Go Kart Build Ideas - Manco Dingo

Hey Gents,

I have an old Manco Dingo from my childhood that has been sitting around for 25 years since (original 8HP motor is trashed). Any suggestions on where to start with a electric conversion for general bashing around the dirt and maybe light wagon pulling?

I am thinking that given the repeated slow speed starts and really heavy wheels, higher voltage with geared reduction will be necessary. It would be great to find a redection already built in so I don't have to deal with finding a way to fit gigantic gear off the motor to mate with the rear axle sprocket.

Any ideas would be great about motor, controller, display, battery placement and protection (lots of bashing vibration), power level switches (will be used by me and kids), etc.

Lastly, if there is a better electric go kart platform to start with, I am open to that too.


EDIT: FYI, this photo is not mine. Ripped it off of google.


Thanks!

Find a wrecked /dumped elec golf cart, and use the motor/controller/ transmission , etc out of that ,
Batteries will be your big cost......do not use lead/ acid.

That's a good place to start. Maybe I could lower the reduction to get a bit more speed than a normal golf cart since the weight will be lower than 2 sets of clubs and a couple of guys that have had a few too many chicken wings (myself included).

Are there old golf cart junk yards / refurbishers or should I take my chances on eBay?

Speed you can get by increasing voltage.
Parts ..? Must be some carts in wreckers yards in your part of the world.
Google is your friend..use it.

Yep, was just curious if you or someone had first hand experience pulling motors and controllers out of Junkers only to find out that they don't work. It would seem that any junkyard with their stuff together would strip out the working parts to sell and leave the stripped bodies outside for folks to pick body parts.

I'll have a look around and report back on what I find. Thanks for the idea. I originally started with the idea of converting a golf cart into a go cart but upon further research found that adjusting the steering column and lowering seats where not as simple a task as I was looking for. Then I remembered the old go cart rotting away in my folks shed...