Greyhound Clone Build for a 2005 Ty-Rail Gokart

#1
This is my first build thread:punk:!

I have been planning this build for quite awhile and I'm finally starting to wrench on the engine. I pretty much made a BOM for what I eventually want to do with this Grayhound, but it's not all happening at once. I'm not made of money...

This is the gokart:

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Before today, the engine was pretty much stock but with the governor spring clipped a bit, a remote gas tank (gravity fed), and the carbon evap canister removed. EDIT:I also forgot to mention that I milled the mounting holes in the coil to get an extra 1.5* timing. Not sure what difference it made, but I did it:shrug:.

I started out today by cleaning the carb and matching the insulator to the carb and intake port.

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I took a look at the ports and sighed very loudly. I knew the stock ports on a clone were bad, but give me a break:

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I'm not touching the ports yet. I just hope I can sleep tonight with those on my mind. Okay, moving on...

I Dremeled:grind: out the header pipe on the stock exhaust after an even louder sigh. I didn't take pictures of that. You know what that looks like. I going to be making my own header soon.

I unscrewed the jet and E-tube in the carb. I thought Greyhounds came with 95 jets (0.0374"). The jet I pulled out had a 70 on it. A 1/32" end mill fits in the orifice so I know it's not 0.70mm. I guess it means 0.0370". I'm kinda curious about this even though I'm getting a new carb. Please leave comments about this.

The next thing I'm doing before I slam this engine back in the kart is an air filter. I bought an angled 2" x 4" UNI and a velocity stack for my Carbide a few months ago but the dang stack didn't clear the frame. So, I'm using the UNI on my Greyhound and machining my own adapter. I wish it was a 2 5/16" mouth, but I already have the filter. It will be a tight fit, but my measurements say it can be done. I already modified some sex bolts (hehe):glare: to use as nuts. Normal hex nuts wouldn't quite clear the ID of the filter.
 
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#2
So I've been working on the air filter adapter. At first, I thought I was gonna liberate a chunk of Billet from the Gods of McMasterCarr and machine/grind an adapter. But then Christmas came and brought me a 3D printer!!!:clap: I've been playing around in Fusion 360, making my adapter and this is what I came up with:

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And this is the choke lever bracket. It will sandwich between the air filter adapter and the carb.

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These are the modified scooter axle bolts I'm using instead of hex nuts:

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I tried printing the parts about three times but the bed tape keeps peeling off the bed as it prints. I'm waiting on better bed tape to try printing again.

I'll be posting the .stl files of the adapter and choke bracket on Thingiverse if anybody is interested.

I will need to make a gasket to fit between the adapter and choke bracket. I have gasket material and silicone so that should be easy.

I also have an 80-61 wire gauge drill set on order from McMaster so I can find out what the stock main jet size actually was and drill it to my needs.
 
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#3
The drill set came a day early (Thanks McMaster:thumbsup:). The #70 (0.028") fit in the jet but not the #69 (0.0292"). That means the actual jet size is between a 71 and a 72. I was wrong about the 1/32" end mill fitting through the jet. That end mill was shorter than I thought because it was broken :doah:. For now, I'm drilling it with the #68 (0.031") to give me about a 79 jet size.

Today at Vo-Tech I talked to my 3D printing buddy and he recommended a 60C bed temp and to use a bit of gluestick on the bed tape. I will try printing again tonight.
 
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#4
Good news! The prints finally worked and came out great!:clap: I also cut some gaskets to fit the assembly.

Pictures:

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One major thing I overlooked...the oil breather:doah:. I don't have a filter to go over it. Back to the drawing board...
 
#5
Problem solved! I added a port to the adapter and printed it out:

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I machined a "Billet Aluminum" nipple to press and glue into the round port:

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Then I mounted it to the engine:

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Here's an X-Ray view in Cura if anyone's interested:

Adapter with Breather X-Ray.png

Now that my engine is ready to run it's time to fix a crack in the gokart frame and other boring stuff like that...
 
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#8
It's back together on the night shift. I got a few carb adjustments to do it seems. I only did two laps around the track (because it's 2:30AM, 10 degrees, and no headlights) but it stalls when I come to a stop and it sputters at mid-throttle. Obviously I need to turn up the idle speed screw and maybe try to adjust the OEM non-adjustable air bleed screw. A GX140 E-tube should help with the mid-throttle. But as for full throttle pulls, I only did two, but it does feel better. Not anything to write home about, but I picked up a little power.
 
#9
I did the air bleed screw mod:

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The screw was 1/2 turn from factory and 1 1/4 seems like a good idle to me. It turns out the mid-throttle sputter was actually the governor hunting because it was damn freezing last night. Full throttle is just a tad rich (I should have made the jet #74), but it's working fine. Every once in awhile the TAV2 engages but doesn't shift from a dead stop and the engine winds up past 4500rpm. Before when this happened, the engine would plateau and stop pulling (while I'm holding the governor). Now, when that happens it pulls like a mule at 4700rpm, enough to make me cringe at the stock flywheel. A PVL will be coming sometime soon.
 
#10
So I'm still waiting on other parts to come in but I got some stuff today. An NGK iridium plug one step colder and a 5 gallon HDPE gas tank to replace the rigged as :censure: 0.5L (yes, 1 pint!:eek:ut:) tank I had. Long story there...

