TC Questions

[Cferb]

Hello all, brand new here. Been a lurker for a long time now, and need some help from the experts. About a year ago I traded a drift trike for a yerf dog 3203 that had an old kawasaki 440 motorcycle engine it. The engine appeared to be trashed, so I decided that for free I would rebuild it into something the wife and I could enjoy cruising around the neighborhood in. It sat for approx. 6 months in the garage as we had to move (Thanks Army!) and now I've spent the last 3 months rebuilding it. Since I had no idea what the actual cost of rebuilding the 440 would be, and the wife wasn't keen on shifting, in my infinite wisdom i decided to opt for a new engine and a torque converter. So went on amazon and bought a Lifan 440cc engine with electric start, and got on ole ebay and bought a knockoff 40 series torque converter. Had to learn to weld since taking the Kawasaki engine out revealed there wasn't much left of the original swing arm but was the perfect excuse to learn a skill that i've wanted to do for years anyway, and from where it was heavily modified it was starting to rust through. Ok. So completely built a new swing arm from scratch. got engine mounted, torque converter mounted with jackshaft, still using what appears to be the original motorcycle chain and the brake. Took it on its first run today. and I have the jerky acceleration. Took it on 3 trips around the neighborhood and I noticed when I got back the driven clutch was **** near too hot to touch with only 15 mins of riding. Now I did replace the driven spring with the yellow one from BMI Karts so i could run it outboard. The jerking was noticeable with just me in the kart but with myself and the wife it was getting bad so I parked it. Went and searched the interwebz then figured I would just come to the experts and humbly ask for help!


What Little i know.
I know the chain has to be tightened.
The belt as it sits right now can be removed by hand, Is it too loose? What is proper tension?
I lubricated the driven clutch with Napabrand dry graphite, doesn't seem to be the best, but it does slide in and out now.
Also waiting on the 1 3/4 wrench to come in b/c I could not break the nut loose on the driver, so its dry inside. I've heard moly, dry graphite, white lithium, what is best?


Guys, I really, really appreciate any input from you. I know its been asked a million times, but searching the forum and research I figured it be best to ask specific questions.

Included some pics of the setup to hopefully help identify the issue.

Thanks again,
Chris https://photos.app.goo.gl/NzPuUndLu7LAvEok9

 

[Cferb]

No one?

 

[Kentucky Boy]

Moly or dry graphite. There is a spray dry lube made for torque converters made by Comet I think. Don’t use white lithium on it. Im gonna go take some ibuprofen now after reading this lengthy question.

 

[karl]

Moly or dry graphite. There is a spray dry lube made for torque converters made by Comet I think. Don’t use white lithium on it. Im gonna go take some ibuprofen now after reading this lengthy question.

Yes, some spaces would have been nice.

From the first pic, it looks like the belt alignment is fair, but the jackshaft does not look parallel to the motor, that will cause excessive friction and all sorts of undesirable traits.

Once the jackshaft is straight, retest, and its normal for the driver clutch to get warm. If your melting belts, or have chunks of rubber flying, something aint right.

 

[Cferb]

Yeah, sorry for the long explanation. I figured as much info as possible in the post would alleviate follow up questions I see all the time. I appreciate the reply guys and will adjust the jackshaft and grab some real dry graphite. Thank you again!