Gingus Christ

Construction Diary

Read on for an ancient document scavanged from the early days of Team Grecet when it was known as Grecet International.

Entry's in Blue are added by me (Jles)

Contemplating what frame to mount this engine onto, Ant and Jles discover an old pedal-powered Kettler Kettcar. Extremely small, with plastic wheels and no braking system to speak of, it was probably the least favourable chassis to begin a motor-car with.
The Grecet team decided to use it.

Before mounting it onto the frame, the engine had to work. Multiple spark-plug changes, screw adjustments, pull-cord removals and one mixture screw replacement later, the engine was ready. Fond memories of leanring to setup a 20 year old suffolk lawnmower engine.

The team began the engine's working life by stringing the mower to the freewheeling go-kart and driving around Buttercup Close on it. It was Very noisy due to the metal roller and it was also very slow.. its a mower for gods sake ;)

But soon it was time to begin work proper: a steel plate for mounting the engine was magically conjured into Ants very hands. The race against time* began.
Luckily for the Grecet team, time stalled on the starting grid(Must have been using a suffolk punch engine too), buying them some other time. Taking the go-kart into Jules's garage, the team stripped it down, removing all the plastic coverings, the seat, the clutch lever and the pedals. Only a steel-tubing frame was left before the team brought in the lawnmower and removed its engine. Hours of drilling and screwing later, the engine was bolted to the plate, which was bolted to the go-kart where the seat used to be. Bolting abound, the clutch had to be mounted onto the kart. Jules and Ant were stumped.

For about ten minutes.
Ant suggested that they saw the clutch mount off the lawnmower and get john to weld it onto the side of the go-kart frame, but alas Jules works out it is aluminium and they have to bolt it
And on the seventh day, the Lord rested.(after setting up the video for countdown)

It wasn't long before the Grecet crew ran into another problem: how to put the gear from the lawnmower blades onto the axle of the go-kart. Again, it was solved uncomfortably quickly, with the axle magically ground down to accommodate the stupidly-shaped hole in the middle of the sprocket. The sprocket, having been magically welded to the axle, was finished. More drilling, as a hole had to be drilled to put a split-pin through after re-fitting the wheel to the axle, and upon tweaking the jiffery, the whole tiddle-umpet-fumpuss was finally beginning to look rather nice.

The axle was fitted to the kart. The chain was shortened and a chain-tensioner attached. The throttle cable was tirruped and the throttle attached to the frame below the steering wheel. Choosing not to install the SCHTOPP(TM) switch yet, the team began testing the Gingus.
Ant had to hold the fuel tank above the kart and run along behind it while Jules was driving, because of the lack of a mounting. The kart achieved approximately 5mph in low-speed tests but the team chose not to go any faster until the fuel tank was attached. Seeing as the lawnmower handlebars were the most convenient mounting for the fuel tank, Jules removed them from the mower and Ant attached them to the kart, after both mechanics sawed off the handles. More changes were to come, including attachment of the SCHTOPP(TM) switch to the brake lever, relocation of the throttle lever from the frame below the steering wheel to the brake lever (now dubbed the "control column")...

...and attachment of an aerial/flagpole to the top of the fuel tank mounting using Multicultural Dave.
The Gingus Christ was finished.

Tests in Buttercup Close yielded speeds of 16 mph, captured using the speedometer on Ants bike. The front right tyre, having been loosened because of toe-out steering, frequently detached itself from the kart. Eventually, the team had to abandon that tyre, and as a result, only three tyres are mentioned in the Technical Specification. dear dear dear

As Jules went on holiday, Ant took the Gingus to his house and put it through its paces. He recorded a maximum speed of around 22, yes, twenty-two miles per hour,
down some road or other, travelling up which he recorded a maximum of 14 miles per hour.

On the fateful afternoon of Thursday, 30 August 2001, disaster struck. After Jules repeated the amazing 22 MPH travelling down the same road, Ant took the controls. He drove up one of the side-roads leading off the speed record road, and began a fast run down it again. Jules was on his left, on the bike. As Ant wanted to turn left, Jules was in the way, and he didn't know (you try talking to someone over the noise of a roaring suffolk engine), so Ant decided to turn right at the bottom of the road instead. The engine roaring, Ant applied full right lock, but the front of the Gingus Christ did not grip the road(doubt it would if you was turning left either though). Ant throttled back but it was too late, as the kart ploughed up the four-inch kerb opposite the side-road exit, and into the bushes beyond it. The chain had come off and the engine was screaming. Ant throttled back and flicked the switch to SCHTOPP. He clambered out of the wreckage. Yet the Gingus Christ was intact!!

