There are pictures everywhere of this thing, but virtually all of them are official Holley ones from the 2020 LS Fest, and rightfully so. Not only are these kids talented, but they’re also good advertising and great future customers.
For reasons that are currently fiscally responsible but could have some significant financial repercussions later on if the project were to go ahead, I’ve been doing a lot of research on sand rails and dune buggies. Obviously, almost everything that pops up has been Volkswagen-related, but with some sportbike stuff and even the odd Fiero mixed in for good measure. Hitting a little close to home for me, there was even a Toronado-powered tank-of-a-thing that looked like it was pretty at-home on the trailer. It seems like an affordable world when you discount things such as paint, bodywork, glass, doors and upholstery, but the suspension components can quickly eat up that excess, and then some. The amount of engineering involved is a total unknown and seems to vary based on terrain, passenger capacity, and just plain old guess-and-test luck. That’s a method I’m familiar with, but I’m not sure that it’s something I want to get into at this stage in the game. Then I stumbled onto an LS-powered go-kart built by a couple of young guys and knew that I was too old to do it, but also too old to care that I’m too old if that makes sense.
Joseph Blum and Travis Flannery of Ripley, Ohio, went to LS Fest in 2019 and saw a go-kart with a 5.3 Chevy V8 in it. It was kind of crude, cobbled, and looked wildly impractical, but it was still a V8 go-kart. They had all the right tools, all the right parts, and a busted old Vector go-kart sitting in the weeds, begging for something better than six measly horsepower. Tools, parts, time, and space are all important ingredients to any project, but these guys also had determination, which helped them get their idea running and driving by the time LS Fest rolled around only a year later. Basically, it’s a 5.3 Chevy truck motor that feeds power to the rear axle the same way a riding lawnmower engine feeds power to the mower deck. There’s a pulley mounted to the crank and one on the rear axle. A heavy slack belt connects the two with an idler pulley that adds tension when the pedal is applied, sort of like a clutch pedal, but opposite. The coilover rear suspension is simple but effective, with the entire drivetrain on a big swingarm cradle, essentially hinging the kart in the middle, with the engine being unsprung weight. Due to the incredible load on the rear axle, they couldn’t make it turn without breaking something, as it was too heavy to slip a tire. That was a problem, as without the rear axle locked, they couldn’t do wheelies to utilize the awesome functionality of the wheelie bars, so they added a lever-actuated manual locker for the best of both worlds. How fast is it? Forty miles per hour, apparently it gets scary after that. If these two can do this in the span of only a year, I can’t wait to see what they come up with in the future. If they get bored, I know my potential project could use some ambition.
Have a question or comment for Kelly? Post it at lmtimes.ca/kirk
