Project Jet Kart

modifying the kart

We are excited to announce that Carter Brothers Mfg. is now a proud sponsor of Project Jet Kart! Special thanks to Dino and Joy who have donated a GX150 go kart towards the build. We are excited to have them on board and I know we are all excited to see the end results of this build.

First things first! Time to check out what we will be mounting the gas turbine on. This is a Carter Bro's. GX150 go kart. Its a two seater go kart that originally had a 150cc engine on it, but we all know that serves no purpose to us, so it will be removed, freeing up space in the back for gas turbine mounting as well as all the accessories to go along with it.

The kart looks big, but actually, its not to bad, as said, its a two seater, but for adults, it really seats one comfortably. The kart features 4 wheel hydraulic disk brakes as well as a parking break. The kart from the factory weighs about 450 pounds with the engine and transmission, however, after we shed everything, we will have it down to about 130lbs. This kart is going to go through many changes by the time we are done with it!

Now that the vehicle is secured, we need to get started on the engine build. Vern from Turbo Diesel & Injection has once again come through and sponsored a vary large turbo for this project. Vern also gave us a T04 for another future project.

The Cummings ST-50 Turbo is a very large turbo found on very large trucks. This turbo will serve as the core for this engine build. The compressor inducer measure just at 3.0" with an over all compressor size of 5.0". The turbine inducer measures a whopping 5.0" with the exducer measuring 4.5" Based on compressor maps this turbo should be good to about 1.7lbs of mass flow/sec @ 32psi @ 66,000 RPM.

The turbo was very dirty, so I tore it down and after removing the turbine housing, bad news!

As you can see, all the inducer blades are melted off. I also found that the aluminum bearing sleeve was sheared, and all piston rings were exploded as well as the thrust collar being seized to the shaft.

No problem! Vern has sent me a new bearing housing, and rebuild kit.

As you can see below, the difference in the turbine wheels.

I finished cleaning up the turbo, and completing the rebuild. She is now ready for combustor development!

Quite a bit has happened in the last few days. I thought I would post a considerable update on the jet powered kart. Because the kart was designed for a rough terrain, we decided that we would make some adjustments to it.

But first thing first, here is a picture of the completed flame tube, before being mounted in to the combustor

Now on to the kart!

The first thing we did was remove the front end of the kart. This will make way for some custom fiberglass air intakes. After removing that, we dropped and shortened the roll cage to give a more sleek look. Everything was then welded into place.

Today was probably going to be the hardest day for the kart. The next modification now comes to the suspension. We are going to drop and lower the kart another 4". This went pretty well, accept customer shock mounts had to be designed and used for the kart. The old shock mounts were cut out, and the new ones welded in. What a difference!

The last update I have shows the beginnings of the engine being mounted. This just gives a general idea on how the turbine will sit in the kart. In these pictures I am trying to locate the correct spots for motor mounts.




 

 

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