I once built a go cart

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Many years ago I built a go cart using a Villiers twin 2T 250cc engine. Spent too much money on it & gave it away some years later. How many of you guys have owned a go cart.

Bet yours was not like these.

Go carts

Steve.

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

True mine had pram wheels held on with bent nails round the axles.

[Martin ConnellyParticipant @martinconnelly55370]

I once started to build a flat bed pen plotter but printer technology caught up and passed me (and got cheaper) before I got very far into the build.

Martin C

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

Had one with Pram wheels
Have driven a proper one on a go-cart race track
Have drag raced a milk float.

Robert G8RPI.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

I built the typical pram wheel soap box cart. Fortunately I never took it on the steep road outside the house and never crashed as the steering by feet on the front axle would have meant serious ankle damage.

At school a friend named Hugh made a powered cart out of a moped back end on one side, the front wheel making the other back wheel, body part of a barn door. He charged sixpence or a bob to ride it round the playing fields. He went on to found Diggerland.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Two incomplete Stirling engines are not in the same ball park!

Howard

[Dave Smith 14Participant @davesmith14]

Spent the years 13 to 19 racing 100 Junior and 100 National karts (not go-karts) as it was then. University, wine, women and my road car curtailed that, but then marshalled with the BARC for 8 years, including the British Grand Prix. Then built and raced 750 Formula cars for a long time until the costs of a family stopped that as well. Returned to running events and scrutineering, built another 750 Formula car for a friend, then a hot road Westfield for myself, now I just act as a design judge for the IMechE Formula Student Competition and play trains!.

[Perko7Participant @perko7]

When I was a kid we built 'soap-boxes' but we called them billy-carts, usually made from scrap bits of timber and recycled pram or stroller wheels. We had some good hills around home, little car traffic, so plenty of action. Very few spills, the fear factor kept us safe (not fear of being hurt, fear of facing mum with torn clothes from coming off at speed!) As our skills and budgets improved some ended up with rear suspension (trailing arms using gate hinges, old valve springs from Dad's Morris 6), brakes (a pivoted lever bearing against the back wheel), and 8-wheeler that would seat 3 kids, and one of my mates even had a steering wheel set-up using recycled vee-belt pulleys from a washing machine. That was a trick billy-cart as he put the ropes on the wrong way so to turn right you had to steer left and vice-versa. Fun times.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Do "Elfin Safety" approve of such unapproved, untested and patently unsafe vehicles and practices?

You might hurt yourself! But possibly acquired a better sense of speed and distance in the process?

Howard

[David NobleParticipant @davidnoble71990]

I had a short and non-illustrious career racing karts. Class 4 standard with a 197cc Villiers engine. Gas flowed ports 10.5 or 11-1 compression ratio and 3 speed box.

David

[Chris Evans 6Participant @chrisevans6]

Long distance trials cars where what held my interest, a Dellow followed by a Cannon sporting trials car then on to making my own. My love of motorcycles took over and still does so now.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

[AlanWParticipant @alanw96569]

The nearest I came was as 'mechanic' for my grandson. The kart was a Comer 90 Cadet; fast enough for 8 -11 year-olds. Only at club level. His dad (my stepson) has about as much mechanical aptitude as bull in a china shop. If I hadn't stepped up, the kart would have turned up at meetings wearing the same coat of dirt and grit picked up at the last outing. I also rescued it from being carried to and fro in the back of a van half full of brick rubble, sand, cement etc. For a couple of years, My wife and I enjoyed every other Sunday at the track and, seeing Adam win a few trophies (never a 1st, unfortunately, because that honour always went to the lad with the 4-stroke Honda Cadet – hardly fair). To give him credit, his dad was always full of encouragement, enthusiasm and praise for Adam's successes; just mechanically useless! Sadly, it was to be a transient interest, as is often the case with youngsters.

No, I never got to drive the Kart. Too small for an adult.

Alan

[David NobleParticipant @davidnoble71990]

I love the jet kart. Absolutely insane.

