Building the Go-Kart (High School Senior Project Video)

(Music By Juno Reactor)
The first video thats related to this is the entire video. this is just a demo.
heres the Specs:
This project was done for a graduating grade at my high school. the grade on it was a 98% and i got a 95 on my speech (which was 12 minutes long.) this was the video i showed during my presentation.

this project took a total of 2 to 3 months of work, and i started with ordering a set of go-kart plance from Don's DIY Den (diyden.net.) The go-kart was origionally designed for a 5 horsepower motor, but i put in a monster 18 horsepower twin cylinder motor. it wasnt the BEST idea because the ngine is on the side and it is kind of off weight. other than that and the crappy breaks, there are no real problems with it.

The frame used mostly .095" one inch square tubing, and for the braces and brackets, i used 1/4" sheet metal.

All of the parts in which i did not build or find from friends, i obtained from northern tool (northerntool.com.) some parts like the front wheels and steering wheel, i got from friends or yard sales. i got the engine from my stepbrother Tony moore who i thank dearly. the engine is $1400 brand new. it was used in Iraq to power a giant frige. tony bought it to grind up horse poop. and i got it for free.

This thing started up the first pull and yes, i know the mixure is off, but once we got this thing working, it topped out at about 50 MPH, andhad real nice handling. not that great of a turning radious, but good handling.

the clutch was actually a belt clutch and i welded on a sprocket, and it worked perfectly. it is a single speed which is similar to second gear. im DYING for a two pully centrifugal clutch system so i can get all my horsepowers out. either that or some shifter clutch five speed

i have done substantial work since this video. the front shocks DO look bent. theyre not. single A-arm suspentions do move around like that. i admit it does look dumb, SO i put some real beefy shocks up front, and it did give it a four or five inch lift. and now it doesnt look bent anymore. it went from lookling like
this:
/-\
to this
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Rob and i welded on it using some TIG a lot of MIG, but mostly flux chore welding. i used PAC to cut some pieces and i used a hydraulic sheer to cut and bend a lot of the bracings, mounts, and brackets.

this project took a tootal of $700 dollars. its a good price considering the fact that the motor is $1300 brand new.

honors
#60 - Top Rated (This Month) - Autos & Vehicles
#48 - Most Discussed (This Month) - Autos & Vehicles

(UPDATE 11/1/07)- I found this project to be a big dissapointment to my highschool career. its honestly one of my biggest accomplishments i will ever complete in my lifetime, and i was not accredited properly. the school had an award ceremony for the best senior projects. it was narrowed down to the special edd kids, the dance kids welding stuff, and so on. it was completely rediculous. a girl got an award for learning how to dance. a kid got an award for learning how to play drums. every single award was like that. no big accomplishments at all. and no award for me. all this was done with my bare hands. i put more effort into this than most of thie kids didn on theirs in the 3000 student school. and the schools system wasnt professional enough to even notice my project.

even though i felt like it was a horrible waste of time when i didnt get any awards, its still an accomplishment for me.

the gokart is currently sitting out in my backyard. it still runs good, but i still need to add one or two support rails on the frame. the torque of the motor and the poorly designed chain guard snapped the chain. once i get off my lazy but, i might fix it.