Go Kart to Matco Brakes

88 posts in this topic

Posted

Since both my other threads kind of went off topic I thought I would start a new one with the info on my brake swap. I'll keep this updated as I go along. Here's a parts list.

Custom Brake Pedals from Michael Schuetz.

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Matco MC-4D Master Cylinders, Remote Reservoir Kit, and 1/8" line

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Kitfox IV Gear Legs, Douglas 8" ATV Wheels

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I'll be running Nanco 21X12X8 Slick tires.

Here is the BEFORE picture. Hopefully in a couple weeks I'll have an AFTER picture

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Posted

I got my Nanco 21X12X8's mounted today. These things are huge. Pretty lame for you Alaska guys but I'm pretty stoked. I can't wait to land off airport with my new brakes and these tires.

The two of them side by side on the garage floor. That is my camera case on the one to try and show the size

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This one is of the original 20X7's that were on there like Larry is running. The 21's dwarf these even. I can't wait to see them next to my 8.00 that are on there now.I kept these since they were new if anybody needs a set...pay for shipping and you can have them.

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The new ones in the same spot.

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These puppies are wide!

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Posted

Working on rebuilding the Avid Catalina, I have had to do

the same conversion you are doing.

Since the go kart breaks don't have a backing plate, I made them and welded them on.

The biggest deal was moding the peddles from cables to master cylinders and moding the master clyinders to give more leverage.

I bought the breaks from jackak from stuff he had left over, thanks to Jack for that.

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Posted

I went flying this afternoon and took one of the new tires for a side by side shot...Yehaw these are gonna be fun!

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Posted

That's some dead sexy Avid shiznit right there! :beerchug:

Be interesting to see how these affect your rotation and cruise speeds.

Figure the weight diff yet?

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Posted

Project has been kind of slow lately. Flying has taken priority over modding for the time being. Here's a little progress though.

Here's the mod you need to do to use KF gear legs on an Avid. The existing tab was located about 2" from the end. I ground it off and made up a small template and had someone weld it onto the end of the gear leg.

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I also received my chunk of wood fairing from Brett to fair the front legs. I still need to cut it to fit and do some shaping. These will be wrapped with Super Coverite and painted over.

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Kitfox still sells the step too. It's just a piece of angle bent at slightly less than 90 degrees. This will be nice to have with the taller tires and gear legs. No short jokes!

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Doug I'm curious myself. As far as weight goes, I think the new tires mounted on the douglas rims W/O the brake components are lighter than what's on there. My current tires are 6 ply with tubes vs tubeless 2 ply and the stock Avid wheels are heavier than the light aluminum ATV wheels. I'm hoping that with the brakes installed they come out to be about the same or just slightly heavier. I think I'm going to re-do my W&B after this. I've added a few things and changed my TW since I did it initially. I'm pretty confident in my Math but I access to scales and it only takes an hour to do it so might as well just to be sure it's right.

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Posted

I have the steps on mine with the wider, taller gear. The step is a really good shin buster cause it is too small to really be useful. I just step into it grabbing the overhead bar in the cabin. It is alot easier than getting into a super cub!

:BC:

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Posted

I went flying this afternoon and took one of the new tires for a side by side shot...Yehaw these are gonna be fun!

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These will bring a smile to your face when your taxiing to take off smile.giftongue.gifbuttrock.gif

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Posted

Joey,

With your open gear legs you may be able to use the welded in cross tube as a step. One thing I did with steps on my Airdale gear was to cut traction tape to fit the step and stick it on; it helps a lot.

Randy

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Posted

Joey,

With your open gear legs you may be able to use the welded in cross tube as a step. One thing I did with steps on my Airdale gear was to cut traction tape to fit the step and stick it on; it helps a lot.

Randy

The bolt inserts were already in the cross bar so I bought the steps from Kitfox. They stick out about an inch...better than nothing.

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Posted

Well I committed to this project today and yanked my rudder bars and the old mechanical brake cables. I sanded them down today in preparation to weld on the tabs for the master cylinders to attach. I'm going home to Idaho at the end of the week and I'm taking them with me so I can get some help from my Dad. He's a welder/fabricator by trade. I should have them ready to bolt back in and plumb after I get back from vacation. All that will be left then is to finish fairing the gear legs and get them painted and put on the plane. Can't wait to learn to land it again.

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Posted

Well I committed to this project today and yanked my rudder bars and the old mechanical brake cables. I sanded them down today in preparation to weld on the tabs for the master cylinders to attach. I'm going home to Idaho at the end of the week and I'm taking them with me so I can get some help from my Dad. He's a welder/fabricator by trade. I should have them ready to bolt back in and plumb after I get back from vacation. All that will be left then is to finish fairing the gear legs and get them painted and put on the plane. Can't wait to learn to land it again.

wont be much of a learning curve! and you will wonder how you ever did it with the old brakes on it!

