A very nice reproduction by Tom Smith in California of the style kart that Max-Torque built in the 1960’s called The Max-Torque Special. Tom did a great job reproducing this kart and has won numerous awards with the kart at vintage meets in the kart shows. Not only does it look good but it also drives very nice. Many of the vintage kart owners have spruced up their karts so they look better today than they did back in the day when the only thing you wanted was SPEED. Good looks was reserved for the woman that came to the track.

Vintage Go Kart Clutches

Max-Torque will try and make a clutch for any vintage engine used on a go kart, if possible. These engines include the Homelite, Power Products, West Bend, McCulloch and other popular engines used in the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s. Keeping these pieces of history running is where we started and we feel it is our contribution to the history of the sport.

We Need to Know the Following:

• Length of the crankshaft
• Is it threaded at the end
• If so what is the thread (left hand or right hand)
• Thread size and the numbers of threads (example McCulloch is 3/8-24 and West Bend is 7/16-20)
• The type and size of the keyway or if it is a Woodruff key (half-moon)
• How are you going to mount the clutch? Inboard (Sprocket next to the crankcase cover) or Outboard (sprocket on the end of the crankshaft by the nut or bolt and washer)

When in doubt send us the crankshaft or send us the engine, then it will be correct the first time around.
When possible we would recommend for these vintage engines to try and mount the clutch INBOARD. See pictures below of a McCulloch engine with the two different mounting styles.
You must take into consideration when mounting Inboard; can you get down to the axle sprocket when the chain is right next to the crankcase? Check this out before you order a clutch because dual shipments are expensive for YOU.