Off-road cart made road legal?

[Christ]

Of course, Briggs and $tratton no longer recommend alternative fuel use... but I have a repair manual for their engines, that was a retail product at the time, sold by B&S, which clearly lays out the process for doing the kero conversion.

I'll have to scan the pages when I get the manual back.

[jamesqf]

I would wonder about the actual efficiency of those. Probably very low geared, etc. But improve that, add some street tires and a fiberglass over foam shell, and you've got a do-it-yourself Smart :-)

Or do a search on "Ariel Atom".

[aerohead]

There's a 3-wheel version,probably made by the company next door in China,that is street-legal.It sells,retail for two-and-a-half times the price of a Tata Nano($5,500 US ).---------------- In a perfect world without traffic crashes,a person could ecoMod one of these babies and end up with a pretty fun high mpg'er.------------- The flip-side is reality,with Barbie and Ken running a red light and T-boning you.There is virtually no side-impact protection.The human body is most vulnerable to this type of assault.As Barbie's car makes impact and your car displaces lateraly, your head impacts the on-rushing car,your brain is knocked into a figure-eight interior dynamic which severs the brain stem.That's it! Humpty-Dumpty!---------- No doubt,if one pursues safety,certainly you could minimize risk to injury through modifications.I would look to Formula-1 and Indycar technology for clues.

[Christ]

As far as legality - google Tri-Sport... you used to be able to get them pretty easily, but they're rare now... they have light kits and stuff to make them legal for road use, and it's an open bucket-type 3 wheeler, often with overpowered engines.

[Frank Lee]

The key word is "trike" as far as easy legality.

Safety, schmafety. Anyone that gets on a bicycle or motorcycle is worse off than a cage driver right from the get-go. I ride bikes so any cage looks pretty safe.

[RandomFact314]

Crist, I'v looked into doing something like this with a golf cart, you can do it, it just takes money. Where I'm from I think all that it needed was a motor fast enough to go the road speeds, head lights, tail lights, seat belts and side and rear view mirrors. It was a long time ago but I'm sure that's about it.

[Christ]

PA's vehicle code doesn't even specify external mirrors... you can get away with "a mirror which provides an ample view of the rear and sides of the vehicle" or something like that... I don't feel like digging out the code book to find the exact quoted phrase.

Basically, to get a title in PA, you have to go through a State Safety and Equipment Inspection. This is nothing more than a check to make sure that your vehicle meets the minimum road requirements for this state. Once that's done, you get a title and VIN plates, and they tell you where to put the plates on the vehicle, then you get it registered, and you're good. Insurance is an issue, though. Many insurance companies won't insure "kit" cars. Those that do, often charge outrageous amounts, and for that reason, it may be less economical to do this. That's part of the reason it fell into a "Sunday" project... when I have the time, I play with it a bit.

AFAIK - in PA, you need:
2 rear marker lights, which can be integrated with brake lights

3 brake lights, at the extreme corners of the rear and center high mounted,

2 turn signals, left and right, which must be separate from brake lights (separate bulbs, can be the same housing, and can be integrated with tail lights, as long as the brake/tail aren't combined)

Hazard lights, which can be turn signal integrated.

The "sufficient" mirror.

Headlights, which, along with all other lights, have a min/max height/size requirement.

Bumpers, front and rear, with impact struts.

A full firewall and floor (you can't see the road by looking down.)

And those are the basics. You can't allow simple "touch and go" access to hot parts, excluding a tail pipe or muffler. Exhaust gasses must not be allowed to accumulate in the "passenger compartment" if it's an enclosed (able to be enclosed) space by design.

That's about all I can remember now, but it's pretty basic stuff... it's not really that hard to get a vehicle road legal in PA.