Boy Scout kart build - dubbed "The Hot Rod"

[Bugzuki]

There aren't any requirements for shovels or fire extinguishers that I know of here in Washington. Just spark arresters in the exhaust pipe. A fire extinguisher is a good idea though. I will see if I can get one of those on there.

I have not thought about a paint color scheme very much yet. I was thinking about red and black, but that is pretty common. A scout theme of maybe green and tan would be appropriate and different. I can always repaint.

I will see if I can attach pictures to the thread.

I looked at my exhaust pipe again after looking at what you (bighead) did and the pipes you have. I think my pipe will be better since it has a tighter bend. And, I can have the muffler go back on the drivers side instead of the passenger side. I will just put a 90 degree bend in the expansion pipe.

I also attached a close up picture of the tube bender I have.

 

[Bugzuki]

Painted

I got some painting done. Forgot to take pics while the guys were painting the frame.

I got some more work done on the drive system. Sure is tight. I guess some more design work should have been done upfront.

Mounting the headlights

 

[redsox985]

You may want to add a chain/belt guard in case one of those two somehow goes at some point. You don't want them ripping into the seats and possibly you.

 

[Bugzuki]

Thanks for the reminder. I was planning on that, but so many things cloud my memory of what I need to do.

 

[Bugzuki]

Floor and VIN

Got a piece of Aluminum to use as the floor. 1/8th inch thick might be overkill, but hopefully it will last forever.

Here is the back. We made some cutouts for the sprockets and rotor to poke through. Now, I have to make some hats to put in to cover the components.

Here is the underside.

Got it on the trailer to take it for the State Patrol inspection for the vehicle identification number.

Got the VIN tag.

Doing a pretend victory test lap.

Got the brakes hooked up and working last night. The first master cylinder I put on was busted so it was not pumping fluid. That was frustrating. At least I had a second Miata that I am working on to pull another cylinder from.

Here are the brake line splitters. I split one line into 3. 1 for each front wheel and one for the back.

We had to move the trip out a week, so that gives me some more time.

 

[Ghanem]

Neat work That is cool
we wanna see it in ACTION

Thanks

 

[Bugzuki]

Updated list of things to do:

1. Engine electric figured out
2. Carb cleaned out or rebuilt
3. Exhaust
4. Side panels
5. Gas Pedal connected to engine
6. Reverse lever connected to chainbox
7. Lights connected to electric
8. Steering finished up
9. Beefier rear springs
10. Firewall, heatshields and belt/chain guards
11. Roof
12. Fenders

It got shorter for a second, then got longer again.

 

[redsox985]

Wow! Looking great! Keep us in the loop.

 

[bighead]

Looking killer friend.

I like everything but the gas tank. Unless your going to have panels over it that is. If thats the case then I really like it. Take that carb apart and boild it in lemon juice. I done it many carbs like this. The last pics is an carb I just did. The lemon get everything. It does work really good.

http://cycles.evanfell.com/2008/09/how-to-clean-a-motorcycle-carburetor-the-right-way/

•Boiling in Lemon Juice – There is NOTHING BETTER at cleaning carbs than a giant pot of boiling lemon juice. The acidity from the lemons eats through everything; gas varnish, oil build up, dirt, grime, etc. Sometimes I won’t even bother doing anything but this – I’ll just remove the bowls, remove the caps, then drop everything into the pot and let it sit for 20 minutes (rotate them a few times). The one caveat to doing this is that you’ll want to wash the lemon juice off the carbs as soon as you pull them out. So have a bucket of water ready, or a can of WD-40 to hose them down. Also note that the acidity has a tendency to put a dull finish on the aluminum bodies of the carbs. This isn’t a problem in most cases, but if you must have everything shiny be prepared to do a little scrubbing and polishing afterwards. It may sound weird, but trust me, I just saved you LOTS of time. (Most dollar stores sell 1/2 gallon jugs of lemon juice, so buying a few gallons will only cost you $6. Plus you can put it back into the bottles afterwards and save it for next time.)




This is how I attached my panels.

 

[Gear box]

Man Bugzuki, that thing looks like you bought it right off the show room floor, nice job

 

[ned]

hey bighead, with the carb cleaning method what would you do with the floats, and other plastic parts.

