2015 - "Sprint Kart"

[JMINDY]

I'm not at the bumper stage yet of the build, but trying to plan ahead...

I thought I'd post some ideas and get some feedback on how to go about making & mounting them.

Originally I was going to build my own using 1/2"(ish) solid bar, but was concern with weight, durability, and time/how to fabricate. So, put it on the back burner and worry about it later, right?

Then I was cleaning out the garage a few week ago and found these remaining pieces of an old exercise machine that was scrapped out long ago. Hmmmm....

REAR BUMPER...

Here is what I am aiming to imitate...

Here is what the backside of the kart looks like.

1. I want the back bumper to be mounted off of the center section of the frame, NOT on the roll-bar or the angle iron for the hood support as the body panels are mounted to them.

2. I would like the bumper to be easily removable or possibly hinge down in order to be able to get the hood on and off easily.

3. With the shape of the bumper, the hood support bar has to go between the top bar and the bottom bar of the bumper.

Here is the pipes with a rough mock up...

And here is how I was thinking of fab. a rear bumper with them...

Weld a smaller diameter pipe (green) straight up from the frame. The ends of the top bar would pin to this and the other end is inserted into it's upright bar. This would allow the top bar to separate from the rest of the bumper. Then the remaining portion could unpin from the bottom of the frame. Bumper extensions would need to be made to protect the roll-bar and body panels.

So... any problems with this? Any better ideas?


NOW FRONT BUMPER...

Here is an idea with the pieces I have... a push bar of sorts...

But no idea on how to go about mounting it...


Your thoughts, imput, concerns are appreciated!!!

 

[landuse]

I like the way you are thinking. The bumpers are going to look awesome once they are done

 

[JMINDY]

Some ups and downs this weekend on the progress of the kart....

Had a buddy visit this weekend to drop off some parts of his 68 Mercury Cougar which I'm doing some work on. He help me use the bead roller to start the rear body panels for the kart. In-between beer breaks and rain storms, we took some turns running the two-seater kart on the track in my backyard... He's hooked! Before he left, he was looking at craig's list for a kart of his own...

Started out with applying some small spots of filler in the low areas that I missed earlier.

Got the flywheel shroud sanded down and the gas tank prepped again. Primed and painted both.

As they were drying, I moved on to the rear body panels. Figured out the final adjustments to my tag board templates...

Trimmed out both sides from 22 gauge sheet...

Rolled the edges and fold over a mounting tab...

Then started to make some louvers... To those who haven't seen louvers made, I want to reiterate that this is not the proper way to make louvers. They really should be made by stamping them out with a die, for a much cleaner, precise looking louver. I have a friend who I usually have him stamp 3" louvers for me when needed.... wants $1 per louver.... but also charges $50 setup charge per panel... so my 6 louvers would of cost me $106.

I purchased this louver die for my bead roller a few years ago. I've used it on areas of a car that will not be seen. It's does an ok job... needs extra work with a hammer/dolly and some filing to finish them out...and way too time consuming to do a bunch of them...but for a go kart, it'll work just fine.

Jake used a small file to get the burs and edges cleaned.

Scott & I took turns with a hammer and dolly to adjust them...

Then made a bead line along the angle edge to stiffen up the panel. That is when the first trouble began as the tensioner bolt broke on the bead roller. It's not going to be too hard to fix, but the roller down for now and the other side is not getting finished.

Here is the panel as of now... still have some edges to roll, some trimming, then drill the mounting holes.

Sunday night, start to finish out the engine. Finished the fuel filter & line. Installed the flywheel shroud. Some of this stuff I am doing to this kart because...A) to teach my boys... and B) to get me some practice... like the hole in this shroud... no one will notice the hole is filled, but the process of filling the hole is the same I'd use to shave the door handles off on a hot rod.... we're talk'n about practice, man!

Then added the tank in it's new location...

So I'm adding fluids and getting ready to fire it up and start the break-in. I rotate (not lift!) the engine around on the bench... and a pain shoots up my back!!! Today (Wed), is the first day I've been able to even move somewhat pain-free. Hopefully it resides soon and I can get back at it...

 

[MatthewD]

That engine looks great! What paint did you use for the shroud/tank?

 

[JMINDY]

That engine looks great! What paint did you use for the shroud/tank?

Thanks, I used Dupli-Color this time with the Cross/Fire clear coat. No reaction this time, looks good, has a little orange peel in the clear that I could wet sand out if I wanted to...

 

[JMINDY]

Not much progress to show with the kart, June is just too busy of a month for us… coaching my son’s travel baseball team plus a car show and a vintage race weekend didn’t leave much time to send in the garage. Good news is I sent some $$$ and have a pile of parts waiting for when I get back to work after the 4th weekend.

So why the post? This build was started to get my oldest boys more involved in the garage and to teach them some basics. I recently took the boys to see some quarter midget kart race at a small track here at the Indy fairgrounds. Comparison wise, we were kind of surprised by how much smaller they were to what we are building. So was wondering…. Is there racing series with a larger sprint kart? Also wonder if any one else has built or converted a typical yard kart into sprint car theme kart? I surely couldn’t be the only knucklehead that has attempted this…

A little R&D on the old internet… and found a kart series called Outlaw Sprint Karts. Cool looking karts that run in three categories 125cc, 250cc and an open class that runs a 500cc motorcycle engine (85-100hp on a 265lbs. kart). QRC makes kart chassis for this series, and as I am flip through some images I come across a new site for MAJ1K Motorsports…

The photo section documents this kid’s successful race career up till 2011… from Sprint Kart series to the full size Sprint Cars. Anyways, when the kid was 3-4 in 1996, his father built him his first yard kart. Then in 1998, his father built him another go kart, this time with the theme style of a sprint car…

This 6 yr. old kid… is Kyle Lawson, now a NASCAR driver for Chip Ganassi Racing!

