Hot Rods Group of CO boys need your help - Donors Choose after school go cart project

Not necessarily a hot rod thread - but most definitely a "resurrect it/build it" thread!

Long story short, a group of my students and I have recently picked up TWO go cart projects to work on in an after-school setting.

These kids don't play sports, and are generally from unconventional families: dad is gone/out of the picture, OR he works out of town. Every single one of my afterschool buddies lives without both of their biological fathers, and all but ONE of my eight live in a home with no father at all, and that one is a step-father. Needless to say, schoolwork is pretty low on their priority list. Thus the go cart projects..... These boys have nothing to do after school, so they start getting into trouble and making poor decisions. So - I thought I'd source some go carts and put these boys to work!

We've picked up a pair of small go carts, and have already begun to dive into the first one. We're a bit behind the eight-ball, however, in the fact that we need some simple hand tools to kick up our efforts. We have access to only a rag-tag assembly of tools, mostly leftovers that weren't stolen/broken by the former teacher and her classroom. Yeah - it's not ideal at all. We've only enough tools to work on one go cart at a time, so it's always an issue on which cart gets the attention today, and which crew of boys gets to stay and work. We need some crowd-funding help...

Enter "Donors Choose" - a program that offers you the chance to chip in a few bucks (dollars that will be matched, no less!) to help get us some tools and put these two carts back in action!

Here's a brief snapshot of our story:

https://www.donorschoose.org/projec...-project-teacher_6327090&challengeid=21367534

I know I'm coming to you hat in hand....but we're running out of time and options. If you have a few extra bucks that you could toss towards our project, it would be tremendously appreciated - and did I mention that your donation will be matched DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR!

I've funded the purchase of the carts and all the parts to date from my own wallet - but I can't afford to buy tools AND parts AND carts. I need some help, even if it's just a little bit.

Forums like the H.A.M.B. have already been a tremendous help to the boys and myself.....but we need just a bit more momentum to get us over the hump and into motion. If you have a minute, check out our story and consider donating. I tossed a few seed dollars into the mix to get things going; jump on in! The water is fine!

And hey - either way, THANK YOU SO MUCH for having us here! We've already been tremendously blessed by the information you all have provided to us! Keep up the good work!

Feel free to share the link to our project; we need all the help we can get!

Tucker and his crew of wild boys

 

Your link is not working for me... might just be me though.

 

Whoops! My bad!

Thanks for the heads up....I appreciate it!

 

No problem, it is most definitely working now.

 

Pawn shops and 2nd hand stores often have a lot of shitty old rusty hand tools at nearly give away prices. Load up some of the boys and go shopping, talk to the store owners and tell them what's going on. Most likely they'll give you a bunch of the junk they know they'll never sell. Those boys don't need new big name American tools for futzing with go carts. They just need inspiration.

 

Pictures of the kids and karts would help also.

 

Swap meets, yard sales and estate sales are an almost magical source.
Their young minds will come up with all kinds of ideas and re-purposing things.

 

Here's a few pics of the boys in action; this is working on the smaller of the two go carts - an early model Carter Brothers, with a 5hp Tecumseh.

It's been over two years since the engine had run; it was sans carb when we picked her up. Supposedly, the PO yanked the carb to rebuild it/clean it, lost it - then gave up entirely and left it sitting behind the back shed. That's where we came in to bring her back to life!

We sourced a carb and pull cord, and started there. After an oil change and new plug....the ol' gal started right up! Wahoo! We were elated!

Here's a link to the viddy of the very first start in over two years; we felt like KINGS! Haha!



More pics to follow below -

 

Is there a harbor freight nearby? Gift cards to them could be sent.

 

Very good, Mr. Moore. These youngsters will remember this for a long time. Pride in the project, pride in the equipment, pride in themselves.

 

Hey - thank you. It's really a good time, to be honest. So many days you just want to pull your hair out (what's left of it!), but then you recall growing up yourself....and having someone work with you on turnin' a wrench. It's lots of fun.

And here's the remarkable news: after only being up for a few days....our project has been fully funded! You guys are amazing! We now will have all the carts, parts, and NOW - tools! Wahoo! This will be a tremendous bit of momentum to get us off of center and into full motion. I can't wait to gather the boys and tell them the good news!

THANK YOU TO ALL FOR YOUR GREAT SUPPORT!

 

Rad story. Great of you to take the time to help these kids!

Sent from my SM-N910V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Janitor is gonna be pissed about that dust mop...

Seriously, great job and glad to hear it's working out for you!