The laydown kart is a Meyers Lancer "Bullet" enduro kart. It was made in Bellflower, CA in 1975, and is the production version designed by me. About 30 were made between 1972 and 1975. During that time we won 8 IKF National Championships. Drivers included Kevin Cogan (Indy Driver) who nearly won the 1986 Indy 500, leading until the last 5 miles. Scott Pruett, also drove one, and is still racing for Ganassi Racing, and has won many races including the 24hr's of Daytons. Scott is currently testing the new Ford Factory Ford GT to race next year at Daytona. Yours could have been raced by an Indy 500 driver. The races were 1 hour (that is why the large tanks) using Alky with either a McCulloch or Italian 100-135cc Komet engine. The top speed was about 125mph. We built several with two engines (75-85hp - 16,000rpm) that went as fast as 140mph. The fiberglass faring was not used, the front bumper has been changed, if you remove the adapter plate the motor mount fits McCulloch or Komet engines. ) Rare find!!! JG
+Disneyland1951 Cool! Thanks for the info. This one will be preserved and will probably get a 212cc four stroke, but none of the modifications we do will be permanent.
+Disneyland1951 AWESOME! Thank you for the info on it... I have been looking but couldn't find much and the stuff I could find didn't look exactly right. Do you have any pictures of the production ones you made??
+Disneyland1951I remember watching Scott Pruett in my early racing when I was about 14. There was a an IKF and WKA show down in Charlotte in 1982. The man to beat was Scott Pruett (he had the baddest Simpson helmet :darth Vader I had ever seen and the man that beat Scott that year from WKA was a fellow names Jessee Samples! Jesse and Scott were just bad ass drivers and I loved getting my WKA magazine to see how they did.
The lay down kart is a Enduro kart. My dad raced them in the early 70's. They ran on a ful sized race track, up to 2.5 miles and each race was 1 to 2 hrs long. They ran with single and dual engines. All karts that style had out board fuel tanks as there was no pit stops in a race. Nice find.
Okay, these should be the rules. $500 budget. This covers engine, tires, breaks, ect, but is open to each person's choice. This means they can pull an engine from another cart if they want (must be their own cart), dump cash on a torque-a-vertor, just buff the breaks up, and pray for sunshine and rainbows, or actually do the build right and focus on handling and whatnot. One month. They each have a month from the day they get their engines of choice. No parts should be fixed or replaced before the motors are ready (to prevent cheating) short of frame repair. 3 bouts. 1)Drag race, any pre-race prep that they deem necessary, but they all must do the same or similar (I.e. Doing a quick burn out to heat the rubber). 2) course race, three way. Three laps with marked checkpoints. 3) grass drift/trick/joke driving. Basically, be show offs and try to out-awesome the others. What do you guys say?
+Richard R Good suggestions... We haven't completely figured out the rules, but we will post a video asking for everyone's opinion once we get a better idea of what we're doing.
M Dean yeah!! only .. without james may. if james may did it, he'd only just have it running and would have it looking retro. it would be slow and he'd o fitted seatbelts XD
wow! y'all killed it this time. All three of those karts are bad ass, and I can't wait to see what comes of them. You're right about Craigslist. people are crazy with their prices, especially living close to Charlotte (lots of kart racing w/ Mooresville gopro track). I've found a few on cl under $100, but they're the basic kart frame no live axle. Hope to find something good, come fall. Keep the vidyas coming!
As someone who race karts, it really amazed me to see the fuel tank inside the side pods. now days you wouldnt be able to race with that. it shows how safety in motorsport has changed.
CarsandCameras May have to look around for used generators that run on diesel, but it is true that even small diesel engines are not that cheap. I have an idea of taking a 10hp diesel motor turboing it and putting in a frame of a motorcycle (road bike), but finding a CVT style clutch (much like the one on your race cart) and affordable motor has been the biggest obstacles thus far. Maybe an idea for something in the future to do with a cart at some point though.
Man what a find, I would like to see You guys just restore them, that lay down one is real old school, was probably top of the line back in the day. But either way an awesome price & very cool karts, I am sure You fellas will do something awesome with them. Can't wait to see them running!
350$ budget after your engine,clutch,chain/converters are done and go carts are in rolling condition.. Then build off and races like said below. Good find guys. Good vid again.
Straighten out the frames, Sandblast them, Acid dip, and powder coat. Soda blast and clear coat the wheels. Build 212 predators and you're well on your way. As for the body work, You can make wood forms and heat sheets of acrylic and form them over the wood to make really cool bodywork. There is a place near here that makes whirlpool tubs, A friend talked to them and they helped him. He made forms and they put them in a machine that heats up an acrylic sheet and then vacuums it down over the form. After that they pulled it off the form and sprayed fiberglass on the back for him. When he got it home all he had to do was cut it out and sand down the edges and drill holes at the attachment points. The guy at the tub place only charged him for the $22 sheet of acrylic. He was really nice. Said he liked to see kids learning how to work on things instead of getting into trouble. I'm hoping to build my own one of these days. I'm shooting for something REALLY fast though. I bought a 250 Kawasaki Ninja. The plan is to build a frame around that motor. The end result will look like a formula 1 or INDY car with a lay down seating position. Body work will be formed Acrylic, although eventually I hope to make another set out of carbon fiber. As for the suspension I got in touch with an instructor at a local community college that has a machining technology program. He said I was more than welcome to get with some of his students and make my spindles, carriers, control arms and anything else I needed. All I had to do was supply or pay for the materials. Students need a lot of practice and having someone pay for your materials is a huge bonus for them! Right now the biggest part of the chassis design is done in solidworks. The front suspension is a booger though as it will be a pushrod setup where the shocks work off a bellcrank. Once the 250 cart is done the next iteration will be built around a 636cc Kawasaki engine with an estimated top speed of about 150Mph.The whole build will be documented and put on RU-vid hopefully within a year or two!
