54s Kartco 455 Restomod aka The Reaper

[54inches]

I have one concern, you welded the roll cage to a frame that was designed to flex, this is why thay bolt them on. you may have some trouble keeping the welds all in intact, being that the frame is going to flex some and this kart is a light frame with no kind of suspension to take away the stess that this frame is going to be under while it's being redin. I don't see that it will hold up long unless it's ran on smooth, flat ground. I have one similar to the one you have there, just running it around the yard the frame will twist some on mine.

I would be concerned with any other frame, but this Kartco is not light by any stretch of the imagination.

I don't think these frames/cage were "designed to flex. If they were then they were not designed well as I found and repaired one crack.

The ere bolted on for safety reasons and ease of shipping/packaging.

I also added 4 more down tubes to help with triangulation and energy spread.....

If it does crack, then I will gusset it where it needs it; which was my intent in the beginning, but I forgot to make the gussets.

This will be street/concrete Kart and ridden on mostly flat roads.

Just to convince myself I am going to do a full speed canyon jump to test my welds!

Thanks for your input, now I am paranoid.

 

[landuse]

Arrrrrrrrr!

Ouch!! Are you sure they knew it was a testicular cyst that they had to remove

 

[itsid]

Arrrrrrrrr!

Oh.. please tell me that wasn't the same ballpoint pen causing that and the scribble...

OUCH!

Ouch!! Are you sure they knew it was a testicular cyst that they had to remove

'sid

 

[Poboy kartman]

lol!!!!!

This was minor surgery; hell, back in the day, I had a testicular cyst removed on Wednesday and was at the Racetrack on Friday dragging Mustang *** in my Camaro.

Well now you've done it. And I was just beginning to like you.

My older and younger brothers, my nephew and his daughter all drag race. She has a jr. dragster but my younger brother and my nephew both have extremely fast Mustangs.

Oh well- we need guys like you around. Edging out a slower Mustang just isn't nearly as fun as stomping some Chebby butt.

EDIT: BTW- I agree with you on the reasons roll cages are bolted on (and it makes it easy for it to be optional). Once the bolts are cinched down, there is virtually no difference between being bolted or welded structurally.

 

[rocketkart]

I would be concerned with any other frame, but this Kartco is not light by any stretch of the imagination.

I don't think these frames/cage were "designed to flex. If they were then they were not designed well as I found and repaired one crack.

The ere bolted on for safety reasons and ease of shipping/packaging.

I also added 4 more down tubes to help with triangulation and energy spread.....

If it does crack, then I will gusset it where it needs it; which was my intent in the beginning, but I forgot to make the gussets.

This will be street/concrete Kart and ridden on mostly flat roads.

Just to convince myself I am going to do a full speed canyon jump to test my welds!

Thanks for your input, now I am paranoid.

We have a similar problem with are airboat's, when we jump a dike, aka A hill with wood pellets that run across the hill to run over smoother, We always braking the welds on are rigging from vibration and some flexing. not that thay have anything to do with a cart but every time we get a new boat the first question we ask, Is there any problem with the boat flexing and twisting, usually there is a problem. I have a smaller manco kart that has some flex in it when riding it in the yard, so not saying that yours is not going to flex but theres also alot of vibration fome your axle's.

 

[Poboy kartman]

We have a similar problem with are airboat's, when we jump a dike, aka A hill with wood pellets that run across the hill to run over smoother, We always braking the welds on are rigging from vibration and some flexing. not that thay have anything to do with a cart but every time we get a new boat the first question we ask, Is there any problem with the boat flexing and twisting, usually there is a problem. I have a smaller manco kart that has some flex in it when riding it in the yard, so not saying that yours is not going to flex but theres also alot of vibration fome your axle's.

Well - Let's break it down Rocketkart. Boats are built to float on water- not jump stuff. The stuff you are talking about will always have flex and none of it by design. A good example of engineered flex- a top fuel dragster chassis. The flex in all this other stuff is a byproduct of weight limits and production costs.

But you should take your experience with now known weak points in conversation and solve them- and not look for a magic bullet in something designed for something else...

Not trying to be a prick here- that just comes naturally. .....

 

[54inches]

Ouch!! Are you sure they knew it was a testicular cyst that they had to remove

Nice; muahahahaha!!!!!!!

Oh.. please tell me that wasn't the same ballpoint pen causing that and the scribble...

OUCH

That is actually the Dr. signature to let the staff know that they were operating on that hand.....

Well now you've done it. And I was just beginning to like you.

