go-kart w/ lawnmower engine, help!

Figit090

Figit090

Fastest mk3 GT4 1/4 mile!
Jan 7, 2006
1,835
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Humboldt County
thanks a lot for the help man. sadly all i have access to are an oxyacetylene welder and an arc welder.... will either of those work? i'm guessing an arc would....but i dont know much about welding... so i dont know.

so what is your opinion on the single a-arm setup on the independent suspension? durable enough? i could probably do that without too much trouble, and i did want IRS... otherwise i'd have that whole tranny and engine swinging around...

but is 11hp enough to have a fast go cart that is this large? like, could it get along well on the beach and stuff? or would it bog down and not really do too well? because i'd love to just rip around and break the rear loose if i wanted to but i dont think its got the oompf for that. but either way...i dunno. its so hard to judge what type of setup i want when i dont really know how this engine will do in terms of torque and HP... maybe youtube will help me out. im' sure somebody's got one and filmed it, i just need to find a video.

on another note, you have an onroad kart with what kind of engine/drivetrain? got any pics?

i cant wait to get started on this.... i hope i actually get it going/finished. lol. i know i CAN its just WHEN!! :p
 
speed

speed

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May 27, 2006
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Figit090 said:
thanks a lot for the help man. sadly all i have access to are an oxyacetylene welder and an arc welder.... will either of those work? i'm guessing an arc would....but i dont know much about welding... so i dont know.

so what is your opinion on the single a-arm setup on the independent suspension? durable enough? i could probably do that without too much trouble, and i did want IRS... otherwise i'd have that whole tranny and engine swinging around...

but is 11hp enough to have a fast go cart that is this large? like, could it get along well on the beach and stuff? or would it bog down and not really do too well? because i'd love to just rip around and break the rear loose if i wanted to but i dont think its got the oompf for that. but either way...i dunno. its so hard to judge what type of setup i want when i dont really know how this engine will do in terms of torque and HP... maybe youtube will help me out. im' sure somebody's got one and filmed it, i just need to find a video.

on another note, you have an onroad kart with what kind of engine/drivetrain? got any pics?

i cant wait to get started on this.... i hope i actually get it going/finished. lol. i know i CAN its just WHEN!! :p
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Yea you should be able to do it with an arc welder. I've never used one so I can't give you any pointers though. For ripping around on sand and dirt, single A-arms will be fine. If theres rocks or jumps though, you should look into upper & lower a-arms or run some seriously beefy ones. But for what you're looking to do, just one will be fine. 11hp will probably get you up to 20-25mph tops (my guess). It'll have enough to have some fun, but it won't be anything that'd make you go OMG WOWZORZ.

Sadly no I don't have any pics of mine, I built it in the days of shitty digital cameras. my first one i used a 8hp lawnmower motor, it broke after about 5-6 hours of use though. A year or two later I made one with a 23hp ATV motor, that had a solid rear, diff, with shocks, disc brake, it was neat. I bought most of the parts from that mfgblabla (the green one) site. I probably got up to 40-50mph in that thing before i pussied out.

If you need help, find a local fabricator, they LOVE working on projects like this. I had a guy help me with setting up the chassis, i'd go to his shop on weekends and he'd weld up most of the chassis. I of course let him drive it once it was done, but they really like being involved.
 
Isphius

Isphius

Supra-less :(
May 30, 2006
359
0
0
long branch
Figit090 said:
so that 3 speed is durable and will handle lots of crap eh? how till a 11hp engine do in terms of speed, torque, and wheelies?

i cant get a hold of that owner of the 60s sears suburban. it looks like it could be pretty sweet (hi/low plus 3 gears and one more hp, and horizontal shaft) but his phone is off!! arrrghhhahgha.
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That motor is going to be identical to a beand new one. that design has not changed in almost 100 years. Except around the 40s or 50s they switched to aluminum from cast iron. And yes those axles are very tough, and they will take the speed ok. I had one of those from a very old lawn tractor. And those motors, the HP rating is wack. They will max out at like 4500 rpms, and they make more than double that number in torque. A 5hp briggs will make 12 ft lbs of torque. so an 11, somewhere in the 20-30 range. Not bad for a cheap/free motor. BTW, Ive had a 5hp briggs up to about 6-7000 rpms according to gear ratio/tire size calculator and a bike speedo. That was with a dirt bike carb and a clemens racing cam and a shaved head, and a ton of other machine work I did with a dremel. I shot the connecting rod out of the block tho :( Another pretty good motor i had on my minibike too was a 4hp block (smaller bore than a 5hp, same crank) bored about 1/4 inch with an 8 hp piston in it. Would do wheelies and go 40mph with one gear...so not bad.
 
Figit090

Figit090

Fastest mk3 GT4 1/4 mile!
Jan 7, 2006
1,835
1
36
Humboldt County
thanks for that. sadly i cant get a hold of the owner of the damn thing so thus far i'm sticking with what i've got.

what do you think of the 11hp briggs kept with the stock 3 speed tranny i posted pics of earlier will do? i dont know what the sears suburban was like so i dont know how they compare...

i was contimplating some mild porting or work on the engine i have, but i might just reseal the case and use it how it is... and think about that later. i would hate to screw up...i know the concepts of mild machine work with hand tools because of my RC background but i dont know how i would do with it myself. i am a perfectionist though.
 
