Dewy002's 1967 Chevrolet Camaro Z28

1963 Dart Kart with TS 400 Suzuki engine and all 5 speeds

About this Current Vehicle:

This kart's been in our family since the mid 1960's. The original owner, a family friend raced it with a West Bend 820 on alcohol and we were told it ran over 70 mph.

As kids, our dad taught us how to overhaul a 2 hp cast iron Briggs and we put that was our first kart motor. Later we figured out how to remove the governor, that was good for about 35 mph. Around 1975 my brother and I put a Suzuki 400 (2 stroke) on it, including setting up the clutch and shifter so we had all 5 gears. What a ride, it would run over 100 mph (note the wheel weights on the tires in the first picture, we had to balance them because the thing would vibrate so bad it skated around on the road and you couldn't see or go straight). The Suzuki was an animal and a maintenance hog, for every 10 minutes you rode it you had to work on it at least 3 hours.

It's had a 4 hp Briggs on it for the last 20 years and I've been getting interested in Vintage Kart racing so I figured it was time to start restoring it AND get my sons involved. I put the 6.5 hp Honda clone motor on it with governor to get the kids use to the kart. Once their ready to go faster I'll pull the governor off and when their ready to go even faster, we'll put a West Bend 820 on it (there's a picture of the WB mocked up in the "before" teardown pictures), straight axel, properly finish the restoration and all go Vintage Kart Racing.

Hope you enjoy the video. BTW, if anyone can help me better establish the year and model of the kart I'd appreciate it. There are no diagonal braces on the front axel and the frame has mounts for twin engines. The rear bumper in the pictures is not original, we made this one to fit the Suzuki engine. The original rear bumper was straight in the middle 10 inches and the ends were bent on about 20 degrees and it attached to the rear of the axel brackets. Thanks to dad for getting us started and you for watching the video! Hope you enjoy it.