David

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

My old neighbour had a proper 125 cart he used to race, one day I caught him cleaning a tyre mark off the back of his helmet after someone rear-ended him. His missus never found out.

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

Along with others of my age I built a soapbox cart and we would go down to the bottom of our street which it;s self was an hill, at the bottom was a long twisting downhill hill alley we called it 'snake alley' it was not for the faint hearted and I must admit i came to grief a few time.

H

[Philip BurleyParticipant @philipburley44197]

I remember the old Villiers 197, I made a jig to hold the head on my ML7 face plate to machine a bit off . The guys I was doing it for wanted a bit more off each time till the performance fell off , Nothing technical take about a 1/16 off please !!

Phil

[Bob Unitt 1Participant @bobunitt1]

Posted by Steviegtr on 06/04/2020 00:36:23:

Go carts

Steve.

Fascinating. Are those speeds mph or kph ?

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

I made a soapbox cart with 1 foot diameter pram wheels, it could carry at least 3 CWT and lasted for years. In my 20's, I was the mechanic for my friend who had a Barlotti Dino with a 9E Villiers engine. It managed about 20hp and always got into the A finals. Well mostly, the big end went bang on the Brands Hatch short circuit once, which meant only one race that day. These days, there only seems to be 125 karts racing. Go cart is a kids term for toys with motors, a world away from karts.

Edited By old mart on 06/04/2020 18:57:28

[Mike PooleParticipant @mikepoole82104]

R1 kart

Maybe an R1 engine is a bit too much engine for a go Kart

Mike

[SteviegtrParticipant @steviegtr]

Posted by Bob Unitt 1 on 06/04/2020 18:47:48:

Posted by Steviegtr on 06/04/2020 00:36:23:

Go carts

Steve.

Fascinating. Are those speeds mph or kph ?

MPH.

[Simon Williams 3Participant @simonwilliams3]

Long ago, in a galaxy far far away I built a hover craft for the son of a neighbour as a project linked to the Neighbourhood Engineers initiative of what was then the IEE.

To be strictly accurate I built the transmission, my neighbour's son and his sixth form buddies built the hull and the rudder mechanism.

It was the type of hovercraft which uses a single engine for lift and propulsion, about the size and looks of a rubber dinghy with a tail fluke. It had a Suzuki 250 cc bike engine coupled to a big Breezamax fan, with about a quarter of the resulting draft directed down into the skirt. The mountings for the fan and engine with a chunky toothed belt drive was the bit I contributed.

My principle recollection of it was that I took the responsibility of the initial trial, so I revved up the motor and it lifted off the ground and set off. Letting off the throttle caused it to sink immediately to the ground, whereupon it threw me out of the front as it came to a direct and very abrupt stop.

But the main difficulty I had with it was I never got the hang of the steering – or rather the lack of steering. We had the use of the local school's football field to play with it – imagine a completely flat grass field of about 4 acres, with rugby posts at each end. Try as I might I could not escape the magnetic and overpowering attraction those goal posts had for the front of the hovercraft. I think I collided with one or other of the goal posts three times.

There are clubs who race these things over land and water – and my neighbour's son had his heart set on joining in. I left him to it!

Ho Hum

Simon

[AlanWParticipant @alanw96569]

Old Mart,

This link shows the classes in the UK at the moment. Rather more than just 125cc!

**LINK**

Alan

[MeunierParticipant @meunier]

Way back in 1959 I was working as trainee instrument maker and one of the staff was a big shambling guy called 'Big' I used to chat with him as he was an interesting person to talk to, very friendly and used to turn up on the most interesting bikes, usually with side-car. Some days a big Velo and sometimes an Indian four-in-line.
One of his hobbies was supporting his two sons with their karting endeavours and I was invited to meet them and perhaps join them on an outing.
Not only did he have the Velos at home but also a Brough Superior and a Scott Squirrel, he wouldn't let me ride them though…..
We went to Tilbury kart track and I got some driving in for a few months until his sons moved on, not sure of the kart make but fairly basic with a Clinton chain-saw engine. Wow, that was a revelation after the James Cavalier.
DaveD

[Author]

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