Figit090

Figit090

Fastest mk3 GT4 1/4 mile!
Jan 7, 2006
1,835
1
36
Humboldt County
cool thanks. thats a pretty sick little mower. if i have trouble with my gocart i'll probably just see what i can do to drop the frame below the axels and drive it like that. oh and a smaller pulley on the tranny :)

i think there's a much bigger one on the engine as well that i could transfer the belt to! actually i'm going to go see if its too much of an angle to run to the tranny...it was meant for the mower deck (big, more speed)
 
Figit090

Figit090

Fastest mk3 GT4 1/4 mile!
Jan 7, 2006
1,835
1
36
Humboldt County
HOLY SHIT! somebody just offered me a 20hp 2 cylinder albin diesel? anybody know how big that would be? they said it was too big for their sailboat, but in my ad i said i wanted nothing larger than a VW engine...

all they want is 50 bux! i wonder... what do you guys think?

she said it has a 2:1 borg-warner velvet drive tranny on it.....
 
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Clueless

Clueless

Banned
Feb 22, 2006
980
0
0
39
Columbus, Indiana
Figit090 said:
thanks a lot for the help man. sadly all i have access to are an oxyacetylene welder and an arc welder.... will either of those work? i'm guessing an arc would....but i dont know much about welding... so i dont know.

so what is your opinion on the single a-arm setup on the independent suspension? durable enough? i could probably do that without too much trouble, and i did want IRS... otherwise i'd have that whole tranny and engine swinging around...

but is 11hp enough to have a fast go cart that is this large? like, could it get along well on the beach and stuff? or would it bog down and not really do too well? because i'd love to just rip around and break the rear loose if i wanted to but i dont think its got the oompf for that. but either way...i dunno. its so hard to judge what type of setup i want when i dont really know how this engine will do in terms of torque and HP... maybe youtube will help me out. im' sure somebody's got one and filmed it, i just need to find a video.

on another note, you have an onroad kart with what kind of engine/drivetrain? got any pics?

i cant wait to get started on this.... i hope i actually get it going/finished. lol. i know i CAN its just WHEN!! :p
Click to expand...

Well, me being a welder, I've never welded with oxy or arc but was told it's like tig welding to a degree. If you can and don't mind spend a little cash, check into a clarke fire feeder mig welder which can be had for 200 bucks used on ebay.
 
Clueless

Clueless

Banned
Feb 22, 2006
980
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39
Columbus, Indiana
Figit090 said:
but is 11hp enough to have a fast go cart that is this large? like, could it get along well on the beach and stuff? or would it bog down and not really do too well? because i'd love to just rip around and break the rear loose if i wanted to but i dont think its got the oompf for that.
Click to expand...

You can always mill/lap the head and/or block to increase the CR for added HP and torque. It's decently the best bang for the buck.
 
Figit090

Figit090

Fastest mk3 GT4 1/4 mile!
Jan 7, 2006
1,835
1
36
Humboldt County
cool.

i'm going to see whats happenin' with that 50 dollar diesel i got an offer on and then i'll wait for another engine/work on plans with what i got. thanks.
 
Clip

Clip

The Magnificent Seven
Oct 16, 2005
2,738
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38
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Virginia
finally got back on track and purchased a clutch today at northern. im going from an 8" pulley to a 10 tooth sprocket, about an inch and a half in diameter.

also got the mig welder up and running and its flat out amazing compared to the stick welder. no contest.
 
Clueless

Clueless

Banned
Feb 22, 2006
980
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Columbus, Indiana
Clip said:
finally got back on track and purchased a clutch today at northern. im going from an 8" pulley to a 10 tooth sprocket, about an inch and a half in diameter.

also got the mig welder up and running and its flat out amazing compared to the stick welder. no contest.
Click to expand...

Oh course... which remind me that I need to pick myself up a miller tig welder.
 
Clip

Clip

The Magnificent Seven
Oct 16, 2005
2,738
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Virginia
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theres the progress. hey h8r, can you get me a working 3spd?
 
Toyota h8r

Toyota h8r

Formerly KILLERMK3
Jan 24, 2006
187
0
16
37
Sylvania ohio
www.cardomain.com
I might...i dont have one in "stock" but i know a few people who have some maybe. Shipping might be high...we'll see though. UPDATE ON MY TOYS: my dad gave me an older wheel horse tractor that has a broke 3 spd(guy was pulling a stump out and wheel hopped it and snapped a spider gear) Pics will come tomorrow.....After so much thought and such...my version II might be history lol.

:EDIT: BTW clip that setup with sprockets might now work well. The rear being so small might bind and cause failure....or just no tq and all speed. Also, with a centrifugal clutch....dont expect wheelies unless you transfer a lot of weight quickly. My setup is a 3in or 4in(depends what motor i run) and a 2.5in rear. That is with a belt setup. If i were you, id run a lil bit bigger sprocket.
 
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Clip

Clip

The Magnificent Seven
Oct 16, 2005
2,738
9
38
35
Virginia
im awful scared that the 5speed will go down in a blaze of glory since i switched to such a small sprocket. it was either that sprocket or a 54 tooth one bigger than the pulley
 
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