The GRASSHOPPER 110cc
 

OK this is the start of the Grasshopper project for my son !
I started this in anther thread but it was time for its own post!
I got this buggy in trade for some landscaping work i did .
Not sure of the real brand but it had a 50cc Loncin 2 speed forward and reverse!
My 9 year old son loved it until his learning curve caught up with the low speed and the clunky 2 speed trans!
I had a 110cc Loncin in a wreck ATV that ran ! I pulled it and slid it in the buggy. After cutting the case some to fit the angle of the chain,it work great.
My son could blow doughnuts in the front yard all day long and even keep up and sometimes pass the Corssfire 150,s i have on the back trails. He then snap the frame in half right at the engine cage .
My son loves looking at all the projects here on this site ! After comparing a few build projects here we decided to to a complete make over on the Buggy he now calls his GRASSHOPPER !
Let the build begin and please any input is welcomed , Jump in anytime . First real buggy rebuild so any help will be great !
Thanks from the DAD and SON TEAM !:D
LET THE MODS BEGIN

Started stripping it ! Thanks to X-bird and his buggy build my son wanted his pipe painted, So im letting him pick all the colors as long as he puts in the sanding time!
High temp red for the pipe , he wants Neon green for the frame of the buggy hence the name GRASSHOPPER . Should be colorful LOL.
I drill thoses wholes in the back of the pipe ! That pipe came off the 50cc Loncin. Made is breath alittle better and got rid of the low end flatspot it had. Any more power i could not tell you yes or no but my son says it gave it a faster pedal response !

Love the concept and the younger involvement- Good color combo- exhaust will look like the inside of a grasshoppers leg!!

Found a sticker under 4 layers of paint , NST .
My son wants me to turn it into a center single seater ?
He has a point its 2 quick and 2 small for 2 kids, but im going to have to center the steering wheel and pedals?
Any idea,s?

Love the dad and son team!
Centering the wheel and pedals should not be to bad,getting them off would be the tuffest part.

What type steering does it have? pic's

Im going to have to cut most of it out, Was a butcher job to start with , someone tried to raise the steering wheel befor i got it , For a bigger kid im guessing . Im going to cut it out anyway just thought i mite as well make it a center steer and seat while i was at it ! If i Can find a new steering rack !

Did some welding , had the boy grind and sand !
He insisted i post the pics! Very proud nine year old ! lol:hooaray:

im looking for this if anyone knows were i can get one, This place is out and it has to be this one or longer but this style !
http://www.buykazuma.com/throttle-ca...h-p-10177.html

I think i have an old cable floating around that's the same--inner cable is too crusty to use. If you still have yours, cut the inner cable, keep it and take it all to a bike shop. the outer housing can be pulled out of the threaded adjustable end, i think the same for the pipe. They should be able to make one for you using those parts. If you don't have the parts, i can strip the one i have and send it to you. I used one threaded end with my yerf throttle cable on my daughter's cart (just had to bore it oversize a hair) along with a set-screw tapped, ready-to-use barrel end that just happened to be laying on the bench for the past couple years. no idea where that little puppy came from, (maybe my speedo cable kit from Lokar) but it found its place.

Ouch! I considered relocating the rack to center, but the position of the gear cutout sort of nixed the thought. Plus my daughter has a friend that i think will be riding with her this summer. next year, maybe it'll become a 1 seater. When i looked at it, i felt that i could duplicate the cutout in the tube and move the gear to center. I'm pretty sure it will also require cutting a couple extra teeth into the rack. I think its feasible, I just held off to keep the passenger space open.

if you dig back into page 1 or 2 of my yerf upgrade thread, there are some pics of a removable pedal set i made for my daughter. if you go center seat, i'd stick two pipes on the floor lengthwise and install pedals the way the yerfs and others have them. The center pipe in the kart really does nothing structurally. it's just there to create a foot brace for the passenger.


I hope that's high heat paint ) ...

Yes Bird its 1400 degree headed paint from the local parts store , im using engine block paint on the frame when we get ready to do that , i like the finish from the rattle can. Litte more money but my son Dylan pick out the color and its self primeing . I will go back and look at your pedals. But I do thing im going one seater, just makes sence for us. mite have to buy a used or new rack but im going to have to wiat until i switch out the A arms in the front befor i go find the right one. The spinals on the front of the 4 wheeler are shot so im going to have to rebuild them or find some good used ones.

