The Rebuilding of a Great Canadian Legend...kind of

[MCPDC]

Being a noob to this forum and to karting in general, some of you may already be familiar with my project(s) after reading my introduction thread.

After scanning the Kijiji classifieds, I stumbled upon an ad for two karts that had been on for some time. After texting the seller, I received a quick response and soon learned that not only the karts were still for sale, but that the seller lived only 10 minutes away. I promptly made an appointment with him to meet the following day to have a look.

I found out that the karts he had for sale were both concession karts owned by Family Kartways in Whitby, Ontario, Canada. At one point in time this track was the longest kart track in North America, and, for a young boy (even an adult) it was a blast to go around the track, even in one of the (speed restricted) rental karts. Now all that remains of the once famous track are a bunch of cookie-cutter ugly houses in a densely populated subdivision... too bad.

Anyway, I arrived to find both karts in barn-fresh condition. One, somewhat assembled, the other missing wheels and tires, seat, etc. Both came with 5 and 5.3 Honda motors with reduction boxes with a wet clutch. The 5.3 felt seized, but the owner assured me that the recoil was jammed.... yeah, right. I offered him $300 for both which he accepted quickly and we loaded them both up.

So, as you will see from the photos, they are somewhat rusty and worn, but, after close inspection, the structure of each seems sound, no cracks, unusual bends/creases or twists, so I have a good place to start it appears. The one questionable motor was seized but I have managed to free it up, but have not managed to get it started yet...

I opted to take apart kart that was missing the most parts first and have begun to strip it down to clean it, paint, and reassemble, replacing parts where necessary and repairing anything that requires it. These karts will be used for off road so I will be looking for appropriate tires for both eventually. You will see from the pics that these are very heavy-framed beasts but I am sure they will provide hours of fun in our back field where we have a couple of acres to play. For now, I will leave them fairly close to original, but I am sure that will not last for long. I will try to keep up with photos of the progress as I go along. This first batch is mostly of the karts themselves, closeups of some specific areas as well as a few pics of the initial dismantling (I had a hell of a time getting the rear axle out of the 4 bearings that it rode in).

That's all for now, hopefully there will be more progress to report soon!

 

[landuse]

Nice!! I am glad you eventually got the axle out. These things sometimes take a while when they have been sitting. The rust seems to bind everything together.

I look forward to reading the progress on these karts. Ask questions as you go, and we will help you out

Have you given any thought to how you are going to gear them, or what type of clutch you are going to use?

 

[MCPDC]

For now, I am just going to leave stock, as is, as long as they function properly. I will replace only what is needed at this point, which appears to be very little. I want my daughter to have a bit of fun on just a simple, easy to operate machine to start with. As well, I want a bit of experience maintaining them and becoming familiar with them before I make any changes. I will see how they perform in the environment we plan to drive them in. I know that a change of tires will be necessary so far, but other than that, I think I will leave them for now... give me a couple of weeks and that may change, LOL

 

[SCK]

Nice find!

 

[MCPDC]

Okay, so today I disassembled the remainder of the kart, cleaned bearings, repacked most of them, cleaned parts, cleaned parts, cleaned parts.... zzzz..., cleaned up the frame with a knotted wire wheel on my grinder (taking many stray wires in the legs and arms and one in an unmentionable area... I don't care what anyone says, I have used these many times and I still feel that they are dangerous) and managed to get 3 coats of rattle can black on the frame. For my fellow Canadians who will understand this, I used the Tremclad Professional from Canadian Tire. Supposedly it is their fast drying, higher quality offering... I say it smells like, sprays like and dries like Armor Coat. In fact, I am quite certain it is, only more expensive.
So, there are a few photos attached showing the frame before and after, and a collection of some of the cleaned parts that are, for the most part, ready for reassembly... if I can remember where everything goes, LOL. I did manage to find one part sitting on the disassembly table that I did not recognize and am not sure if it is from the kart at all... I guess I shall find out when I reassemble.
BTW, all bearings seem to be in good shape, with the exception of one front spindle which I will investigate tomorrow when I repack them. That's all for tonight.

