The Gas Engined Wood Go Kart Book II is a companion book to the first book: Wood Go Karts Book I.
This book shows how to set up the drive system so that a gas engine can be mounted to the wood go kart of Book I. This includes engine layout, drive component sizes, very low cost clutch system and the throttle linkage.
Here is a excerpt from the Go Kart Development files on my first wooden go kart…
“We did not have wheels at first so I made wooden wheels out of plywood using a jig saw.
To make the belt track I made a smaller wheel and then nailed the wheel boards together. The down side to the wheel being a pulley is that the wood does not track into a V pattern like a pulley so the belt eventually started to slip and then did not work at all.
But for the first couple of days it worked great.
“The ratioing of the engine to the wheels was always an unknown to me, or guess work to me. Not until years later when I developed the computer program could I make the ideal pulley ratios that would work well.
I did however come up with an arrangement that worked okay. I used a stepped pulley or jack shaft arrangement. I took the small end of the pulley and belted it directly to the rear wheel. Then I took the larger part of the pulley and attached it to the motor. To get the motor to engage, I used a rope and pulled real hard on a tensioner pulley….”
I almost have to chuckle when I hail back to those days of no money but plenty of enthusiasm.
Quite a few things have changed since then, but some very valuable lessons were learned.
In this book we discuss the drive system set up which includes: the pulley system, tensioner system and throttle system. Unlike the simple layout above, the go kart discussed here takes advantage of the superior design changes such as the steering, brakes, drive system and more…
This Book II is valuable for those who want to learn first hand how to make a cheap drive system. Book I shows the details about steering, brakes and frame design. The Book I is recommended but not a requirement.
Purchase Wood Go Karts Book II
For $9.99*
