So, I have been wanting to throw something together for a year or two and I am finally starting. I was thinking of building a frame and sourcing parts to do everything from scratch. I do not have any experience with go karts, small engines etc, but I am not stupid and I do understand how a motor works and I am not afraid to get my hands dirty. I started with trying to find a motor. A motor being the main component needed for a go kart I figured this would be the obvious first step.
I picked up this Honda GX160 for 100 dollars CDN. It was sitting in a shed for over a year. Being a Honda, I knew it should fire up with little hassle. 3 Pulls and she was running.
I left the engine out at my father in laws for a week or so. While at home, I started looking online to find out what I should be getting as far as a clutch is concerned. After seeing numerous clutches, I had no idea how big the shaft on my motor was, reading somewhere that some can be tapered/keyed. So today I went out and picked up the motor and took it to my brothers.
At this time, the motor had a dual pulley set up on the shaft. Obviously this needed to go. So we began removing some bolts, but then realized there is no way we were getting this pulley off the shaft without a puller. So I went and rented one.
Once the pulley was off, I got a better understanding of what I was dealing with. Like I said, I have no prior experience with any of this. Found out it is a 3/4 inch shaft, 3/16 key. Which is a good thing because I remember someone saying some are tapered and not keyed. And you want a keyed shaft.
My father in law had a kart frame that is his sons, who now lives in Alberta. It was sitting behind his garage against a tree. I asked about it, and he told me to contact his son too see what he wants for it. So I did, and he told me 70 bucks. Like I said earlier, I did want to build my own, but for 70 bucks I pretty much have everything I need. If anyone knows what kind of kart this is, feel free to mention it. Also, I know it may be hard, but if you can try to guess how big of sprocket is on this feel free to let me know. I was in a hurry and snapped 1 picture.
So for the rest of the evening. We wanted to try to clean the motor up a bit. There was a lot of gunk/dirt/grime build up. I scraped away most of the crap that was built up, it still is not as clean as I would like it, but for now it will do. Once we got it cleaned up a bit. We started looking at the throttle assembly. Getting an understanding of how the springs, linkages etc all worked, I realized we needed a return spring. The arm that pulls the linkage on the carb was not springing back fully, even after loosening the bolt. So I went to Canadian Tire and picked up a 4 inch spring and connected it to the arm under the gas tank and a bolt. Now there is a lot of tension when releasing the throttle and it is as smooth as ever. Once we get the kart, we will set up the throttle cable. There is only so much we can do with just an engine and no kart lol. While at the store I also picked up a new fuel line and installed that as well. Once we put everything back together, we put in some gas, gave it a few pulls and got the motor running without any troubles. We realized that with the throttle fully closed, the engine wanted to die. So we adjusted the idle and now she is running excellent.
We also gave the exhaust and the throttle arm/plate a quick spray with some high heat silver paint. The exhaust, was pretty terrible looking. Rust/chips etc. For now it will do, but I plan to either buy an aftermarket exhaust, or build one myself.
I am also wondering if you guys have some advice on a clutch, how many teeth should I go, I see there is 10t/12t and maybe even 11t. Unfortunately I do not know what size sprocket is on the kart at this time. But I would like there to be some decent torque, and a decent top speed as well. I would like to order a clutch asap, so any advice on how many teeth I should get would be greatly appreciated.
Here are a few other pics I took. I will be taking more as I go.
I picked up this Honda GX160 for 100 dollars CDN. It was sitting in a shed for over a year. Being a Honda, I knew it should fire up with little hassle. 3 Pulls and she was running.
I left the engine out at my father in laws for a week or so. While at home, I started looking online to find out what I should be getting as far as a clutch is concerned. After seeing numerous clutches, I had no idea how big the shaft on my motor was, reading somewhere that some can be tapered/keyed. So today I went out and picked up the motor and took it to my brothers.
At this time, the motor had a dual pulley set up on the shaft. Obviously this needed to go. So we began removing some bolts, but then realized there is no way we were getting this pulley off the shaft without a puller. So I went and rented one.
Once the pulley was off, I got a better understanding of what I was dealing with. Like I said, I have no prior experience with any of this. Found out it is a 3/4 inch shaft, 3/16 key. Which is a good thing because I remember someone saying some are tapered and not keyed. And you want a keyed shaft.
My father in law had a kart frame that is his sons, who now lives in Alberta. It was sitting behind his garage against a tree. I asked about it, and he told me to contact his son too see what he wants for it. So I did, and he told me 70 bucks. Like I said earlier, I did want to build my own, but for 70 bucks I pretty much have everything I need. If anyone knows what kind of kart this is, feel free to mention it. Also, I know it may be hard, but if you can try to guess how big of sprocket is on this feel free to let me know. I was in a hurry and snapped 1 picture.
So for the rest of the evening. We wanted to try to clean the motor up a bit. There was a lot of gunk/dirt/grime build up. I scraped away most of the crap that was built up, it still is not as clean as I would like it, but for now it will do. Once we got it cleaned up a bit. We started looking at the throttle assembly. Getting an understanding of how the springs, linkages etc all worked, I realized we needed a return spring. The arm that pulls the linkage on the carb was not springing back fully, even after loosening the bolt. So I went to Canadian Tire and picked up a 4 inch spring and connected it to the arm under the gas tank and a bolt. Now there is a lot of tension when releasing the throttle and it is as smooth as ever. Once we get the kart, we will set up the throttle cable. There is only so much we can do with just an engine and no kart lol. While at the store I also picked up a new fuel line and installed that as well. Once we put everything back together, we put in some gas, gave it a few pulls and got the motor running without any troubles. We realized that with the throttle fully closed, the engine wanted to die. So we adjusted the idle and now she is running excellent.
We also gave the exhaust and the throttle arm/plate a quick spray with some high heat silver paint. The exhaust, was pretty terrible looking. Rust/chips etc. For now it will do, but I plan to either buy an aftermarket exhaust, or build one myself.
I am also wondering if you guys have some advice on a clutch, how many teeth should I go, I see there is 10t/12t and maybe even 11t. Unfortunately I do not know what size sprocket is on the kart at this time. But I would like there to be some decent torque, and a decent top speed as well. I would like to order a clutch asap, so any advice on how many teeth I should get would be greatly appreciated.
Here are a few other pics I took. I will be taking more as I go.
