First GoKart!

[jangalomph]

Hey!

After years of wanting to build/get a gokart the opportunity finally came. My friend had a gokart frame with a Tecumseh OHH60 6HP motor that ran just fine while spraying starter fluid in it (bad carb). I asked him how much he'd sell it to me for and he said $75. To me that was a steal and here I am with what I've wanted.

But.. once I got it home I encountered a few problems that do need some TLC.

• The throttle cable is broken.
• Carb is rusted and corroded on the inside (Ordered a new one due to problems with it)
• It had no clutch, so I bought one from tractor supply co.
• Tires need replacement as they're all dry rotted and flat.
• Once the clutch is on the shaft, The drive sprocket and clutch sprocket are about 1/6th of an inch out of alignment, Which I believe is a problem and I've yet to come up with a soloution on how to fix it.
• Hole in the back of the seat, but its fine since I have a button on seat that is similar to a john boats. Though I should probably fix it.

A few pointers,
Rusted clutch in bottom is from a locked up engine that was there for reference.
The random tube sticking up out of the engine is the fuel line (not hooked up to carb) And its plastic bendy cover thing.

 

[Jonester 123]

Cool man, looks like a great start. It can all be fixed just takes some time and money, good luck

 

[souperman000]

nice kart, Very nice price/condition for a first time build.

 

[OzFab]

[*]The throttle cable is broken.

That's an easy fix...

[*]Carb is rusted and corroded on the inside (Ordered a new one due to problems with it)

That's probable your best option...

[*]Once the clutch is on the shaft, The drive sprocket and clutch sprocket are about 1/6th of an inch out of alignment, Which I believe is a problem and I've yet to come up with a soloution on how to fix it.

Which way are they out; is the clutch too far in or too far out?
There are many different solutions to that problem including leave it alone; 1/16" is not likely to cause that big a problem.

Good luck with the build & welcome to the forum

 

[landuse]

Nice kart, and you cant go wrong for $75

 

[jangalomph]

Which way are they out; is the clutch too far in or too far out?
There are many different solutions to that problem including leave it alone; 1/16" is not likely to cause that big a problem.

The clutch is too far in. I feel like if I ran it the chain would jump off quite often.

Also thanks for the welcome!

 

[cumminsbayou4x4]

you may can move the motor over

 

[landuse]

The clutch is too far in. I feel like if I ran it the chain would jump off quite often.

Also thanks for the welcome!

you may can move the motor over

The easiest would just be to use a washer or two as spacers between the engine and the clutch. Thi can be easily done if your output shaft is long enough to allow this.

 

[jangalomph]

I would've done that first but the clutch housing with the gear is exactly aligned with the end of the shaft, so theres no more room for it to be pushed forward with washers as it is.

 

[jangalomph]

Well i figured out the entire brake assembly and sprocket seem to have moved out of alignment some how, and thats the reason for the clutch being inward too far. So i'll just have to re-adjust it on the axle.

I tried to get the back wheels off today with no avail. I ended up shattering a couple of pieces of wood while trying to hit them off with wood and hammer. I sprayed them with PB blaster and they still wouldnt come off. My pully puller wouldnt fit on them and I'm not really sure what else to do.. Though it looks like the axle has really taken its toll from rust. From the picture it looks kinda warped and eaten.

Would the hammer + wood shatter my cast aluminum rims?

 

[OzFab]

Would the hammer + wood shatter my cast aluminum rims?

That's very probable.

The problem with rust is it not only eats away at the metal, it also builds up the size. With the amount of rust evident in your pics, you;ll never get that wheel off. You could try a chemical bath but, TBH, I would sacrifice the axle.

You did say (& I can see from the pic) it's a bit worse for wear so just cut, drill, grind, do whatever it takes & just replace the axle. Even if you did manage to get the wheels off with the axle intact, I wouldn't be using it again...

 

[jangalomph]

Im afraid to sacrifice. Im not fantastic at making a new axle. But that's the fun of this right? Unless there is a magic axle place.

