News & Notes by FCHP

Yes, I know, it's already August in 2007 and it's a little late to welcome new drivers. Well, you are right, I should have done it before now. It has been a busy year.
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First up John St. Jean.

John moved over to FCHP at the first of the year and had an EXCELLENT showing at the WKA Road Racing (Enduro) National at Roebling Road (Savannah), Georgia. Congrats on the run, hope to see more during the year.
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I have more to add and I will get them up on here soon. I am very exited to have the guys above on board and I would also like to thank all my existing customers that continue to recommend FCHP to others that make these new guys keep coming our way.

I can't hardly believe it, still as I write this, that Eric has passed. You sure don't want to think about someone your own age falling sick and passing so soon. Some people in racing we only get to meet a couple times a year and Eric was one that I always looked for when we went to the Gold Cups. Had some real good laughs. Buddy, I sure am going to miss you and it won't be the same without you.

What sets an average Animal engine apart from a "good" Animal engine.... parts selection. WKA has done a good job on clamping down on the Animal rules. There are many areas in the motor that greatly affect how the motor turns out that can NOT be altered by the engine builder. A "good" motor is made by the engine builder having enough "good" parts on hand to build the motor right. A builder can NOT do this building one motor at a time. A builder also needs to have enough data collected on the Animal engines to KNOW what makes a good motor and what is just average. Some builders have more engines on hand at one time to sort through than most build in a month or a year. And not only on hand, but torn apart so parts comparisons and matchups can be made to maximize EVERY motor in the lot at the same time. Again, this can not be done by building one motor at a time.

At FCHP we have been building Animal motors since they were released from Briggs & Stratton. This puts our Animal experience, data collection, and parts knowlege MANY years ahead of a lot of the builders. And we have the selection to give you the best.

That's right, after many many years of flathead/Raptor engine racing, Briggs is finally pulling the plug on that engine and will eventually stop producing any parts for it.

Word is, a few of the parts are already out of production and when the distributor/dealer stock is gone, they are gone. Briggs will not release a timetable schedule of the parts being phased out or release which parts are going out of production first. They are doing this in order to keep distribtors/dealers from "stocking up" on parts and selling them at an increased rate once the parts are gone. They will let the parts go out through the normal channels as usual and when they are gone, they are gone.

Here is what I see happening for 2007. A lot of racers get their motors in for rebuilds over the winter. Those racers will most likely not be affected. Another big rush it typically right before the 2007 season fires up at all the tracks (people waiting to the last minute). Again, they most likely will not be affected. The next big rush typically comes around Income Tax Return time. I think by March we will start seeing parts shortages showing up or at least getting an idea of the parts that are no longer available at the distributor level. The next big rush comes around mid-season when people get mid-season rebuilds (June-July). I think by June-July we will start seeing shortages show up and start to make comprimises in the engine packages. Example: If you need a .015" piston and no .015" pistons are available, you have to go up to the next bore size or larger to find the next available pistons. I suspect .010"-.015" pistons will go first, then .020"-.025", then .030"-.035" as they are used up. By mid to late 2007 (September-October) I think we will start to see where some shops had stocked up on parts and will start to charge a premium for "missing" parts. An by late 2007 (November-December) builders will have to just start telling karters they can not get parts to do their rebuilds no matter how much hunting and "bidding" on parts they do. And once that happens...... say goodbye to the Raptor.... it's done.

That's right, it's in the 2007 WKA rulebook, the PVL ignition is legal for the 2007 racing season. FCHP is one of the few that got the PVL's early and has been testing them. We also have several in stock.

FCHP is one of the few shops right now that have the new Horstman WKA JR1 & JR2 restrictor plates. Take a look at how small those holes are!!

The newest performance part from Briggs & Stratton, the PVL Digital Ignition System is in stock at FCHP. The flywheels are slightly lighter than the current JR Flywheels we are using.

As of today (11/02/2006) FCHP is now an "official" Briggs & Stratton Motorsports dealer. This is one more move in the right direction for FCHP. This will help speed up operations in the shop by not having to wait for shipments to come in from other distributors out of state.

WKA has finally got around to introducing the Animal into the Jr.1 and Jr.2 age groups. The plates from Horstman started shipping out a little over a week ago and we got our plates in stock late last week.

Briggs did a lot of testing with these plates and is in the process of writing up a tuning sheet to start you off in the right ballpark. I have an advanced/early release of the unfinished report, and by the looks of it, they will be providing very valuable information.

Now we have to get some on the dyno & track and see how it goes.

There are more new parts coming down the line from Briggs & Stratton Motorsports. The newest and biggest change in a while is the new PVL (Probosch - Vogt - Loos) Ignition system. The new system will include a new flywheel and coil. News from Briggs is the kits will be at the Distributor level by the end of November if all goes well. Rumor has it, they will be approved as a legal part for the WKA Volusia dirt national and will by mandantory by the 2nd WKA dirt national in 2007.

(Info below posted by Jim Frantz on 4cycle.com)
Here are the voltages on the new PVL ignition system comming for the Animal and the WF.

High Tension Comparison

All measurements under the same conditions:
Air gap 0.4 mm, load for high tension coil 50pf capacitor

The first column is RPM (farthest to the left)
Second column is The New PVL ignition Kilovolts (KV)
Third column is WF with Aluminum Race Flywheel (KV)
Fourth column is WF with the Gray Iron Flywheel (KV)

300------7,3-----------8.3---------6.3
400------11,7---------10.5---------8.2
500------13,8---------11.7---------9.2
1000-----18,2---------15.5--------11.3
2000-----20,0---------14.0--------12.8
3000-----18,5---------13.5--------13.4
4000-----18,5---------12.9--------13.2
5000-----17,5---------12.0--------13.0
6000-----16,5---------11.9--------12.7
7000-----15,0---------11.8--------12.4
8000-----14,5---------11.7--------12.0
9000-----14,5---------11.6--------11.5
10000----13,5---------10.0--------11.0
11000----13,3--------- 9.6--------10.5
12000----12,3---------