father and son go cart build

[Jon Jacobs]

Hi All, here is a few images of a go cart my son and I rescued from a farmers field. On closer inspection it proved to be in worse shape than we realised. We decided to modify it to suit our tastes. I made up my own tube bender and we sourced a couple of old lawn tractor tires for the back. It is powered by a 6.5 horse 4 stroke. I was hoping to teach my son a few skills.

 

[Jon Jacobs]

A few more pics.

 

[FJ 432]

Will you adopt me? That looks cool as hell.

 

[Jon Jacobs]

Thank you. We had so much fun building it. Its easy to just open your wallet and buy a cart already, I was hoping to build some memories.

 

[NKlamerus]

I can dig it!! We had a Murray go kart for a while with a 12 horse honda on it, that thing was AWESOME.

Be very careful around ditches, we went through quite a few rear axles.

It appears the rear shaft is chain driven? I would strongly recommend fabbing a protective cover! Especially if your kids will be the main driver of that beast!

 

[Jon Jacobs]

Hes already tore out the all the bearings once. I had to ream and pin all the gears as he shredded the set screws ( my fault ). My brother engineered the jack shaft gear ratio. Its really fast but stable. I ended up putting a lap belt in it, which was a good idea. He flipped it once.

 

[spoonsports86]

thats dope
i want to build one but to replicate a mario cart to bad i dont know how to weld

 

[restorick]

Way cool! I had the same experience 4 years ago with my nephew, who was 12 at the time. Now he's 16, and we're looking at repurposing an old snowmobile motor/torque converter into a power plant for an off-road buggy. The most amazing thing about the first build was watching him TEACH HIS DAD how to install brakes, run cables, etc. And of course, within about 15 minutes, he figured out how to bypass my speed limiter...

Enjoy!
Rick

 

[IROC-Z28]

Very, Very cool. I wish more fathers would take the time to teach their sons important skills, and have fun!

 

[48RON54]

wow, nice work man

 

[Jon Jacobs]

Thanks guys, I machined his initials in the brake and gas which proved a bad idea. Go means J and stop means N means go. Its a bit confusing lol

 

[Hantke]

That's awesome!!! me and my dad were always more of dirt bike people, but i always wanted to build a go-kart! that's a great project! Do you plan on teaching your son to maintain his go-kart do he has experience for when he is older?

 

[Jon Jacobs]

Hi, yes I was hoping he would get a sense of basic mechanics. Its hard to fine a common thread these days with all the distractions of the internet , I phones and the like. I wanted him to get his hands dirty and get a sense of accomplishment. Growing up too fast, lol

 

[Zeke]

Well, I'm not sure about the lap belt. I hope he doesn't put his legs inside the steering hoop. If he does then the lap belt is necessary but most karts are considered to be like quads and bikes. IOW, you fall out like they fall off. You don't want to get tangled up in a rolling kart. I flipped 2twice in 40 years at over 60. No injuries.

I raced them for 40 years.

 

[raddksn]

When I was 11 or 12 (53 now) my dad brought home an old cushman scooter. WE took it all apart cleaned up all the rust and painted it(rattle can red), got the motor running, some new tires, and I rode that thing day and night every summer!

Memories I will take to my grave!

Great job dad your son will never forget the time you did this together!

 

[Jon Jacobs]

Thanks so much, I really appreciate it. My dad got me a mini bike when I was a kid. Made me lap the valves by hand. It was a basket case. Great memories.

 

[beakie]

looks very familiar... as I often check out the Princess Auto Project Page.

great work, I'm hoping to post similar projects as my boys get older (both under 3 currently)

 

[Jon Jacobs]

Thanks, Yup, you guessed it, good eye. Its on the P/A projects site.

 

[indianbullet]

Very cool, I had a nice 16hp twin cyl engine on mine when I was a kid in the early 70's great way to learn to drive.

 

[Chaznsc]

Im not sure I can appreciate this. Can you ship it to me so I can look at it?

 

[1grnlwn]

Speaking from experience, he will remember this for the rest of his life.

 

[Jon Jacobs]

Thanks guys, much appreciated. Truthfully neither of us are good at sports, no hockey nets or basketball hoops at our house, but this was a good exercise.

 

[-Brent-]

Really nice work. We need an action shot, or two.

 

[gearhead1]

Perfect father-son project!

 

[Jon Jacobs]

sadly hes already out grown it. I don't have the heart to sell it. I will likely pull the motor and put it under my bench ( with all the other junk ) and hang the frame on the wall. Maybe on day his kids will drive it. Call me sentimental.

 

[neonnblack]

Time for a buggy.

 

[mototexas]

Your kid will remember that for the rest of his life, i remember restoring a dirt bike with my dad, god that was sooo long ago.

 

[Jon Jacobs]

youre right I hadn't thought of that, time to move on to another project, a bit bigger. good memories,true.

 

[54FordPanel]

Nice cart, and nice shop!

 

[Jon Jacobs]

Nice cart, and nice shop!

Thanks, I try to keep it clean.

 

[C G]

Cool project. You have a very well appointed shop, he should learn some very useful skills working with pop out there.