 

[EvoDre]

looks like your build is coming along good!

 

[landuse]

Nice job!! That frame is now looking great. I also don't really like working with wire wheels due to stray wire shooting everywhere, especially if you are pressing hard. I have found that a flap wheel works nice on a grinder. It is one of those discs that have lots of pieces of sandpaper on the disk. You can get different grades, and it really takes paint and rust off like nobody’s business.

Just a word on getting new tyres. If you decide to change the size of the tyres in any way, just remember that it will affect your gearing.

 

[MCPDC]

More assembly completed yesterday, front end assembled, pedals, rear axle, brakes, steering. Had to rob one cart of parts to complete the other. Will definitely be ordering some bearings when it comes time to build the second kart. The assembly phase is definitely the time when you develop the most familiarity with each part and its function, and is also the phase where I begin mentally logging away ideas for future projects. Landuse, thanks for the reminder re: larger tire size and gearing, will do a bit of research on here with that in mind.
Today, I have the day and night to myself so I will finish assembling, take a look at the one Honda motor that is running, change the oil, clean air filter, etc., mount the motor and belt...

Question, based on what the attached photo shows of my final belt drive, should there be a guide or retainer for the belt?

 

[MCPDC]

Finally assembled the bits (roughly) enough to take it for a ride. Turns out the carb is starving for fuel, so I am assuming a good cleaning is in order, possibly put in a carb kit while it is off. On our maiden voyage I took video, but because it was onboard and on my iPhone I won't be posting it because most of the footage was of the crash pad in the centre of the steering wheel. The slight bend in one of the steering arms became apparent when turning sharp. Kart is very twitchy at speed (which is rather slow considering the carb issue) and I am sure that my seat (which is not attached to anything) did not help at all, LOL. Still need to figure out the belt alignment, seems to be working but riding off to the side a bit. All in all, the first run was somewhat uneventful. Tomorrow will be time to cleanup the garage and, after evaluating a litter of puppies, I may venture to Princess Auto to pickup some odds and ends.

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Wow. I remember Family Kartways. I went out there a few times when I was a kid. At one point within the last few years I thought it might be cool to take my family out there for some fun- and for me, a blast from the past. That's when I discovered that they were no more. Pity. The remaining choices (within an hour's drive or so) are pretty pathetic in comparison.

So you scored a couple of the old karts, eh? Very cool. Those things must weigh an absolute ton! Have you got a place to run them? Gone are the days when everything was closed on Sundays, and all you had to do was run over to an empty parking lot. It's a lot harder finding one these days. If you live near an industrial area or a school you might get lucky.

Those karts may be tanks, but I'm sure the quality is good. Briefly looking over a few of your pics, I see that the frontend uses good bearing assemblies instead of cheezy low-speed bearings or bushings. I would call that a good indicator. On the downside, I have absolutely no idea where you'd get replacement belts around here. Google time, methinks!

I'm stumped on the 5.3- never heard of one before. Is it a Honda? You should pull the cylinder head off to assess the internals, if you haven't already done so. As far as getting it running goes, we'll help you troubleshoot.

As you've probably discovered, anything kart-like tends to be way overpriced in these parts. I'd say you got yourself a good deal. When I was able to score my boys' two Doodlebugs out in Whitby for $300, I couldn't drive out there fast enough!!!

EDIT- just did some quick looking around- I found a couple references to the 5.3 as a GX160, which I found rated from 5-5.5hp. I guess they were rated differently in certain circumstances. That said, I'm fairly confident that any GX160 or clone parts will work, as needed.

 

[landuse]

I am glad you have got most of the kart back together. I am not too sure if there should be a belt guard on your engine, but if it is riding a bit off to the side, you might have to see if the sprockets are all aligned. The easiest would be to put a spacer behind the clutch sprocket, or other than that, see if you can move the axle sprocket.

