My finished kart

[LightningTeg]

Nice simple build!

 

[Ebrownie]

Alright guys I got tired of those wimpy little 16” tires on the back, so I upgraded. Went from 16x6.50-8 lawnmower tires to Kenda 18x9.50-8 knobbies. They look a million times better. Also, mounting a 9.5” wide tire on a 6” wheel is a bit of a challenge! Also gained a lot of top speed with the bigger tires. Might have to gear down a bit, although it still accelerates pretty good.

 

[landuse]

That looks awesome! If the gearing still seems ok, I would just leave it as it is

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

That first pic is something out of my dreams...
A sick go kart with a W123 Mercedes in the background...

 

[Ebrownie]

That first pic is something out of my dreams...
A sick go kart with a W123 Mercedes in the background...

Sorry to crush your dreams, but the benz is just a body. I ripped the turbo diesel out of her to swap into my toyota pickup

 

[Kartorbust]

I'm not great at Benz cars, but I do know some of the diesel stuff, mostly the OM616 I4 and the OM617 I5. Bulletproof engines (they last longer than the odometer), decent mileage and relatively powerful.

The kart looks great and better with the taller tires.

 

[Ebrownie]

I'm not great at Benz cars, but I do know some of the diesel stuff, mostly the OM616 I4 and the OM617 I5. Bulletproof engines (they last longer than the odometer), decent mileage and relatively powerful.

The kart looks great and better with the taller tires.

http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=40842
I have a thread on here for the toyota build. It had the om617. It has 235k on it but doesn’t have much blowby and when I pulled the crankshaft to do the rear main seal, the bottom end looked fantastic. Should be a fun project. I decided I wanted something a little bigger after I finished the kart last fall

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Ya know what? I won't hate for you rippin' the diesel out and into the Toyota. I like W123 Mercs and Toyota pickups!

 

[t1704]

Nice project!

 

[Ebrownie]

Just a little update on the kart. Two things happened recently.

1) the flange on my header broke in half and so i still wanted to ride but I haven’t made a new exhaust yet. So I put the stock muffler back on, still with the air intake and bigger jet of course. I had my suspicions, but wow does that really make it run poorly. It ran fine at low rpms, but simply would not rev above 4K! My top speed with straight pipe was about 44, now it is 35! So I’ll need to make an exhaust soon.

2) I still have #35 chain, which I hate. It’s small wimpy chain and i throw the chain much too often. So I’ll be upgrading to #40. But I was riding yesterday and the chain came off the axle sprocket, no big deal. I reach back and was just about to put it back on when bam! Somehow the torque converter sucks the chain into the belt, and wraps the chain all up inside of the primary. Soooo definitely need new chain, Probably new belt, maybe new clutch bushing. And while I’m at it I’ll get #40 chain and sprockets to hopefully solve my issues.

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

My go kart is a severe chain thrower, so I know how you feel.
That's why I've learned:
Kill the engine before putting the chain back on!
Your fingers are kind of nice to have to drive a kart!

 

[Kartorbust]

Are you sure everything is aligned properly? Chain is clear of any obstructions and debris? Having chain alignment that is ever so slightly off can have it derail from the sprockets.

 

[Ebrownie]

Are you sure everything is aligned properly? Chain is clear of any obstructions and debris? Having chain alignment that is ever so slightly off can have it derail from the sprockets.

Yes it is pretty aligned. Maybe not perfect though. I think the main reason it came off was because it stretched a bit. But with #40 chain I know that it will be much better about staying on the sprockets so I hopefully won’t have to worry about it.

 

[JTSpeedDemon]

Are you sure everything is aligned properly? Chain is clear of any obstructions and debris? Having chain alignment that is ever so slightly off can have it derail from the sprockets.

I can't tell if you were talking to me or ebrownie, so if you were taling to me, I actually know for a fact that the alignment is garbage.
I plan to fix that this week.
Anyway, go ahead and redirect any questions to my Build Off thread, since I don't want to hijack ebrownie's.

 

[mckutzy]

Id check alignment, check the truness of the sprocket(to see if it is warped).... Maybe the motor just needs some spacers to tension the chain better...
I run a jackshaft with #35 chains and I find it fine...