Vintage Grumble

Gotta keep them soft for the ladies

My lathes not wired up yet, but that wont be a problem if I just bolt the petrol motor down real good to the bed and then run it to machine the shaft. Hmmmmmmm not a bad idea TBH.

So the CVT showed up, and unfortunately the picture was correct and the description wrong, its made for a 19mm shaft (my motors 25mm) but I knew that was probably going to be the case. Also, my back up plan of machining one bit out to convert it to suit a 25mm shaft wont work, because I didn't know there's another part that needs to fit the 19mm shaft, and cant easily be converted to 25mm. Even though I really want to use my 13hp motor, I had a look around for something else with a 19mm shaft, but it seems the biggest motor you can get with a 19mm shaft is only 7.5hp, which might be a bit dull in a fairly hefty kart. Also a bit odd as the CVT is rated from 8-18hp, but won't fit anything over 7.5hp. The other option is to buy another CVT to suit the 25mm motor, but they around $450/$500 landed for the cheapest ones and I don't really want to spend that much. After having a think about it all, I thought the easiest and cheapest way to fix everything might be to just whip the crank out of the motor and machine it down to 19mm to suit the CVT, but just as I'm typing this out I've realized there's another slightly goofier option that might fix another little problem as well. The output shaft on the motor is also too short, and lengthening it would be a mission (they don't seem to make a motor with a long enough shaft, part of the CVT just hangs unsupported in the middle) sooooooooo what if I just run a little jack shaft through the CVT input with a chain drive back to the motor, this would fix the shaft size issue and also sort out the length issue, and also fixes another issue I was having, where the CVT wont fit on the motor facing backwards like I want (and like it needs to due to some ribs on the casting getting in the way of the output chain when its facing forward/up side down) This solution just adds a bit of weight and complication, but fixes many problems. Hmmmmmmmmmm. Any way, pics to support the above ramblings. This is the bit I was going to machine out to 25mm, but it only leaves a 2.5mm wall thickness, and then the drive on the other end wont work, This is the other bit I didn't know needed to be 25mm ID, much harder to change without it being a wonky mess. Hard to tell in pic, but that's the end of a shaft that's about 50mm long. This shows how far out the driver end has to hang, the bolts about where it would be done up, and shows how much would be unsupported in the middle, the little black bit centers the end. So yes, I will have to investigate the jack shaft idea, might end up being the best and easiest solution. Also, my adorable little steering rack showed up, soooo cute. Regards, VG.

So I have literally spent HOURS just cutting un-needed stuff off this thing, my cutting/grinding consumables consumption has to be highest of any project I've ever done, lols. I have ditched the seat as my child bearing hips don't fit in it, and I'll use one of the spare SXS seats I have. I have removed all the seat mounts and one of the chassis bars in the floor to get the seat as low as possible, as I need all the room I can get. I have also removed the complete steering column and associated mounts, as the steering was super heavy and grossly done. I also cut out both foot pedals as they were just retardedly done, and I also removed the little dish that you feet had to jam into, along with all the mounts and what not. I removed the shifter also, as not needed. On the back end, I removed everything vertical, as I don't need any of it, I will just remount the shocks at the base of the roll bar rather than half way up. Shit cut off the main frame, Shit cut off the back end, and the blank canvas ready for the motor, Seat mock up, Flipped it over to cut more shit off, before and after, SO MUCH GRINDING. I'm going to weigh all the shit I cut off just because I wanna know. I have also ordered a few trinkets from uncle Ali, the main part being the CVT/torque converter thing, annoyingly my motor actually has a 25mm output shaft, and all of the China CVTs are 1" (25.4mm in the new money) so I might have to make up a little spacer possibly. The unit I purchased said it was 19mm in the pics, but 1" in the description so might not even fit at all (I got it cos it was the cheapest one I could find, and was free freight, saved a good $200) but there seems to be an insert to adjust the size of the driver end shaft, so I'll machine that out to suit if needed (Top right thing in this pic) I also ordered a cute little steering rack which hopefully will lighten the steering up a bit, with a hint of reduction, but not tooooo much because of the hand controls I can't have it 3 turns lock to lock. Gawd this thing is awful, what was I thinking. Regards, VG.

WTF is gumboot Friday?

