I need help...another project for my kids

I couldn't help it. It was sitting on the side of the road in a trash pile begging for a new life. My wife was in the car at the time and she knew as soon as I stopped what I was doing. I parked in the street, threw open the rear hatch, sprinted for the trash pile and freed this from the detritus:

It is a Kettler pedal car. It has been sitting outside long enough that the plastics are shot and it is missing the chain, but there is some serious potential here. I can't work on it for another two weeks but when I do I'm stripping it down and replacing all the hardware. It will get new paint and possible rubber tires. My four year old son is itching to ride it so I need to make this a quick turn around.

I think it is begging for a chainsaw engine...

Can the plastics, shape something out of aluminum and get you a weed-eater motor.

Go!

Kart wheels and slicks FTW. Nice save!

get a kid's fiberglass kart seat and wheel to replace the only important plastics I see in the pic.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/GoKart-Small-size-Fiberglass-Child-Seat-for-Racing-Go-Kart-/200957979288?pt=Other_Vehicle_Parts&hash=item2eca076a98&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-HEAVY-DUTY-Go-Kart-Go-Cart-Steering-Wheel-/360718534986?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53fc80094a

You can probably put a good electric motor and battery hooked up to the existing sprocket. Then you won't have to deal with pesky neighbors complaining about the noise. There are even controller's that let you limit the speed until he gets more experience. http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=15

So I got the victim home and looked it over:

No chain. Pretty crusty:

Time to blow it apart and get to work:

Luckily my shop assistant was on top of things in the tool department:

Now I could have spent time standing over the sink scrubbing the wheels and plastic bits clean OR since my wife is out of town...

My son requested I paint it blue, so there we go. Almost back together. All new hardware to replace the crusty old stuff:

And done! I have to credit my mother-in-law for the chain guard idea. I just took the bottom half of the old chain guard and modified it to work on top.

The kids haven't seen it yet but I know they will love it.

(edit) Almost forgot, I've got less than $20 into it. Mostly paint and a new chain.

bad ass

slefain wrote: I have to credit my mother-in-law

You really don't. We won't tell anyone. Your secret is safe. You'll just build her up and she will think she knows best even MORE!

Needs moar GRM sticker, otherwise it's berking awesome!!!!

Javelin wrote: Needs moar GRM sticker, otherwise it's berking *awesome*!!!!

Or at least swing by a sign shop and grab some offcuts to cover the dingy yellow plastic fairing.

-Rob

This is about as grassroots as it gets. Now I'm going to be watching dumpsters AND old rotted cars as I drive down the road. I got problems.

rustoleum rattle black for the fairing. Otherwise, this is a case of doing it right!

4cylndrfury wrote: rustoleum rattle black for the fairing. Otherwise, this is a case of doing it right!

I looked through my big cabinet of miscellaneous aerosol cans and couldn't find any plastic friendly spray paint. Being the cheap person I am I didn't want to buy more spray paint, but I may have to just suck it up and spend the $5.

slefain wrote:

4cylndrfury wrote: rustoleum rattle black for the fairing. Otherwise, this is a case of doing it right!

I looked through my big cabinet of miscellaneous aerosol cans and couldn't find any plastic friendly spray paint. Being the cheap person I am I didn't want to buy more spray paint, but I may have to just suck it up and spend the $5.

Your dollar store may stock th

+

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Damn sorry I missed this. I have a bike chain I could have sent you.

Very nice. What about wet sanding the plastic?

if the plastic is just kindof oxidized and chalky, you can try hitting it with a heat gun to bring the color back. people have been doing it on seadoos where the corner bumpers fade for years.

before:

after:

I did the heat gun trick on the steering wheel, wheels, seat, and chain guard, but when I tried orange piece it started to bubble weird so I stopped. Honestly I haven't really cleaned the orange piece more than a quick wipe down. I'll try some Power Purple on it and see how it looks then.

what did the orange shifter in the before picture do? why did you not put the brake back on? I remember the best part of the big wheels growing up was the hand brake skid (until the tires flat spotted).

Rusnak_322 wrote: what did the orange shifter in the before picture do? why did you not put the brake back on? I remember the best part of the big wheels growing up was the hand brake skid (until the tires flat spotted).

i seem to recall the shifter gave you a "neutral" of sorts, maybe if you're coasting downhill? never got far on them, by the time i saw one i was too big for them.

I bought my son a new one 22+ years ago - they were $75+ or so? Great score.

slefain wrote: Now I could have spent time standing over the sink scrubbing the wheels and plastic bits clean OR since my wife is out of town...

the other day I asked my wife if I could put all my garage funnels and oil pans into our dishwasher and she said "yes" as long as I didn't run it with any dishes. I was just kidding with her.

Rusnak_322 wrote: what did the orange shifter in the before picture do? why did you not put the brake back on? I remember the best part of the big wheels growing up was the hand brake skid (until the tires flat spotted).

The orange shifter was the "neutral" lever. Unfortunately the mechanism in the rear axle that allowed it to freewheel is rusted solid. You can see how bad it is here:

The actuating rod was also corroded so badly it was useless under any pressure. Right now if the tires are rolling the pedals are moving. The brake lever needs to have a new handle put on it as the plastic one is all cracked and broken. So it actually has no brakes as it sits, but I can put it back on. The tires have a kind of soft rubber tread so they are way more grippy than a bigwheel, so power slides are highly unlikely.

Slefain, do you have the capacity to weld? Find a cheapo steel BMX hub threaded for a freewheel, cut the mounting flange off, and weld it to the axle. Probably could do it for the cost of the cheapest bike at the local goodwill.