At Go-Cart... Now what?

[Slider]

Looking for some advice on how to proceed.

I've got the MK4 at basically GO-KART stage, but due to my geographical location (North Dakota) am not able to drive the car at this time. It runs beautifully, but haven't put any black marks down anywhere yet. My question is... Am I silly to consider finishing the car and sending it to get the body and paint done prior to go-karting? I'm just tempted because I can get this done now and be ready for spring with a finished car... or I can wait until spring, go-kart and then send to the shop, which will eat into my "Fun summer drive time". I'd appreciate thoughts on this. Just wondering how hard it is to work on once the body is on.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Assuming you've screwed the car together properly go karting &/or "shakedown miles" are not mandatory. My Mk3 only go karted from the garage up onto the trailer when I took it to the alignment shop. The Mk4 I built for Steve had a total of 3 or 4 go kart miles, primarilly for his enjoyment. I dropped the finished body on both and they started racking up miles!

Good luck,
Jeff

[Dan Babb]

I would finish the car totally (without painting the body). That might take a bit longer than you expect. It will allow you to property trim out the side pipe and roll bar cutouts to check general fitment. Install all the lights and gas filler neck & cap.

it's also easier to fit the radiator aluminum when you don't have to worry about being careful with new paint. You'll have those pieces in & out of the nose a few times.

Maybe even drive it for a few months to make sure everything is solid.

Make notes of things you might want to change (I would up moving around some wiring in the engine bay). Then take the body off for paint. It would suck to have to do all that fitment for the first time on a newly painted car.

[QSL]

we did not really do too much driving in go kart. We had the body painted while we finished up the chassis. Depending on the painter, he fits the pipes, roll bars, etc before and after paint.

Basically, i think we get spoiled during the build with easy access. But if you think about it, tons of people work on completed (non kit) cars every day. It can make some things harder, but not impossible.

there has been nothing that we would have changed that would require removing the body.

good luck!

[edwardb]

Finish the car! The go kart phase for many (including me) is more of a psychological milestone than something with a real purpose, e.g. shakedown, troubleshooting, etc. The main point is that it starts and runs successfully, nothing leaks, brakes are bled, etc. Being able to drive it down the street is nice, but not mandatory. I only drove mine up and down the court in front of my house 3-4 times and never out of second gear before it was painted and finished. For legal, insurance, and safety reasons, I had no intentions of taking it out on the open road. I see some of the go kart drives where guys are out in traffic, regular roads and speed, really pushing them hard, etc. and kind of makes me nervous. But that's just me...

X2 on getting everything mocked up and fitted before paint. No exceptions, no matter how small. Nothing should touch the body for the first time after paint.