Check out some of the cool looking build picture of the karts…
http://kylelarsonracing.com/old/galleries/Kyle-moretoddlerdays.htm

Cool what a kart build could help lead to…

 

[Desertduler]

There is nothing like the looks of an sprint car, and most certainly a winged one, my Dad always used to take me to the circle track races and I loved the sprinters and still do today.

 

[JMINDY]

Play time is over...need to start getting back to work!

Finally, received my rims and hubs. Been on back order since June 24th
Rear Rims 9˝x8˝, Front Rims 5-7/8˝x8˝, 5/8˝ bearing front hubs, 1˝ to 3/4˝ step down rear hubs, & a new chain

ATV Hoosier Racing Tires
Rear 16x8.5-8 small cross block tread pattern

Front 15x6-8 angle block pattern

Start assembly...

 

[slidewayz]

Oh, now thats sexy!!!

 

[JMINDY]

Giggity Giggity!!

 

[landuse]

Dang, those are nice!!

 

[Desertduler]

Those are bad A$$!

 

[JMINDY]

Oh, now thats sexy!!!

Dang, those are nice!!

Thanks slidewayz & landuse!!

Those are bad A$$!

LOL, you forgot a $ sign... seriously, these tires, rims and hubs doubled the cost of my kart!! I know, it's not the wisest... but to me, rim & tires can make the look of a vehicle... putting the knob tires back on won't have done it justice!



They're an ATV racing tire...

I wanted to keep the same size (within reason) of tire that was originally on the kart so that I would not be undoing/creating problems with the gear ratio. So rear target was 16˝, so that eliminated the standard 18˝ tire that's on the market.

Originally I wanted to reuse original rims that were on the kart to save on cash, but the Rims/Tires that racers run on the Quarter Midgets/Sprint Karts/and Outlaw Karts would of looked too small with their low profile on a 6 inch rim. This kart is just so much bigger in size to those.

Original tires were 14.5x7-6 on the front and 16x8-7 on the rear. I soon found that tires for 7˝ rims are not a popular size. So had to go either 6˝ or 8˝ rims. To get the 16˝ and 14.5˝ height, I had to go 8˝ rim, which means I had to add wheel hubs to get them to fit the axle/spindles.

Douglas has some nice rims, but I couldn't find a 6˝ wide rims for the front - only the 8x8 for the back (actually they did make 6˝, but they were in a 4/110 bolt pattern which I couldn't find in 5/8˝ front hubs)... Luckily, gokartsupply.com had ATV rims in 5-7/8x8, 7x8, and 9x8, all in the 4x4 bolt pattern!

So now I'm same size as original on the rear, but 1˝ wider... and a 1/2˝ taller, 1˝ narrower for the front.
Rear 16x8.5-8 small cross block tread pattern (on a 9˝ wide rim)
Front 15x6-8 angle block pattern

You can see how this snowballed into sending to much cash for the right "look".

 

[MadManAndrew]

Man I can't imagine how expensive those were just knowing how much regular tires that size are, but I can see how they were worth it! Those things look sweet.

 

[JMINDY]

Man I can't imagine how expensive those were just knowing how much regular tires that size are, but I can see how they were worth it! Those things look sweet.

Thanks! They weren't that bad...I got a small discount by ordering them through a race shop a friend owns in town, plus Hoosier Tire Midwest shop is in town so no shipping... I guess that's the benefit of having a lot of local race teams.

---------- Post added at 09:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:46 PM ----------

Got some work done today...

Finish rolling the edges on the passenger side rear panel.

Drilled and mounted. Used allen bolts, not a fan of them, but they look good...

Cut levers, rolled edges, and mounted the drivers side. Still need to run a bead along the edge, but need some assistance to finish that part. Kids are at their mother's house this week...so it will have to wait...

Finish the top hood mount. Had to rethink how I was originally going to mount this...ended up welding a nut on the under side of the metal bracket.

Will finish the lower hood mounts tomorrow, and start on the front spindles...they're in sad shape.

 

[Desertduler]

Looks cool! I like it a lot,those little Hoosier's are an important part your kart's theme,great thinking there!

 

[slidewayz]

Wow! Thats looking so good. Nice sheet metal work, and the hood pin fits right in....and those Hoosiers are still just the bees knees!

What size is that finger brake and what brand is it...that a real nice piece.

 

[rushking19]

Nice to see an update and I didn't know that you could get Hoosier tires in that size

 

[chancer]

Dude thats coming along nicely! Your in Indiana the Hoosiers were not really an option I guess. Check out what my wife does with old Hoosiers:
http://www.montgomerytireswings.com/inc/sdetail/race_car_tire_swing/29/774

 

[JMINDY]

Nice to see an update and I didn't know that you could get Hoosier tires in that size

Thanks, They make a large variety of sizes... Kart 5˝ & 6˝ Dia., ATV are 12˝,15˝, 16˝, & 18˝, Micro Sprints range from 18-23˝, Full Sprints are 27-33˝ and so on...

Dude thats coming along nicely! Your in Indiana the Hoosiers were not really an option I guess. Check out what my wife does with old Hoosiers:
http://www.montgomerytireswings.com/inc/sdetail/race_car_tire_swing/29/774

That's cool Chancer! We have an elementary school playground that was donated by Don Schumacher Racing. It has swings and other equipment made from the team's old Goodyear slicks.

We have a name for this kart but not revealing it yet...