Chinese Kart Conversion to Predator w/Torque Converter

[BrandonF260Rem]

So this project started out with a friend of a friend that had a chinese gokart with a bad engine and some missing parts. So the initial investment was $50. But it had rear swing arm, rack and pinion steering, headlights, horn, independent front suspension. So over all a pretty good go kart.

So I started out by removing the rear sub frame, and pulling the engine out. The kart had a live axle and hydraulic brakes. I took the porta band and cut off all the rear engine cage.

After looking around and trying different engines I settled with the Predator clone engine and a Torque convertor setup purchased from the local kart shop.

I got everything mounted up with a uniniversal engine plate, a little time and some fab work. This kart had an exsisting live axle and hydraulic brake setup. I had everything lined up to use the exsisting sprocket on the axle. Went to throw the chain on it found out the sprocket was metric, I had 420 chain and torque convertor gears. So I couldn't use the exsisting setup. (Or at least I didn't have the info to purchase the right parts to make it work)
I did have a 1" live axle off a previous cart with brake rotor and sprocket hub. So I went and robbed it off the old kart.
Went to the go kart shop for new axle hangers and bearings. Removed all the old metric axle and hardware. I welded the new axle a little closer to the front wheels, about 3" closer. Welded out the brackets, and built a bracket for the brake caliper to ride on the bigger rotor.

I built a couple of tubing reinforcements to put underneath the kart and protect the sprocket from major impacts.

Used the exsisting gas tank on the kart and rewired the kill switch on the dash to work with the new engine.

I ended up going with taller tires to get some more ground clearance for the sprocket and rotor.

So I have a pretty happy 8 year old daughter that is driving the wheels off this thing.

Next thing will be engine mods to get some better acceleration out of the kart since the big tires kind of lug it at the start.
Any advice there would be great!

 

[OzFab]

Taller gears! What is the current gearing?

Nice work but, you let an 8yo girl loose on that thing?

Oh & welcome to the forum

 

[DaiSan76]

What size are those tires? About 22 inch? I bet with 18 inch tires that thing would fly. From what I can see you have a pretty big axle sprocket, and the clutch came with a 10 tooth I'm sure. Unless you want to stuff a jackshaft in there somewhere I think you need to reduce tire size.

 

[BrandonF260Rem]

62 tooth axle and a 10 tooth on the converter.
The rear tires are 18" I believe. Looking at doing a custom little muffler for it and re-jet to get it running fat.

 

[OzFab]

62 tooth axle and a 10 tooth on the converter.
The rear tires are 18" I believe.

That sounds a bit on the high side. That ratio would be great if you had 12-14" tyres, not so much with 18s I suggest you look for a 70+ axle sprocket

 

[shawnstock]

Wow, Brandon... you make a real newbie like me stand with dropped jaw....

Awesome kart!...

Least people like you keep my thought juices flowing.... Great work...

 

[BrandonF260Rem]

Updated

UPDATED
Well with the bigger tires I get some better ground clearance, but I thought I might add a skid plate for some sprocket protection though.
Took a piece of 6 inch pipe and welded it and a piece of angle iron, upright, to our welding table with a gap just big enough to slide the plate through. Then took and pulled the plate around the pipe bending it into the shape I wanted.
We took some 12 gauge flat plate and made a nice curve in it to match the contour of the lower support bars.

Clamped it down and welded it out

Final

The Original kart had electric start, horn, headlights, and alternator to keep the battery alive.
The Predator doesn't have a charging system on board so I improvised. Solar panels are pretty cheap now days I took a small 8x5 solar panel and mounted it to the top of the roll cage.

I added a 7.5 Ah battery and built a small holder for it on the swing arm. Took the original wiring of the kart apart and rewired the key switch to give power to the lights and horn and removed all the excess wire that wasn't needed anymore.

So now we have headlights, horn, and charging system.

Now I know what you're thinking. You wont be able to charge the battery in the dark while you're using the headlights. Which is true, solar panels don't work in the dark. Its not going to be a night trail riding rig. It will however give you an hour or two of light to play around in the dark or around dusk time. Then charge the battery later when the sun comes up and be ready for the next night ride.

Stay tuned for the exhaust system I'm welding up. I'm excited about it. This wont be anything you've seen before.

Oh and if you noticed I put a Uni Air filter on.

RE-jetted the carb, emulsion tube, NGK plug, exhaust is coming soon!

 

[mckutzy]

You might have to take off the solar cell. Those thing are not really accepting of vibrations and other forces. For the most part they like a static location the best.

By all means I'm not nocking your setup, it does look pretty cool, but I'd be a bit worried about the cells braking.