classic33
Leg End Member
Put the wheels on, then decide how much you want to shorten it by.
Building a soapbox racer (aka go-cart.... aka gravity racer)
- Thread starter simon the viking
- Start date
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Joey Shabadoo
My pronouns are "He", "Him" and "buggerlugs"
The ones we built as kids (bogies) always had your feet resting on the axle to help you steer. I saw a few with brakes (fitted by fathers) but none of them worked and they were usually jettisoned. Emergency stops were achieved by putting your feet on the ground or jumping.
The whole point of making them out of scrap was you were going to wreck them anyway.
The whole point of making them out of scrap was you were going to wreck them anyway.
Joey Shabadoo
My pronouns are "He", "Him" and "buggerlugs"
Globalti
Legendary Member
I made this one from planks screwed together, with plastic/pneumatic wheels from Machine Mart on solid threaded axles, the wheels held on with domed nuts. The axles were attached by being passed though big wood blocks attached to the underneath. It was solid but heavy, I put a lot of effort into the arrangement of bolt and washers for the steering so as to make it handle easily and it steered and cornered really well. I built it for a buggy race, hence the strong pushing/rollover bar, but the problem was the weight, so loaded with a 8 y.o. pilot it was pretty hard work on a soft school playing field and we came second, pushed by me and my rugby-playing neighbour. I built it to fit exactly in the back of our Land Rover 90
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Joey Shabadoo
My pronouns are "He", "Him" and "buggerlugs"
Attaching pram axles was often the difficult part as I recall. Mainly nailed on with fencing staples, they had a tendency to see the wheels go in a different direction to the bogie - quickly and dramatically.
We used to have a "Soap Box" race for the cubs many years ago
It was spoilt by one group who had two parents who ran a small fabrication company, and built a highly engineered and well finished metal cart that won everything.
We used to complain that the rules were it was built by the boys, but they claimed that all the building (including welding) had been done by their sons so it had o remain
Attention waned and the event stopped
It was spoilt by one group who had two parents who ran a small fabrication company, and built a highly engineered and well finished metal cart that won everything.
We used to complain that the rules were it was built by the boys, but they claimed that all the building (including welding) had been done by their sons so it had o remain
Attention waned and the event stopped
classic33
Leg End Member
Union Flag looks to be upside down!
Joey Shabadoo
My pronouns are "He", "Him" and "buggerlugs"
Oh yeah, fencing staples were the sophisticated version though and much sought after. We'd lever them out of fence posts at every opportunity.
OP
OP
simon the viking
Guru
Andy_R
Hard of hearing..I said Herd of Herring..oh FFS..
- Location
- County Durham
This is something we might look into this term with the Scouts, but without the "Dad" interference, and only using scavenged parts (so no trips to the orange DIY shop)
*there are other coloured DIY shops available...
*there are other coloured DIY shops available...
classic33
Leg End Member
Andy_R
Hard of hearing..I said Herd of Herring..oh FFS..
- Location
- County Durham
ermmm...note I did say "scavenged", not bought...
snorri
Legendary Member
- Location
- East coast, up a bit.
I've never seen a hurley that didn't have a wooden fish box for a passenger compartment and I've never heard of a dad having to assist with construction, but there we go times change. If word got out that Dad had assisted with construction the boy would be barred from the smokers club immediately in my day.
You'll need number plates too of course, but I suppose the modern hurley doesn't require a licence disc holder, so that saves a bit of time.
Hurley building must be more difficult now, nails never hold securely in plastic fish boxes and the days of raking through the local tip on the beach for components are long gone since the council started uplifting rubbish and locking it up at night
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You'll need number plates too of course, but I suppose the modern hurley doesn't require a licence disc holder, so that saves a bit of time.
Hurley building must be more difficult now, nails never hold securely in plastic fish boxes and the days of raking through the local tip on the beach for components are long gone since the council started uplifting rubbish and locking it up at night
.
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