1999 CRG/Kali Kart "Red Barron" Rebuild

[fourtogo]

Rims

I got my new 5"x5" front wheels, found a pair of polished Circle Racing wheels on fleebay from a guy who found a bunch of them in a storage locker, new in the package. Got them for $45 for the pair! He has 7 pairs of 6" also for only $40 a pair which I would buy if I was keeping the kart becuase they are really an odd size and I probably won't find them again anytime soon. Circle called the bolt pattern "big metric", and they are definitely different from the CRG fronts listed on Comet or anywhere else I've found. 6mm stud holes vs 8mm stud holes and slightly different spacing. Dumb luck that I found the only 5" pair listed on fleebay!

Redrill bolt holes, my wheels have standard and metric bolt pattern. As long as center hole is 40-50mm

 

[winnn420]

Redrill bolt holes, my wheels have standard and metric bolt pattern. As long as center hole is 40-50mm

No need..the wheels I found on eBay are a perfect fit. 6mm bolt holes and 55mm bore. That's what I would have had to do if I hadn't found them, since the CRG fronts from Comet do have a 55mm center bore.

 

[fourtogo]

I found out hard way

 

[winnn420]

I just got very lucky to find them on eBay!

Slight change in plan on color, not going with lime green anymore. I dropped off the chassis yesterday to get sandblasted because I found someone who said he'd do it for $40 but after talking to him in person I asked what's the cheapest cash price for a paint job using whatever bright color he has a lot of in stock, and he said $140 for safety red. So the Red Baron is going to be red, should be ready by Wednesday

They do industrial work so I'm sure it will be a durable paint job. Below is the exact color and a sample of what they do.

 

[winnn420]

The chassis turned out very nice! I'll be dropping off the Margay chassis that I'm restoring to the same guy. I'm going to let it sit & cure for at least a week before I start assembling it (which is the reason I usually spend a lot more for powdercoat...no waiting for it to cure!). Front hubs are done, cleaned up the axle the best I could, and bought a harder steel wire wheel and re-polished a handful of parts that were really rough to begin with and didn't look that great after the first try at cleaning them up. I have a few small things to do in the meantime:
1. Re-pack the exhaust silencer & polish.
2. Drop off the exhaust pipe to have a couple of small leaks fixed & polish.
3. Mount tires on wheels (front & rear).
4. Polish used rear aluminum wheels (should be here tomorrow).

 

[winnn420]

I hate working on exhaust, such a dirty job!

Cleaned up the pipe, bringing it to the welder today. What a nightmare getting the silencer apart! The re-packing material should be here today so I should be able to get that done tonight if all goes as planned.

 

[winnn420]

No I didn't abandon the rebuild on the home stretch...I normally don't do this but I bought a new project while working on the kart. I got a mini speed boat that instead of putting off to the side like I should have, I started messing with it and put the kart off to the side instead. Now I'm back to the kart so I can get done!

Got the exhaust finished this weekend, silencer is all cleaned & re-packed with new hardware. I finished the radiator a week or so ago, I spent about 2 hours with an xacto and some pliers straightening out all of the bent up fins, turned out looking pretty good after painting it. I also painted the inside of the brake rotors with some red bake-on high heat paint, it's a much better look than the rust color they had inside.

and a pic of the new project that probably couldn't have less to do with karts...

 

[crgcf]

nice job with the kart, building it is half the fun, the other half is driving it.

 

[Nodroz]

****! That's some nice cleaning work! Good job.

 

[winnn420]

nice job with the kart, building it is half the fun, the other half is driving it.

Thank you & I couldn't agree more. Maybe even 60/40 building/driving

****! That's some nice cleaning work! Good job.

Thank you sir..I figured since I already went overboard on this project...why not waste an afternoon or two painting the inside of some rotors...or spend a few days rebuilding an exhaust system.

I found even more work that has to be done!...I started to take the old seat cover off so I could get it re-covered and found a nice cracked area in the bottom of the seat. It's a nice older Tillett so I think I'm going to re-glass the whole bottom of it and instead of re-covering it with new material; I want to paint it similar to this guitar, using silver instead of white. It painted using this crazy dip "swirl" method.

 

[winnn420]

It's starting to look like a kart again. Just about ready to install the brake lines & fill, and then install the motor. The second pic is terrible quality, the only difference it shows is the front calipers installed. I went ahead and installed it for now but I'm ordering a new rear axle, it has a slight bend on one side, I imagine from bouncing off a curb when it was wrecked.

 

[winnn420]

The front brakes are done, they work great.

Tonight I'll fill & bleed the rear brakes and then it's pretty much time to throw the motor on it. Still gotta fix the seat...

 

[landuse]

That paint job really does look sweet!

 

[winnn420]

thanks...I think it was $140 well spent.

 

[winnn420]

I got some dust shields for the master cylinders a while back and although they seem to be a bit smaller than the OEM would have been after heating them up a little I was able to get them on and they will work great for keeping the dirt out...The brakes are finally done!

I'm waiting on a used Axle that I ordered from Mr.CRG (seventh-gear.com) for only $35 that I'm told is checked for trueness, 100% straight and should only need to be cleaned. The motor will be mounted very soon.

 

[winnn420]

The motor is installed, the clutch and throttle cables are done

I never spent that much time shining up the motor, other than cleaning it when I changed all the gaskets. So after I got it on the kart next to all the new and/or polished parts, I realized it needed some help. The clutch cover looks so much better after some time with the bench grinder, the water pump is next and then the remaining few pieces of hardware on the motor.

I shined up my new used axle from seventh-gear last night, I should be able to get it swapped tonight.

 

[landuse]

You must be excited to get it all together and ride. It has been a long time coming

 

[winnn420]

bittersweet...because I know it will soon be sold to someone who will probably just abuse it until it's in the same condition it was in when I got it. Though I'm sure it will be a blast to ride. I've had quite a few motorcycles, dirt and street, and quite a few karts but I've never driven a shifter kart. It's tempting to not drive it all, and sell it looking new with ZERO wear on it, but I can't pass the opportunity to try it out.

I'm getting the tires on the rims this weekend, hopefully tonight after I swap the rear axle. After that I need to fix the seat or buy a new one, and it's ready to ride...Then I can start working on re-finishing the body panels...or just sell it naked

 

[gallagher19]

No need..the wheels I found on eBay are a perfect fit. 6mm bolt holes and 55mm bore. That's what I would have had to do if I hadn't found them, since the CRG fronts from Comet do have a 55mm center bore.

I have a 1999 CRG kart. I have been reading your write ups and they are very informative. Nice job on your CRG kart BTW. I tried to look up comet karts on the site and I cannot access it. Do you have the link for them. I used the other link you put on here. Thanks for that.

 

[anderkart]

I tried to look up comet karts on the site and I cannot access it. Do you have the link for them.

Here's their link: http://www.cometkartsales.com/store.htm