my semi offroad kart

[redcali]

hi everyone, thought id post up some pictures of my project.

heres pictures of my project. from start to current.
this is how i got it 6 or so years ago. buried in a parents friends backyard. getting rid of it because they were moving house.

then i painted it and got newer wheels off our boat trailer. my dad changed the axles on the trailer to suit a bigger wheel. so i got 2 new wheels with almost new tyres. the wheels are off a mini cooper. 4 stud 11" i think. also picked up a second hand fibreglass kart seat.

then i bought an engine for it. found this on ebay, thought it appropriate for power-weight ratio. i was younger then..

then i neglected the go kart, after mounting the engine for about 5 years. it sat in the garage doing.. nothing..

then i got back into it! bought air filters, got around to sorting out the wiring loom, cutting what was un needed and keeping what was needed. daunting at first but not hard once you start and have a basic idea of whats going on! so now the whole thing is wired up and ready to start..

the engine is a from a *1979-85 suzuki GSX400. its a 400cc 2 cylinder engine. im aware now but wasnt so aware when i was younger that this engine is way to much twice over for this kart and power/weight and looking at others karts and the engine sizes im fully aware this is gunna kill me but thats what makes it exciting

i didnt start it when i bought and hadnt started it for 6 years, so you can imagine how anxious i was to start it once i re wired it and got it all sorted. thankfully it started first go and ran a little rough, Blew a crapload of smoke for about 5 minutes but now runs decently.

now my list of things to do is far smaller than it used to be!

-brakes attached to the frame, its there but not in the photos ready to be attached.
-wire up the pedals. one will be accel one will be brake.
-connect up the gear lever.
-connect up the clutch.
-find a lengthened tacho cable to connect it up to the tacho and mount the tacho/gear position light in veiw from the seat.

the rest is small. i will try to keep everyone updated


i also have a pair; but only need one of genuine recaros out of one of my calibras which i may put into the car instead of the fibreglass seat.

any feedback is appreciated.

cheers all,

 

[ironman]

one word---- wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!

 

[Jblankster]

2 words

CRAZY AWESOME!

i hope its fast!

 

[noley99]

That thing looks like a mini sprint car without the wing. Man that thing is gonna be insane fast.

 

[noley99]

Oh yeah, I want it!!!!!

 

[crazycart]

That is very similar to the engine i have in my trike(in avatar)Yamaha 400 twin.Very strong engines.

 

[redcali]

That thing looks like a mini sprint car without the wing. Man that thing is gonna be insane fast.

this is what i was told it was originally, the suspension set up also makes me beleive it is aswell as mounting points in the 'roof' for the massive wing on top. however i couldnt find any photos of sprint cars set up like this

yea the engine looks pretty much exactly like yours crazycart. standard the bike came with twin exhausts aswell, this one is aftermarket 2into1.

got some photos today, working on the carbi, thing revs way to high but i think it was just up tight, still needed a clean.
installed my 'dash' but when i changed gears it didnt change in order. went from neutral to 2, 3 then nothing. so im now worried about it.

also got a video or two of it running. however it runs rough!

 

[crazycart]

If you were changing gears while the engine was off, thats pretty normal,when i rebuilt the tranny in my trike i noticed the gears had to be spinning a bit to shift through all gears correctly.Also, on my bike it runs ALOT better with the stock exhaust and not straight pipes haha

 

[redcali]

hmm that makes me feel alot better. i know i didnt wire it up wrong, the dash is from a gsx 250 but it works out the same. i jsut had to extend the wires about a metre.

right now for exhaust, uncompleted i have both mufflers (completely different ones..) coming from the extractor that come out parrallel to the ground.


heres a picture of my drivetrain set up.

brake and driver are on the same axle so no burnouts

the caliper is off the gsx400 that the motor came with and will be bolted or welded to the frame. still works after years of not being used

heres my 'dash' currently the only thing working is the neutral light and i hope the gear position light. the tacho is there but ofcourse the original cable is about 3 times to short. and i cannot find where it plugs in on the motor
the speedo is aswell useless so i took it out, might jsut leave the space empty incase i find something to put in there or can make a speedo work. i also need to work out where the 'oil pressure switch' is so i can connect that light up.

