build a kart impervious to salt water conditions

[supermanotorious]

I want to build a kart that could rip up and down the beach, maybe even out in to the surf a little. I've seen friends' karts that have done this get eaten alive by the salt and moisture in the air.

I want to use aluminum for the frame, axle, and sprocket, and stainless steel for as much of the hardware as possible. I envision swapping most of the hardware on the engine, torque converter, and bearings with stainless and I've even started looking for stainless steel jackshafts. I think that the parts I can not get in stainless or aluminum I will powder coat.

What are your thoughts? Has it been done before? What about a stainless drive and driven unit? Are they out there? Stainless bearing halves?

 

[mckutzy]

I think big part of this project will be limited by your budget.

Do you have access to welding equipment for aluminum?

I know you can get sealed chain, but I don't know how it will handle salt water.
I think you will need bearing and other drive line components from machine sources that supply stuff for wash down equipment. Milk and other factories need these parts.

 

[supermanotorious]

The budget is unlimited- no joke. I just got the spool gun for my Lincoln 210 and a bottle of pure Argon, I haven't played with it yet though.

 

[chancer]

There was a noobie in here a few weeks ago with a stainless frame Kart, that would be cool. Also since the budget is unlimited I am thinking Teak wood floor boards. Err.... no wait did you say unlimited, Ok then your in Phoenix right? I have got some ocean front property near you... If you buy it now you can test the Kart there!
Seriously thou where is a salt beach in Phoenix? R U coming to San Diego?

 

[supermanotorious]

It will actually be going to Delaware

 

[Joe-405]

I think I would try and use taller and wider tires than usual as well. It will help in sandy conditions and keep the moving parts higher off the ground. Might think of raising the engine up on the mount also.

 

[chancer]

This is an interesting concept. You can use the right materials like stainless and aluminum or powder coat but you may need more protection for hard to reach areas. There are a bunch of products out there to prevent salt corrosion related issues. Hopefully someone on this forum has had luck with one product or another due to the road salt used to melt snow and ice. something like this:
http://www.theruststore.com/Boeshield-T-9-Gallon-P5.aspx
In the A-C industry we have a company called Luvata that sprays a special coating on ac units used near the Salt coast.
I assume you are going to Delaware on business for the Phoenix winch. You could really test and learn a lot with this kart and apply it to your Winches used in Saltwater.

 

[tazmannusa]

Salt water will corrode aluminum also then you have electrolysis from dissimilar metals to contend with . IMO just make it out of normal steel tubing , use a zinc rich primer with a good paint job, rinse it with fresh water after use and then spay it down with wd 40 engine and all

 

[Poboy kartman]

Aluminum is a good start....epoxy primer....urethane paint....and attention to sealing vulnerable areas is the third.....

But mainly.....exclusion is the key....salt water can't corrode what it can't reach.....

So....Phil Shifty here....get some Flex-$eal...."it's like a con man in a can".....

Seriously....that's it....separate the salt water from the vulnerable parts.....and failure is impossible from corrosion.....

 

[flukz]

why not a carbon fiber frame? that'll never rust hah.
in my highschool we did that for an electric vehicle. no metalwork at all just carbon fiber and kevlar to protect you incase the carbon fiber shatters.

 

[Denny]

Remember stainless depending on grade is more prone to cracking around welds and because of the chromium is he11 on lungs when welding also.

Denny

 

[itsid]

electrochemical protection?
salvaging a bit of zinc in order to keep the steel unharmed...
That way you won't need to worry about chain, TC and such, parts that will be hard/impossible to find in stainless.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathodic_protection

'sid

 

[crazykart]

Unlimited? If it's truly unlimited then have a one piece solid frame made out if tungsten. Better yet get everything custom made out of it, no worries about almost anything ever.

Ya ok back to reality as that would probably be well more then I make in a year.

Or just make a normal steel everything and have it all plated in palladium.

Lol ok I'm done joking.

A rock hard finish on everything will help. Many many coats of truck bed liner is a good, cheap, easy way to go, and the stuff works amazing. I have an old dodge ram sitting here I did a body off resto on that is coated top to bottom. I put it through pure torture, and the thing doesn't have a scratch on it. If you know dodge rams, they love to rust, not this one.