rearenginekarts.com

Hi everyone, first post here. I picked up a FW & associates Corvette a couple of years ago, and I am finally getting around to fixing it up to be street worthy. I just have questions on the wheels and tires. I made the mistake of destroying the old rims by taking a mallet to them in order to remove them from the axles. They were rusted and seized pretty bad. I know, I should have let them soak in some PB Blaster, or tried heating them up and finessing them off, but my impatience got the best of me. I thought they would be easy to replace, but I'm also not sure looking online in places like Go Power Sports as to what the proper application should be. The three roller wheels looked to have no offset (see pics), meaning the hub is directly center of the rim width. The drive wheel can be seen in the pictures. I need all four, and for the drive, I need sprocket and brake drum. The axle measures 3/4 inch, so I need bearings as well. I'm hoping someone here can help! Also one other thing, on this Kart, the wheels are held on by what looks to be a circlip? What kind of cornering can I expect to be able to do with C-clip's holding the rims on?? Most Karts have a castle nut securing the wheel on. Any help is much appreciated!

Thanks for your time,
Kevin Showalter

This is considered a "fun kart". Most race karts except for very early karts have live axles with 2 drive wheels. Our front wheels are usually for a 5/8" spindle.

Snap rings to hold on the wheels? That tells me it is a very slow kart because that is simply not safe. Don't try to put a fast engine on it.

Are your tires 4", 5" or 6" diameter?

You also not only have the sprocket it looks like you need a brake drum as well.

Places like https://www.bmikarts.com/ or https://azusaparts.com/ will get you started in the right direction. Some old school minibikes had 3/4" wheels.

The tires say 4.10/3.50 - 6, so 6" tires. The problem I'm having is knowing what offset and sprocket to buy for the drive wheel. I discarded all four wheels, and all I have is the pictures, ugggh- Do you buy the drive wheel with the long offset, the sprocket, and the brake drum all separately? It is a little confusing looking at it online. The Kart is definitely just a fun Kart. I believe it came with a 3hp briggs. From my limited research, it sounds like these Karts were given to Chevrolet dealerships to display in their showrooms alongside the real thing. Thanks for the websites Rob.

Seems you are going to pay the stupid tax on this one. NEVER THROW ANYTHING AWAY! LOL We have all been there. That's why we park in the driveway cuz the garage is full of irreplaceeble junk........ just in case.

Have you tried to contact the company? If all you hit are dead ends just order the wheels & tires. Get it to that point then you will have to mount the engine & see what length spacers you need for the sprocket to get it aligned. Does it have an expanding brake or a outside band brake? Once you know that you can order parts again.

It is an outside band brake.

That will be easy to find. There are a couple of diameters so know what you need.

$5.00 at BMI Kart in clearance section. Might be worth taking the gamble that it will work.

https://www.bmikarts.com/Wheel-Hubs-Tir ... c_419.html

R.E.A.R.

You definitely have the common fun kart junk. That link above is what appears to be correct drive wheel. But wont know until a trial fit. Northern Equipment usually has a large amount of wheels and tires like you need. All cheap commercial stuff. It is a shame you tossed everything before finding replacements. I know a lot of people that do that . Never understood what they were thinking.

IF you get that thing put back together, some little kid will go crazy wanting it to ride around until it is nearly unrepairable .... again. The dad will probably pay stupid money to make his kid happy, so long as he gets to ride it around too.