Before my story begins, I want to thank forum member juvius for ID'ing my kart. Follow his build as well - he's going a bit further than we have so far.
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6 months ago, I had no intention of buying or restoring a go-kart.
My nephew and I stumbled upon this at a local estate sale.
It was more than a little tired - rusty, rusty frame, chipping paint (so badly that you could just peel it away in most places), flat tires, rusted rims, and on and on.
But, it was only $75. And it had an engine that looked like it would run. And, I've always wanted a go-kart since I was a little kid (28 now). And.........my 12-year old nephew was so terribly excited that I bought the dang thing on the spot.
We got it home - in the process losing probably a pound of rust - and.........it wouldn't start. I traced the problem to a bad carb. Ordered one online, slapped it on, and IT STARTED ON THE SECOND PULL! We were, in a word, thrilled.
Fast forward about 5 months (we let the brutal Florida summer pass by before working on it), and we tackled the frame over the past couple of weekends.
This was my first time doing anything at all to a go-kart, and I have pretty limited technical knowledge (have changed my Miata's brakes, belts, fluids, but that's it). So I was pleasantly surprised at how easily everything came apart. I took a ridiculous number of pictures to help with reassembly.
We wire brushed, sanded, and de-greased the entire frame. And it's funny to put that into only one sentence, because those few words don't explain the fact that my entire body is still sore from the brushing, sanding, and de-greasing process, which took about 4 solid days of work all together. No matter how much we brushed, sanded, and de-greased, there was still more chipping paint, rust, and old greasy funk to deal with!
Finally, we were ready to paint. My nephew's favorite NFL team is the Jets, so while we initially were going to go with a Gators theme (I'm an alum), he decided that "everybody expects you to have a Gators go-kart in Florida, so let's go with the Jets!". I, of course, agreed. Who could argue with that logic?
We used a total of 8 cans of Rustoleum - 3 green, 1 white, 2 Rust Reformers, and 2 high-gloss clear. We think the end result is pretty nice, even if you're not a Jets fan.
Painted the wheels black, and redid most of the hardware with stainless steel - the roll cage bolts, seat bolts, etc. etc. We got a new brake band for it, and new wheel lugs. Just simple stuff, but altogether it made an enormous difference!
We'll be tinkering here and there...in the reassembly, some of the paint got messed up. I may try to add some kind of suspension, but if that happens it will be in the not-so-near future.
Also, thanks to juvius, now I know what the brand of the kart is so I can try to find some new wheels for it. I think our little high-speed shimmy is due to the old crappy wheels being out of round......
OK, now for some pictures!!
BEFORE:
AFTER:
-------
6 months ago, I had no intention of buying or restoring a go-kart.
My nephew and I stumbled upon this at a local estate sale.
It was more than a little tired - rusty, rusty frame, chipping paint (so badly that you could just peel it away in most places), flat tires, rusted rims, and on and on.
But, it was only $75. And it had an engine that looked like it would run. And, I've always wanted a go-kart since I was a little kid (28 now). And.........my 12-year old nephew was so terribly excited that I bought the dang thing on the spot.
We got it home - in the process losing probably a pound of rust - and.........it wouldn't start. I traced the problem to a bad carb. Ordered one online, slapped it on, and IT STARTED ON THE SECOND PULL! We were, in a word, thrilled.
Fast forward about 5 months (we let the brutal Florida summer pass by before working on it), and we tackled the frame over the past couple of weekends.
This was my first time doing anything at all to a go-kart, and I have pretty limited technical knowledge (have changed my Miata's brakes, belts, fluids, but that's it). So I was pleasantly surprised at how easily everything came apart. I took a ridiculous number of pictures to help with reassembly.
We wire brushed, sanded, and de-greased the entire frame. And it's funny to put that into only one sentence, because those few words don't explain the fact that my entire body is still sore from the brushing, sanding, and de-greasing process, which took about 4 solid days of work all together. No matter how much we brushed, sanded, and de-greased, there was still more chipping paint, rust, and old greasy funk to deal with!
Finally, we were ready to paint. My nephew's favorite NFL team is the Jets, so while we initially were going to go with a Gators theme (I'm an alum), he decided that "everybody expects you to have a Gators go-kart in Florida, so let's go with the Jets!". I, of course, agreed. Who could argue with that logic?
We used a total of 8 cans of Rustoleum - 3 green, 1 white, 2 Rust Reformers, and 2 high-gloss clear. We think the end result is pretty nice, even if you're not a Jets fan.
Painted the wheels black, and redid most of the hardware with stainless steel - the roll cage bolts, seat bolts, etc. etc. We got a new brake band for it, and new wheel lugs. Just simple stuff, but altogether it made an enormous difference!
We'll be tinkering here and there...in the reassembly, some of the paint got messed up. I may try to add some kind of suspension, but if that happens it will be in the not-so-near future.
Also, thanks to juvius, now I know what the brand of the kart is so I can try to find some new wheels for it. I think our little high-speed shimmy is due to the old crappy wheels being out of round......
OK, now for some pictures!!
BEFORE:
AFTER:
