Yerf Dawg XL

[countrydriven]

This wonderful marvel has been wasting away in my field for about 3 years now since we've all grown up and now have road legal off road rigs:

My plan is to make it into a legit mini buggy that will be able to seat a large adult (I'm 6'3'').

My plans so far that are by no means set in stone:
Body/Frame:
Extend frame 6-10"
Reinforce frame heavily
Widen roll bars
Add cargo rack
Center steering wheel
Replace floor
Add offroad light w/cage
Add cargo box in rear
Add metal covering on front and sides throughout
more Ill add later...

Engine:
NRRACING stage 2 w/ aluminum flywheel
Custom dual exhaust w/ removable mufflers
some sort of charger for the battery
governor removal

I plan on keeping the tires throughout for now and probably the crappy shocks as-well. Mostly I'm going to spend my money on the fabrication vs. drive/powertrain.
http://buggymasters.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1030
I will be copying this individual in some aspects, he went for sorta the same thing I want except for milder and maybe a little longer (thats up in the air though). I'm going to try to get some drawings and plans going in shop before I make the first cut so I will be posting those up here initially. Hope we can all learn something here and hope y'all enjoy the build thread!

 

[Half-breeder]

Good plan... just IMO, I think youre gonna need a larger power-plant and drive (engine and TC... >10hp and 40 series).

 

[firemanjim]

I would stagger your cuts. Some in the front, some in the back. If not, your stress points are at the welded sections. You don't want all of them stressing at the same time.....
EDIT
Cut the top rail close to the front. Cut the bottom rails closer to the seat..... Get the idea?

 

[countrydriven]

Good plan... just IMO, I think youre gonna need a larger power-plant and drive (engine and TC... >10hp and 40 series).

I totally agree with you but I simply cant afford to upgrade the engine/transmission like I'd like to just yet. When/if we ever upgrade we're gunna run a 250cc manual quad/moto engine (yes I know this isn't simple but nothing really awesome is lol).

 

[countrydriven]

I would stagger your cuts. Some in the front, some in the back. If not, your stress points are at the welded sections. You don't want all of them stressing at the same time.....
EDIT
Cut the top rail close to the front. Cut the bottom rails closer to the seat..... Get the idea?

This is some useful advice that I will definitely use when performing the fabrication. Thank you!

 

[countrydriven]

Update

Alright after some measuring in the sense of me hopping in the go-kart and seeing how much legroom I have, I believe I'm only going to extend it 5 inches. If I move the steering column to the middle of the frame in line with the middle of the seat, and angle it upwards, it actually is quite spacious to be honest. The 5 extra inches will be included so the brake/gas pedals have room where they otherwise wouldn't. Again all of this is just my logic, if any of y'all have any innovative ideas to help me out I'm all ears.

Anyways here's some pics of the go kart in shop! Got it unloaded today and ready to begin work (after finalizing plans of course)!

Also, yesterday my buddy and I kinda sketched up what we want the paneling to look like all said and done. A few details to note:
-We are making paneling that covers the front where mud could come into the kart
-will be bolted on vs. welded for disassemble/maintenance
-Holes need to be cut out for the shocks (they stick out past frame
-I have no clue what type of metal to use (needs to be lite and flexible/bendable to the various contours it's covering). What would y'all recommend?
-look past the back that's just a headrest idea

 

[countrydriven]

Cut this in half and thats pretty much my Idea on the roof rack. I can attest to the lights used here, there from harborfreight and I've got them on my truck. Good bang for buck.

Link to lights:http://www.harborfreight.com/off-road-long-range-truck-light-system-3029.html

 

[countrydriven]

By the way, does anybody know the inside & outside diameter of the piping on the kart? Thanks, I will measure myself if need be.