Speed Build

you might have problems hooking up steering when you do that

yea but i would have the same problems with my old idea... ill have to decide nextime im in the shop

Ive been lucky with the MTD- since the stock steering is on top of the chassis- i can pretty much go as low as i want with no troubles - actually just lowering the front axle to the top of the frame makes it steer 100% tighter. I might eventually down the line experement with a direct steer setup on top of the chassis.


Putting the front axle that high up will give some steering issues- not to mention be dragging the chassis on the ground - even with tires on it- i think ill be pushing it with my wizard and its lower stance.

ill have to test things out then... right now the lowest point is 10 inches off the ground so i got plenty of room to work with. lowering to to the fram takes of 2.5 inches so im at 7.5 inches but i want closer to 4 inches

Alright so today i welded the body back together. i never welded anything so thin so it was a adventure but i got the job done. i didnt get the chance to clean it up but ima grind the welds down to make it look better and u will hardly notic once i repaint it.


its not a bead i was told by a friend that i would just melt through it if i did a bead so i did a bunch of tack welds until i coverd the whole thing

and if anyone is wondering its a miller welder with gas. my buddy said the gas wasnt workin then but it worked fine so idk if i believe him

Looks good to me. Looks better than my welding on the extended dash on my murray which is probably about the same thickness. I really don't like welding sheetmetal. I don't even have gas on mine, just fluxcore wire.

Tack welding is the only real effective way to weld thin sheetmetal- i dont even think going to a smaller wire it work better.

TIG mightve given a better/smoother weld, but its a pain to operate .

yea i think it came out pretty good for the first time on sheet metal.

next i gotta figure out my front axle. original plan was to do the v shaped axle then i thot of just putting the axle on top of the frame but the only problems with those is the steering linkage would hit the frame so i gotta either find a fix for that or just lower the axle to the frame which would only drop it bout 2.5 inches wich is not nearly what i wanted.

try welding it to the front of the frame? just need to make a longer tie rod

Alright now i am having trouble with the throttle setup. i got tired of welding today so i started worjin on throttle setup.

bieng a twin cylinder its got this complicated governor/throttle setup.

one thing i need to get is a throttle return spring cuz the one i have is to stiff.

right now the brass throotle conector on the side of the carb is sittin half open without pullin on the throttle and i cant figure out why. also the cable i bought is the braided type so i cant figure out how to make it stay in the hole where the z bend goes. Any ideas? i thout it was the solid type when i orderd it but it truned out it wasnt.

Also i think i i might go to a handelbar steering setup because when i pull the throotle it hits the wheel before fully opening up the throttle... even tho i really dont want to because i want to maintain the look

Any ideas?

heres what ima try an put on there

hey i got a pair of bars on my rear engine racer they are pretty cool

so thy work pretty good? i didn't kno if i would be able to turn enuf with them on.

direct steer it works good

alright today i went to ace to get some springs for the throttle setup... they seem to work pretty good


i added 2 springs... one by the cable and one to the left of the bowl

one thing i have to figure out is how to get the wire from the cable to stay in the hole. as you can see its the braided wire kind

Wow i havent updated in forever.

i havent been able to do much cuz one of the other teachers at my school took the welder so ima go take that back next time. i did some major work on the body because it was scrapping thewheels once i lowerd it. ill try an get pics up as soon ass possible.

All i really have left is to put the front axle back on and a few small things here and there. then i will get up a video of it drivin

I used small u clamps to hold the bicycle shift cable in place , i just looped the cable and tightend the clamp down :



Its right next to where i put 'cable to throttle' on the right side .

Or on the cheep side i used a nut and bolt with a hole drilled thru the bolt - then lock the nut down to hold the cable.

To effectively use those handlebars- youll need to change the steering - like on a go kart, one center point and two tie rods - lawntractor steering wheels are designed to rotate multiple times - be a lil inconvienient with the handle bars....

Yea i think i saw ur cable idea on a build yesterday. thats a great idea , i would have never thought of that

and your right bout the handle bars. i didnt even think bout that until i brought them in to the shop

wish i had more time to work on this thing at the shop but it has to be out of there by friday. im pretty much done just gotta weld a few things. i was having clutch issues on the first test run but i think i fixed that. have no more gas to test it but hopefully it will be ready to ride cuz i dont have a welder at the house.

i will get pictures of it up when i get it home

[img][/img]
sorry its dark but heres a pic of the beast.

its definitely not done im still having major clutch problems. if i i start it in gear with the clutch engaged it wont go nowheres but if i disengage the clutch and then try and reengage it it wont engage and it wont stop. i have no clue what the problem is. i even added more bel guides and nothin:(

Probably still too much tension on the belt - my murray was like that - soon as i slapped it in gear, it moved on me - didnt help that the brakes wernt working either.

Id flip it up on end and actually see what it does ( with the tractor off) when the clutch is engaged/disengaged .


My stock 85 craftsman LT12 did the same thing- i put a factory idler on it ( came off my parts LT12) and the dang thing has too much belt tension- it worked perfectly fine before.

k so i havent quite fixed the clutch yet but i got it painted today:)

man that thing looks sweet

Thanks Dice:)

it could use another coat but i will save that for another day because i am happy with it

Ok so i got the wiring almost done... i got a button and a toggle switch from lowes only to realize that the button wasnt a momentary push button till i got home.. so when i would press it it would keep tying to start untill i pressed it again. but i got all the wires, the solenoid, and the toggle switch rigged up and ready to go. i will try to go to a hardware store tomorrow cuz i want to finish up the wiring this weekend