A twelve-inch gash in the grass verge and a clump of mud from the front left wheel was the only remnant of the spectacular Gingus crash as the team wheeled the kart back to Ants garage. The damage to the kart itself was more extensive. The chain had come off, the clutch mounting was loosened and possibly bent(was fine after some checks though), and, most devastating of all, the rear axle was bent.

Gingus status:

30/8/01 Rear axle being straightened. Gingus non-operational.

31/8/01 Axle straightened and returned. Ready to be put together.

1/9/01 Gingus put together. Max speed attained: 23 MPH

3/9/01 Front right wheel falls apart following exaggerated cracking.

4/9/01 Front right wheel removed and wheel from gravity-powered "cart" attached. Fits perfectly(perfect??? the diameter of the axle is about 2mm smaller than the hole ha ha). Hole drilled in axle. Wheel attached, nail inserted and bent. Did the same with the front right wheel. Tested kart down Ennerdale Avenue and did 18MPH. Further acceleration was prevented because of toed-out steering. Took Gingus back to Ant's garage and with the help of Ants's right foot, steering was straightened. Took kart to Osborne Road where speeds of 18 MPH were attain..obta...attina.. done. Took kart to bottom of Appleby Gardens, and going up the hill Jules managed speeds of 20 MPH. Turning round and going down again, the current speed record of 25MPH was abt...obt...ataa...inter... done, with Jules wearing a pair of goggles and a dust mask. Beta 2.7 complete.

19/9/01 Following the starter breaking, took starter mechanism off and spring decided it wanted to spring everywhere. Spent half an hour putting the starter back together. Added a new, decent starter cable. Wearing the Unsafety(TM) Glasses (lens less, of course), Jules took the Gingus for a test in the rain. He decided to do a 180 skid, but as he did so, the split pin on the rear wheel bent and the wheel came off (and the sprocket ground on the ground with a few sparks but I didn't even notice due to the warping gingus frame which prevented the opposite front wheel lifting)Spent half an hour putting wheel back on and fixing everything. Tested Gingus for a while, but the throttle cable kept slipping out of the hole in the lever, where it was supposed to go.

20/9/01 Ant drove past the speed camera on Langdale Road, on the road. Probably safe, because he can't have been doing more than 30 MPH anyway. Throttle fixed. Everything working, if not excellently. Added L-Plates. Beta 2.8 complete.

22/9/01 Took Gingus to Queensbury East car park and set out a course of two crates, around which laps were driven. Jules pushed the Gingus a little too far around the green crate and slid it into a 180, pushing the drive-wheel tyre from the plastic hub. This made the rear of the Gingus have zero grip. Ant then tried the course, with the tireless rear right wheel, and during a powerslide towards the green crate, got stuck in a puddle of mud. The Gingus tipped onto its side and Ant cussed his arm up on the concrete (Was hilarious as he sort of went into slow motion and the kart just flopped over onto its side and fucked the rear wheel). More skids later, the rear right wheel was completely destroyed. The Grecet team bought another Kettler Kettcar from down Jules's road for £2 and took the wheels from it, applying them to the Gingus, which is now as good as new.

16/1/02 Cleaned front of Gingus up, removed foam "bumper" (it made us bump into things(Made YOU bump into things... I never crashed the gingus)). Replaced sawn-off old steering mount with the steering mount from the Szanter Christ (it's silver). Went to Universal Tyres and got a Vauxhall Nova exhaust pipe, took it back to Jules's, wasted time cutting it up, but eventually ended up with something which was easily attached to the rear of the Gingus. Also took a small piece, attempted to weld it to the end of the pipe, and failed. Instead, took a piece of tube and hammered the end completely flat, bent it over with pliers and drilled holes for attachment to where the old exhaust pipe... sorry... exhaust SARDINE-CAN was. Jules bought a piece of silver space-tubing, which was attached to the hand made Exhaustzhamechan Disdunnet(TM) and to the beginning of the exhaust pipe proper. Attached pipe to Gingus using two King Tirrups and some string. Sounds deep and growly, spews fumes like a flatulent pooma. With the old exhaust-sardine-can pushed against the end, the only sound comes from the rattling of the clutch and shaking of the frame, there is no exhaust sound. Howeverr I prefer the deep, throaty version. Unfortunately the Disdunnet was not particularly well-constructed, so we had to use large quantities of Bue-Tac to "seal" the thing.
Version b3.0 complete. Ready for testing.

