Manco Dingo Rebuild

[MiketheCamera]

Hello folks, thought you might like to see my work in progress, I've bought a basket case dingo which hasnt turned a wheel for four years. Bought with the engine described as U/S (Briggs and Stratton 5hp)and in general needing a fair bit of work to sort.
This is how she looked when I bought her,

So I brought her home and took plug out pulled her over compression seemed fine, tested spark and all ok there. Opened tank to be greeted by some brown fluid that was probably once petrol!, emptied it out, took carb off, stripped and cleaned, emptied the brown gunk from the resevoir, and filled her up with new fuel, fourth pull she fired, and now runs, (albeit a bit 'lumpy'), so a good service, plug, filter etc and we should be good to go.
Stripped her all down,

and cleaned up the rust, treated any remnants with kurust and gave her a coat of blue.
Ive repainted the wheels in Gold, the engine in High Temp black and gold and have started the rebuild

All seems to be going ok up to now. With it being a Christmas present, I'm having to do the work between 8pm and sleeptime so my son doesn't see it (it's hidden in the barn), so it's slow going. Hoping to get the rest of the frame back on tonight, and sort out the steering, the arms from the stub axles have bent and touch the tyres so need to sort that.
Cheers for looking, will add photos as and when the build progresses. Any tips or hints from old hands at this kind of thing would be appreciated, I've done bikes before but this is my first Kart.
Mike

 

[B.M.800]

Looks good! I like the blue.

 

[MiketheCamera]

Tonights effort, Frame on

The engine (complete with spilt fuel )

Pedals on, I changed the fixing on these because I wasn't happy with the feel of the pedals, lot more secure now,

And seat in, not fixed, I want to clean it up and I've ordered a 3 point harness so want to fix that in before the seat,

So, left to do, I'm thinking some ally chequer plate for the footwell, the harness as I say and I'm toying with the idea of some LED spots, running purely off a battery, as I can see no simple way of fitting an alternator to the engine.

Any more ideas that you think will improve it will be greatly appreciated.
Mike

 

[fishheds]

That thing looks great Mike! That blue and gold color scheme is a good choice.
My son and I just got a Manco Bandit II,and got it running last night.
If you go into the torque converter,post up some pics.I'm thinking of doing one myself.

and you may want to check the brake band lining if that's the original.Ours shredded on the first test drive,probably because I had neglected to clean the rust from the drum.

 

[DCProductions]

Good idea skipping the alternator. Brilliant job on the kart so far; that is a very clean paint job. How's the condition of the drivetrain? You have a nice setup with that torque converter. Is it a 20 or 30 series?

Keep up the great work; your son's going to love it!

 

[bighead]

I love the Dingos. They are my favorite best riding and TURNING karts I have owned. Here is one a did a few years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PZtFod0K1g

 

[MiketheCamera]

Update:
First of all thanks for all the encouragement, and apologies if this is a long post..

Ok, got off work early today and managed to get a bit done before the kids came home from School.
I've built a 'dashboard' with three switches, an engine stop, sidelights and spotlights, cabled all to top of rollcage and rear and connected the killswitch up, just waiting for the lights to arrive so I can fit them. Ive fabricated a battery tray for inbetween the engine and seat, and have a 7Ah battery to run them, I'm going to fit LED spots with led halo's and an led red striplight on the back, so with all illuminated should only draw about 10-15 watts, at 12v approx an apm/hour, so should get aroun 7 hours from the battery before it needs a recharge... I know, my wife says I need to get a life too...
I cut a piece of aluminium chequer plate for the floor, need to brush up on my siliconing skills though! I've also fitted the harness, getting there..
Pics:
Dashboard Front

And Cabling

Harness

Battery tray (I've fitted an inline fuse too but not shown)

Cabling to lights and chequer plate

Chequer plate and dash

Looking pretty

Couple of you guys asked about the torque converter all I can tell you is it says 285 on the cover, I've taked it off to inspect but to be honest I dont have a clue what I'm looking at, the belt looks a little worn on the edges and the pulleys are a little rusty, Have alook below, would appreciate your opinions

Thanks for looking, will post more as and when
Mike

 

[landuse]

You have done a killer job on your restore. I like the paintjob. What type of blue paint is that? It has sort of like a metalic look.

As for your Torque converter, there is a really good sticky on maintaining it HERE. The guy who wrote it works at a kart shop, and knows what he is talking about. I cant really read what it says on the driver part of the clutch, but if it is stock, it is probably a 30 series Comet. Have a look at THIS website. It gives you a bit of info on your kart. I think your belt still looks OK, but let one of the other more experienced guys chime in here.

Good job on the wiring too. It looks as if you know what you are doing

 

[MiketheCamera]

The blue is 'plasticote' enamel blue, I must admit I wasn't sure when I bought it, but now it's on I'm quite pleased.
Thanks for that link, it seems my torque converter is in poor shape as the leading edges on both pulleys are pitted and rusty.
From the descriptions it looks like I've got a 30 series TC, yet my belt is chamfered both sides, I'm wondering now if the previous owner put the wrong belt on.
I've been an electrician for 22years now, so I reckon in another 10 or so, I'll have the cabling art sorted
Guess I'm in the shop again tonight
Mike

 

[DCProductions]

It would seem the previous owner did put the wrong belt on it, but that is not a hard fix. Excellent job on the wiring. Seems like that experience is finally paying off

Overall, this is one of the cleanest builds I've seen in a while; keep up the good work!

 

[MiketheCamera]

Well the lights turned up today so fitted them on. I decided to put some led's in the spotlights to give a 'sidelight', think they turned out ok.

 

[B.M.800]

Very cool! Good job on that kart.

 

[strikerjones]

Belt?

Hello, I have the same kart as you, I am having issues because I think the belt is wrong, could you tell me what belt you used? Thanks.

 

[landuse]

Hello, I have the same kart as you, I am having issues because I think the belt is wrong, could you tell me what belt you used? Thanks.

You can maybe have a look at the links that I posted above. They might give you some more info. You can also look here for the part number of the belt and then order.

I have the same TC as well, so I will also checK when I get home as to what my belt number is.

You can also send Blaz a PM. He works at a kart shop. You can PM him HERE.

 

[strikerjones]

Thanks for the help.

Mikethecamera: Did you find a belt that works for the kart? If so, could you tell me what belt it is so I can purchase one? Thanks.

 

[Blazkowiez]

What was the belt number you had on the old belt? Also do you feel that the distance on the width of the belt is 3/4" or it 5/8" inches? Your driven clutch looks like it may be Cat 99 which is a narrower belt than series 30.

 

[kaymo]

great looking cart. was thinking about doing lights on mine as well, with a battery and no alt. I could probably set up a little honda alternator and add a pulley to the rear axle, but i doubt ill go long enough to kill a battery and will wait till i do before i work on that.

i did however come up with a killer idea when redoing my steering of using the old steering tab to fabricate a light mount that turned with the steering. figured it would make night-karting a real blast!

 

[souperman000]

i did however come up with a killer idea when redoing my steering of using the old steering tab to fabricate a light mount that turned with the steering. figured it would make night-karting a real blast!

Check out this thread

http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14691&highlight=lights+kart

 

[strikerjones]

I go a Comet belt 203589 (manco 5959) and it works great!

 

[kaymo]

Check out this thread

http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=14691&highlight=lights+kart

hmmm... doesnt seem like the best place to mount those. I was gonna go with something a little less direct and a little more pivots and levers... mainly for the fun of making it work.