arlington tx newbie

[travillac]

whats up fellas? well i finally found a 2 seater kart for my boys (7 and 11). got it for $50, its an old sears roebuck kart that needs EVERYTHING. im thinking about buying the cheap 6.5 hp motor from harbor freight and then start throwing a lot of new parts at it as finances permit. im not looking to spend a fortune on it and im not trying to put my boys on anything fit to set land speed records....yet! is there anyone else that lives in the Dallas/Ft Worth area that knows great places to pick up parts for karts? oh, and does anybody have any helpful/interesting info on these old sears karts?


here are some pics of "the turd"

 

[r97]

welcome! make sure you replace those wheels,

 

[travillac]

Yeah, I pretty much just got it for the frame. Like I said...it needs everything! Lol

 

[Blazkowiez]

Welcome to the forums. You have an old Manco kart which was being sold through Sears.

http://www.rockwoodgokarts.com/

Visit those people, they're very helpful, have an amazing stock of parts, and have a sweet track. Tell them Discount Go-Karts in Houston told you about them, they'll set you up. You do however need to tell them its a Manco or bring your wheels with you.

This kart had aluminum split rims all the way around which are no longer in production though some shops still have parts, on the drive wheel, is the inner half which the sprocket would attach to tapped to accept bolts? If so is the half bent or cracked in any way? This will be most expensive and hardest to find.

 

[travillac]

Thanks for that info. The drive wheel is aluminum but it's not tapped. That being said, I really don't think that its the original wheel.

 

[Blazkowiez]

It was most likely the coaster, but that means you might only need to purchase one half and you can buy a steel wheel for the coaster side if you care about price and not ultimate authenticity.

 

[travillac]

I'm not real sure I know what you mean by a "coaster". Would that be something like the rear wheel on a bicycle that has coaster brakes?

 

[Blazkowiez]

A coaster wheel is any wheel that is not powering the kart itself, typically referring to the right wheel on a left hand drive kart.

 

[travillac]

Ah, gotchya.

 

[travillac]

well i went out to harbor freight this morning and picked their 6.5 hp $100 special. now i just need to make my way over to Rockwood gokarts and get the drive line parts and some wheels/tires along with a few other small parts. wont be long now....

 

[Blazkowiez]

Excellent, I know I have not mentioned this yet but if you look at your front wheels those are for dollys. They can't hold up to the pressure of riding the kart around, typically the fold when taking turns do to the weak hubs/cheap metal. Don't destroy those, if you can pick up some different front wheels save those for any sort of push kart you have around.

When looking for parts, bring in your old parts to match up, bring the kart itself, or if neither of those are easy for you just bring tons of pictures. They'll need it to make sure you get the correct parts.

 

[travillac]

yeah, i have been a little skeptical of those wheels. im definitely planning on putting 4 new wheels/tires on it. after all, if i damage my children on this thing my wife is definitely gonna damage ME!