[Kartbuilding] Some follow-up on kart

[Stephen Burke]

Hi Oscar,

Thanks for the follow-up information. Yes, its much easier when you can 
fabricate parts yourself. Not only does it save time, but allows great 
freedom when designing and making parts. I like job you've done on the 
jackshaft mounts, its neat and accurate. I wish I had a small machine shop 
with a lathe, it would make things a lot easier! I have had to spend a lot 
of time hunting down different size bushings for various parts.

Glad to hear the chassis works good. Interesting to hear about the gravity 
fed carb. That engine must be guzzling up the gas! Best of luck with the 
testing. I'm sure it'll be interesting and exciting.

Best of luck,
-steve

On Mon, 14 Sep 2009, Oscar Forand wrote:

> Stephen,
>
>    The kart rims are aluminum single piece Douglas with a 3 -5/16" American
> pattern bolts.  I purchased them in 2007.  The rears are 6" dia X 8-1/2"
> wide and are fitted with Burris dirt track racing tires of 11 X 8 - 6 size.
> The fronts rims are 5" dia X 6-1/2" wide and run 11 X 5.5 - 5 tires.  The
> entire set, plus mounting and shipping, cost me about $400.
>
>    I fabricate my own jackshaft mounts from 2" X 3" X 3/16" steel angle,
> and use a 3/4" shaft to mount the gears on because most of the hardened
> tooth, off-the-shelf gears I need come with that bore size.   I will say
> this, I have a small machine shop in my garage I do side jobs with now that
> I'm retired (I'll be 66 this November) and having your own milling machine,
> lathe, hydraulic press, mig welder, etc:  makes a big difference in what you
> can fabricate yourself!
>
>  The stock Honda's are governed @ 3700 to 3800 rpm.  The governor and "low
> oil alert shut down system"  are the first things removed when modifying
> these engines.
>
>   The frame is functioning fine, the front end works and flexes almost as
> if it had a simple spring and shock suspension system.
> The only other problem I have had in track testing so far is the gravity
> feed fuel systems inability to keep up with the engine while racing.
> A Mikuni high volume pulse type fuel pump is going to be added to the
> system.
>
>    Still have a lot of track testing to do to with varying tire pressures
> to optimize performance, but this thing definitely gets the adrenaline
> flowing!
>
>    Thanks for all the good info on your website and the info you gave me
> directly!
>
> Oscar
>