just got my first kart!

[thechief86]

sweet! it is a 1" axle, but is all one piece, from wheel to wheel. i found an axle assembly that might work at the northern tool here in nashville, but i'm not sure if i can make it work, because it looks to be 2 pieces that bolt together with a flange in the middle... like i said, i'll throw up some pictures tomorrow. thanks for gettin back with me so fast! i think i can get it back together, one way or another. the cool thing is that once i put the chain back on, i was able to ride it back home!

 

[freakboy]

lol all axles are one peice.

 

[thechief86]

ok then, so that aluminum flange lookin doohickey on the axles they sell is just for looks then? not being a smarta$$, just askin. do you know of anyplace better i might get the parts to put this thing back together with, possibly cheaper? i was actually scared to call my wife to come get me and bring me back home, because i was trying to avoid an a$$chewing

 

[thechief86]

ok, so i just bought a 1" rear axle 36" long, 2- 15" tires for the rear, and a hiliard centrifugal clutch for 3/4" bore with a 12 tooth sprocket on it. the one that came on the kart has a little bit bigger sprocket on it i think, and has a different spring setup with small coil springs as opposed to the type on the hiliard, which look like a steel band bend into shape, that kinda expands with centrifugal force? i dunno, but it looks cool.
the kart currently has 13" tires all around, so i think it will look cool with 13's up front and 15's in the rear... soooooo, all this junk cost me about $140, but when all is said and done, including the 'race' engine i bought off ebay for $130 shipped, i'll have just under $300 in a pretty nice yard kart!
i plan to paint the rims and the metal part of the steering wheel either neon orange or neon green, to contrast with the pretty dark blue powder coated frame, and i might paint the new rear axle the same color i'm thinkin by the end of next week or so, the kart will be goin again, and i can start savin up to build my suspension, and possibly get some new tires for the front, too!

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

ok then, so that aluminum flange lookin doohickey on the axles they sell is just for looks then? not being a smarta$$, just askin.

Might have been their differential axle, did it look like this?

Can you get some pictures of your setup?

 

[thechief86]

yeah, theirs looked like that..... and they also had the one i needed.
i just took some pictures, but i don't really hae time to upload them right now, since i hafta go to class in a few minutes, but i'll try to figure it out when i get home.
EDIT: i just tried to upload some pics, and it said some b.s. about a security token. lame. i'll mess with it some more later on....

 

[thechief86]

 

[thechief86]

 

[thechief86]

well would you look at that! i found the easy way to upload them from photobucket like i do on the jeep forum
it looked a lot better when i got it, but the field behind my house is pretty muddy, so the kart got that way as well. the little holes in the gas cap leak out a lot of fuel, so i may get a new cap that isn't missing the cardboard piece that goes there, or i might jb weld over the holes....
my new engine came today, but i got the notice on my door saying it was "too heavy to pick up", so it's at the post office, which closes at 4:30, and it doesn't matter that i got there at 4:31
anyway, it looks like by the end of next week, i'll be karting in style!

 

[thechief86]

just got the new motor!!! although it's pretty cold outside, i'm gonna start pulling the old junk off to get ready for the new junk.

i'm pretty sure the cat gives it more power....

 

[BriggsTwins]

is a cat in the tank the same as a tiger???

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Neat! And, don't JB weld the fuel cap. If it can't breathe, it'll create a vacuum and starve the engine.

 

[thechief86]

sooooo.....i just jb welded the hole for the governor flapper rod thingy, and pulled the bent rear axle and old motor off the kart. i tried to get the rims, bearings, rotor, and sprocket off the old axle, but the rims were so rusted that i couldn't get them to budge, even after heating with a torch, so i dropped the whole axle off at a local speed shop, and hopefully he can get all those goodies off for me so i can save some money on parts. i got some degreaser, so i'm gonna clean up the frame and get the gas tank and carby mounted to the new motor, and start looking at ideas for my throttle cable. after tomorow, the only things left to do will be to put on the rear axle, get the tires mounted, and start breaking in the motor!(i'm not gonna mess with painting stuff till i know i have the thing running right.)

 

[jeremybentham]

Welcome!!! I'm new here too, but these dudes rock and are always eager to help us nubes.

1) Get an air filter adapter and cone filter with prefilter
2) Get some other exhaust on there. Not NO exhaust, you'll burn your valves.

Your tuned motor needs to breathe!!

I'll try to get some pics of my throttle linkage set up tomorrow.

 

[thechief86]

i have a k&n for the the stock airbox, and a shiny CHROME muffler i wanted to keep the stock airbox because i will be getting muddy, i'm sure. or at least my friends that drive the kart will.....

 

[jeremybentham]

Top is my cable attachment
2nd birds eye of linkage
3rd return spring
4th exhaust supports

Hope this helps.

 

[thechief86]

could you take a pic for me of the throttle cable set up from a little farther away? i have everything i need i think just need some ideas for how to mount it. i just got done installin the rear axle, bearings, rear sprocket, and brake rotor installed. i'm having a little trouble getting the gas tank off and carby off the old motor, but i don't have a whole lot left to do to finish this bad boy up!
oh yeah, i couldn' get the old wheels off the bent axle, so i had to get axle hubs and go to 4 lug rims in the back with 16" tires. i hope this works ok with the centrifugal clutch and whatnot, but if not, i'll rock it till it burns and get a cvt.

 

[BriggsTwins]

if your gearing is low enough, then youll be fine. you will probably need 50-60 tooth on the axle

 

[thechief86]

if your gearing is low enough, then youll be fine. you will probably need 50-60 tooth on the axle

so, the sprocket on the axle is 72? teeth, and the one on the clutch is 12. do i need to go buy a 50-60 tooth sprocket, or will this work? if it works like i'm thinkin (similar to a ten spd bike), this is pretty low gearing, right? i'd actually rather have good take off than high top speed, although i imagine that this motor will do better in that area as well... what do you guys think?
EDIT: the original clutch sprocket has 10 teeth, and my gps said it did 27 with the governor hooked up. will the 12 tooth still be enough to take off ok? i weigh over 200 lbs.

 

[BriggsTwins]

that should be good, more than enough to give ya some oomph. get it setup and try it out