3.5hp Kart dubbed "Bleeding Ears"

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Can you guess why it's named "Bleeding Ears"? The exhaust on this old Tecumseh 2-stroke rusted through so I welded up a bit of pipe I had lying around. Yes, I know the 90 degree bend is not good, but this has so little power anyway I don't think it makes much difference, it certainly hasn't quieted it down. IT'S LOUD!. Also bypassed the governor for a bit more speed!

Most of it was built in 1 week of the holidays and the finishing touches done in the first 2 weeks of school.
Office chair is very comfortable, but I placed the steering wheel on before the chair, so its a bit low but you can still turn to full lock.
25 degrees castor, 5 degrees king pin angle, and 0 degrees camber make it handle very well. Live axle with a manual belt clutch which worked flawlessly.
No brakes as yet, going to add a handbrake to do handbrake turns.
Top speed was around 35-40kph at an earsplitting 5000 RPM.
 
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RobertD

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haha, you've got an opposite-to-normal spinning engine, eh? I had one of those once. turn that exhaust down! Not up! :) cool pic.
 
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Thanks for the comments guys.

Robert, I would have had the exhaust pointing down except my homemade clutch is directly below the exhaust, ill get a close up pic tomorrow.
never saw a Tecumseh 2 stroke like that
Click to expand...
Yeah, its a bit strange. I think it must be mostly cast iron as it weighs heaps. When I mentioned it to someone I know they said they had never heard of a Tecumseh 2-stroke.
Someone threw out this engine on an edger, and we happened to be going past as they put it out. Lucky find!
 
kibble

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LOL! :roflol: I bet that would make your ears bleed after a while!

Why don't you make more of a U shape with the pipe and make it point backwards?

So are you using that pulley we see in the middle as the clutch?
 
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Hey everyone, just found time to upload a video, its 10mb but thats as small as I could make it with the software I have (that i know how to use)

http://members.optusnet.com.au/barberandrew/KartVid2.avi

Kibble, I originally had the exhaust way longer so that it was above my head, but it wouldnt fit in the car so after shortening it... that's what's left. I would put an extra bit on it to go backward, but I really can't be bothered. It works, so I don't need to fix it. It's not all that loud with the race helmet on.

The pulley in the middle has 2 trampoline springs pulling it upwards, and the left pedal on the kart lowers it to release tension. It works really well, but it's pretty close to an "on-off" clutch but slipping is possible with practice.
 
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Thanks Jerry, not my back yard though, wish it was. It's actually a model control line aeroplane flying field, and I was allowed (kinda) to go there ONCE to test it out before taking it to a family friends property. Going to make a track in the grass with the lawnmower and time myself, lol!
 
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Looks quick! Some one had told me once to use an office chair as a seat but I wasn't too sure about it. That kart convinces me that it's a good idea!
 
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