Noob from central alabama

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linuxman51

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First off, Roll Tide y'all.

Not exactly sure how to classify myself.. I'm a gearhead/tinkerer of sorts, been modifying and racing (yes racing) volvos for a long time, few years ago me and my awesome wife moved just outside the city to a place with some land, and the results have largely been disastrous for my neighbors :cornut:

On a whim the other day, I picked up a cheap 10hp engine, and I've been passively looking for a go-kart (or two or three or.. well we'll stop at 1 for now), and this seemed like as good a time as any to add something completely unproductive to my list of tasks.


I led a sheltered childhood, and as a result I know absolutely nothing about the mechanics that go into go-karts and other similar things (however mechanical aptitude and tool availability is not a problem, over the years I've been able to amass quite a nice amount of :ahem: required equipment), so I'll probably lurk around a bit and figure out the best way to go about threatening life and limb.

I'll outline the project so you guys can tell me how far out in left field I've gotten myself, I can take the heat (but I can give it back fairly well too :popcorn: )... Short term I'd like to just get something running and driving, modifying and rebuilding seem to come a bit easier after I can play with something a little and get an idea of where it's going. Once I've gotten this going, I'll more than likely convert it from carbureted to fuel injected, largely because me and carburetors don't get along *at all*, and because I'm a glutton for punishment and suffering, I'll be looking at turbocharging it as well. Everything is better with boost.

:useless:

So eye candy is always a requirement among gearheads, here are my two project bricks:
this one is the 'fast one'

Best time to date (a while ago, a list of problems and time-sucks had it sitting on the sidelines for almost two years) is a 10.4@129mph in the 1/4


and this unassuming turd:


just has a little turbo on it, makes it better for towing things (well, that's what I tell people to justify it)


see? tow wench:


It's slow, without a trailer I've gotten it down to a 12.1@113 in the 1/4mile

:backtotopic:

Anyway, so that's me. I'm off to go do some reading and figuring out how deep this hole is :D
 
OzFab

OzFab

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linuxman51 said:
...I'll more than likely convert it from carbureted to fuel injected, largely because me and carburetors don't get along *at all*, and because I'm a glutton for punishment and suffering, I'll be looking at turbocharging it as well. Everything is better with boost.
Click to expand...

You're not overly ambitious, are you :lolgoku: But, if you can pull it off, more power to you (excuse the pun...)

Welcome to the worlds best forum :thumbsup:
 
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linuxman51

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Poboy kartman said:
Welcome to the forum. ...:popcorn: ....post up what you have in mind.
Click to expand...

Shoulda done a tl;dr up there hahaha, got a little long winded..

the short of it is this: I gotta brush up on nomenclature and technology because I know bumpkis about the mechanics of karts on a component level.

Goal(s):
get the engine running and on some kinda frame (either home-made if I can't find one, or something used off the local classifieds)
convert to efi with megasquirt
turbo charge it (..just because..)


I'm doing things a bit backwards tho, I've got the engine and turbo sourced and on the way, no frame, and the ms on the shelf in my office.

I'm not going to spend a ton of time shopping for an off-the-shelf frame solution tho, it'd probably be easier to build something more appropriate for these shenanigans than adapting and potentially stretching your basic 'kids kart' type of deal.
 
Poboy kartman

Poboy kartman

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Fabroman said:
What engine are you using?
Click to expand...

Inquiring minds want to know. ......actually. ..to my way of thinking. ..you are not working backwards at all.....

The proper approach is to calculate the potential hp of said powerplant and design the kart to be able to support it.......

We aren't against massive power or speed here...we just get a lot of people who want to kill themselves because they don't do it right. ....
 
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linuxman51

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Fabroman said:
What engine are you using?
Click to expand...

I believe it's an engine designed to be used with a generator, it's made by LCT (liquid combustion technologies), it appears to have been NOS from a service center or something.. manufacture date in 2004, but wrapped up and still in the box.

it's rated at 10hp @ 3600, appears to have 390cc displacement, low oil shutoff, the only 'catch' to the whole thing may be the tapered non-keyed shaft.

Poboy kartman said:
Inquiring minds want to know. ......actually. ..to my way of thinking. ..you are not working backwards at all.....

