1958 Homelite Spitfire Restoration

M

minibikekartguy

New Member
#1
#1
The 1958 Homelite Spitfire Go Kart, purchased new by my Grandfather for my dad and 2 uncles when they were kids



I was very lucky to end up with it when I was a kid and still have it. These pictures were right after I dug it out of his garage to bring it home.



The bottom read "Painted by A & D 84" My freind Anthony Butcher gave it this killer red paint job in 1984. Luckily we didn't paint over the original Homelite Spitfire badge!




I started by completely dissasembling the kart, being careful to take pictures along the way. Keeping with my budget theme ( it is easy when you don't have much money) I began to strip the chassis to bare metal using a combination of a grinder with 80 grit paper and wire brush, and 2 different electric sanders. Here you can see the back end and motor plates almost stripped clean.



There were tons of nooks and crannies which took some time to get clean, I followed it up with a coat of primer.



You can see in this picture how taking your time doing your prep work pays off when it come time to lay on the color. The original color was a bit more orange but to save money, I went with Krylon Apple Red.



This is after 2 coats of High Gloss Krylon Clear.



Here's a shot of the bottom of the back end, you can really see those nooks and crannies I was talking about.



There were some things I didn't want to try to remove so I carefully degreased and wire brished these areas before priming.




I chose to carefully mask the brake shoes and assembly, I didn't want to risk breaking or losing any of the hard to replace springs.



I wanted to make sure the bottom of the kart looked as good as the top...



...and I think I accomplished it.

 
M

minibikekartguy

New Member
#4
#4
A full shot of the frame primered.



You can see the dings and dents in the sheet metal. I chose not to smooth it out as it will be covered by a rubber floor and seat cushions.



The original Homelite Spifire badge with serial number. From what I have learned, these don't usually survive and when they do they have been painted over.





I left it in place and taped it up, I wanted to retain the original pop rivets.



Starting to look good.


 
buckeye

buckeye

Well-Known Member
#8
#8
Don't make them like that anymore. That is so cool it has such a cool family history.
You are doing it justice. Good work.
 
wayne

wayne

#10
#10
man o man you are so luckey,you have fantastic luck i am realy happy for ya, :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
M

minibikekartguy

New Member
#13
#13
Here's a sight you don't see too often, The original Homelite Spifire badge with serial number. From what I have learned, these don't usually survive and when they do they have been painted over.



I left it in place and taped it up, I wanted to retain the original pop rivets.



That's as clean as I could get it, I sprayed a coat of semi gloss clear over it



You can really see the original orange-ish red on the spindles.



I used my wire wheel in my bench grinder to strip the spindles clean



Then a few coats of Krylon Apple red followed by 2 coats of red. The blue is froma short lived decision to stray from the original red and paint it blue, glad I came to my senses!



All the original springs and stops got a couple coats of gun metal Krylon



The steering llinkage was also finished in the gun metal Krylon




The steering shaft again covered in gun metal Krylon

 
M

minibikekartguy

New Member
#14
#14
Of course with it being a one family owned Kart, it not only had all 4 original split steel wheels, but all 4 original Goodyear tires



The wheels, as well as the brake drums and sprockets were all originally painted gloss white as you can see were my rattle can paint job in 1984 didn't cover it up. This is the front wheel.



Here is a shot of the rear wheels stripped and ready to paint. I took the wheels and tires to Old School Mini Bikes in Livonia Michigan to have the tires removed, but they were so seized up on there after 52 years that I didn't want to risk damaging them so I left them on and taped them up.



Here is a shot of one of the rear wheels painted with the brake drum and sprocket reattached. I had the original bolts and nuts zinc coated

 
Bobscooters

Bobscooters

Active Member
#15
#15
That is so cool that it has been keep in the family and the Homelite badge looks mint. If I gave one of my kids that it would be on ebay or craigslist the next day. :scooter:
 
M

minibikekartguy

New Member
#16
#16
Bobscooters said:
That is so cool that it has been keep in the family and the Homelite badge looks mint. If I gave one of my kids that it would be on ebay or craigslist the next day. :scooter:
Click to expand...
Thats too bad that they don't appreciate things like this. My dad rode this with my uncles when he was a kid and I terrorized the nieghborhood in it when I was a kid too. I restored it for my kids to ride but then thought it was too nice and original so I bought the 100 dollar Homelite on another thread here so that I wont have to worry if the run it into a tree...:crying:
 
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