Karts take quite a beating each race weekend. The vibration, bumps, curbs — even a few dings against fellow competitors. That’s why we make a point to take care of the kart at the end of each season. Doing so not only increases your mechanic understanding and capabilities, but also prolongs the life of your kart! Follow these steps to keep your kart safe and reliable in the offseason!
Table of Contents
1. Remove The Engine
We store our engines indoors during the winter, but that’s not an option for everyone. Regardless of whether you’re going to keep the engine off, it’s important to take it off temporarily when winterizing. For some of us, this might be the only time of year that the engine ever comes off the kart. In that case, I’m sure there’s a TON of gunk (or maybe even some broken parts) hidden underneath it.
You should take this time to clean out your carburetor and air filter. I’d recommend a general wipe down of the engine as well. It’s harder to find rust and stripped bolts when it’s dirty.
2. Remove & Drain Fuel Tank
Whether your kart will be stored on the wall, stand, or even on the floor in a quiet corner of the garage, you’ll want to get rid of any fuel left in the tank. Not only will it become stale, but the ethanol will gum up and clog your fuel lines. You can put that fuel in a jerry can and repurpose it in your lawn mower, snow-blower, generator, etc…
Once the tank is removed, you’ll definitely need to give a good cleaning to your floorpan. Particulates of dirt and rocks will make their way under your tank, and under the vibration, they will begin to sand your floorpan down. It’ll likely never make it through the metal, but it will destroy your liveries. Again, aside from making things look less desirable, a good clean kart is easier to spot problems with.
3. Clean & Oil The Chassis
Just as with a car, dirt and grime is pretty damaging to the powdercoat on the kart’s chassis. Aside from keeping the kart looking nice, a good cleaning is also vital to removing moisture to keep rust at bay. We use a gentle cleaner such as Simple Green or WD40 Degreaser. You can also use detailing products you may have lying around from your car, but double-check that it’s safe for powdercoat. Some karters use brake cleaner on the areas around the engine, due to the extreme grease buildup, but keep in mind that this will eat at your paint. Lighter fluid and gasoline are other alternatives that are meant to be safer on powdercoat, but we find the previous products — along with some elbow grease, and patience — work just nicely for us.
After the chassis is clean, we highly recommend a nice coat of WD40. This isn’t exclusive to winterizing for us, as we make an effort to do this fequently. It’s a cheap and quick form of insurance, which is huge when it comes to rust. Unless you’re storing your kart in a heated garage, I’d say this is pretty mandatory when it comes to winterizing.
4. Wrap Your Tires
Exposed air and humitity is the worst thing for your tires. Without proper protection, it’s super easy to wind up with a bunch of dry-rot tires by the time spring rolls around. At that point, they’re rendered essentially useless and become a huge waste of money. I remove the tires on my kart before storage and wrap them, along with all my spares.
Check out our video on the process:
5. Take Note Of Issues
Throughout this process, you might’ve noticed some nuts that were rusty, loose, or even broken. Maybe a seat stay is worn, or your seat itself is looking a bit fragile. Whatever it may be, be sure to write down any repairs/improvements you intend to make before next season. This winter, my repair list looks something like this:
- New Floorpan Bolts
- New chassis protectors
- New kart stand
And my improvement list looks like this:
- Clean gas tank
- Change clutch springs
- Remove rubber from side pods
Some seasons I’ve had more pressing issues, others I’ve had less… No matter the severity of your list, I recommend you leave it somewhere you’ll see it. Spring rolls around quickly and you don’t want to wait until race day to fix everything!
6. Store The Chassis
I store my kart on the wall of the garage. I’ve kept it on the stand in previous years, but this way saves a lot of space. If you store your kart vertically, I highly recommend removing your engine. It’s possible to keep it without issues — so long as you drain the oil — but it makes the kart that much heavier, which can lead to mounting issues.
My kart is mounted on two garage hooks. These hooks can hold a total of 200lbs, which is perfect for a rolling chassis. If you keep your engine attached, you’ll need to find hooks with greater load capabilities.
7. Winterize Your Engine
Regardless of where you store your engine, winter prep is essential. Racing engines are moisture-magnets, and without taking steps to minimize this, you’ll wind up with an engine full of rust. There are some excellent video tutorials pertaining to winterizing your engine; here’s my favourites for both two and four-stroke engines.
After winterizing, we take our engine inside and store it in a closet, alongside our spare engine and tires. This isn’t an option for everyone, and that’s okay! I’d consider it an ideal, but not necessary step. If you’ve followed everything else, you’re more than good to go. Plenty of racers just set it and forget it — and they’re still winning races!
Conclusion
Winterizing isn’t always on the radar when it comes to racing. In fact, a lot of racers don’t quite believe in “babying” your kart this way. In our experience, preventing damage is the best way to save money in karting. The temperature fluctuations of winter can be harsh on your machine, but with the right prep, you can save yourself a mountain of problems next year!