Ultimate Go-Kart
During the RATS senior year in high school, Ben and John were walking around Ben's back yard, bored. This wasn't unusual. John told Ben about his lifelong dream of taking an old car, tearing off all of the body panels, glass, and roof, thus forming an instant "ultimate go-kart." Having nothing better to do, Ben let this idea sit in his brain for a while. Being completely bored with high school life, Ben decided that the RATS should indeed work to make John's idea a reality. After looking around at several options for getting an old car to "go-karticize," Ben decided to go with the most fiscally sound. Ben's father had a ‘74 Ford Maverick Grabber in the backyard that he had bought for the 302 ci engine and transmission. The rest of the car just kind of came with the deal. The 302 was meant to replace the 200 ci in-line six cylinder in a ‘67 Mustang Coupe that Ben's dad was restoring.
Upon seeing this, Ben hatched a diabolical plan. Ben would approach him with an offer that his father couldn't refuse. He offered to remove the six cylinder engine and transmission from the Mustang, likewise remove the engine and transmission from the Maverick, and then put the Maverick's 302 into the Mustang. All Ben would ask for in return is to use the Maverick and six cylinder for his own devious purposes. Since both the Maverick and the six cylinder were of no value to Ben's father at this point, he went along with the plan happily. Thus it was planned, the 1974 Ford Maverick Grabber would become the World's first ever Ultimate Go-Kart!
The RATS at this point were a decent sized outfit, including: Ben, Ian, John, Thomas, Sparkie, and Will. Everyone had a unique position in making Ultimate Go-Kart come to life. Ben was important as his father donated the car, the tools, and the land to store the thing. Ian owned the pick-up truck that was to tow Ultimate Go-Kart to her various runs. John was the one that originally came up with the idea. Moving the engine's around the yard without Thomas' help would have simply been impossible. Sparkie was Ben's younger brother and a convenient person to pick on if Will wasn't available. Will was vital since his Uncle (who, by the way, was awesome) donated the pipe for the roll bar and the quarter inch plate for the skid plate. All of the members worked on actually doing the physical labor to make the thing run.
Part 2: I Love It When A Plan Comes Together