Pretty nice grinding job for a 9 yr. old:biggthumpup:

FYI- if you're changing cable sleeves and need a new end, the Help section(Dorman products) at most auto parts sells a variety pack of screw held brass barrels(throttle cable parts)- if the removability isn't an issue then you can solder it with a propane torch or soldering gun- if leaving the house to find a bike shop isn't feasible like late evenings!!. Also filing/grinding down a factory lead barrel is pretty easy if the cable has the wrong size end.

You can get steering u-joints and keep the rack.2 should do the trick.They are cheep and you can get weld on joints.

Got the new Carb in today for the 110 loncin , whooping 19.00 .
The boy has been putting lots of elbow grease into the sanding . Still dont like the rear engine frame so i have been searching post for more ideas !

Be careful with the engine paint. most, if not all "temp" paints need the heat of the engine/exhaust to fully cure. If you know someone at a local body shop, have them bake the buggy in their booth after you paint it. $20-30 for a 1/2 hr or so bake isn't an unreasonable amount.

Good advice > Never thought to ask ! I have a guy in my neighborhood with a body shop in town, He owes me a favor for taking down some dead palm trees in his yard. I just called him up and told me he just got a new powder coater , Would have never found this out with out your tip. Funny how some things work. have to take all paint off tho. He insist on bare metal only. Kind of overkill for the little cart but do what you can with what you got i guess.

Nice, PC gets applied as a dry powder via electric charge, which is why it has to be bare metal. It'll be much more durable and when it UV dulls, it polishes right back up to a good shine.

So Dylan and i spent the whole day yesterday shopping for mommies B-Day . He goes to a school thats year round so they have lots of mess up mini vactions !
he is off till tuesday ! We were at Homedepot and he saw all the cool sanders and grinders and just about cam apart. "DAD" why am i sanding the buggy with a block and paper when Man has invented such cool tools?!!!? I almost died laughing. I told him how much they cost and how much money in power they use ! Ok now my son is almost 10 and gets his Smart Mouth from my motherinlaw a swear it ! "Dad do you understand how much its going to cost extra to feed me because of all the energy i will be spening on the block and paper"!!? I had to laugh again ! So One Air disc sander and 100 Disc later , Im walking out of the Depot and my son Is diing to sand the whole buggy to dust ! I did get 5 whole days out of him with the block and paper ! heheheheh

metalstudman1 In one of your post i saw the PVC fuel tank ! Thanks !
think im going to try that , My son want its blue with Nos Stickers on it !

My boy hard at work !

Sounds like a smart boy to me, I bet he's enjoying that sander too! Handsome young man, does he get his looks from his mom? :D
You guys are doing a great job, can't wait to see more.

You know .... I spent a couple hours looking for my mouse sander for the shark's frame and never did find it (it's just about brand new too) now i know where it went! ))......

:laughing:LOL thanks guys ! He got my eyes and his mothers mouth ! lol
:biglaugh: Dylan saw a air mini belt sander today in a shop and gave me a dirty look ! Spent most of the day moding the crossfires ! I got the all metal intake manifold in the mail yesterday ! The cross member on the engine cage was blocking the airfilter and carbs from going in correctly ! cut out a peice and welded in a loop ! Ill post pics later ! does not look the greatest but hey if it works ! The stock GY6 intake was all crack and sucking in air causing a backfire and hard start.

i'll give you my best tube-sanding set-up now that he's been working hard at it (gotta learn somehow :biglaugh: ) 40 grit on a flat 4 to 5-inch stick-it (velcro or adhesive backed) disc in the drill. Faaasssssttt cutting! (it was in the mini shark thread) ;~)

Have had a slow go of the project ! Real WORK :banghead: has had to take up my buggy time !
Got the front end tore off it today tho. You would think i was stripping the fron of a semi with the anount of troble it gave me !
But its off so now time to pull one side of the Quad out . Keeping the other side intack for measurements , just in case !

Been surfing the web this morning for a steering rack tha i can center mount on this frame, Keeping in mind its a mini cart. I can always make or order tie rods to fit but i cannot mount the A arms from the 4 wheeler without knowing were the steering pits in !
Any web sites you know of would be helpful. Already went to BMI and only found one for 70 dollars for a yerf dog but i think its alittle to big not sure Yet.

pm'd you re. the rack. Forgot to add that there's enough "wiggle" where the pinion gear goes in that you can shift over the column mount 2-3 inches to center. If you can't get enough, you could grind a bevel on the front and rear faces of the gear and get a little more out of it.



