometer.  You also need to work on the governor to make it not function.  This can be done by loosening the arm that is attached to the governor shaft.  This will allow the shaft to turn freely inside the arm. You can also use a wire or tie strap through the spring.

When the engine starts reving higher than 5000 rpms, the engine will starve for fuel or run out of fuel in the corners so here is a list of things you will need to do.

1. Vent the gas cap better by drilling 2 or 3 more holes with a 1/16 size drill bit.

2. Tear out the fuel screen that is inside of the fuel tank.

3. Make the fuel line as straight as possible and tie in a fuel filter and still keep the line straight.

4. Rejet the cart, and replace the stock main jet (#72.5) with a #70, there is a #67.5 jet but you have to be careful. That jet could cause an engine seizure.

5. Then you need to read just the float level by pushing down the tab that pushes on the fuel inlet needle and straighten the tab that limits how far the float goes down. BE CAREFUL on how far down you push the tab, if you push it down too far it will let fuel in all the time. The best thing to do is to blow into the fuel inlet while holding up the float, then drop the float down a little bit and you should start blowing air into the carb, push it up and it should stop you from blowing.

The other subject that should be talked about is carbides and studs.  Set your sled on level ground and take off the steel runner on the bottom of the ski.  Now take a socket and put it under the skis somewhere in the middle.  With the socket under the skis, tip each end of the skis until they balance on the socket without touching the ground.  There you will find the center of down force. Put the center of the carbide runner under the skis where you found the center of down force.

Now for the studs to put in your track. Using picks or studs is the only way to go because you have all your pressure pushing down on one single point. Taking normal studs and grinding them does not work too well. Roetin makes a 5/8 steel pick combined with a fender washer 1" in diameter with a short T nut. This works better. They stay sharp for a long time.

This covers about 35% of the task of setting up a stock sled, the other 65% is up to your son, daughter, niece, nephew or maybe even your grandchild. Another important thing is PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, but most of all- HAVE FUN!