Fixing up the kid's go kart

Bought a used manco kart for the step-son a while back. 5hp briggs, torque convertor system, live axle. 60 bucks. It was hillbillyed like crazy. Kid has a string to run the gas pedal to the engine, and everything on the engine was half-assed. Torque convertor system was wore out, and chain was shot. But I got to admit, it did kind of work.

Biggest problem was key was missing for the chain drive sprocket. Got that fixed and had it driving.

Things fixed... Front spindles reinforced, kid bent them pretty quick.
New driver clutch, old one was wore out and falling apart.(80.00)

New 6.5 hp clone engine(50.00). Had to relocate the engine mount, gas tank was hitting the seat on the new engine.
Old engine was smoking, and carburetor was constantly plugging up. Siphon feed carb, I hate those things.

New belt and buttons for driven clutch(23.00)

New chain, went to a #40 chain. Had to shim(washer) the driver and driven clutches to align them, and to get a little clearance for the bigger chain. Also adjusted the driven clutch to get a little more RPM when taking off.

GPS top speed is 35mph, but, the engine is not at max RPM, it's limited by not enough power when the convertor is maxed out. It has plenty of power taking off and driving, just the sprocket needs to be bigger on the axle to match the engine, convertor, and load.

Now starts in one pull, will do dounts in gravel, and drives great. Should be dead nuts reliable.

We are going to put a large sprocket on it for haspin, and gear it to about 20 mph max, so it can climb hills. Maybe throw a larger set of tires on for clearance.

Looks good wish I had it for myself  

Keep us posted

Looks like you got yourself a beaten but serviceable Dingo. Good job getting it back in order. It does indeed sound like you're geared a bit high, and would benefit from a larger axle sprocket. Either way, great score! I both love and hate getting my hands on stuff that has been half-assed and jerry-rigged. It gives me a challenge and tends to make for a cheap purchase price, but hot dang, people! What were you thinking???

But I gotta give the kid props, he had it running!

I'm gonna split the sprocket to get it off, I don't want to tear apart the entire axle to replace it. Going to split the new one to get it on, can't find a split steel #40 sprocket. Have to count teeth and see what ratio it is, and see what speed I want to run.

Keep in mind (I'm sure you're aware) that when you go to put larger rear tires on it, you'll lose some of the benefit of the deeper gearing you plan. Unless, that is- you know what size tires you're going to put on, and regear with that size in mind.

Yep. Not sure how low I can gear it, with bigger tires. Using the smallest sprocket I can on the jackshaft.

Do you know what the current gear ratio is?

Odd... I posted this last night, but it is not here.  Anyway...

I helped Stretch out with his kids go kart last night.  I put a belt/chain shield together to keep long hair and loose clothes from being eaten.

Here is the belt/chain area of the kart:


Here is the shield I put together with some random scrap sheet metal and pop rivets:


Here is what it will look like assembled:

i have this same go kart but mine is red lol. burns through belts like nothing

If it's adjusted right, the belt should last a long time.

i dont ride it much anymore. too much money and work



thats what happens when i let my sisters drive it

i chopped the frame of one of these up. extended the frame to make it pedal powered, as a project in tech class. encec up getting scrapped. yours looks good, looks fun too. could use new tires in the back though.. almost got racing slicks.. lol

The belt guard looks great, nice work! And, yes- set up correctly and with reasonable gearing, the belt should last quite a long time. My next tractor project is getting a CVT, in fact.

are you planning on painting the kart? or just making it go? that new shield would look cool black with a blue racing stripe
(the blue from the fuel tank)

I'm sure (at least for the party) it's going to be the color it is. Might put some paint on it before Haspin (since it is probably making the trip next year.)

If the kid wants to paint it, he can. Be hard to paint the guard, it's made from galvanized steel.

This kart ran for many hours during the tractor party, and they were all hard hours. Went through 2 full tanks of gas.

Next day, kid broke it. Bent a rim, a weld failed on the rim. So now I have to find another rim for it.

Overall very happy with it, everybody drove it, and were surprised at how fast it was. If you weren't at the top of your game on the racing mowers, you would lose to the kart.