The proper approach is to calculate the potential hp of said powerplant and design the kart to be able to support it.......

We aren't against massive power or speed here...we just get a lot of people who want to kill themselves because they don't do it right. ....
Click to expand...

I was able to pull the video from FB, so here it is, complete with requisite redneck testing components and all.

http://youtu.be/y8byBm2vX58

it was c-clamped to the table. the video would have been longer, but apparently I filled up my phone's SD card, and it just abruptly stopped recording. :roflol:
 
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linuxman51

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it's rated at 10 @ 3600, that's about all I know about it. big block, I like that. A buddy of mine has the honda brand on his 4000psi pressure washer, we were looking at that last night.

turbo got here Tuesday, its a cute little thing.




It'll be a little while before that gets added to the mix, I just couldn't resist buying it now. the order of events is probably going to be something like this:
getting the engine on a frame and working with the drive gear and all that
converting to EFI
turbo.

at that point, depending on how well (or not) it works, the frame situation will be re-evaluated and/or I'll build a frame concurrently that's better suited for the intended shenanigans (and if it doesn't pan out as intended, I'll dig up a small motorcycle engine for the new frame and move forward with that....because shenanigans. neighbors with their high dollar atv's can't have all the fun)
 
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linuxman51

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may need to start a project thread soon if that's the thing to do.. picked up a hammerhead twister 150 today in non-running condition for fairly cheap. looked decent enough. got it home, pulled the spark plug out, put oil in it (oops), sprayed wd40 in the carb and in the cylinder, hit the starter a few times and it spun free. put the plug back in, gave it a shot of carb cleaner (couldn't find the starting fluid) and it cranked up and idled. Spent the next 4 hours hot swapping drivers and beating the heck out of it. smokes (rings, and probably over-filled the crankcase), but it runs out good, brakes work, rear shocks work, reverse works. front shocks are gonzo, and the parking brake either needs a cable or needs serious adjustment.

now the problem/quandry is, do I go through the hassle of fixing this engine (a 6gy, so amazing aftermarket support), or go with the big block lol.
 
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pics or gtfo, I know how it goes ;)



there's video floating around of the wife driving it, but I've gotta get it off fb and onto youtube, I think.. That's not me in the pic, that's a buddy of mine.
 
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it's fun, but the motor is in bad shape unfortunately. changed the oil yesterday and replaced the tie rod ends, greased all the suspension points (never been done apparently!) and it's *much* tighter. Discovered that p.o. lost a pad on one of the front calipers, and it's shot now.piston almost poped out, and then started getting tagged by various bolts on the spindle. Oh well.

anyway, back to the engine (hey, tell me if I need to start a build thread, I'm down..), changed the oil, the old stuff was nasssssty, but not chunky, so spirits were high for a minute, but it smokes like a freaking mosquito sprayer still, I'm guessing the cylinder is scared up pretty bad.

Unfortunately, this means I'll HAVE to get a larger displacement piston/cylinder assy. and I may be FORCED to get the better cylinder head. :sigh: the struggle is real ;)

while I gather parts and recover from working 30 of the past 48 hours, I'll sort out how I'm going to get megasquirt on it and working, go through the growing pains on the setup that's just about toast so I won't be cranking on a brand new engine wondering why it's not running. I think maybe a custom trigger wheel and hall sensor will resolve the big issues, or I could figure out how to do a crank/cam setup and rock out that way. So many options.
 
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well, it's on like donkey kong now. I'll kick off another thread this weekend I reckon to document the process going forward.. ordered a transmission kit (variator, clutch, weights, and whatever other neat things) and an engine overhaul kit (cylinder, piston, gaskets, rings, head), so it should be done with the smoke this weekend.

While I'm in there I can take a closer look at the (lack of) electrical system and how I'm going to go about getting the requisite signals to the ecu to control ignition correctly.

I'll probably run the rings in with the carb and stock stuff still on there (unless this overhaul takes substantially longer than what I'm thinking it will) while I determine best course of action with the electricals and wait for the throttle bodies I bought to show up. gsxr 600, modular, bigger than what I really need but the price was a loooot better than the alternatives and I can always get a restrictor if the extra tb size is an issue. On my cars I've been able to tune it out without a lot of drama, so I'm hoping I'll be able to do the same here.
 
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