Building new kart... Need help

[parkerpose]

Hi! This is my first posting.i'm helping a friend build his son a kart. We have a good running b&s 8hp salvaged from a generator unit.A1/4 sized sprint frame w/all the running gear was purchased: independent 4 wheel suspension, rack& pinion steering,disc brake, live axel, wheels&tires.We need to find a clutc and jack shaft assy. Or advice on plans/building said assy. This frame is quite heavy, but I do believe the engine is strong enough if a super strong clutch and drive train w/the proper ratio(s) built.We are not looking for speed(20 mph) would be plenty fast,but rather for climbing around in the woods power. The driver of this kart is quite light(for now),and very enthusiastic , so we want to keep speed somewhat lower . I would appreciate info mostly on the clutch/j shaft problem for now as we're @ that stage of construction.
Thanks for any help, parkerpose

 

[Hellion]

..to the forum!!!

 

[chancer]

Is the cranckshaft Tapered? Most generator motors use a tapered crankshaft.
You may need an adaptor to fit a clutch.

 

[KartFab]

what size tires do you have? Axle sprocket tooth count and chain size?

 

[parkerpose]

Building kart parkerpose....

In fact, yes the crank is tapered. The main builder of this project is a very talented machinist, fabricater,&idea guy, w/ a complete shop, a karter's dream come true!!! The first thing he did was to address the tapered crank problem. I will post pictures a.s.a.p. We started out ,just for testing purposes, with an older clutch from the engine straight to the wheel. Also w/a fiber idler wheel.we cooked the clutch pretty much instantly, we just wanted to see it move forward. The frame is at least 200 lbs. w/o driver. I know the ratios aren't even close to where they should be. just one of the variables needed to be addressed. So we're talking jack shaft- I'm thinking torque converter to j-shaft to chain.
As I said, the engine is a B& S 8hp. It is governed for a generator, is there a way to remove/ disable the governor in order to access a more usable RPM range? Do we need to do this? I know, lots of questions- ther are so many of you kart builders out there, this will be super getting feed back/info on how best to proceed. Thanks for any help
Parkerpose

 

[chancer]

Gear ratio should be 6:1 if you are using 15" or shorter tires.

 

[Hellion]

...
As I said, the engine is a B& S 8hp. It is governed for a generator, is there a way to remove/ disable the governor in order to access a more usable RPM range? Do we need to do this?

There's a thread on removing the governor from a 5 horse Briggs in the FAQ & Articles forum and it should be very similar to your 8 hp.

http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=7036

It's up to you to decide whether you need to do this or not.