 

[crazycart]

On my bike the tach cable screws in on the top of the engine by the valves idk if that helps haha

 

[redcali]

yea thats where i keep looking but cannot find it. i can see the speedo cable though, unless its not the speedo cable and in fact the tacho cable point.

thats probably it then, because it is really short. where abouts does your speedo cable join to the engine?

 

[redcali]

thank you again it was the tacho cable mount. so now the tacho works except the cable is still short so i need to work that out.

found the oil pressure switch, wired it into the dash so now it works aswell.

dad and i did the exhaust today. so once we tighten the extracters on it should quieten down quite alot.

here is a video. if the first link doesnt take you there the second one should. ill try to upload one of it running quieter tomorrow with the better exhaust set up and extracter tightened!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAfZzIsXvak
http://www.youtube.com/wonderbred87

 

[speedy_moe]

now my list of things to do is far smaller than it used to be!

-brakes attached to the frame, its there but not in the photos ready to be attached.
-wire up the pedals. one will be accel one will be brake.
-connect up the gear lever.
-connect up the clutch.
-find a lengthened tacho cable to connect it up to the tacho and mount the tacho/gear position light in veiw from the seat.

I am wanting to do the same thing when I get the time to build mine. (Hopefully this summer when I send the wife and kids on vac.) I have one question for you. How and where are you planing to place the clutch. I was thing of putting mine on the shift handle. but I still have fully thought of where to place it.

 

[crazycart]

On my bike the speedo cable mounted to the front tire not the engine.

 

[redcali]

I am wanting to do the same thing when I get the time to build mine. (Hopefully this summer when I send the wife and kids on vac.) I have one question for you. How and where are you planing to place the clutch. I was thing of putting mine on the shift handle. but I still have fully thought of where to place it.

basically, because i really only need it to change out of nuetral or when i panic, i was thinking of leaving it as the original lever or get a bicycle 'V'brake as its far smaller and mount it somewhere on the right hand side in easy reach.

i still havnt fully thought through my pedal/gear setup yet. thats today and tomorrow hopefully

 

[redcali]

my dad got the exhaust set up done today.

however one of the manifold/extracter bolts has been stripped in the head of the engine, not the bolt thread.
any suggestions on what i do to fix this?

spent most of the day on other things that needed doing unfortunately

 

[kibble]

Ooh! Nice!

About the stripped part. They have stuff in auto parts stores to fix stripped threads in holes. I don't know off the top of my head what it's called though. It comes with spring like coils and I think some sort of adhesive. I believe you have to drill it out a little bit or something and then you insert the coil into the hole and then you're able to use it like there was never anything wrong with it.

 

[jr dragster T]

JB weld a threaded stud into it and use a nut.

 

[rockstomper]

Ooh! Nice!

About the stripped part. They have stuff in auto parts stores to fix stripped threads in holes. I don't know off the top of my head what it's called though. It comes with spring like coils and I think some sort of adhesive. I believe you have to drill it out a little bit or something and then you insert the coil into the hole and then you're able to use it like there was never anything wrong with it.

Heli-Coil inserts,you can get these at any good auto parts store they come in standard and metric sizes you just need to know what size bolt and thread pitch,just take it with you if your not sure.You can buy a kit,Mine is from grainger.

They also come with a drill bit and a special tool to install the coil.also there is a thing called a thread insert that looks like thishttp://images.grainger.com/images/products/small/SMALL-5JK76.JPG kinda works like a rivet and you can do this with a tool made for it or a bolt 2 nuts and a washer these are made to use in a spot were there is enough space like sheet metal or square tube,drill the right size hole put the insert in pull it tight instant threads.

inerts are great if you don't have enough material for the tap and die ie you get more threads with a thread insert

 

[redcali]

awesome thanks guys! i will talk to me dad about which option seems best!