Check out my new kart: with questions

[blfw]

Hi Everyone,
I just picked up the kart below tonight. A friend of mine owned this when we were younger. It has been in storage for 12 years and was just brought out and I bought it off him. I want to strip it all down repaint it and probably put a new motor on it. I definitely want to try to get as much power as possible and am willing to pay up to $350 or so for a motor. Would the one I have linked below just bolt right up or would there be significant modification involved? Let me know what you think of this project so far? Seems like it should be fun when its back up and running.
Thanks

Motor I want to buy:
http://www.harborfreight.com/13-HP-420cc-OHV-Horizontal-Shaft-Gas-Engine-EPA-60340.html

The kart:

 

[blfw]

Ok, so I am already realizing that 420cc motor is probably not going to bolt right up. What is the next best option then? Is it worth trying to get this motor running? From when we were younger I remember it being fun but pretty underpowered and that is when I was 14. I would really like to drop something on there that will make it a bit more powerful without going crazy on modification.

 

[firemanjim]

Just get the engine running first. Save the bread for something you might actually need. That's an electric start 9hp(i think) and should provide plenty of power. You just need to unleash the power with a few home brew mods and some tlc....
You say it felt under powered.... As in slow off the line? Or had no speed to it?
EDIT
Might be a 12-13hp engine....

 

[blfw]

Just get the engine running first. Save the bread for something you might actually need. That's an electric start 9hp(i think) and should provide plenty of power. You just need to unleash the power with a few home brew mods and some tlc....
You say it felt under powered.... As in slow off the line? Or had no speed to it?
EDIT
Might be a 12-13hp engine....

Ok, just took a look at the tag. It says 385cc and yes it does have an electric start. So is 385cc a 9HP? Ok so maybe I just get this running and do the power mods. When I was younger I dont remember it being blisteringly fast but then again...I dont really remember. I guess get it up and running and see how we go.

I remember when my friends dad bought this kart brand new it was $1,999 so it was not cheap. Unfortunately I didnt really get it for cheap either, $300 but the good news is it has compression and turns over fine so it may not cost much to get it back up and running

 

[firemanjim]

$300?!? Dude.... That's pretty cheap for what you got.....
And that's 13.5 hp..... Which equals closer to 20 hp if you mod it up a little. Yeah, I'd keep it and "play" with it to see what I can get it to do.....

 

[blfw]

$300?!? Dude.... That's pretty cheap for what you got.....
And that's 13.5 hp..... Which equals closer to 20 hp if you mod it up a little. Yeah, I'd keep it and "play" with it to see what I can get it to do.....

Sweet, its sounding better and better. Thanks. Will tear into it a bit this week and hopefully see what is wrong with it. When we were younger we broke the pull start off the and fan in there is very corroded now, might end up trying to get the electric start working first.

 

[OzFab]

#2 to check is spark; if it has spark at the plug, you're 2/3 of the way there, then all it needs is fuel (ie; carb clean/rebuild)...

 

[KartFab]

looks like a tecumseh engine, which came in 9 10 and 11 hp WITH a small block bolting pattern commonly seen with the 3-7 hp engines of today. To make it even more confusing, it (yor Tecumseh) has a 1" shaft for the 40 series torque converter which is pretty much found on the larger block 8-24 hp small engines.

Stock that kart will top out at 40 mph, and should take off like a beast if the engine is running right. Clean your torque converter here

www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3FCcLlR-sg

and make sure it has a new belt on it (the belt looks thick enough (shoudl be 7/8" top width) but if its that old it coudl be cracked and lose its 'grippiness' from age.

I have nothing good to say about tecumseh engines, but thats just my personal opinion. If you can get it running well, go for it. Make sure the carb is super clean and if the compression is good, then why not. What reading are you getting for compression? If you have electric start to test ith on vs pull rope, it should not be less than 90 psi, if its in great shape it should read upwards of 120 psi? I dunno actually, i have never had a reliable read on a tecumseh engine, but other engines (honda) i get 120 psi from electric start.

 

[blfw]

Ok, thanks again. Do not have a read on compression yet so will do that first before jumping too far in on this engine.

I would like to get a new pull start. Will any tecumseh pull start go on there ok?

 

[blfw]

Ok, the motor is a HM100. I just ordered a new carb, air filter, plug and pull starter for it. Lets hope it cranks.

 

[firemanjim]

It better, with all them parts..... Ida done it diy style.... Clean carb..... Spray starting Fluid in the filter..... Wrap a rope around the cup on the crank and give it a yank.....

 

[blfw]

It better, with all them parts..... Ida done it diy style.... Clean carb..... Spray starting Fluid in the filter..... Wrap a rope around the cup on the crank and give it a yank.....

ha, yah...could have went that route too. We used to start it like that for a long time when we were kids after we broke the pull start and electric start. it also still has the fishing line on it from when we broke the accelerator cable. The weird thing is neither of us can remember what the final thing that broke was that made it get put up for good..hopefully not something big that we are forgetting. I guess we will see in a couple of days

 

[firemanjim]

Probably something small, but ya didn't have the $$$ for it. Then teenage life (girls... ) got in the way, and the kart just got forgot about.....
If it was something big, you'd remember......

 

[blfw]

update on this one. I installed the new car, new plug, fresh oil and fresh gas. Sprayed some starter fluid on the air filter and it fired up. It seems to be running pretty well too. It is misfiring a little bit but nothing too bad. I actually took it for a short drive and it felt much more powerful than I expected.

Only issue I have now is that that carb linkage is not hooked up. I am pulling on some fishing line over my shoulder for now but will take some pictures of the throttle setup tomorrow and hopefully someone has some tips on the correct setup for that.

 

[Poboy kartman]

update on this one. I installed the new car, new plug, fresh oil and fresh gas. Sprayed some starter fluid on the air filter and it fired up. It seems to be running pretty well too. It is misfiring a little bit but nothing too bad. I actually took it for a short drive and it felt much more powerful than I expected.

Only issue I have now is that that carb linkage is not hooked up. I am pulling on some fishing line over my shoulder for now but will take some pictures of the throttle setup tomorrow and hopefully someone has some tips on the correct setup for that.

Fishing line is fine as long as it's 30# test or better.....

Welcome to the forum!