My older and younger brothers, my nephew and his daughter all drag race. She has a jr. dragster but my younger brother and my nephew both have extremely fast Mustangs.

Oh well- we need guys like you around. Edging out a slower Mustang just isn't nearly as fun as stomping some Chebby butt.

EDIT: BTW- I agree with you on the reasons roll cages are bolted on (and it makes it easy for it to be optional). Once the bolts are cinched down, there is virtually no difference between being bolted or welded structurally.

As long as it is American baby. F imports.

We have a similar problem with are airboat's, when we jump a dike, aka A hill with wood pellets that run across the hill to run over smoother, We always braking the welds on are rigging from vibration and some flexing. not that thay have anything to do with a cart but every time we get a new boat the first question we ask, Is there any problem with the boat flexing and twisting, usually there is a problem. I have a smaller manco kart that has some flex in it when riding it in the yard, so not saying that yours is not going to flex but theres also alot of vibration fome your axle's.

I ain't worried about it. If it was your airboat then I would worry about it.

All of our airboats are Al and have Avco-Lycoming engines and we try to keep them from becoming airborn, for the reasons explained below. lol

Well - Let's break it down Rocketkart. Boats are built to float on water- not jump stuff. The stuff you are talking about will always have flex and none of it by design. A good example of engineered flex- a top fuel dragster chassis. The flex in all this other stuff is a byproduct of weight limits and production costs.

But you should take your experience with now known weak points in conversation and solve them- and not look for a magic bullet in something designed for something else...

Not trying to be a prick here- that just comes naturally. .....

This.

 

[54inches]

Well, I had ordered the air filter kit for the OMB Filter kit for the 212 Predator and well, the engine area is small so the filter rubbed and did not seat well.......

Well, with a trip to the Hardware store for a 2 1/2" PVC Coupler and a Rubber 90, I fixed the problem....

I also made the header today, but have yet to wrap it with the DEI Titanium wrap....

 

[54inches]

Look what I scored today for next to nothing and I am going to sell for tons of money. Muahahahahaha!!!!!

All it needs is a link for the chain.....

I had to rotate the recoil pull and remove a few things and reroute the brake cable, but basically it is good to go.

Once I get the Reaper finished this weekend, I am going to clean her up and maybe paint her up a little.

She will be called..... GRIM.

 

[OzFab]

Grim & reaper... how long did it take you to come up with that

Are you gonna straighten the forks too, they look a little bent...

 

[54inches]

I am special when it comes to creative!

I am probably going to rake it out a little, so I will straighten them then....

 

[54inches]

Got all the bearings and band brake in today.

Order the chain for the mini-bike last night.....

 

[54inches]

Parts

 

[54inches]

Onto plumbing the vents to the new intake.

Fairly self explanatory.....

 

[54inches]

Setting up the pedals and the steering.

All of the pivot points are washered with stainless washers, so everything is moving against the washer, so it is not rubbing the paint on and minimizing rust.

I also shimmed one of the steering joints up, so at full lock there is no metal to metal bind against the kingpin. Also, keeps it from rubbing off paint and minimizing the rust.....

 

[54inches]

Now, came back tonight and started working on setting up the throttle, spring return,etc.

I did not like the PO had it setup and it was too short for this motor.

I had a good cable left over from my XS650 and it was BEEFY.

The throttle handle was in the way and did not look good either so I chopped it off, rounded the edges and made it look pretty.

I also removed the other cable swivel and I am thinking about taking the whole bracket off and cut the back part off where the cable stay is to clean up the area and give the vent and spark plug wire some more room.

The last pictures shows the cable and tghe rod that it needs to connect to. The rod has a hole in it and I am trying to figure out the best, strongest and most aesthetically pleasing ay to handle it.

I am thinking if I cut of the sheathing and leave the cable long, I can thread it through the rod, and double it back on itself and use a cable clamp to clamp it to itself.

Whatcha think?

 

[paddlepop]

That doesnt look like it was the site of the cyst......ouch man, what did you do?
Pain in the a$$ place to damage...hope it heals quick but it gonna slow you down for a day or two.

 

[paddlepop]

Oops...missed page 2 so a bit behind...nice work esp given the injury!!

 

[54inches]

CTS has been minimal. I usually stick exactly to Drs orders, but he said to go back to work at my own pace, so I went full steam.......

Thanks, it has been fun.

 

[bigair49]

Great to see the young ones learning how to use the tools and getting dirty. I'm working on a project with my son as well. He likes to get out to the shop and help out. but I will say some days it's hard to get him off the video games.