OTK / Tony Kart Complete Build for 2024 GX-UK season
Building a GX-UK kart from the ground up
We join Brad Philpot for the rebuild of his kart for the 2023 season. This blog is a loose transcript of the video above, with a few extra details.
2023 saw the first test events for the GX-UK series take place, with a full season beginning in April 2024. I was racing a Tony Kart powered by a 200cc Honda 4-stroke engine. GX-UK is a low cost formula run by Access Karting, and requires you to have a chassis no newer than 2018 and one set of race tyres for the entire 6-round season in order to keep costs down.
However, all other parts of the kart can be designed to your personal tastes. For the 2024 season, I’ll be re-building my “O” Plate-winning Tony Kart of last year.
Before you begin…
Skin tight, “surgical” gloves are a great tip in order to keep your hands grease-free, as well as some more substantial mechanic-style gloves for the more physical parts of the build!
Lean, green, freshly painted chassis
I first had the 2016 Tony Kart “Racer” chassis acid dipped and powder coated. To keep the chassis true to production, I’ve had it painted in the original Tony Kart green.
New brake caliper magnets
Here's some in-depth work you don't normally see on a kart rebuild. As I’m doing a full brake service, I'm replacing the magnets inside the brake calipers. If left too long, the magnets can become damaged and crumble over time. I’ve also opted to replace the slider pin with a nice shiny new one, so that the pads slide in and out perfectly.
Front stub axles
Didn’t think these needed a big service, but on reflection, despite constant maintenance in-season, they were still filthy and needed a revamp. I opted to replace the bearings all around the kart for smoother steering.
Rear axle bearings and brake disc cleanup
The rear axle is housed by two bearings, holding the brake disc and rear sprocket. Replacing the axle and the associated components is a bit of a pain but it has to be done. To help the axle slide in or out, wedge a screwdriver in the gap of the bracket / sprocket carrier.
Brake disc
The inside of the brake disc is susceptible to rust, so I'm going to spray the inside with high temperature paint so it doesn't get rusty over time.
Stub axles and bearings
The main bearings that carry the axle needed replacing, as did the studs in the stub axles.
Sprocket carrier
I gave this a bit of a clean up so it looks nice and new.
Rubber bumper mounts
We're going to pop rubber bumper mounts inside the end of the tube here and eventually attach the bumper to them. The mounts protect the chassis should anyone drive into the back of you.
New seat
Okay, so we didn't film this bit, but we did just put in a new seat. We went with the Tillet T11VG which everyone recommends for these karts—it’s a bit more flexible than the OTK seat. I also added all my lead to the new seat as I am quite a bit under the minimum weight.
Engine and chain
For this season I will run two engines. One for practice and the other for races. I’ll start by mounting the race engine, just in case there are any slight differences in clutch position between the two.
To get the chain on, without removing the axle again, you’ll need to use a “chain splitter” to unlink the chain. You position it over the chain and use it to push the pin out of the links. Do it in reverse to put the chain back together.
One thing to look out for is the seat stay, which is why it’s a good idea to put the seat in before the engine. That way you can see if the chain will clear the seat stay with enough space.
Back to the kart track!
I plan to have my first run out on track with this kart at Fulbeck. You can watch the kart shakedown at Tattershall if you want to see how the kart shaped up!
Official testing with Access Karting starts in January with the first GX-UK races in April. If you'd like any advice on how to build your own kart, please drop me a message. I'm by no means an expert but I’m sure I can help you out. Good luck and see you on track in 2024.
