Carter Bros Hot bodies 1435 restoration

[ItsTeslaDude]

Eh, I figured I'd share my build. I'm a 16 year old out of ohio. I bought this kart for 300$ back in september, with some jank engine mounting on it and an utterly destroyed clutch. Following pictures is the day I brought it home



I gave it a good clean



I started ripping it apart, as shown in the following



I angle grinded the weird engine mounting off, I suppose it originally broke and an owner had this as a solution. The previous owner stated that he bought it for his grandkid and it didn't fit, so he didn't have it for long and the owner before him had done the jank work.



I then spent a while figuring out what to do with the rear section, because I obviously don't have space for my sprocket. I eventually did this for the framework, I had a friend's dad who is a beginner welder, weld the thing together



Currently this is getting the base painted in the basement, the entire rollcage is painted metallic blue and the frame I'm gonna rethrow black on. By the end of this I will definitely have dumped about 700$ into it which I did not expect but it is what it is, After I throw the paint onto the frame I will definitely be putting it back together as much as I can and then I have to buy another 100$ worth of parts from BMI. Im hoping to have this done soon as I've wanted a go kart since 3rd grade.

Thank you for those who have read this, and please provide any advice/tips that any of you have. I am a lot more active on my Instagram page for this go kart and my car, @cruze_customs

 

[landuse]

Looking good!

 

[madprofessor]

Nice to start with a working kart, but always room for improvements of your choice. Having trouble working my head around that brake and throttle setup, apparently swaps left/right to keep placement normal.
Really no easy way to change that, but I'd at least do something with the brake rod down the left side of the cart. It's got offroad tires that give good ground clearance to the sprocket, but doesn't do much for that brake rod running about as low as the sprocket down the side. Some creative levering or some kind of transition in the rod itself would help that.
Of course, if you never take it out boonie-crashing it would never hit or get caught on anything.

 

[ItsTeslaDude]

Nice to start with a working kart, but always room for improvements of your choice. Having trouble working my head around that brake and throttle setup, apparently swaps left/right to keep placement normal.
Really no easy way to change that, but I'd at least do something with the brake rod down the left side of the cart. It's got offroad tires that give good ground clearance to the sprocket, but doesn't do much for that brake rod running about as low as the sprocket down the side. Some creative levering or some kind of transition in the rod itself would help that.
Of course, if you never take it out boonie-crashing it would never hit or get caught on anything.

The brake rod doesn't hang down too far, most I'm worried about hitting is the sprocket when I move it to the center. Elaborate on my braking/throttle setup I'll try to explain it to you. Hell yeah I'll take it boonie crashing look at those 18" knobbies in that back lol

 

[madprofessor]

Okay, 18" rears does give you a lot of clearance, didn't realize they were that tall. On that sprocket, I've got some 12" tall tires front/rear, with a 9" sprocket guard (4-piece on a 6-bolt hub) on the live axle. That means guard has 1.5" clearance, and it's big enough to contain a 72-tooth #35 sprocket inside. Not a lot, that's just to help you picture your new clearance when sprocket moved.
About that brake rod, it's just an OCD thing with me. I won't build with anything lower than the mainframe itself. Ex.: Current kart has brake and throttle rods on both sides of mainframe, same height, literally alongside. The hardware for changeover to cable from throttle rod is even mounted ON the right side of frame. Brake rod guides are mounted the same as that ON the left side.
I highly recommend a sprocket guard setup to you, whether the sprocket's a quick-change 2-piece on a hub with quick-change 4-piece guard like mine, or mounted to the axle. NOTE: My 4-piece aluminum guard covers both sides of the sprocket, held together with the 6 bolts makes it rigid as anything out there. Other types won't help if your guard folds up when you hit a curb. NOTE 2: Running a 60-tooth right now, likely be a 72 later. 9" twin guard is now and still will be acting as a chain guide to boot. Dat dere's kleer thunkin' ahedda tyme.

 

[ItsTeslaDude]

Okay, 18" rears does give you a lot of clearance, didn't realize they were that tall. On that sprocket, I've got some 12" tall tires front/rear, with a 9" sprocket guard (4-piece on a 6-bolt hub) on the live axle. That means guard has 1.5" clearance, and it's big enough to contain a 72-tooth #35 sprocket inside. Not a lot, that's just to help you picture your new clearance when sprocket moved.
About that brake rod, it's just an OCD thing with me. I won't build with anything lower than the mainframe itself. Ex.: Current kart has brake and throttle rods on both sides of mainframe, same height, literally alongside. The hardware for changeover to cable from throttle rod is even mounted ON the right side of frame. Brake rod guides are mounted the same as that ON the left side.
I highly recommend a sprocket guard setup to you, whether the sprocket's a quick-change 2-piece on a hub with quick-change 4-piece guard like mine, or mounted to the axle. NOTE: My 4-piece aluminum guard covers both sides of the sprocket, held together with the 6 bolts makes it rigid as anything out there. Other types won't help if your guard folds up when you hit a curb. NOTE 2: Running a 60-tooth right now, likely be a 72 later. 9" twin guard is now and still will be acting as a chain guide to boot. Dat dere's kleer thunkin' ahedda tyme.

Provide a link for a sprocket guard? A beefy metal guard is something I definitely want. Any pictures of yours?

 

[madprofessor]

Never bothered to experiment with attaching links or whatever that is people do here, but here's some pics of the 4-piece 9" twin aluminum sprocket guard set, with 2-piece (red) 60-tooth split sprocket inside. Guard set came from BMI K---s, part #400295, $15.95, WMS Lite Sprocket Guard - Aluminum. Note that the various size split sprockets are sold by most for a little bit less than the guard set, real nice for experimenting around with ratios.

 

[ItsTeslaDude]

Never bothered to experiment with attaching links or whatever that is people do here, but here's some pics of the 4-piece 9" twin aluminum sprocket guard set, with 2-piece (red) 60-tooth split sprocket inside. Guard set came from BMI K---s, part #400295, $15.95, WMS Lite Sprocket Guard - Aluminum. Note that the various size split sprockets are sold by most for a little bit less than the guard set, real nice for experimenting around with ratios.

How does the chain guard attach?

 

[madprofessor]

The hub is a PPH-1 single split 1" hub from BMI K___s as stated. The split allows for tightening it down with an allen cap bolt around the axle, so it sits perfectly perpendicular to the axle and doesn't rely only on the keystock to hold it.
It comes with 6 allen cap bolts, and the split sprockets have 3 holes in each half for bolting to it. The guard comes in 4 pieces that are each just like the sprockets, each part bolting up with the same 3 allen cap bolts, which are pretty long, 2 pieces on each side of hub.