I would look at tools you use to make adjustments or do routine maintenance. Could any of them be made better? The guys making cool stuff right now are custom tools. For example, in the last couple months I have seen:
Oil Fill cap wrench
Custom eccentric pill spinner
Flame clutch spring tool
Got any photos of those? I can try and design some
School probably doesn’t have the budget for the cost of raw materials & the tooling you’d use up working with it.
What I’d like to see: 3D printed frame protectors. Retail level 3D printers tend to be too small. Maybe you have access to lma larger unit.
No, don’t copy something. Think of something yourself! I was just giving examples.
We have a 16x16x12 3D printer
How about aluminum frame sliders?
We’ve got multi axis lathes as well. Wonder what I could make for karts on those. I need ideas!
I personally don’t work on my kart a lot as I do a tent program, so I’m not sure what custom tools would be useful
Aluminum is a soft material. It wouldn’t last in that application.
Steel? I’ve got most basic metals and alloys at my finger tips
Yes, at the cost of weight. There is a SS frame guard set on the market. It’s thinner than the plastic alternatives to save weight, but dimensional thickness plays a role in protecting the frame, so I don’t think the greater hardness offers enough of an advantage to offset the loss of clearance. My opinion, of course.
Any kind of materials that can improve on the standard wear/durability level of current resin frame sliders - which are pretty good - without adding significant weight would be the ticket.
I can think of a lot of specialty tools out there you could make for yourself. One that comes to mind I first saw on one of the power republic videos. It was an aluminum rod 50mm in diameter and turned down on one end to fit inside the axle. It was used to hammer out a bent axle that didn’t want to budge. Later a used a very similar tool I borrowed from Mike Jones at DKC to remove a bent axle that would not come out otherwise.
Off the top of my head, there are a ton of engine tools. Flywheel Stops that hold the ring gear from moving to get a clutch off/on, Piston Stops that screw into the spark plug hole and prevent the piston from rising above a certain point (similar application to a flywheel stop). Locking collars for the axle to prevent shifting. Customizable Dash mounting brackets. Brackets for under Nassau panels to mount electronics for Expansion boxes and the like.
Now we’re talking! I’ll try and get some dimensions for some of these things and see what I can do
Honestly I think frame protectors are a great idea. The ones you buy are pretty pricey for pieces of plastic that wear out in a few sessions!
Lots of people have made some caster pill wrenches like this: 
Our team had some made up by our machinist buddy years ago. Kind of a cool little tool.
Kinda late to the party but I’d like to see a “pull cord lockout clasp” where you could lock the pull cord of an LO206 so that it can’t be pulled to avoid seizing an engine while the oil is drained for storage or whatnot.
I tried an electrical construction LOTO cord end lockout that slides over the handle but sadly the handle is irregularly shaped compared to an extension cord end and won’t allow the clasp to close. A local guy was doing maintenance on his motor and forgot to put oil back in before trying to crank it again, seized the entire thing solid. Kinda has me scared. That’s an expensive fix.
LOTO tag is a good idea, but you can write “NO OIL” on a piece of tape & put it on the old filler cap &/or the cord handle as a visual reminder. Better than nothing.
Lol yeah, that’s what I currently do. Just figured that a 3D product like this to lock off the pull string might be a little more fool proof than a slice of paper 
I’m an idiot that has done this before. Now, I pull the spark plug wire. Sometimes I’ll pull and pull on the cord. Engine doesn’t start and as soon as I see the plug I remember. Saved me from myself a few times.
We always put a note/sticker on engines we ship out. Sometimes you may receive it with the plug wire pulled as well because we use the same trick in our rebuild shop to protect your engines from our mistakes 
Can you make a diagram of what you are talking about? I’m a little confused, but I’d like to try and make one.
This is what I was hoping to use, got one from work but the pull handle is too large to fit in the enclosure and let it close. The part is made in two halves, one slides in to itself so you can fit a cord end in to it. The cord then comes out the end.
The “clasp” wouldn’t have to be a snug fit on the pull handle, but large enough that it could swing open, then have loops on it so a lock could be placed on the end of it so you physically would have to remove the lock to start the engine. There’s a bolt hole on the LO206 that the guys here use for throttle cable management that should also have an eyelet receiver to lock the pull handle hasp to so the pull handle cannot be pulled unless the lock is removed.
Now, typically with LOTO items the devices themselves aren’t the strongest, but they’re not made to be, it’s the paperwork that accompanies them that make them strong. This device would be more as a piece of mind that your engine won’t get destroyed if oil is removed and pull string is pulled. Tape or paper only goes so far.