Summer of Cars Part 2 - Go Kart! Part 2

GO KART!

We made it down to Jamul and assembling the go cart wasn't as much of a pain as I thought it would be.

The engine went in fine and aligning the chain was a piece of cake.  We didn't have a 1/4" key to keep the rear wheels from spinning free.  So, I had to use a bench grinder and make one.  And the rear breaks would stick but that was fixed with a beefier spring.  Overall it was much easier than I expected and within an hour we were doing some test runs.

Okay, maybe I'm a bit big for it.

But the kids loved it.

and plenty of other adults.

We even had expert supervision by grandma.

Eventually it was test so thoroughly that the rear tire came off.

but in the traditional "Jamul way" it was quickly repaired with a hose clamp and some duck tape.

Summer of Cars Part 2 - Go Kart! Part 1

The summer started with the cragslist impulse purchase of a $60 "go kart."  "Go kart" is in quotes because it was really just a frame and two tires.

You might notice a motor on the back but after a trip to the lawnmower shop I learned it was worthless.  Basically, for the price of repairing this underpowered 3.5 horsepower motor I could buy a new 6.5 hp engine at Harbor Freight.  And after a 20% discount coupon appeared in my inbox I got the motor for less than $100.  Awesome.

A quick paint job and upholstery.  

The two front tires were fine but the back weren't.

I did appreciate the use of old sockets as spacers on the busted wheels.

A trip to my local go kart shop, Catkart was a big help.  I picked up some pedals, linkage,  rims and tires for the rear.  The kart quickly became a money pit, consumed way too much time but it was so much fun.

Finally we strapped the frame on the roof and threw the rest of the bits into the back of the subaru and headed to my folks in Jamul.


stay continued for part 2