This is if you see they are misaligned.

 

[MCPDC]

I believe I need a spacer behind the clutch sprocket as this sprocket wanders an inch each way on the shaft and then usually ends up near the shaft next to the clutch casing where the belt rides agains the casing (not desirable, LOL). Will work on finding an appropriate spacer and give it a go. My daughter drove the kart last night and loved it. I took video but have not posted it yet. I took it for a spin and it was a riot, although a bit twitchy and, being 220lbs, a little "soft" coming off the line. Definitely needs some knobby tires for the grass though.

 

[MCPDC]

Toystory, it was a great place, a kids dream. Family Kartways had a little bit of everything... now, it has a lot of the same... crappy houses.

I will be running these karts off road (I have 10.5 acres). Redneck, I know, but fun!

Yes, they weigh a ton, but so do I, LOL. Combine this with the bumps off road and I think these frames will be just what is needed to keep me from breaking them... I hope.

I am pretty sure I should be able to source some belts, I have not looked into it yet but I have a few contacts for stuff.

Re: the 5.3 Honda... I had not heard of it either. I stole the carb off the 5.3 and put it on my 5hp after I broke the float mount (the plastic part that houses the seat where the float needle goes in) while cleaning the carb (don't ask). The carbs had 3/4 inch of gas jello/crust. Unbelievable that the 5hp ran with a float bowl full of jello and crust!!!!

My daughter took it for a ride last night in the field and loved it. I still have quite a bit of work ahead of me to finish it so it is working properly, but, so far so good!

 

[Doc Sprocket]

Excellent! Glad to hear it!

 

[landuse]

I believe I need a spacer behind the clutch sprocket as this sprocket wanders an inch each way on the shaft and then usually ends up near the shaft next to the clutch casing where the belt rides agains the casing (not desirable, LOL). Will work on finding an appropriate spacer and give it a go. My daughter drove the kart last night and loved it. I took video but have not posted it yet. I took it for a spin and it was a riot, although a bit twitchy and, being 220lbs, a little "soft" coming off the line. Definitely needs some knobby tires for the grass though.

You definately need a spacer. You can use a couple of washeres, or maybe a piece of pipe with an inner diameter the same as your shaft. You can just cot the pipe to length and slip it over the shaft as your spacer.

I am glad the kart is working out for you

 

[MCPDC]

Ok, while scanning the online classifieds (Kijiji) I came across an ad for a kart body. As soon as I saw the body I recognized the shape as that of the Family Kartways karts that I remembered. Sure enough, the seller informed me that it was indeed from there, and that he had scrapped two frames identical to mine that he could not sell. I managed to get the body for $60... it needs a bit of work, but I am going to allow my 10 year old daughter to paint it so I am not too concerned about perfection. It will be a learning experience for her. I will post pics of the shocking fluorescent paint job once completed. I took the kart out for a quick rip down the driveway (took video will have to post later) and the hard plastic seat feels the same it did years ago.... hard and not comfy. Hope my daughter likes it, LOL. I also started tear down on kart #2 and have a Honda 9hp lined up to go in it once ready.

 

[EvoDre]

looking good, wonder if you could lower the front a little more so it doesn't look that hight?

 

[landuse]

Sweet. I look forward to seeing the paint job

 

[MCPDC]

I had just sat the body on there at this point, that is why it is sitting up, plus the mounts need a little "finessing"... with a hammer so that they line up better. The body mount holes on the body itself are worn so a bracket will have to be made to ensure a good fit.

 

[MCPDC]

Ok, well I managed to paint the body, my daughter helping with the colour selection of course. The end product looks like an upside down frog, which my daughter loves and it shows up well so I won't run her over in the back field while on my bike. Next to build brackets to fit the body correctly as I believe there is some missing hardware that did not come with the frame to mount the body.