18/1/02 Filled Gingus up with bue and wheeled it out of Jules's road. Started it up and he drove slowly down the pavement towards Osbourne Road. Then, he drove down a ramp onto the road and throttled up. The Gingus quickly accelerated away from me, I was running behind it, failing to keep up. The chain came off. I put the chain back on and got in, Jules started the go-crat and I sped off down Osbourne Road.
The Gingus seemed faster than before. Jules did a run up and down Osbourne before we took the Gingus to Appleby Gardens and did one run each, INCREDIBLE!!! It must have been 30 mph, it seemed faster than before. Taking the Gingus back to my garage we noticed a blob of bue-tac on the exhaust pipe. Taking the closer look, the heat from the manifold had heated the bue-tac seal around the Disdunnet and caused it to drip slightly onto the silencer. More testing tomorrow.

19/1/02 (by Jules) Today, Team Grecet decide to turn the Gingus into Version 1, but in order to do this the Gingus needed a lick of paint. Off we went around Dunstable in search of the cheapest heat resistant paint possible… and ended up with some BBQ paint from Wilko’s. Ant stays at his house to have lunch while Jules takes the Gingus back to his and starts to mask off areas that need no paint. Eventually Smythe turns up and the masking is completed (special care is taken when masking the space tube). The spraying begins the exhaust pipe and engine cowling is sprayed, Jules then goes insane and sprays everything but the space tube matt black …but the Gingus looks great. (FANTASTIC! – Ant)
Ant goes back to his house and gets the old downhill go-cart to use as a “Gingus Transporter” (trailer attached to a bike), meanwhile Julesw attempts to cure the paint by running the engine. After five minutes the clutch is smoking, so he turns off engine and then decides to leave it on for a few more minutes. He flicks the “Schtopp” switch back to "on" and BANG!! Jules shoots backwards as a giant flame comes from the exhaust. He then decides to leave the gingus for a while. After numerous trips to and from Ants's house we eventually get the old go-cart and manage to get a piece of pipe attached. Now all we need is a bike attachment and some way of holding the gingus onto this mad trailer… More work to be done soon, due to the day ending with Jules having to go to the gliding club for a Bronze lecture.

9/8/02 (by Ant) About time for an update, I think.
Since last update, the trailer has been finished, used and puncture-repaired, as well as sprayed black. There is a permanent attachment for it on the back of Jules's bike.
The Gingus sits facing backwards on the trailer, kept from moving around by four shelf brackets screwed to the chassis, which is attached to the bike via a V¯ shaped thing made of box-section steel, the bicycle attached at the left end with a universal joint, the trailer at the right end. The V shaped part is there to provide space for the back bike wheel to swing around when turning.
This trailer has been christened the "Brown Trumpet".
The Gingus is currently locked away at Jules's house. Jules is on holiday, and I can't adjust the Gingus because he forgot to leave it out for me to collect!(You forgot to ask me to leave it out... plus we didnt want it knicked)
On the good side of things though, it's better than ever. We cut the Szanter up and used the front section as a footrest, bolting it to the front of the Gingus frame. Much more comfortable to drive now!
Jules has been cleaning it, with assorted automotive products(Was for its yearly service.. yes the gingus really has lasted one year), and has got hold of some octane booster for the fuel that, he reckons, makes the Gingus go (and sound) faster.
There's also now a plastic sheet covering the front, loosely mimicking the style of racing karts.

I haven't updated the Gingus page for so long, that it's gone past being Version 1. I'd call this Version 1.5. We're looking for a better clutch system and new wheels (both back tyres have been destroyed and the back wheels are cracking....) Once they're present and correct, I think it'll be version 2.