I also crashed the darn thing yesterday. I decided it was smart to fishtail down the icy driveway and I spun around and backed into a tree (the same tree I hit last summer in the same way...that poor tree deserves a beer:drinkup:). The bumper bent upward and is right in front of the TAV driven. When the TAV shifts it throws a load of sparks. But no biggy, just get three propane torches and a backhoe to bend it back. That's how I did it the first time!:eek:ut:

That same day the throttle cable froze and ripped. It'll be fine. I was waiting for it to happen anyway.

Also, in the same day (pretty eventful if you ask me), the hardened bag of concrete I use in my Carbide as ballast exploded. So I had to put it on the passenger side floor of China to dispose of it properly. It's an absolute mess. Tomorrow it's going up to 47*F so I can wash it.
 
#13
Tonight I got my new gastank! 5 gallon low profile made by Flambeau. It's going to be awesome:

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I've needed this upgrade for awhile. The stock gastank on the Greyhound rattled itself to :001_9898: early last summer. I had this tiny thing (0.5L) lyin' around so I threw it on:

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It gave me about 10min of WOT before it left me stranded. I even carried old Gatorade bottles full of gas under the seat.:eek:ut: Here's a size comparison:

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So I mocked-up the new tank and the stock muffler was coming too close for comfort. 600 degree muffler and plastic gastank don't mix all that well. So I was pushed to make the header a bit early. Made out of 3/4 EMT and the flange cut from the stock muffler. Please disregard the kinks. You'd think a Vo-Tech electrical student could use a conduit bender:doah::

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I wanted it to somewhat follow the curve of my TAV2 but my bender can't make a tight radius. Tried my best.:shrug:

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Made a tip just for the hell of it. I don't think I'll keep it though. Later I'll probably slash cut it.

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For tonight I just superglued it to the flange to get the angle right. I'll weld and match later.

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Some header wrap and a brace should complete it. Nice thing about EMT, you can change the angles with just a nice place to wedge the header and a pair of boots. Though you obviously sacrifice rigidity.
 
#14
So I'm still waiting on other parts to come in but I got some stuff today. An NGK iridium plug one step colder and a 5 gallon HDPE gas tank to replace the rigged as :censure: 0.5L (yes, 1 pint!:eek:ut:) tank I had. Long story there...

I also crashed the darn thing yesterday. I decided it was smart to fishtail down the icy driveway and I spun around and backed into a tree (the same tree I hit last summer in the same way...that poor tree deserves a beer:drinkup:). The bumper bent upward and is right in front of the TAV driven. When the TAV shifts it throws a load of sparks. But no biggy, just get three propane torches and a backhoe to bend it back. That's how I did it the first time!:eek:ut:

That same day the throttle cable froze and ripped. It'll be fine. I was waiting for it to happen anyway.

Also, in the same day (pretty eventful if you ask me), the hardened bag of concrete I use in my Carbide as ballast exploded. So I had to put it on the passenger side floor of China to dispose of it properly. It's an absolute mess. Tomorrow it's going up to 47*F so I can wash it.
That tree needs a date with a chainsaw.
 
#18
Last weekend I got to kind-of test ride the new gastank and header. The gastank was a fluke for me because it actually worked perfectly. Not much more to say about it.:shrug:

Now the header was LOUD as all hell. I expected it to be louder than stock but it is dang ear-piercing. Not what I was expecting from watching videos of other people using headers. Then again, their headers aren't 3 1/2' long. I wish I had made a video.

I've been working on a muffler last few days. I had some FMF packing lying around from another project and as always I have plenty steel scrap. Here's what I have:

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I made the baffles by drilling 48 5/16" holes and bending a tapered pry-bar in them. The upstream holes scoop the exhaust into the packing and the downstream back into the tailpipe.

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The housing is a scrap piece of iron pipe that was originally used to elevate a chair at my grandfather's house. With a little 150 grit, the thing looks amazing with the small amount of pitting that was left on it.

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Ignore the throttle setup. It was one last attempt at making the governor work. That's all disappearing when I order the flywheel.

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The muffler is pretty much an FMF/Thrush/Cherry Bomb/etc.-type muffler. I feel this alone would have the same effect as an RLV silencer, namely, it only smooths out the loud cracks of the exhaust stroke. I'm not convinced that will be enough to keep my friendly neighbors friendly. So, notice I kept the center of the muffler undrilled. I plan on making a butterfly to quiet the exhaust down even more by forcing the exhaust through the baffles...but only when I need it. I could rig a cable under the seat or parallel it with the throttle to only open at WOT.

And I'm very pleased to say I have not spent any money at all on this project yet. All of the material I've used so far is either scrap or parts that were just lying around.:thumbsup:
 
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#19
Got the butterfly finished! Once again old computer parts saved the day:

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A lever from inside an old copier fit perfectly:

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Butterfly closed:

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Butterfly open:

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I still need to weld the end caps and pack the muffler but I took it for a drive anyway. It's just amazing how much quieter it is even though it's not done yet! It purrs at idle and is legal (I assume) at WOT. The butterfly does absolutely nothing to the sound at idle or WOT. Hoping that changes after it's packed.
 
#20
I finally packed the muffler and made my brace. With the butterfly open, it sounds like a typical RLV. Now with the butterfly closed, it is SILENT!!! Quieter than stock. Not an exaggeration to say that the air cleaner makes more noise than the exhaust. TOTAL SUCCESS:thumbsup:

I'll try to make a video but this site update thingy took away my toolbar. It'll be back to normal soon.

Still saving up for the first slew of go fast parts. Still haven't spent a dime but it's time to actually push some power!
 
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