Get big red running!

[Kools]

Hello everyone!
I need to add my location to my profile, but I guess I can probably only do that on an actual computer. I can’t see how to do that on mobile.
I am in the Fort Worth, Texas area

Here’s what I’m up to. I bought a go kart that I was gonna give to my son for Christmas a couple weeks before Christmas and then it turned into a larger project than I wanted to take on and a much more powerful go kart than I or my wife had anticipated.
Once she saw it, she was not really happy about it lol

Very sturdy frame, old steering, and throttle set up, and an older Briggs & Stratton motor. Seemed to be a little more powerful than I had wanted him to have at 250 cc.
So I bought him a predator motor and I went to install it. This is about the point where I thought this was going to be a little more than what I wanted to do because the driveshaft on the Briggs & Stratton was larger in diameter and I was gonna need a new clutch or a clutch sleeve that I could use it as an adapter
Added to the fact that I can’t figure out the brakes. It’s a rotor and caliper set up and I just don’t think it was set up correctly because they just don’t work.

So I decided to return the motor and put it back together how I bought it. So that I can sell it because as it turns out, it’s also too big to fit into my backyard. I need to modify my gate, and it’s too big for the sidewalk and so and so on.

So I’m here to seek some help on how to get this thing up and running unless it sells before I do that.
Currently, I’m trying to re-hook up the throttle because I didn’t take a mental picture of how this looked and I think the previous owner set it up incorrectly. Here’s a couple photos.

 

[Denny]

Good news you don’t have to sell the kart. But there are some things you will need to fix. First off, those are wheel barrow wheels in the front. You will need to put some real sealed hi speed bearings in those wheels.
Next you probably just need to adjust the brake pads on the caliper. It’s a mechanical caliper. Loosen the jam nut on the side and tighten the adjuster bolt until the brake pads just drags on the rotor then tighten the jamb nut. For the throttle we’re going to need more and better pictures from front to back of your set up.

 

[Hellion]

It's not necessarily too big of an engine, it will definitely have lots of grunt, but unless the engine has been modified and has the governor removed, bypassed or adjusted for more RPM, it won't be any faster than a Predator (was it a 212cc?). They're just not that fast. These are all industrial engines governed for a maximum 3600 revs or thereabouts.

Kart is an old Murray Explorer. Good machine, for reference here's what they look like stock (click to enlarge):


Use a better tool (open end, box end, or crescent wrench) on the brake caliper adjuster, not a pair of channel lock pliers.
Here's what Denny was talking about as far as brake adjustments. Just read the top left column, number 2.

 

[Hellion]

See if this is any help:

Also another older thread:

Throttle help

Howdy all! I just got a little mini bike with a Briggs engine. Supposedly it’s an old frame that was sold through a catalog in 1969, blah blah... whatever. I have no way of knowing its age. I finally got the newer Briggs engine running smoothly, but the throttle hookup is primitive and VERY...

www.diygokarts.com

 

[Kools]

Good news you don’t have to sell the kart. But there are some things you will need to fix. First off, those are wheel barrow wheels in the front. You will need to put some real sealed hi speed bearings in those wheels.
Next you probably just need to adjust the brake pads on the caliper. It’s a mechanical caliper. Loosen the jam nut on the side and tighten the adjuster bolt until the brake pads just drags on the rotor then tighten the jamb nut. For the throttle we’re going to need more and better pictures from front to back of your set up.

yeah the wheel barrow wheels would have to go, they were already toast when I bought it.
as far as the brakes, I have tried adjusting the jam nut and 1 of 2 things happens. I get it loose enough for the cart to roll but the brakes dont stop it. Or, I get them just loose enough for the cart to roll and then when you press the brake, it stops but then does not release the pads unless I force it by hand.
let me see if I have a couple more pics with me, the kart isnt at my house

 

[Denny]

You may need to add a stronger return spring.

 

[Hellion]

For the brake caliper, you might need to take it apart and de-crustify it. It’s probably binding up. Maybe part #5 and #10 need attention.

I think the Briggs Intek engines must occupy an informational dead zone as they pertain to fun karts. Maybe by the time the Intek was introduced, domestic fun kart manufacturing was dead or on the way out. I can’t find anything that shows a factory go kart/minibike throttle setup. I need to look at some old Manco or Yerf-Dog manuals…

I like a *factory* setup because it will work and work well.

 

[Kools]

Thanks y'all ill check those things out