Suprise YD resto

[caleskart]

This year is my son's golden birthday so we wanted to do something big for him. He turned 7 so he's at kind of a hard stage. I grew up racing ATV motocross, and he's a speed junkie like his dad so naturally we didnt opt for a football or baseball bat and glove. LOL He's growing so fast that a small atv/or dirtbike is out of the question. My first wheels were a go kart so thats the route we chose. Now his little sister is a wheel head also so we had to go with a 2 seater so she can ride till she's big enough to reach some pedals. Found a YD3203 on CL for $650. Not bad but it was a 30 footer. After talking with the guy he actually had 3 karts. So I worked out a package deal on 2 of them and brought them home plus a couple of really cool old signs for less then his original asking price for the one.
Since this was going to be surprise I had to work out a deal with a freind of mine till I could make room in one of my buildings to work on it. I'm annoyingly particular about stuff and this was going to be no exception. I had planned on a carb cleaning, new paint and new front tires, but sometimes I get a little carried away, as you will see.

 

[2SlickNick]

Welcome. I am sure you will fit right in here. Plenty of helpful people and a world full of info here. I am sure your Lil one will be ecstatic once he sees it.

 

[caleskart]

We brought it home one day when he was at G-ma &G-pa's and took it for a "test run" 2.5hrs later my wife and I decided we better put it away before we broke anything. LOL figured out it needed the chain tightend the carb worked on, new brake band and front shocks. So some pointing and clicking later got some parts coming. While waiting for the new parts I decided to jazz up the wheel a bit.

Found out I had more then carb problems, the intake was broken and was JB Welded together-ish. I have a freind that is a master welder and build sprint car chassis to fix that and I called a friend of mine that is co owner of a snowmobile shop to work on the carb for me and check out the clutch.

The clutch tabs are a bit worn and the belt wasnt in great shapeso I orderd new ones of those also.

 

[caleskart]

Next up clean and sand for new paint and test fit these sweet new shocks (buy, then make em fit, is my motto. lol) Turns out they dont fit too bad, gonna try it and see but I think I'll have to do some tweaking but running out of time before my deadline so we'll collect data then make correct adjustements.

Even at his age my dad still helps me out a ton. Cant thank him enough.

 

[caleskart]

Once I got the primer down, I spray bombed it with Ace Premium Banner Red, its an almost identical match. I got the motor put back together and cleaned it up. While I had the steering wheel off, I decided to jazz it up a little too so I umm...chromed it. LOL. I used some plastic restorer that I bought from Germany and refinished all the plastics, (steering wheel, gas tank and clutch cover). I painted the muffler with some flat black high temp paint. I also put a deflector over the exhaust opening since it was blowing right onto that back bar, getting it hot and turning it black.

 

[caleskart]

There was still something missing, Ah... yes, fire! I have tried to raise my kids right by making sure hot rods, drag cars, show cars, cool trucks and custom paint jobs are common thing in thier enviroment, so naturally this should fit in. I looked all over the net at different designs. I couldnt quite find just what I was looking for and the one I did wasnt in the right size. Luckily I have another friend that cuts vinyl graphics on the side and we put together a custom design that would match the racing stripes of the seat, yet incorporate flames as well, did some gray highlights to tie in the gray from the wheels and this is what we have.

(sorry for the poor quality, I only get to work on it when he's in bed or not home, so this is in a dimly lit shop.)

 

[caleskart]

I clear coated the floors last night and hopefully I can get it mostly put together tonight. My wife (the coolest chick on this side of the Rio Grande) is scrubbing the seatbelts and seat clean for me todaywhile the kids arent home so hopefully if I run into any snags along the way I can have everything sorted out before Saturday.

 

[n3480h]

Kudos to you for taking the time to do something special for your kids! They will have so much fun (and scare the heck out of mom, dad and grampa!). They will never forget that the three of you cared enough to do this.

Great karts, and nice job on the refurb!

 

[caleskart]

Thanks its taken a while since I only get a couple hours a night on my free nights, but I'm pleased so far.

 

[PorkChopExpress]

Very cool! Welcome and great job, looking forward to the finished product.

 

[caleskart]

Thanks PorkChop. I got the seat in and the cage put on last night. I used all new hardware so its nice n shiney, making sure I faced all the washers.
I bought all new checkerd wraps for it, What size pipe insulation fits these? I have a bunch of different sizes collected but they either dont fit the kart pipe or they dont fit the wraps.