I just picked up this old bumper car. Naturally thinking it will be a great swapmeet cruizer or some such. It is missing it's original wheels and motor, so just a body but it is very solid with all the trim and all. I am a bit torn on what to do, I like these when you can drive them but they look stock, maybe a little raised up for ground clearance. But there just isn't much room. I have seen the ones on utube that look like they are on quad chasis and are street leagal in Ca., very cool but I don't like the wheels sticking out ( although I understand the necessity there). I am leaning towards a 3 wheeled electric golf cart I found for reasonable money, but thought I'd see if there were and ideas to be found here. I initially thought of a ****le rotary motor I have out of a old snowmobile, way cool but maybe not practical, similarly would be the small turbine engine....) Anyway here is the pic, can't wait for the ideas! Cheers!
Tons of photos for you. HRP https://www.google.com/search?q=str...nu2AX-84HQCg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1120&bih=514
Electric golf cart batteries can be big money, often they cost more than the cart is worth. What I would be tempted to go with is an AMF/Harley Davidson gas cart for the drive. They're fairly common and have very little value. A buddy up here has three that are enough to make one good cart and I think $500 would take the whole lot.
I just saw eight of these sitting at my friends speed shop. They are so cool, and the ThunderPIg is as good as it gets, thanks for sharing. I had a ball in those things at the Nebraska state Fair. The Dodgem Cars were just like the T.Pig original form. It was driving a little hot rod as a ten year old kid! My imagination raced when I saw the eight pack at the speed shop. ~sololobo~
Check out the red and black one third one back. Tom Wright’s Street-Legal Bumper Cars Bumper cars were crazy fun when I was a kid. Even as an adult today, they still look immensely entertaining and I'd probably be on one every weekend if only everyone else lined up to ride them weren't in grade school. Instead of drawing power from the floor or ceiling like regular flat rides, these bumper cars seen around the San Diego area not only run independently - you can drive them down public roads. That's right, these bumper cars, which have been reconfigured to run on four wheels, are completely street legal. Even if they're not, though, I doubt cops will pull you over for a ticket - they'll probably ask to try it for a spin around the block, instead. Created by California-based builder Tom Wright, the original set of modified bumper cars came from the Long Beach Pike amu*****t park's discards. Instead of watching them join the trash heap, he took out the Harley motors, replaced it with 750cc Honda and Kawasaki boxes, and redesigned them to p*** city driving standards. His fleet now consists of eight crazy-looking street bumper cars (culled from different amu*****t parks), all licensed to give your hottest ride a run for its money. A couple of the cars can reportedly go up to 160mph, which seems awfully scary for a car with such a short wheelbase. There's no word on whether he's selling any of these rides, but I doubt he'll have a hard time moving at least a couple hundred of them. Seriously, who wouldn't want to cruise down the streets on a real bumper car? http://www.coolthings.com/tom-wrights-street-legal-bumper-cars/
How in the hell did these contraptions ever get licensed in CA??? They are not motorcycles, one two many wheels. They seem to be on some sort of quad ch***is, which are not street legal in CA. There don't seem to be any headlights, legal windshields or wipers, turn signals, etc., etc. Whatever shenanigans this guy pulled at the DMV would make Boyd Coddington look like a Sunday school teacher
I vote for electric power. True to the bumper car roots. With today's batteries you can have plenty of power. What if you could rig up a power pole with a Tesla coil shooting sparks out the top as you drive around?
I found a small 3 wheel electric cushman on CL, looks perfect, I think the wheels would fit under the car and I'd really like to retain the original look, no wheels sticking out. Hope I can get it, life schedule isn't good for time but I think it would be perfect . Also Hershey doesn't allow gas powered golf carts so instead of getting in trouble like I usually do there ( or did when knee surgery made walking impossible) . I would like more detail on the guts of thunder pig if available. Looks like a very neat compact package. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I used a waaay narrowed Cushman rear end on Thunderpig. After the slicks were mounted there was very little room left. I didn't want to say anything about bumper cars with wheels sticking out , but I totally agree that the wheels belong INSIDE the car. I know its a personal opinion, but those cars just look dopey and awkward to me. Here's another progress pic
I think the wheels out kills it, admiration for thunder pig. that took some thought to get done. I'm going tomorrow to see the cushman nad heard about a 3 wheeled gas job tonight. I do like gasbetter hershey not withstanding. last time when folks said my golf cart was smoking, I said it was the generator I was running to charge the batteries for the electrics. Not sure how it went , I didn't stayto discuss
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