2019 - Ultimate Yard Kart

[JTSpeedDemon]

I've been suspecting the ignition coil for some time, so I went ahead and swapped it out for the racing one from Randy H(thanks!). Even though the spark plug wire no longer matches the engine powdercoat, I can live with it. It actually looks pretty cool!

So I took it out for a spin today to dial in the carburetor, and it now just needs a little more finessing to be perfect. I've almost got it! And of course it's a drift MACHINE!!

So here's some pics as it sits.

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Glamor Pics! Take: 4?

Yup, I got some more glamor pics today! Since I noticed the sun was going down, I decided to go get some glamor pics while I could, so here's the two best! Turned out pretty well, I'd say!

The seat bottom and cleaned up wheels make all the difference! Plus the trees are turning green again, making for a pretty backdrop!

The starter clutch just started making noise, it needs more oil, but that's not too big of a deal.

 

[Austin_Gore]

Looks Good

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Street Racing!

My friends brought over their race kart today! I helped them fix the gas leak, which was a gashed fuel line, then helped oil their throttle cable, oiled my starter clutch, then we got to ride and race!

I won by a lot, there's more details in this thread: http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?p=545731#post545731


And when we came back to the house, the ONE thing I could say was:

"Domestic beats import every time!!"

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Haha! Got to send it again yesterday, and it runs LIKE A CHAMP!
I drifted it HARD, and spun out twice, but it was exhilarating! I did manage to catch an almost prefect, long drift while showing off to some kids, it felt epic!

The engine always wants to die when I turn a hard left, but that's simply due to the design of the carburetor, with the angled emulsion tube, so the engine floods a bit when I turn left. That's just a design thing with the carburetor, but I can deal with it until I get a Mikuni!!

 

[karl]

I drifted it HARD, and spun out twice, but it was exhilarating! I did manage to catch an almost prefect, long drift while showing off to some kids, it felt epic!

Once the skinny tires are on the back, I think you will have lots of fun!

Are you going for the 20 or 22mm?

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

IDK though, the skinnier tires will also be NEW, and with the front tires, I'm amazed at mow much more grip it has. But we'll see! I'll probably find a way to drift it anyways HAHA!

I'm planning on going for the 22mm, I've found genuine Mikunis for like $25 on Ebay, and once I get a welder, I can make an intake. I've measured the intake bores with a caliper, the carburetor bore is ~19mm, the intake runner is ~20mm, and the intake port is of course ~22mm. That's already a sizeable restriction!
And of course, the simple design of the carburetor actually is a huge air restriction, even the emulsion tube!
So in short, even the 20mm would be an improvement, but I'll go straight to the 22.

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Just a little update, I'm saving up to get a welder, so I can right the many wrongs this frame has seen, and I'm also a week or two off from getting a billet ARC rod and sticking in a bunch of other parts to make this thing go almost 50 MPH!

Don't worry, I'll gear it down, I'm not stupid, and I prefer low end tire spin anyways.

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Ok, public announcement time!
As much as I hate to say it, the Flo-Jet is NOT well suited at all to high speed uses! The angled emulsion tube makes it die out when turning left or going over bumps, and that's the carburetor for sure, there's nothing else it could be.
Of course though, I'm gonna be Mikuni'ing it anyways.
Although, the Flo-Jet will get your kart from point A to point B, it takes a gentle right foot and gentle left turns. It needs a lot of finesse.
The two points I love about it though is how every part on it is replaceable, and it's very adjustable, even by hand.


I also noticed something today while driving. When I decelerate, sometimes the kart will shudder. It's a little unnerving, but I figure it's just the clutch slipping as the engine decelerates.


Also, I accidentally pulled a 360 while drifting!

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

I'm baaaack!!

So I started high school and stuff, so the Hothead got parked for a while. Ya know, life happens. But I haven't forgotten my plans! I still drive it occasionally when I can, but I'm still planning and thinking about it!
So, I'm back, kinda to give y'all an update and share a cool idea I figured out!

As some of you may remember, awhile back skulldrinker sent me some custom Bird Eng. logo stickers(HUGE thank you!), but I haven't used any of them yet. That's partially because I still plan to change the paint in the future, and I don't like how the white logo doesn't fit the color scheme at all. I'm trying to stick with black, orange, and bare metal. White does not look good mixed in there, so I was trying to think of a way to make the stickers orange.
So I tested an idea on one of the small ones: a marker!
Super simple, and it actually came out pretty well! So as you can see in the pic, I'm probably going to orange-ify one of the big ones, and then put it in the floorpan with the wingtips facing the back(kinda pseudo Trans-Am style).
But first, I've got a long list of engine and frame mods to do first!

 

[Budget GoKart]

My little kenbar one seater was racing around a track with real racekarts my mom has pictures of it and a video it was pretty rad till the wheel came off lol!

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

LUCKY!

 

[Budget GoKart]

LUCKY!

get freinds in the country with go karts and a bunch of land thats what i did so he has certified karts with built hemi predators and my streaker had 8x more grip and a stock 212. that thing flies around the track while the race karts have so much power they just slide all over. but man are they fun. the owner of the karts built a few of them his name is jim white give him a little gewgle (not the musician) jim white chassies
link: http://www.jwhiteengineering.jmractioncam.com/

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Jim White eh? Rings a bell....

 

[Budget GoKart]

Jim White eh? Rings a bell....

yea he is my grandpas best freind

 

[karl]

So I tested an idea on one of the small ones: a marker!

Seems legit, nice!

Can wait to see it all freshened up! No need to rush things, quality will always suffer.

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Yep, this entire project has been very slow, I've had it for almost 2 years now. I want to get things done, but so far everything has gone down for the most part without a hitch, just slowly. My parents and I have also developed a high school incentive program for me, and I plan to use it to get parts and materials. I should have a lot of engine mods happening in a few months. First will be a Mikuni carburetor, that might even give me some more RPM, IDK. It should really wake up this old Briggs, the Flo-Jet's pretty restrictive!

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Made another big step! I decided to go down the less treaded path and bought a Tillotson HL19D pumper carb. About 22mm, and it’ll look awesome! It’ll also get rid of my problems with stalling on certain slopes/angles/turns. Plus, ya know, it’s gonna have that vintage look!!

 

[Karts of Kaos]

super cool

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Here are some pics for y'all to feast yer eyes on!
Looks in great condition, no history though, might need a rebuild. But hey, if it was good enough for the racers back in the day, it'll be plenty for me! Plus DynoCams sells a really nice port matched CNC manifold for Tillys to Briggs!
EDIT - Uh oh, I might have bit off a little more than I thought. Still waiting for a response from EC Carburetors, but the intake is made for the 3 hole Raptor block. I'm really hoping it's compatible. I might end up making my own intake anyways lol.