If it weren't for the seatbelts, kathryn would sit at the center of the seat on hers (daddy forgot to check her belts one ride and she didn't get it all the way clipped--she did a lap, came back sitting in the middle and gave me grief for not double checking). For tie rods, if you get some 1/2 in rod stock, drill and tap it about 3/4 to 1 inch, thread in a piece of 3/8 iirc threaded rod, buzz a weld around it and add the female cheap heim style ends that you find on the yerf steering arms. I have a pair yet along with some matching fine-thread nuts that fit them, (if they're RH thread that is) yours for the shipping.

BTW--that looks like the exact same set of ATV arms. When you disassemble them, you'll find the lowers are a good inch or so longer. That's where I cut off the arm ends and added a full width tube like the uppers have. Bet they're full of grease lol.....

lol im going to offset it like it was on the Quad if i can if not i,ll cut and mod like you did
Thanks

the steering extension universal is staying with me--being refunded, not worth return shipping . I'll check the steering shaft diameter and see if does a good job clamping that size smooth shaft. if it does, it's yours for the shipping. I installed the arms first, then moved the rack to where it needed to be by cutting the hanger tubes off and shortening them and putting them on a slightly different angle.

My son Dylan learning to weld. He is 10.
I sat him down this morning and gave him a 1 hour class on the basic,s of flux core wire welding !
We then went out to the workshop were i gave him a simple peice to pratice on then after a few minutes of trial and error he wanted to dive into welding his own buggy.
We removes all the old allen screws so we can make it a solid frame . LOL he does not like rattling at all he says he cant hear what the motor is doing with all that extra noise.

Here is a quick video of what we did this morning !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OVr4...rNTF39_UPBRDvi
:hooaray: Makes a dad smile !

Now that's what it's all about :biggthumpup:You pat him on the back from all of us @ Buggymasters. Have you considered a auto darkening hood!!! bought a spare from Harbor freight for $40.(w/coupon)

He needs to understand whats its all about befor the cool tools will be apprecited !
I have been wanting to get a new one after a mishap with a broken grinder wheel broke my last one !
He says Thanks " with a big smile" ! I bought a used bed frame for him to pratice on . Cut it up into about 50 small peices for him just to pratice laying down a good bead !
After grinding alot of welds he now understands who a good weleder is and a bad one !

I totally understand about learning the hard way and move into luxury later!!! I'm proud of both of you if that makes any difference.

Yes it always does , Everyone likes to hear good things from other people . No matter what !

Are you teaching him one-handed welding? you're a cruel daddy :D I'm a cheater, (left hand on the work piece and thumb hook just below the nozzle) which is why i need new gloves so often. And definitely do the auto-darkening hood, its a huge improvement--just don't forget to peel the protective plastic off the outer lens. Took me ten years to realize that goof :laughing: .

Im running down to harbor Freight this week . I want to get 2 of them , he wants to watch me weld also.
He welded most of the day and went threw lots of wire but he is getting a much better beed down now. He made out of the bed frame large dice all on his own. I was out in the shop watching him all day and i could not figure out what he was making . He kept welding then grinding . At the end of the day he was at the drillpress putting the numbers on them , He ran in the house and grab the dice from the yatchee game to know how many dimples to put were . Now they are all primed and ready to sprey. He is very proud of himself. Plus he did it all on his own. Which as we know for any 10 year old means the world.

So this morning i come out and my son is on youtube watching videos on how to port and polish heads ! YAAAA for me. He wants to learn how to do this so we can do it on his little 110cc loncin. Off to the autoparts store for some compound and new dremel tips !

Dice -- That is so cool ! FYI, the steering shaft's are 5/8ths diameter. If you have a drill that size, you can bore out the universals, slip them on and drill through them for roll pins. I'd bore them for you, but don't have anything over 1/2 in. dia.

RE porting , 80-120 grit tooth finish on the walls is good. Polish--don't, not worth the effort and while some will debate me is often detrimental. In some sections of the tract it isn't a bad thing, in others you need a rougher finish to provide turbulance/boundary layer, otherwise the mix makes contact and the fuel drops out and streams into the cylinder along the walls = cylinder wash and fuel in the oil.

