Go kart part deux!

Well now, I was bested by that damn wheel. I created a custom tool that I thought would do the trick but alas. The tire would not stretch. . . at least without some kind of tire machine I have never seen. AH HA! my roommate had a fabulous idea. "why not take the one from the other side and move it. then just find one that's the same size for the free wheel?" Pft, that's WAY not overly in depth or complex. No wonder I didn't think of it. :D

Alright then, so off to the hardware/small engine repair/tire place/napa/equipment repair place. .. . . . Yeah. I'm looking for a tire and or wheel 12" overall diameter, ~3.5 wide with room for a 3/4 axle and said bearings. All measurements written down, one of the wheel bearings in pocket to see if at least the races will work.




NOBODY HAD ANYTHING :( Ok. so its like new 13"+ tires and wheels and a WHOLE lot of fab work I really don't want to do. Or, 10" hand truck wheels and hope there is clearance for the drive wheel pulley. I opted for the 10s, the bearing race fit my existing bearings so no biggie. I got 2 so both sides at least have the same size tires. Oh. . . will you look at that. Maybe 1/32" of clearance to the ground. This will not do. not even for like a perfect tarmac. Ooooh. the front wheels are 11" that may work. That gets me an extra inch or so of clearance. better then ripping the drive system up on a pebble.

Moved the fancy new wheels to the front. They do look nice. prettiest part so far had to remove some of the washers on the spindle. nice and smooth. We got the free wheel all mounted and set up. These old tires are in pretty rough shape. But we are going to run out of  weather pretty soon. test fit looks alright. Now to modify the drive setup quite a bit.

It started with "lets just wedge the wheel against the pully" I thought that may be enough if it was all tight enough together to act as a cohesive unit. Aww. I need about a half inch more on the axle. Well. lets cut the old mounting pieces off the pully. The old wheel had like fins on the back that slid into notches on the pully. since we are unable to use the old wheels now. we improvised. Oh. there are some bushings between the brake drum and the pully all bolted together . . . . . WAIT just one second .. . . . .The pully and break drum are connected with 6 bolts. . . . . the wheel is a 2 piece. a 4 bolt pattern towards the center and at about the same radius as the bolts on the pully/brake drum 6 more bolts (DING!) Yeah, we will just make 1 piece.

some futzing around with put it on, take it off look at it, measure it, put it on, check it, think think think and BA BAM! thats what we'll do. cut the whole funkey fin/slot things off and create a shim of some sort to add some support between the outside of the pully and the inside of the pully. Its a strange beast. like a timing belt. flat and notched more like a chain only its a belt. and now there are HUGE holes between the part that the belt rides and the section that bolts to the brake drum.

Solution. PLY WOOD. some creative (and fabulous I might add) tinkering ensued. what we devised was what looks a lot like a brake rotor. Only its wood and has holes strategically placed for various bits. Well really I just traced them off the parts. But it bolted up nicely and sits right where it should. Next step is to pick up some longer bolts to mount the drive/brake assembly to the actual wheel. some more creative measuring and we got the numbers we need.

Now I am no engineer. I'm a tinkerer. But I do know if the torque is spread across 6 or even better 8 points then you run a far less risk of something just sheering off. . . . I think. I really should have paid more attention in math and science class :D

But all in all Its shaping up. We have the wheels all (mostly) ready to go. Gaskets and carb rebuild kit will be here early next week. I expect by next weekend to have it all back together and ready for paint/finish. get the seat back in and take it for a test spin. More fab pictures at the bottom. I must say I have never seen such amazing skill on a table saw :D

I believe the smaller wheels will reduce the overall speed of the kart, but will allow a snappier low end off the line hop.

Well that's it for now. Its late. I really should be in bed already. But oh well :D

Two little bushings that were between the pulley and break drum. All the junk slot things removed. 

 Notching for plastic-ey pieces on the back side. You can kind of see them above.

The pieces as they begin their metamorphosis.

 The brake drum / shim / pulley assembly ready to test fit.

 Not quite a good fit. The brake band mounting bracket was rubbing. I told you it was sexy table saw work.

All the pieces mostly done. Last test fit. Still needed to fasten the outer part of the pulley to the wood shim for strength.

Final test fit for all the bits. Really not much clearance at all. But at 30 psi these tires are pretty hard and note the centrifugal clutch up there. its not an off roader. 

Better view of how the brake / drive / wheel assembly goes. the tire should be sitting farther to the left. New bolts and bushings to pick up tomorrow. Maybe I'll edit this post if i get everything cookin with the drive system.

Okay, Now its really bed time. Thanks a ton for checking it out.