So a work mate asked to use my Chinese post hole borer on Friday, and this reminded me that when I purchased it about 4 years ago, that I also purchased a Chonda 13hp motor because it was on special and seemed like an amazing deal. I had intended to make a go kart to take the 13hp but never got around to it. I then decided I really should buy something to slap the motor in. I got to work, opened face bork market place, and my eyes were immediately affronted by a V coloured off road go kart, that was only about 100km away, and had no motor, and was fairly cheap because its fucking disgusting. I decided Allah had willed it, and arranged to purchase it. I headed up into the hills near Katikati to collect it, and its even grosser IRL. I'm no welder, but it looks like the welds were chucked in its general direction from half a KM away. Its also got some real grot redneck engineering going on. And it seems the frame was built by someone with no legs, as the pedals are near on unusable, the old owner mentioned you cant wear shoes in it, lols. The last motor it had in it was a 750 bike motor, but I plan to just run said 13hp motor with a CVT. I'm going to cut every unnecessary bit off it to lighten it up a bit and make it look a bit nicer, and I'm thinking of running hand controls due to the lack of leg/foot room, and so people of all ages and sizes can hoon it. ANYWAYS, just look at it, Just look at it, Take it all in, The longer you look, the worse it gets, Its like a bright green hate crime against fabricators, I can't even work out what half this shit used to do, Bleaching your eyes won't help, its burned into your very DNA now. ANY HOW, I told myself I wasn't going to touch it until I finished some other stuff off (aka my poor old car) but it grossed me out so bad, 30 mins later it looked like this, I'm an idiot. I have named this vehicle "Scum Bag" Regards, VG.

So I couldn't get the filter apart, so just left it in petrol for a week, and then did lots of flushing with said petrol and blowing the bollocks out of it with compressed air, and managed to get lots of smut out of it, and a pile of silicone sealant, I then reinstalled it, filtered the oil and slapped that back in, and blow me down with a rubber goat it now works perfectly! I did a good hour or so of work without an issue, so fucking stoked thats all that was wrong with it, huzzah!! Regards, VG.

Nice work and all, but what the fuck is in that GT86?

Yeh in that list pic you can see the rusty plug that holds the innards into the housing, but it seems to be glued in or something, I don't think its made to come out. I'll have a better look tonight, can't really go ham on it, as I don't know if I can get a replacement.

LEWLZ, he knows what he's doing though .....

So I got this bad boy out on Sunday, and did a little bit of yard destroying. The good news is low range works, 4WD defiantly works and makes quite a difference to its yankability (The sticker by the selector is unreadable, I thought it was in 2WD until I did a wheelie and saw the front wheels were indeed being driven. Tried a big load in 2WD and it just did skids), and it can move quite a decent amount of dirt quite easily ALSO my rippers work very well, and I haven't bent any so far, they have removed quite a few decent roots so far also, nice. The only problem I have encountered was after a few passes it didn't want to lift up the blade. I surmised that it might just be low on hydraulic fluid, so I went and got some, topped it up and it started working again, but with a few jerky steps. Then after a while it didn't want to lift again, but if I turned it off for a few mins and tried again it would. SO I decided (hoped) it was a blocked filter, I had a nose at the parts tractor and it has one of these bad boys on the suction end, which is also what they look like when you look them up on the net: SO I proceeded to yoink mine out (there's way more hydraulic oil in there then a thought, I had to roam around looking for clean containers to store it in lols) buuuuuuuuuut its not the same, this filter is in its own housing, and you cant pull it out: SOOOO I've got it soaking in petrol, and will try clean it all out best I can and see what happens. When it does lift it lifts quite quickly/strongly, so I don't think its a bung pump, its more like an oil supply issue or air in the lines or some shiz. Thoughts and prayers its just a clogged filter. The filter did look quite mank, but all the oil that came out was a lot cleaner than I expected, so that's good. Regards, VG.

The diesel looked and smelled like it should, so I just cleaned the scum out of the bowl, and will top it up with some fresh stuff.

So I found a baby blade for my baby tractor, its 1.4m but still looks quite wide compared to the tractor, lols. The top-tier GC @sentra collected it for me, and I did a quick 600km round trip mission to collect it. SO I wanted to make some rippers, but then thought it would be a PITA to keep swapping between the rippers and the blade, so I had a million dollar idea to attach them to the back of the blade, but on pivots so when you're blading they just rock out of the way. Turns out its already a thing, lols. I got some mild steel 50x10 flat bar and made up my rippers and mounts, not sure if the bar will be strong enough, but guess I'll find out soon. Made a prototype, didn't put a big flat on the ripper or an up turny bit, because small/light/16hp tractor. Just want to loosen thing up a bit. Then went into full production, The blade rotates, so if ripping in reverse doesn't work, it just takes a few secs to rotate the blade and can then rip forwards. It would have been nice to have them the whole width of the blade, but I can just do a few passes, not in a hurry. If they bend, I can always shorten them, or add on more steel or a strong back or something. I also got my AliExpress nut to hold the ignition barrel in, excellent. And I randomly found some foam tape that was exactly right for the bonnet edge, to stop it rattling/rubbing on the dash, nice. Cold start VID of the mighty 0.8L 3 pot mitsy, https://i.imgur.com/FS7Cv8a.mp4 ALSO, OLD MATE @Thphantum had an adorable topping mower the right size for the tractor at an exceptional price, so I got that too, even though I have no use for it really, BUT YOU NEVER KNOW. All ready to absolutely FUCKEN RUIN my back lawn now, excitement! Regards, VG.

You're most welcome David.

There's big singles in your area, waiting to meet you.