Got it ! i have 4 or 5 different steering wheel shafts i can use and i can always collar the steering rack ! im in ! I,ll take it i mean ! PM me your info ill get some money to you asap. and ill give you my info !

So i put my son in the frame today to see just how much im going to have to lengthen this thing for him to fit ! wow i think he grew some in the last 30 days .
I cut the front end off all the way . Im going to have to bring it out about 8 to nine inches and beef up the front cage . the front cage is just to small .
Im finding out it one thing to do mods on a buggy and another to custom make something that was never designed to be what you want it to be.

The dice project shows very good thinking skills. Just so you can have confirmation-it's much easier to modify something with working components than to build from scratch (without a drawing). Re-designing engineered product is what this hobby is all about-You may be that individual (or son)that opens up a new market/product for this hobby/sport. I'm assuming you're going to stretch the buggy enough for additional growth!!!

Yes , this is a project that will be forever going threw evolution after evolution,s.
For now its for the 110cc lonicn , but i know in a year it will have to take on a whole new power plant. My boy is only 10 and almost 5 feet tall. He will be 6'4 to 6'6 when its all said and done. I was happy after i put the 110cc motor in that it could blow doughnuts and realy kick it on the trails i have.
I left the shop tonight and right before i shut the lights off i was looking at what anyone elese would just call scrap but i could see what it will be.
It will be fun !

So my wife ask Dylan this morning what he learned watching daddy this weekend in the shop !
Dylan replied !
Daddy is not a very good dancer ! He was not wearing socks saturday morning when he started welding !
Daddy has a realy good throwing arm ! He threw a hammer all the way across the front yard from the back of the shop.
Metal gets very hot when you cut it, grind it , or weld it. Just ask daddy were all the cold packs are ! thier in the shop !
And never for any reason do you hold a spark plug when daddy ask you to se if it sparks !
And last but not least thier is a 2 foot kebbler elf living in the shop that likes to take tools, Daddy calls him XBIRD !

I'll never forget the first time my brother said "grab that and hold this" and yanked the starter handle--had no idea what it was about. I Think I was all of 10 then too. Yep, it had good spark.

"I have no clear recollection ...."

My dad did it to me when i was 7 or 8 . Stupid little briggs 6 hp! My dad thought it was funny as hell to !

:hooaray:Got some tubing today , Found a metal shop in town that is not cheap but its better then waiting on snail mail !

I needed a Break today from working on the front end ! I started thinking i have not tried the motor out sence Dylay flip the buggy and broke it in Two !
So i have a coleman genarator frame that I pull the motor out of and it needed a use !
So i took frame parts off the old 4 wheeler and welded it on. Took all the old wiring and put the motor in it to use as a test bench ! Now I have gone threw this motor bolt buy bolt ! I just thought it would be good for the Boy to hear the motor run !
Fingers cross , it started right up ! Does not look pretty on the red neck test bench but it run like a top !

Pretty ingenius & portable!!

thanks and with alittle work it will hold the GY6 motors also !

Its starting to look like a mini sprint fame lol
Man its nice to work with good steel ! just wish China would ! Almost a sin to weld the good stuff to the "SO_SO".

Now that's some s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g!!!!

:drive:Well daddy has to test to make sure it's safe

Tell Dylan to quit hiding my corner magnets on the underside of the floorpan of my buggy! Must've lost 3 hours the last two days finding them buggers!

Lol i found 2 of mine in his room yesterday ! Time to teach the boy a lesson ! grrrrrrrr

the buggy is comming along good

Thanks I mounted the left side upper and lower A arms today ! Tomarrow if I get time I'll do the other side. But yes thanks it's coming along. Thanks to Xbird I think I got the steering work out. Thanks buddy from Dylan and I

Thats good I am going to start building one this month

:DThe A arms are finally were they need to be almost ready to mont steering

Good deal! Did you figure out a way to make that extension shaft work? PS ..found a bloody magnet on the rear disc brake rotor today! yikes!

Triing to figure out if I'm going to use the old steering rack or not. Will be working on that this weekend.

Just got done with the prefab of the taller roll cage , will post pics soon , still have not gotten the new steering rack yet grrrr. Thats the next problem ! going to be intresting !