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Very cool! You may want find a serial number on it and hook up with a Lotus car club to inquire about its history. There's a good chance that it's quite valuable to a Lotus collector. I wouldn't modify it before researching. Karl

Harbor Freight sidewalk sale + 20% off coupon. I think there is one coming up in a few weeks or less. A bunch of us got the 6.5 clone for about $75.

FWD vs RWD vs AWD - most of the same principles apply - braking, over/under steer, looking down the road, anticipation, etc... I've raced both karts and FWD cars for 20+ years and found that going fast and staying on the track is 99% the same. Inducing and balancing over/under steer is different...

Car control learned well in advance of actually driving a car on the streets is a huge bonus that parents should respect. I'm a parent and I'm already teaching my children about car control at ages 4 and 6... Getting the urge to powerslide and do other crazy stuff out of your system on a kart is...

I would give BMI a call. Looks like there is a different backplate available for your application: Torque Converter Backplate SKU/Part No: 400831 Karl

I won't profess either way to know how the old belt looked when new since I got the kart from a friend, but to have it ablate away to end up perfectly symmetrical and be a full 1/4" narrower is something I'm quite skeptical of... I'll let you know after this belt wears for a year. I think that...

Success! New/correct belt solved 100% of the issues. There's no way that the belt that was on there could have been the correct one - it's 1/4" narrower, longer, and symmetrical. The new one is 3/4" wide, asymmetrical and dead on fit - thanks so much for the ebay link - price was right and it...

Oh... and don't worry about throwing the old one away - I never throw anything away! At least according to my wife. You never know when you need... washers, bolts, switches, belts, motors out of sewing machines, scraps of aluminum, coffee/cookie tins, shock absorbers, sway bars, old carbs...

Driven clutch is clean and with dry lube - not perfect probably, but I think my primary issue is with the distance/worn-out drive belt. Really strange that the belt is not asymmetric though... Thanks for the ebay link - order is on the way and we'll see what's up then. I'll update the thread...

Hi, I updated my old Manco/Dingo 285 with a new harbor freight 6.5 clone engine that I picked up at their sidewalk sale last week and have some torque converter questions. Engine was a direct bolt-on, but the extra height and fuel tank necessitated cutting the seat bracket and moving it...

Got two in Gaithersburg, MD this morning. Took my friend with me so I could use my 20% off coupons. No hassles at all - $72 bucks! I also bought a 2 year warranty for $19 for one of them. No questions asked, just return if any issues and they give you a new one. Can't wait to put it on the Dingo...

cheap wheels on sale (low speed... but might be worth for testing): http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_200356965_200356965?cm_ven=Housefile&cm_cat=3DAY1FGC_120709&cm_pla=120709consumerNR&cm_ite=P5&cm_lm=kfosburg@yahoo.com&state=MD&hotline=&marketcode=

Excellent advice. Ebay here I come. I think I'll start with some simple power circuits with low amperage [cheap] IGBT's and old hardware (batteries, DC motors...) I have sitting around. Are you using a dedicated PWM chip driven from your PIC or generating your own PW directly to the IGBT's...

Very nice - keeping it simple! Do you have an estimate for the costs of the parts of your controller? . What language is it programmed in - assembly, C, forth, ?... Any good tutorials out there? Looks like a good winter project to play with - Thanks for sharing all these details. Karl

Great forum... really interesting all the good ideas of every sort on here - off road, racing, electric, gravity. I have an interest in everyone of them. I currently have an older Swiss Hutless 100cc 2 stroke racing kart. I haven't used it much since kids and when our local sprint kart track...

To mount your wheels, I would use 4x4 instead of 2x4. Drill a 9/16" hole dead center in it about 4" deep (careful to keep it parallel!) . Then, just thread a 5/8" lag bolt into it exposing just enough of the smooth shank for your wheel using washers as necessary for clearance. Minimize any...

Agreed... aero is a non-issue. Concentrate on something that you can actually drive - it's generally the loose nut behind the wheel that makes the most different in any form of racing. Keep it simple and have fun. If I were making it out of wood, I'd use mostly 4x4 lumber (not pressure treated)...

There's a 20% off any one thing coupon for HF in all my new autoweek magazines. Originals only, no copies. Probably in other magazines as well, so keep an eye out for them. It would be worth spending a couple of bucks to pick up the magazine to save on a big ticket item. Karl

I'm new to the forum and have been running through some threads - Congrats! nice build! Karl