Midget race cars had in-out boxes (no clutch). You would put it in gear, then push start the car (with another car) and take off. This is not practical for us. I am thinking of jacking up the rear end with a floor jack, put it in gear, start the engine. One of us is in the car, and the other quickly lowers the floor jack, and away we go. What could possibly go wrong with this???
They put them in gear and would then push start them, you can take them out of gear once they are running.
Open wheel track cars can’t be driven on the highway, if that’s what you’re aiming at here. If you slip it out of drive the engine can still run but you have to kill the engine to re-engage the in/out box before another push start.
I think this would be the start of "Hold my beer, I gotta' watch this!". You have a real short wheel base car, a real good power to weight ratio, and ungodly fast steering. Midgets are real race cars and a handful if you have never driven one. If the car or driver doesn't get hurt, you will have been real lucky.
I have driven midgets, sprints and track roadsters on the street quite a bit, BUT, they have been modified for the street by adding a clutch, transmission and starter along with certain stuff to make it legal. I used to test our midget on the street in front of the shop by push starting, going to the super market parking lot one block away, turning around and driving back to the shop. Here are a couple of pics of street sprints a friend of mine did.
Other than being a horrible idea... What's going to happen is when you drop it on the floor jack the suspension's going to compress enough to catch the jack on the rearend, tail tank, or thr torsion bar tubes taking the jack and the guy holding on to it with. I'd make an overcenter stand that went to the rear bumper so you could get the tires within an inch or two of the ground and have a clean release. Like this one. Still a horrible idea.
He’s a Hell of a shoe. My favorite driver too. He Drives for my Buddy sometimes (Kunz) but I’ll tel you what if you call him a midget, he will get pissed! I’ve seen it.
Looks like a full blooded man to me. Not my favorite driver but hope he always does well. I am a posse home boy.
Although I have never tried the "floor jack" method, I think it might be hard on the drive train and perhaps kill the engine. I had a clutch in my vintage dirt modified with an in/out box for a while (the car also had a starter). I push started it when I could, but there was a dearth of push trucks. so once in a while, I would put it in gear, start the engine with the clutch disengaged, and slip the clutch like crazy to get going. Not only was the clutch pedal and linkage in the way and kinda funky, but the clutch started to go away after about five years. I was gonna change the clutch over the winter, but once I got it apart, I found I had not only smoked the disc, but also the pressure plate and Schiefer aluminum flywheel. Have you priced one of those for an early hemi these days? That is if you can find one. I finally found another flywheel and put it back together with a new clutch. (It slipped like crazy with the old clutch, so I just couldn't put it back together.) The only downside is that I was always the last guy to get out on the track. I know it goes without saying, but I will mention this for those who weren't there. Although you can yank it out of gear, don't even think about getting it back in. Knowing when and how to pull it out of gear is also an acquired skill.
We have been starting it with an external starting motor, like they use on Jr Dragsters. It's a hand held starter motor which engages the crank bolt. No plans to use on the street (I might be stupid but not crazy....or is it "I might be crazy but not stupid?" Just slowly (20MPH) around an empty parking lot or backyard. I understand the possibility of the floor jack catching on the ch***is/tail and like the idea of the overcenter stand.
Overcenter stand, obvious good idea. Still, the right RPM and driver reaction must be 'polished' to get a good launch. Lot to that 'driver reaction', not the same as dropping the family car running 'in gear'...
Starting an oval track racecar and letting it run in gear it on stands is a fairly common practice, particularly in cool cold weather, to get heat in the transmission and rear end.
Were you not able to get any starter .......clutch ?.....trans ? installation info from the guy who got my old Hillegas and installed the V8/60 to replace the Chev II ? Good luck.......have fun.
They use those terms themselves. My daughter has a form of dwarfism, she's off to Germany this year for the World Dwarf Games. 2023 World Dwarf Games – International Dwarf Sports Federation
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