 

[bighead]

hey bighead, with the carb cleaning method what would you do with the floats, and other plastic parts.

Just take them off and set aside.

 

[ned]

Thanks, Ill try that the next time I have to clean carbs.

 

[Bugzuki]

Thanks for the comments everyone. Bighead, I never thought about making individual panels for between the bars like you did on the blue kart. That looks pretty cool. I think I will do that on mine.

When I get time to work on the carb some more I will try your Lemon juice trick.

Update:

I got the engine running this weekend. It doesn't idle and it smokes a lot, but it runs. I don't know if it is running on both cylinders properly. One of the plug wires appears to be broken inside where it clips onto the spark plug. And, the gas is left over in the tank from last year and it smells old.

I do plan on putting panels on the kart, so the gas tank will be mostly covered, except where it sticks through the top. I will have to put a scoop over it or something.

Then, the drive clutch appears to be seized, so I have to take it appart and clean and lube it up. Probably the driven pulley as well.

 

[wingnut]

Any chance you can post some more details on the rear end? What did you use for a rear axle? Did you make that bearing carrier? How did you mate the inner CV joint to the axle?

 

[B man]

uuummm gas tank in the front? why? ease of access?

 

[Bugzuki]

Any chance you can post some more details on the rear end? What did you use for a rear axle? Did you make that bearing carrier? How did you mate the inner CV joint to the axle?

I used the rear carrier out of the Yamaha Warrior. The axles are from a Mitsubishi Galant because it had the hub bearings I wanted. I had to shorten the axles to get them the correct length.

I cut the quad rear axle down so that it just stuck out of the brake rotor and chain sprockets. I welded the right side CV directly to the axle. On the left side it was much more complicated. That side has nuts to hold the axle in the bearings. And the axle was hardened in the extreme. So, I welded one of the nuts to the CV joint. Then, I screwed the CV onto the end of the axle. When I am happy that everything is set I will tack weld the nuts to the sprocket which is splined onto the shaft.

I know this is not the best way to do it, but it is what I could come up with in my limited time. If it doesn't work I will figure something different out.

The axle shafts don't have as much travel as I would have liked. I had to put the shocks on in such a way to limit the travel to what the axles can do.

uuummm gas tank in the front? why? ease of access?

I put the gas tank in the front because I did not want it above the exhaust. If I put it in the back it would be blocking any line of sight out the back of the kart.

The sled came with a vacuum powered fuel pump, so having the tank in the front is not an issue in getting fuel to the engine, but it does leave a fuel line going between the seats.

 

[wingnut]

I cut the quad rear axle down so that it just stuck out of the brake rotor and chain sprockets. I welded the right side CV directly to the axle. On the left side it was much more complicated. That side has nuts to hold the axle in the bearings. And the axle was hardened in the extreme. So, I welded one of the nuts to the CV joint. Then, I screwed the CV onto the end of the axle. When I am happy that everything is set I will tack weld the nuts to the sprocket which is splined onto the shaft.

I see. I attempted to use a similar automobile style CV shaft from a Z24 in my buggy. Just cutting the stub shaft off the end of the CV housing was a royal pain. Super hard stuff. My plan was to machine out the end of the housing to weld in a regular keyed sprocket hub. I have one of those cheep little bench top Chinese lathes in my garage but it wasn't up to the task so I had to abandon the whole thing.

I too was concerned about suspension travel particularly because I needed the buggy under 50inches wide to ride on the local ATV trails legally. In the end, I decided to attempt a trailing arm setup with chain drive.. The whole project has been stalled for a couple of years now

 

[Bugzuki]

My cart is over 50 inchs, because the back wheels stick out so far. Not sure if they have a width rule here. I have not seen one, but they probably do.

The CV housings are way hard, but a chop saw cuts it nicely. I can't see a lathe cutting it very well at all even with carbide bits. I couldn't even mark the surface with a center punch.

I have some plans for a gokart that uses trailing arms and two chains going back from another shaft. But I wasn't really happy with that design, so I went this way instead. I will probably work on a redesign if I can find some axles that have more travel.

 

[redsox985]

Maybe take a look here for some IRS ideas.