Looking for a good engine

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T-BONE

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I want to build an off-road go kart so it needs to have power but I also want it to be decently fast. These were the ones I was looking at

1)Harbor Freight Engine http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96549

2)Different Harbor Freight(how is it different?)
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=96500

3)Champion Engine
http://www.costco.ca/Browse/Product...=0&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1

Will any of these fit my needs? If not what do you reccommend?
 
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Any one of those engines would do good for any project, the only thing I can see that's different about the two HF engines is that one is CARB certified, which you would only have to worry about in California, which is funny cause it's also $10 cheaper. Other than that, all three of the engines are pretty similar.
 
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They should all be governed to run at a max of 3600 RPM. This says nothing about how fast you can get your vehicle to move. You can use the calculator on the site here to figure out how fast your vehicle could go with the parts you're going to use. The governor can be removed to allow the engine to rotate faster, but it's not recommended if you don't have much experience with that sort of stuff.

About using them off-road, yes you can, but you'd probably be better off using a torque converter rather than a clutch because off-road would be more abusive to the clutch and would make it fail faster.
 
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umm is that a good thing? Sorry Im completely new to this my dad is the one that knows everything
 
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Bottom end=low gear, high accel, hill climbing. overdrive=abover a 1:1 ratio in the trans (final drive stil gears it down some) high speed, no acceleration or climb power. With just a clutch you can only have one or the other or something in between, a CVT automatically adjusts for conditions, it also doubles as a clutch, sorta like an automatic transmission.
 
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Look in here. There's plenty of kart part sites that others have linked to. Look around so you can get an idea of what's out there available to you.
 
kibble

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Well, after the cvt, you usually have to use something to link it to the axle or wheels. A chain can be used. I don't know much about them to recommend one in particular, maybe some of the other guys here that have more experience with them can tell you.
 
risto

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you'll want a CVT. I used a standard centrifugal clutch for a while and it worked, but it stunk for off road. Going through bumpy terrain and mud was hell, plus the darn thing steamed up like crazy if i wasn't at full throttle.

eventually i bought a 30 series comet torque converter from mfgsupply.com

it worked amazingly. there is no off roading without it. if you want to SERIOUSLY go off road, then you will want one.

oh- and i was using the Harbor Freight engine at the time. it worked perfectly fine. i'm now using a briggs, but its giving me problems. >=[
 
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risto said:
oh- and i was using the Harbor Freight engine at the time. it worked perfectly fine. i'm now using a briggs, but its giving me problems. >=[
Click to expand...

Whats the code # of the briggs, there are 2 reasons briggs engines suck.

1. You or a previous owner didnt keep it full of oil.
2. Its one of the newer poorly built models.
 
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risto said:
you'll want a CVT. I used a standard centrifugal clutch for a while and it worked, but it stunk for off road. Going through bumpy terrain and mud was hell, plus the darn thing steamed up like crazy if i wasn't at full throttle.

eventually i bought a 30 series comet torque converter from mfgsupply.com

it worked amazingly. there is no off roading without it. if you want to SERIOUSLY go off road, then you will want one.

oh- and i was using the Harbor Freight engine at the time. it worked perfectly fine. i'm now using a briggs, but its giving me problems. >=[
Click to expand...

I cant seem to find the torque converter you mentioned, link?
 
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