:BC:

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Posted

Well I committed to this project today and yanked my rudder bars and the old mechanical brake cables. I sanded them down today in preparation to weld on the tabs for the master cylinders to attach. I'm going home to Idaho at the end of the week and I'm taking them with me so I can get some help from my Dad. He's a welder/fabricator by trade. I should have them ready to bolt back in and plumb after I get back from vacation. All that will be left then is to finish fairing the gear legs and get them painted and put on the plane. Can't wait to learn to land it again.

Joey;

That you are starting with fresh disks and pads, don't forget you will have to burn in or condition everything so as to transfer some organic resins from the pads to the discs for best performance.Basically just ride the brakes with 3/4 power or so slow taxiing for a given distance (look at the matco site for full particulars)to warm everything up. let cool down and should be good to go...provided you dont end up with a pesky air bubble slowly rolling out of the caliper just after you figured it was all clear.(been there)I'd also check toe in/out and do a bit of taxiing to see how everything behaves relative to what you were previously used to. :2cent:

Mike

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Posted

Since I'm not covering my gear legs I'm trying to decide which gear leg will work better to route my brake line down before I start assembling this thing. There is a groove in the rear leg where the fairing attaches that I could route the line down through and keep it clean looking but the front fairing does not have that groove. I can add it with a router though if the line will run better that way. Which leg to you guys think would work better?

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Posted

Joey,

You might want to mount your brakes where you want them and see where that places your hose inlet. My hose comes in from the rear the way I have my brakes positioned, so I woulde locate the hose along the rear tube if I didn't have my gear covered. It will be easier to see it you mount the brakes on the gear.

Randy

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Posted

Got the fairings glued onto my front legs yesterday. Hoping to get the wood treated today and maybe get some paint on them tomorrow. I gave up the idea of covering the wood fairing with Century 21 fabric. It would be next to impossible to make it look decent and getting that fabric to stick to the wood and metal would be a huge PIA. I'm going to blend the wood real well, treat it with urethane and rattle can the shit out of it and call it good. Hopefully it'll look decent. I need to wrap this project up I missed out on some awesome flying weather this weekend. A person get's spoiled when you can flying anytime you want and then you don't have a flyable plane anymore.

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Posted

Got the clamps off this afternoon after letting my JB weld set up for 24 hours. Going to brush the new wood in Polyurethane tomorrow to seal it up and then get the gear painted. We had a ton of ideas on how two shape the pieces. I think it came out pretty well. The aluminum step still has to go on later after paint but these pics give you an idea how it will look.

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Posted

Looking good! Wish our weather would clear up. It has been blowing 25-45 since I have been home this time so no fun flying for me...

:BC:

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Posted

Got everything prepped for paint today. Of course our weather is total garbage today so I can't spray. I'm headed to the Middle East tomorrow so going to have yet another delay on this project. It should not take more than a couple days to assemble it all once it's painted though. I can't wait to fly again. This is the longest I've been on the ground since I got my her flying in September.

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Posted

Made a little progress today. I decided to accent my white fuse a bit and paint my rudder bars and brake pedals dark blue which is my trim color.

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Posted

Made a little progress today. I decided to accent my white fuse a bit and paint my rudder bars and brake pedals dark blue which is my trim color.

Parts are looking good Joey! Good luck in the sand box, get yer ass back here safe and get back to work on the toys... Some people need to learn to re-prioritize and put play time before work time ( :lol: I am one of them lately it seems)

:BC:

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Posted

Getting close to wrapping up this project

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Posted

Looking good Joey,You shouldnt have any prop clearance issues with those monsters.Is that a Jack Russell Terrier I see.I have an 11 year old one, pretty cool dogs.He will probably be my co-pilot while I fly my 40 hours off.I wonder if it will land any different with those big tires,probably have to experiment with tire pressures until it feels right. Randy

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Posted

Looking good Joey,You shouldnt have any prop clearance issues with those monsters.Is that a Jack Russell Terrier I see.I have an 11 year old one, pretty cool dogs.He will probably be my co-pilot while I fly my 40 hours off.I wonder if it will land any different with those big tires,probably have to experiment with tire pressures until it feels right. Randy

We had them on my brothers Mod II KF with the narrow gear like that. Was not too bad even on pavement with 8 PSI. Was alot better on the wide gear though... Off in the dirt and sand I dropped them down to 4.5-5 PSI, but it seems that if you get any under that the bead will start rolling real easy. I would keep them up about 8 PSI for your flying and I think they will do you just fine!

:BC:

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Posted

Hey Randy the dog is a Rat Terrier..close to a Jack Russell but a little less hyper.

I got the plane on the new gear today finally and the rudder bars back in. Did not get to the plumbing so not quite done yet.

I LOVE the new stance!!! It's a beast! I can't wait to do some off airport landings in it. The blue uncovered legs really changed the appearance of the airplane! I'm glad I decided to go that route.

Because I was putting Kitfox legs on my Avid Flyer I knew there may be a difference. I measured everything out but after getting it on there I was 1/16th of inch off on the front mount. I busted out the grinder and took care of it.

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Retracts!!

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Back on the ground

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Should have it plumbed in the next few days. I can't wait to fly it!!

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