Okay, so what kind of motor is this?

[jfoust]

New guy with my first kart... Certainly not the first time getting my hands dirty - just finished restoring a Suzuki LT50 quad for my son, now it's time to tackle the kart. I think what I have is a 5HP Briggs, but I'm not sure.

Here's a pic of the motor. Someone mentioned that the info should be above the pull starter, and there's a sticker there, but it has no model info. It's got a shop's name that I'm guessing it came from. In stripping that off, I noticed that whole cover is blue. It looks like the other side of the motor used to be red. What's left of the muffler has a Briggs logo on it, but that's the only indicator I can find of where it came from...

I need to tear down the carb - got it to crank and run for about 30 seconds, then it died and wouldn't fire up again. I'm sure it's pretty gummed up in there! Thanks for any ID help - would help greatly in getting some new parts for this thing!

 

[mike75925]

briggs, not real sure of size, but judging by the fuel tank and carb, i would say 5hp

 

[jfoust]

Cool, that's what I thought, but then when I saw the blue I thought it might be Harbor Freight, but it didn't look at all like one of those. The guy I got it from claimed it was a 5hp Briggs, but I didn't want to take his word for it - he wasn't the brightest bulb on the string, if ya know what I mean!

Any hints on basic screw/needle settings on the carb?

 

[freakboy]

harbor freight never made a flat head.

 

[jfoust]

Awesome - then that helps narrow it down! Prior owner thought the diaphragm might be shot. I guess that I'll see when I tear into the carb when the kids go to bed tonight!

 

[mike75925]

the mix screw should be 1 and 1/2 turns out from soft set. idle idnk.

 

[jfoust]

Perfect. It was way out from that so I took it to about 1 1/2 turns figuring that was a good starting point. The pull start sort of gets "disengaged" from the flywheel, which allows the pull start to freewheel either direction... Looks like I'm missing a couple of the bearings - guessing there should be one in each of those nooks?

 

[slideways]

I guess i'll be the first to say that for all the trouble you are about to create yourself with that thing, spending $109 on a brand new 6.5hp Clone would be a wise investment.

 

[mike75925]

109 or so plus tax. is the 5hp a 3/4" pto shaft? otherwise another 40 for a clutch. plus rerigging the throttle. the only time i ever pulled down the starter clutch, it had five balls in it.

 

[freakboy]

then you would be feeding the chinese comunist government then you would help in the controbution of being another one of them americans who think if something broke its complete worthless trash.... or he could have fun rebuilding this engine and then have a nice kart for his kid while mabey teaching his kid a little bit about small engines and how to turn a wrench...... im just saying man...

 

[Russ2251]

Try this:

 

[freakboy]

it should be a little metal tag depending on the year of it?

 

[jfoust]

Oh, I'm definitely not going to drop a new motor on the Kart unless this one is somehow completely shot. I don't see any reason that I can't get this one going! Doesn't really have anything to do with money or supporting the Chinese, but why replace what can be salvaged? I love working on these things! Plus like freakboy said, my 5 year old is totally into helping Dad on these projects and learning a thing or two - great time with the kid!

Our LT50 sat in a field unloved - I paid $20 for it, and got it running good as new with a parts breakdown, some elbow grease and about another $30 worth of parts ($15 of which was for the missing choke lever and assembly). No reason I can't do the same with this kart!

 

[sideways]

Perfect. It was way out from that so I took it to about 1 1/2 turns figuring that was a good starting point. The pull start sort of gets "disengaged" from the flywheel, which allows the pull start to freewheel either direction... Looks like I'm missing a couple of the bearings - guessing there should be one in each of those nooks?

All of the ones I have taken apart had a ball in each area, so yes, there should be. Don't go and buy a clone, save your self the money and fix this one up, a clone isn't that superior to a Briggs, the Briggs can be cheaply modified to be better than a clone anyway.

Hayden

 

[jfoust]

Try this:

Thanks Russ - I just went and removed the paint there... Nothing. l'm thinking that cover might have come off a different motor. It's blue and the rest of the motor looks like it used to be red.

In the big blank spot above the flywheel, I removed the paint and there's a sticker there that says VP Motorsports, with a url of vp-motorsports.com, but that doesn't get me anywhere! Google isn't coming up with much, other than this:

http://www.desotochampkartseries.com/MeetOurStars.html#anchor_164

 

[jfoust]

btw, Freakboy, I searched all over for a metal tag - that's what I was expecting to find in the first place, but there's nothing. I looked all over that cover, all over the motor, the carb, etc.. Nothing! I guess I'll have to wing it. Shouldn't be all that bad. A motor's a motor as far as I'm concerned.

 

[slideways]

Clone is 3/4" shaft. a $17 linkage kit and a $29 clutch (which you probably need anyway) and you're rolling. Judging from the spray bomb that motor endured it looks like it wasn't exactly well cared for.

I'm curious as to how a 60+ year old design in which many parts are no longer made is superior to a new design which is more powerful and efficient from the very get-go. I dont think the building an extreme flatty vs extreme clone argument applies to a dad building a kart for his kids. Something that needs to start and run and be reliable every time. Nothing to lose a kids interest in mechanics more than a go kart that doesn't run.

I've been down this road so many times. I wish when i was younger i could buy $99 and $109 motors.

Besides,
Maybe you could sell the old flathead relic to one of these guys who would like to polish it up and have it as some sort of... trophy?

 

[sideways]

I'm curious as to how a 60+ year old design in which many parts are no longer made is superior to a new design which is more powerful and efficient from the very get-go. I dont think the building an extreme flatty vs extreme clone argument applies to a dad building a kart for his kids. Something that needs to start and run and be reliable every time. Nothing to lose a kids interest in mechanics more than a go kart that doesn't run.

I didn't say it was superior, I said the clone isn't that superior to it, the only ways in which a Briggs flatty is better than a clone is its longevity and the fact it has more torque, I don't see the point in spending 100+ dollars on a new engine when you've got a perfectly good one that just needs a little TLC? Also I was just saying that the Briggs could easily and cheaply be brought up to stock clone standards and beyond if you wanted to do such things. To be honest, I don't really like Briggs engines, I would much rather have a clone but it's not worth him buying a new engine when he already has a good one.

Hayden

 

[jfoust]

Thanks guys... I'm too DIY to just toss this motor in the corner and get a brand new one, so we'll see if I can resurrect this one first! Plus the nearest HF is a good hour away from me, so it's not like I can just run down the road and grab a motor on my lunch break!

There's a Kart shop about 15 mins from my house... Might see what they can tell me about the motor and see if they can get me a few parts. I'd rather support a local shop whenever possible, anyhow.

 

[Kaptain Krunch]

I guess i'll be the first to say that for all the trouble you are about to create yourself with that thing, spending $109 on a brand new 6.5hp Clone would be a wise investment.

I gotta say, this whole "oh it needs work, ill just buy a clone" attitude kind of annoys me. This is why america is going down the drain, no one has the patience to fix something simple.

These engines are so simple, that theres NO reason to not fix it. Even if it wasn't taken care of, these things can take a beating. I have a 5hp flatty that was on a tiller, its a 1998 model if i remember, the oil was never changed, and it was always outside. When i got it i cleaned the carb and it started right up. I recently took it apart for a little refresh, it had thick sludge in the crank case, and obviously was neglected but the cylinder was fine and it really didnt take much to get it back into good condition.

Anyways, there should be some numbers stamped on the blower housing somewhere, just look over all of the metal shrouds, shouldn't take that long to find it if there isn't too thick of a layer of paint.