10/9/02 (by Ant)
The Gingus is COMPLETELY different at the rear end. The engine has been entirely replaced by a considerably better quality (but same design) engine that we got from a Suffolk Punch mower, for free, from a bloke in Houghton Regis. The clutch mounting and clutch have also been replaced. The A-frame has now gone, and the fuel tank is now attached to the engine cowling.
The old chain drive has been replaced by a different chain drive, after the old one broke due to revving the engine when the chain was only attached to the top (clutch attached) sprocket. Both sprockets have more teeth this time, and the chain has smaller links, so it should be smoother. The chain is also aligned much better now, due to a pair of excellently machined washers (cheers, Dad!).
A part of the chain guard from the lawnmower is attached to the clutch mount, and is hinged at the front. A rubber band attached to the hinge pulls it shut when it is opened.(another good idea by Jules there)
The Nova exhaust pipe and space tubing have been replaced by a mysterious aluminium box, produced from scratch by Jules for a Technology project. This assembly is much lighter than the Nova pipe and is just as quiet!much quieter
It's not only the chain that has a new guard - the clutch does, too. Most of the moving parts at the rear are now shielded from the driver (i think its the other way round the driver is shielded from them...) by a series of lightweight, convenient guards.
The throttle lever has been changed back to the original After Curner lever - the first one we ever used. The SCHTOPP switch is now a small round red rocker switch, attached to the steering wheel.
It's also not only the Gingus that's been upgraded. A new piece of box section steel with a pair of Terry clips bolted onto it has been attached to the trailer, taking the weight off the Gingus axle when mounted onto the trailer. Also, a jockey wheel made from a shopping trolley castor (the trolley had been previously dumped, we didn't steal it(Honest)) has been bolted to the front. It is unfortunately not adjustable, though, and merely allows easier ground manoeuvrability.
We're still looking for two wheels, though. The current rear wheels are within seconds of breaking. Please email me (look to the site menu for my email address) if you know of any wheels, or where to get some (remember, I'm in the UK!).

THE WHEELS MUST:

Be between 7.5 and 9 inches in diameter

Have solid rubber or pneumatic (inflatable) tyres

Be reasonably cheap to us (ie, under a fiver each)

20/09/02 by Ant

Jules found some wheels! There's 4 of them. Each is 8 inches in diameter, with a 5 inch red plastic hub and solid rubber tyres - they feel heavy so they must be solid. I got them from the Tech department of my school, for £1 each. However, there is a problem: the axle bore for each of the wheels (the hole in the middle) is 1 inch in diameter. The rear axle is just over half an inch in diameter. This is bad.

I therefore have designed a pair of bushes that my Dad will make at work. They will make the wheels fit. The wheels will not fit onto the front of the kart because the stub axles are not long enough. Also, the new wheels look silly on the front of the kart, and even if they did fit, they wouldn't have bearings, which would be awful.(not that the current front wheels bearings are actually touching the axle cos its too thin)

22/09/02 by Ant

Went to Jules's with the Gingus, where we attached the rear wheels to the kart. The drive wheel was welded on by his neighbour. The axle was attached and the footrest resprayed silver. Jules drove the Gingus up and down the road, but by the time he finished the axle was squeaking - the plastic bushes on the axle had run out of grease. Jules added some WD40 which worked for a few runs. It then started squeaking again. We are going to put some new grease on soon.

I had a go at driving the Gingus. It went OK until I turned around to come back, after that the steering wheel nut began coming loose and eventually falling off with Jules, his neighbour and his neighbour's acquaintance watching(watching... more like laughing ha ha). Thankfully the brakes work much better now and I was able to slow down sufficiently to prevent the kerb causing too much damage to the kart when I hit it.

Replaced limiter with the modified one from the old engine - it didn't seem to make much difference. Jules thinks we need to check the tracking.

Some Time after the last update - Jules

We decided to try the kart with the clutch locked to see if it would work but alas the gear ratio was too shit for it so we stoped that. Also after thinking we were fucking all our engines we removed a selection of dodgy engine kill switches and they all work perfectly now. after a few final runs and me almost rolling it whist taking a corner too fast the gingus was put into storage and never used again.

- Ant

- Jules