This, however, looks like a Lexus compared to what we put together. When you take two bored young boys, add a garage full of "useful stuff" and a Catholic Church/school across the street that had some great hills in it's campus, you have all the ingredients for chaos.
We both had bikes, but riding bikes had lost the thrill. We asked Grandma if we could look through the garage to find the parts necessary to make a home made go-cart. She didn't care as long as we put the stuff back when we were finished with it. Grandpa was quite the mechanic, and also had a garbage route, so there was lots of stuff to chose from in the garage.
We used a hand dolly as the frame. When you lay it on the ground, you already have the two back wheels in place. The front wheels were made with a rotisserie rod, lawn mower wheels and cotter pins. An old motorcycle seat was laid on the dolly to sit upon. Finally, using hose clamps, a set of bicycle handle bars was attached to the handle of the dolly, also securing the front wheels. It was quite the sight. It reminds me a bit of this creation:
Now you'll notice that I mentioned that it had bicycle handle bars. These were to hang onto to brace yourself in the event that you ran into something. You couldn't steer, just coast down the hills, and hope nobody pulls out in front of you. There were also no brakes. Push off & pray until you coasted to a stop.
At the end of the day, we pushed the "go-cart" home. Grandma was having coffee with one of her friends that dropped by. "Stretch" had been a friend of the family for years,and had worked with Grandpa on the garbage route, so the door was always open for him to stop by.
He saw us pushing our creation back to the garage and asked what in the world it was. When we told him, he looked at it and shook his head. He got in his truck and told us that he would be right back.
About ten minutes went by, and "Stretch" pulled back in the driveway. He undid the tailgate of his truck and let down the body of an old riding mower. It had no engine, or mower deck, but it had all the wheels, and you could, at least, steer it. It looked similar to this:
We disassembled our creation, and put everything back as we promised. The next day, we spent the day coasting down the hills on our new ride. That old mower frame was still in the garage when the house sold after Grandma passed away.
Did you ever get into a creative fit as a child?
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