New Kart Project

[Sanman]

I have a new to me Dingo that I just acquired. It's in decent condition, needs some clean up and work on the seat, but that's about it. Except it's missing a motor. So, to give you some info, it came with a TC. The clutch side is for a 1" shaft. The drive side has a 9 tooth sprocket that leads to the 54 tooth axle sprocket. The tires are Carlisle 22x11 knobbies.

We almost never use the karts on hills, mostly just cruising through the orchards and dirt roads. But the kids do need enough power to spin the wheels... for coolness!

My gut tells me the 212 predator won't be enough power. What about an 8 horse?

 

[ML-TOYS]

Since you have the tc for a 1 inch shaft go for the gusto and slap a 13hp on there.
Plenty of power and electric start

 

[Axx3d]

I have the 301cc pred (8hp) on 2 of my dingo's and its a blast and would be more than enough power to get your kids moving

 

[Sanman]

13hp? You're killin' me Smalls... well, maybe not me but 13hp may be way too much fun for the kids. Buuut, I think I've got an old electric start power washer around here that might be 13hp.

 

[Sanman]

I have the 301cc pred (8hp) on 2 of my dingo's and its a blast and would be more than enough power to get your kids moving

Is the shaft on the 301cc 1"?

 

[landuse]

Is the shaft on the 301cc 1"?

Yup. Just remember that a lot of pressure washers have tapered shafts that are no good for usng on karts.

I still think the 6.5HP will be more than enough for your kids

 

[MancoGX390]

I've got a GX390 13hp on a single seat dingo. Is the best engine I've ever bought!

 

[KartFab]

Same thing but in red. 13 hp. I sold it a while back.

https://youtu.be/B18ybsN8Sf0

 

[Sanman]

Not sure how I'm going to convince my wife that we "need" a 400cc motor, but I'm going to start working on it. In the mean time, I'm going to try my luck at converting an 8hp B&S I've had laying around from vertical shaft to a horizontal. It's electric start, so that'll be fun. Putting on an oil dipper won't be too much trouble, but getting the carb to connect after a 90 deg turn is going to take a little doing. Not to mention fabricating a motor mount to compensate for the 90 degree turn too. Wish me luck!

 

[Sanman]

Well, the motor is back together now, and it turned out exactly opposite of what I was expecting. The carb turned out to be the easiest part of the project. I used a 1/2" plate of aluminum, secured it to the head with two flush mount bolts. Then secured the carb to the plate using the original carb bolts after tapping in two holes for the 90 deg turn.

The oil dipper was even easier. I just bought one for a B&S horizontal and it fit perfectly. The bigger problem was the eccentric weights that were hanging from the crankshaft, exactly where the dipper needs to pass through. I had no idea those eccentrics would be there. So, after a full breakdown of the motor, they are now removed. The big question is how much vibration will there be without them.

Tonight I clean the carb and then we'll test fate.

 

[mckutzy]

What no pics of this conversion????

 

[DeeJee]

Not sure how I'm going to convince my wife that we "need" a 400cc motor, but I'm going to start working on it. In the mean time, I'm going to try my luck at converting an 8hp B&S I've had laying around from vertical shaft to a horizontal. It's electric start, so that'll be fun. Putting on an oil dipper won't be too much trouble, but getting the carb to connect after a 90 deg turn is going to take a little doing. Not to mention fabricating a motor mount to compensate for the 90 degree turn too. Wish me luck!

I have a 11 HP B&S vert shaft, and just made a spacer today to rotate carb 90 degrees. It is half inch thick, original bolt pattern is counter sunk machine screws, new mounting holes (90 degrees to old pattern), are tapped for new position of carb. It covers the machine screws. Spacer is half inch thick, can actually be two quarter inch plates with headgaskert sealer sandwiched between.

 

[landuse]

What no pics of this conversion????

I agree. Pics, or it didn't happen......

 

[DeeJee]

I have a 11 HP B&S vert shaft, and just made a spacer today to rotate carb 90 degrees. It is half inch thick, original bolt pattern is counter sunk machine screws, new mounting holes (90 degrees to old pattern), are tapped for new position of carb. It covers the machine screws. Spacer is half inch thick, can actually be two quarter inch plates with headgaskert sealer sandwiched between.

It is best to read entire thread before opening mouth. I duplicated exactly what you did with the carb mount. Haven't mounted carb yet, ot started motor.

 

[DeeJee]

Sanman, how did the test turn out? I am doing the identical thing. Do I proceed, or do I stop?

 

[Sanman]

Well, I haven't had time to clean the carb sufficiently yet, but this time I took a picture so you can see what I'm up against. In the second picture is the aluminum plate that I used to turn the carburetor. The third pic is of the eccentrics that were removed.

DeeJee, I can't tell you whether or not your project is going to work, but I would at least open up the case and see if your motor has eccentrics in it like mine does. If it doesn't, install an oil dipper, close it back up, and you're off to the races.

 

[mckutzy]

Ooooohhhh ya, I reckon she'd need a bit more than a quick clean.... Lemon juice is your friend....

Look up lemon juice carb cleaning here and also on the tube. Both have good examples and good luck with this method.

 

[Sanman]

Well, it was fun while it lasted. First the good. The lemon juice was awesome! The carb cleaned up beautifully. I sealed everything up with gasket maker, put in oil, charged the battery and to my surprise, it started right up.

Because the motor is now tipped up on its side, the gas tank no longer flows correctly either, so the first start was with starter fluid. Last night I had some time to tinker again and got some gas into the bowl to test the carb. It started right up. I gave it a little throttle a couple of times and POP! The motor stopped with the crank shaft continuing to spin freely. Then to make matters worse, I notice oil spewing out the side of the housing through a hole the size of a quarter.

So, I think that will put an end to the project. I'm going to open it up today and see what happened inside. I'm guessing the piston connecting rod broke and punched through the side.

 

[StratCat]

That sounds just like my luck !

Still a really nice cart worth rebuilding.

 

[Sanman]

Motor placement.

OK, I broke down and bought the 13hp. I need to drill new holes to mount the engine. How do I know where to drill them? How tight, or loose, is the belt for the T/C supposed to be?