Looking through a 1958 Rod and Custom, I realized that a lot of the ads - maybe half or more! - were for karts and kart accessories. There were several articles about kart racing events and getting more performance out of them, including a couple that had two engines. People were putting full tuck-n-roll "interiors" in them and painting them with candy paint. Then I noticed that a BUNCH of my magazines from the mid 50s up to the early 60s had a lot of kart coverage. So.. anyone got a traditional kart? I want to see some! I was thinking it would be fun to build one, maybe we could have a kart event at the Roundup next year. haha Oh yeah, I didn't realize that a Go-Kart was a brand name until I saw their adverti*****t.
There was a thread about this a month or two ago. If you can find it I think there was some pretty good stuff in it. I was also interested in vintage karts a couple of months ago. But you can get actual car running for about the same price. They are just too expensive. They look fun though.
A freind that used to work here....he retired last year, raced Karts from the early 60's until the mid 80's....his mom handled registration all those years in the NW, up into the 90's. Any NW karters will know him....Rex... I believe he won a national championship one year too... He brought in a Hotrod magazine from @ 1964/5 with his picture in it of him racing. Also had a picture of him hanging in the office at work, early 80's, driving a twin KT100 Yamaha powered laydown kart at Laguna Seca....cool *** **** man... Really cool guy, lots of kart and hotrod stories....stories of hauling the kart all over, mid west, etc...towing with an Olds wagon...
I had a Margay laydown cart with dual polished aluminum fuel tanks between the tires on both sides, two-piece aluminum wheels with slicks and Hurst Airhart discs. Bought it at the Autorama swapmeet about 12-13 years ago w/no motor for $150. I was told it was mid-60s. I wish I still had it, but someone stole it out from under my mobile home. Yes, I was trailer trash at one time...
I've really been getting into this go-cart thing. In fact I just bought a little trailer so I can haul it to more events and not have to rely on anyone else.
My dad used to race karts for Homelite, in like 61-62. He had one with 3 engines on it. We're working on build one right now with 3 MC-5s in it. Jimmy
When g***erkid was about 6, (21 plus years ago) I found an original Go-Kart , Go-Kart in a neighbors barn , 100% complete with the original west bend engine, ended up restoring it ,paint, new upholstery but to much engine for the kid, so i put a 2 1/2, Briggs on it for him, still have it today saving it for Jackson , his son who will be 3 in november , getting close.
Since I saw a vintage racing kart and the article in rod and custom I think...I have been kind of obsessed with them. The real vintage karts and motors are pretty expensive so I thought it would be easy enough to make one. here are a few of my threads on the kart subject. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=256007 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=250755 I found out there are no blueprints or detailed drawings of a nice vintage race kart floating around the web. Would be fun to have a HAMB wide kart build off.
Me and my dad, and uncle and a few nieghbors are all building karts right now. We're using 13hp Harbor freight engines mostly, But I'm gunna make one with some MC-5s also. We've also making a track on our property and gunna be racing them. So if anyone else wants to join, feel free to make or buy a kart and contact me. Jimmy
I went to high school, and a bit of street racing with Tommy Pierson in ' 62. His dad owned Bug Engineering in Azusa. His mom, Faye "Ladybug" Pierson was the "factory driver. She won a lot of championships in the 60's beating the best guys in the sport. Hell, she still runs at nostalgia kart races. The Pierson family still owns Bug Engineering, still in the same location, and still building karts. I bet a call to Bug might turn up some old kart plans.
When I was a kid (10-12 years old) my ol man traded a Cj5 for an old racing cart from the late 60's..It has 4-wheel slicks and dual yes 2 built Mccullagh chainsaw engines the guy told my dad it would do over 60mph and he didn't believe him until we started them up and I took off!!! He flagged me down and took one off which in a few months had blown both of them up!! Put and ol Briggs on it then got after a few years got too big to fit in it!! MAN IT ****S GETTING OLD AND FAT!! -COS
Oh no, mini bike and kart races at the round up, guess I'm ready. I have a 60's dart kart with a mc49 (which is now on the mini) and a 70's margay panther x set up for dirt with a mc 101. See my other post about a hitch for a 62 t-bird, thats what the hitch is for, all this junk wont fit in the car.
There are some plans online here http://www.vintageprojects.com/go-kart-plans.html and here http://www.diygokarts.com/.
Oh man, vintage carts and quarter midgets, I love 'em. Here's a pic of a cart I built for a friend in 1958...It had a 250 Yamaha factory road racing engine on it..He was a Yamaha dealer so had access to that stuff...Needless to say he was faster than all of them that year...His son drove... In 1959 he bought one of the engines Ducati had won the world 250 road racing championship with in 1958...Desmodromic valve train, vertical twin that made 58 hp at 18000 rpm...6 speed gear box... It was fun to drive but there was no competetion..
Yeah, I had a cart I bought with my paper route earnings. I have yet to see another like it (bought the frame used). It had ONE main rail; was "split" in half, and one end of the tube slid into the other; there was "slot" cut through both tubes and a bolt ran through it. It allowed the frame to "twist" on uneven surfaces. My adult cousin gave me an old 2 1/4 H.P. B&S (old in 66 even), and I ran it direct drive with a V-belt; my father would'nt allow a chain, "you'll cut your fingers off". But, it was still fun, and got started me in this hobby. Many years later I built my nephews go-carts for them. Go-carts: a right of p***age for budding motor/gear heads.
Mine wasn't so much vintage as it was homemade, but it did have a transverse leaf spring and hair pins. I had a lot of fun on that one-wheeled wonder. Makes me want to revive it.....
Here is the one I have(Not This exact one, mines hanging on my garage wall, but will post pics of it), since i was 5, dad flamed it the year I got it for Christmas, still in flames too!!!!! http://www.vintagekarts.com/monza_ss.htm
The Jalopy Journal
