why do I not want to buy this engine?

Right now, at Harbor Freight, it is 99 dollars. 6.5 hp, 212 cc. Would it make a decent cycle kart engine?

What else could it be used for

Yes it would be a decent cycle-kart engine. There is one or two cars at gittreville that are powered by "yellow box engines".

I think some kart tracks have started some HF powered series.

So what car do you have in mind for your cyclekart?

I know that recently Honda made them alter the design slightly, making it a better engine as I understand. Bored slightly and larger rod bearing IIRC.

fanfoy wrote: So what car do you have in mind for your cyclekart?

something retro-styled and boat tailed

that is cool.

I've got two of them. One on a go kart, one in my golf cart. They are pretty good little engines.

I did have one failure though. One of the bolts that hold the low oil pressure sensor came loose. It got caught between the big end of the rod and the cam. The cam lost and bent.

I pulled the cam, set it in the vice and smacked it a couple of times with a 4 pound sledge and a block of wood. Bolted it back together and it's been running ever since. That was two years ago.

The one on the go kart has been flawless.

Every time they go on sale I think about buying a spare.

I just got back from HF with the engine. I'm finishing the datsun first, but I think we've just bought the first component of my new project....a boat tailed cyclecart for me (...and by the time it is finished, my nephew) to drive. If my local club will let me do it, the thing would even be fun to autocross.

I would love to build something like that, but forming the boat tail is way beyond my skill level.

Make sure you start a build thread on it, so I can learn how to build one.

I won't start within the next 12 months, but when I do, it will be well documented.

Remember, I don't have any training in this....I just try stuff as I go. Any person on this site could do anything that I do, provided that they're willing to spend the time and acquire (or make) the tools.

With that said, I expect the method to be pretty traditional.....MDF/plywood buck to make sure the shapes are consistent, and shrinker work to make the sides of the boat tail that only curve in one direction. The top and bottom....we'll see. Probably hammer, wheel & shrinker.

Toyman01 wrote: I would love to build something like that, but forming the boat tail is way beyond my skill level. Make sure you start a build thread on it, so I can learn how to build one.

The boat tail forming shouldn't intimidate you. As long as you don't want perfection, you can fabricate a pretty good one piece boat tail for something as small as a cyclekart. Below are two examples that I built. Neither are perfect, but neither required compound curves, or any special metal working tools.

This is the first one I built. Electric powered. Too small, and too fast for the kids.

This is the second I built. Pedal powered. I sell plans for that one on eBay once in a while. That wasn't meant as a canoe, but just to say don't get intimidated because even if you aren't confident you can shape that, a lot of people simply build their cyclekarts from wood, foam and FB.

JoeyM, if you need some suggestions to inspire you, I have a ton of good pictures for inspiration. Did you find some wheels yet? It took me a year just to find four usable cheap wheels from eBay.

I'm about ready to start. I'll start a thread when I do.

fanfoy wrote: JoeyM, if you need some suggestions to inspire you, I have a ton of good pictures for inspiration.

I'd love to see any build pics you have to get an idea of how most people are doing this. For general makes-my-heart-race pictures, I've been looking at stuff like Woody's Model A build and the pre-war thread

fanfoy wrote: Did you find some wheels yet? It took me a year just to find four usable cheap wheels from eBay.

No, I hadn't even started looking. What sort of wheels do you recommend? What about suspension bits and bushings? Are you going to use nylon bearings like this guy did? What about axles, and sprockets for the drivetrain.

fanfoy wrote: I'm about ready to start. I'll start a thread when I do.

I'll definitely be watching.

Oh, and for more inspiration: cyclekart road racing!

[*] - no, I'm not going to say 'bonnet'.....I don't call my wrenches 'spanners' either

Great, another project.

Some of those don't look too hard to form.

Joey, if you keep posting pictures like that, I'm going to want to build a 1:1 scale.

I already have the same temptation......I figure that the cyclekart will either a) get the boat tailed racer out of my system, or b) help me work the kinks out of the build process so the full sized one looks better.

I have a couple of those motors as well and have had good luck with them.

Electric starters for them are available as well on eBay for @$35. For a cart where the engine is covered I would consider it a must.

oldopelguy wrote: I have a couple of those motors as well and have had good luck with them. Electric starters for them are available as well on eBay for @$35. For a cart where the engine is covered I would consider it a must.

Thanks for the info about the electric starters for those. I didn't know those could be retrofitted.

JoeyM: I bought some CT110 wheels. Two fronts and two back. Those are great because the bearing holes in the wheels hub are imperial. With these, I can get imperial bearings and buy ready-made Kart spindles. Some of the Honda wheels have metric hubs, which forces you into metric bearings and homemade spindles.

With that said, I'll probably go with homemade spindles because none of the kart spindles seem to have good geometry (too much scrub radius for nothing, and no KPI).

And yes I will use plastic bushings for the kingpins. I tried bronze for one of the kids speedster, and as soon as they develop a bit of slop, it makes the front sound clunky. The plastic ones cushion that a bit. I'm thinking of making spindles like the ones in the video you linked

Something else that was surprisingly hard to find were the buggy springs for the front. Not a lot of horse buggy parts vendor have websites.

Nice pics here showing the shaping of the grill, hood AND boat tail in foam, followed by fiberglassing. The cockpit appears to be plywood.

fanfoy wrote: JoeyM: I bought some CT110 wheels. Two fronts and two back.

PM sent

I wish I had a place to run one of these. My back yard is only big enough for small gokarts, and I don't have a truck/trailer to take one somewhere.

Subscribing.

fanfoy wrote: Something else that was surprisingly hard to find were the buggy springs for the front. Not a lot of horse buggy parts vendor have websites.

Presto!

http://www.buggystuff.com/Springs_c16.htm

I too am very interested in this.
I live on the 18th fairway of a country club. I do not golf and I am not a member, but... The course has blacktopped cart paths the full length of every hole. This uninterrupted, continuous path would make for an awesome place for a go-cart.
My neighbor has a golfcart styled and carrying the badges of a Cadillac Escalade. There is another out there looking sort of Shelby Cobra-ish.
I would love to have something cool looking like this boat-tail. The engine should not be too loud. Electric may be the perfect answer. Lights on it could be good since I would mostly run it right at dusk assuring no other traffic (golfers) on the path.

When I found myself with a water cooled 250cc scooter engine, I spent a lot of time here.

http://www.cyclekartclub.com/

Tossed the idea when I finally realized I wouldn't have anyone to play with.

I may have recently benefited from that decision

For wheels, I've considered the Miata's spare tire and wheel. (They used solid wheels too!)

Then use the 4" bolt circle pattern hub common for go-karts and just notch the wheel as needed. Of course this is speculation, since I've just day dreamed about building one too.

A buddy works at the place that builds these with them.

I like the idea of the cyclecart better though.

Dammit. I already have automotive and project ADHD bad enough, now you spring THIS on me.