I would definitely love to see a build off, have them race then have people vote on who built the best looking one. I feel like Taylor would have the best handling kart because it seems like it would have the best weight distribution and I think John has the coolest due to the race plastics and general setup of the kart.
good stuff. im looking to build a go kart like yours. and well make it and video the build. id like to kinda partner with you guys if you wanna have a guy down south. im big into anything that moves and will start filming stuff i make.
+gamenationX Do a honda gx390 for the money, do a 2stroke rotax for the speed and simplicity (no shift) and a honda cr125 engine for speed and quite a good price!
gamenationX these engines would go very fast. But probably it won't fit. You should place the motor behind you, and sit more to the front. I wouldn't recommend that. If jou want it. To place at your side you should make special mounts and you have to make a huge cutout in your sidepod/bumper.
You guys inspired me and a few friends to buy a cheap dead go cart and Revive it. I'll upload pics of it in a few days sanded and primed the frame painted red then sanded the metal floor turned it into black the gas canister is red and the steering wheel is red the seat is black rims are black we got a 163cc 6.0hp go cart it goes about 25 mph and I weigh 145 I'm having problems with the brakes. I'll keep you updated!
My grandparents used to have property in Floyd. There were a ton of cool old wrecks in their cowfields, including an awesome Corvair that was in restorable condition. It had been pulled aside and covered.
An older "Lay Down" kart. Used on Road Race courses. Used to call them "Enduro" karts The Laydown with a strong KT100 engine will run as fast as a 125 Shifter Kart on a road course. Cool find.
John, your kart looks good already... just needs a few thangz to get it goin, but ya'll got a good deal for sure. Im on the hunt for a kart to build. Thanks for sharing.👍
The first one is an early Enduro "laydown" for 2-cycle, that one is older than 90's, it's more like late 70's and these would go about 90mph around Daytona. The other two are mid-80's Margay Pro-X and the one looks like a later Margay Expert. I raced both of these and has a "flat head" Briggs and Stratton 5HP. At one time, before Jamie Russell and Gary Freeze invented the "Offset" first kart called the Olympic around 1988 - these are what you raced...and won with...still have two of these myself.
Definitely do a build off!, I just modified my predator 212 with nr racing's stage 3 kit and made 22" atv tires fit (with some home made 5" wheel extensions (I have a similar kart like your first one you guys had, mine is the banshee frame). I look forward to seeing your guys' progress! I wish I had a nice yard like you guys, mine is a bit small compared to it, but does the job.
+RCNova I was pretty disappointed too. When I went to open the door before John and Ike came up, it didn't open... it just bent. I'd like to see one that was in better shape one day though.
The kart hanging from the ceiling is a vintage 1960's era "Enduro Kart." These karts were raced in endurance races like 12 hours at Daytona, 24 hours at Le Mans. I raced go karts in the 60's and still have my GO KART MFG. Model 800. I wouldn't take a million dollars for it.
I found my mini bike by seeing it sitting in someones garage driving by and I stopped by and asked if they were selling it, and they were for like $70 for like a basically $500 mini bike. Just gotta get out there! It's the Baja warrior and had everything except an engine.
Hey guys, just got 3 go karts for $300 hoping to build 1 good kart from them and use a motor from a Hysoung 110cc scooter i have, watching your progress with interest. Cant post a link here to the photos i have of them. Good Luck. Cheers
The cart with the side tanks might be for weight, kinda like a ballast? Are they really for fuel or water? Just seems like a lot of fuel storage for a go kart? Sort of the kart with the heavy steel plate to keep it planted for a young rider.
build off for sure. maybe predator 212 on each with identical hp mods so that their equal. leave setup to be determined by driver. gearing, tire pressure, etc.then run em off! see who does the best when hp is equal.
The old lay down karts were made for smooth high speed tracks...If it was me I would put a normal kart seat on it,and raise the steering shaft alittle ...That would make plenty of room for Two predators behind the seat...Then Taylor would kick both of your butts....
With the kart that is laying down, you should put an upright seat in it and mount the engine behind the seat, then it will be easier to ride and also you won't catch your head on the engine ;)
Ike needs a liiitle bit of sponsorship, and he'd make a restoration show that would rival "Lost in Transmission." ... Maybe he should join Lost in Transmission.
Those are amazing i so want to make something like that but like your neighbor said and i know mine will say the same "you cant have fun around here" you guys are really inspiring me to get off my fat butt and start looking for a toy
Build off for sure man it will be amazing I'd stay subbed for that and watch everyday I've seen all vids and love this idea so far I'm building a go kart with a drz 125 dirt bike engine so I got major work to do
This is a perfect example of how HARD it is to find these karts for 100 a peice. John and Ike Had to drive 3-5 hours to find these. I was very lucky when I found mine for 100 for a rolling chassis after looking daily for 3 months. Bought a predator and a stage 1 kit and bam 50mph racing kart. A little paint and TLC and it was worth 750 easily because they are rare.