 

[Mcbreja]

Northern Tool, BMIKarts, MFG Supply, Go Kart Supply, Amazon, Ebay, Craig's List...

Plenty of options.

 

[souperman000]

Is it just me, or does it look like teh axle is welded in the first pic? Right where is meets the wheel.

Check out your axle selections http://www.bmikarts.com/item/1-Live-Axle-4000-717

 

[jangalomph]

Oh wow, only $20.00(approx) i'd have to measure it... but not bad at all at bmikarts. But yes I'm starting to think some one welded the wheel on.. But it looks like plastic, at-least the main drive wheel.

 

[jangalomph]

The more i look at this the more i see that needs to be replaced. Both of the back rims are cracked. So i oughta just saw them off and chunkem. And the front wheels single axles are rusted up as well. Last i believe this is an old general lee gokart like some one elses on this fourm. But mine was painted over twice.

 

[OzFab]

Don't just chuckem (if for no other reason than people will hunt you down if you do )

Anything is salvagable if you put in enough time, effort & patience; the cracks can be repaired & the rusted axle stumps can be extracted.

If they were old, generic, steel rims I'd say go ahead but, these are classic, vintage, alloy rims which are probably worth more than you think, even in their current condition

 

[jangalomph]

Well sadly One of the rims broke under pressure, as I stupidly tried to pull it off with a pully puller. My attempts with wood ended up breaking the wood before the wheel would budge.


The plus side is. The two front rims come off easily so they haven't been destroyed, And I dont plan to harm them!

Though the back one was pretty serverely cracked and extremely fragile in the first place from what i assume was a tree that destroyed it.

You guys will probably hate me, but i broke off the rest of the lip in an attempt to get room to knock it off with a hammer. It was severely rusted on and stuck.



Also i'll probably have to drill the collar under the engine mount since the allen wrench hole is stripped out. I don't quite see a way to get it loose without drilling it. And I also cant figure out how to knock the collars loose even when the screw comes out.

 

[jangalomph]

So the new carb came in the mail today. I bolted the engine back up to the frame so it wouldn't rattle much. Hooked the new fuel line up to the carb, cranked it up, it ran for a few seconds. Did that a few times and got it to sorta idle then it died and gas started pouring out of the air filter where it hooks to the carb. Brand new carb and its already acting up.

Then i took it apart to see why the float was sticking and there is this little spring that popped off and i've never seen a spring that was hooked to the float/pin on a carb. And the float is plastic and not brass..

So i have all the parts of the carb but the spring is painstakingly difficult to get back on. And I really dont know why when the carb was working for the short time it did, that the engine constantly shut off. I figure the spark plug works since its firing over. Its getting compression, because i can feel and hear it. And i'd guess its sucking in gas correctly to a degree since it turns over. What could the problem be?


Rather disappointed how this turned out today.


EDIT: Forgot to mention I rinsed the gastank out today since the gas in it was old and it had lots of particles inside of it. I have a feeling this may have clogged the jet up after a few cycles of the engine. Gets me scared to know what may be in my engine now/when it was running with old carb and junk the gas tank? I blew through the ports of the carb to see if air would come out of them, and they did so i don't quite believe its clogged. It may be though?

 

[Orange Krate]

Well sadly One of the rims broke under pressure...You guys will probably hate me, but i broke off the rest of the lip in an attempt to get room to knock it off with a hammer. It was severely rusted on and stuck.

Nah, I've had to bust a few off that way myself. When patience fails the big hammer prevails.

BTW, are you planning to go back black with this kart? I would be much obliged if you did…also consider the floor pan mods I’m doing to The General.

Reason? I’ve got this little side project where I need one kart to resemble a go-kart version of the Dukes of Hazzard Dodge Charger and another for the black dodge Charger from Bullitt. This is kind of anal, but I want them to have the same frame. You could save me having to scrounge up another frame.

Of course, I’ll still need a yellow one for Dirty Larry and Crazy Marry…but the balck one could be re-used for Deathproof…..