Question about a 16HP Vanny.

enjoylife..itsshort

I haven't been on in a long time and I feel I'm hooking up with an old girlfriend that I used and discarded, only to want her back again. Apologies for the long absence.

Getting ready to do a few more things to my cart this winter so I started browsing through some of the threads. Supposed to pick up a 2006 16hp Vanguard tomorrow. Gentleman says it doesn't smoke at all and starts right up. Even said he'd start it cold for me when I get there tomorrow. Was trying to get an 18 or better but I can get this for $250. And I haven't seen a lot of any of these out there near me.

Question for those of you in the know. Worth it to try and upgrade this engine, to get a few more horses out of her, before I do the swap this winter? If not what do you think the top end of the cart will be in MPH?

Overall intention is that after this winter she will be street legal with a few more goodies on her. Wouldn't mind hitting 35 mph with her on the street. Do want to come up with a governing system for when the kids drive her (teenagers...go figure). But when I'm on it, it'll be fun to go faster than my kids electric scooter, which the Robin can barely do.

BGW

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1989Marathon

I just put a 16hp Vanguard in mine this summer. After having three different carts, and unable to get the performance I wanted out of a 2-stroke, I now have the cart I always wanted. Once you go with a big block you will wonder why you waited so long. This winter I will be adding the rev kit, stiffer valve springs, 23hp cam, and the 30° offset timing key. If you can get the 16hp for $250, buy it. I paid $350 and think I got a deal. Make sure it has the starter, fuel pump and charging circuit intact. Without the rev kit, mine does about 25mph keeping it under 3000rpm. 35mph should be easy with the kit.

csason

I would say that is good deal for a v twin.. if it runs, and seems decent.

The charging circuit and starting mechanism is something to consider as is mentioned already.

Not sure about your time frame, that kind of decision is yours, I think..but the motor sounds "alright" , but like was mentioned there is more to it than just getting the engine.

Just for the install, you will need a cradle of some sort, and plans or ideas about an exhaust system and throttle ideas..etc.

If your proposed engine has a pull start, and no charging stator, you will have to look into how it has been done without those items.

If you plan on using your stock clutch for now, you will need an adapter, provided the briggs has a stock 1" diameter output shaft.

enjoylife..itsshort

Talking to the man he told me that it does have the starter and that the shaft was 1" keyed. The cradle I can fab up and I figured I could get some exhaust ideas from here. One question I would have is...Can I hook up an altenator to it? Got a few silly things on it from the first time I put it together and want to add a few more. The stock clutch has the pulley for the starter so I'd love to be able to use that and put a high output alt. on it. Have to see what kind of room I'll have.

After reading your replies I'll assume that a tach wouldn't be a bad thing to have either.

Back to original question. Further ahead to bump up horses now or install and do later? And is the bump worth the money? Which, if someone can ballpark me some prices, would be? I know a lot of the cost would be as to how much I pushed up the HP. But just a clue for about 5-7 extra HP.

CART-ZILLA

dont see why you can' get atleast 10 hp more out of that motor i have one too and i'm gonna try to get at least a 10 hp gain with it ...i raced carts and built motors for a while briggs is where its at

1989Marathon

I can't give you numbers for the additional HP, but I can tell you that you will be impressed with the extra torque of the V-twin. The cart will pull hard right from a stop until you let off the pedal. It's a whole different world than a stock cart motor. The Vanguard motor should have an integral charging circuit. I think it's good for 15amps. I would suggest doing as I did... get the motor installed, see if you like it, then change what you feel needs to be changed. I built my cradle, and bought new primary and secondary clutches. I installed a remote oil filter kit so I had better clearance for the motor. I disabled the governor. That is why I am installing the rev kit. The cart drives like crap with the governor operating. Once you have installed the motor and seen how it runs, it's not hard to take it out and mod it as you see fit.

1989Marathon

If all you're looking for is another 10hp... you haven't even scratched the surface. The 16hp Briggs Vanguard can produce ALOT more than that. It gets pricey with more power, but do a google search and you'll see what these things are capable of. Some shops are putting out triple the HP but it will cost you.

CART-ZILLA

there goes my bank account ......

pachanga90

You can gain 10hp,without spending much at all.Just doing things like a better air-filter,exhaust,unhook the govenor,tuning the carb,and timing,will make an impressive difference.The Rev-Kit is a definite,considering the gearing in carts,its' not hard to rev them high.Like others said,Do the install,then make the mods after,that way you will know how far you want to go.The first ride with a stock Vanny will give you "Perma-Smile",its' no comparison to a stock cart.My first ride on my Opposed-Twin was kind of a let-down when I nailed the gas the first time,then the clutch shifted and OH-BOY!!!!

csason

Unless I am mistaken , Enjoy Life, you were talking about attempting to get extra HP out of your existing engine, no ?

Keep this in mind..

The actual speed of your clutch driven, gas engine cart, is not dependent on HP.

If you have a 3 hp motor in your cart *(this is for example only)* BUT it developed 5000 rpm, and had enough torque to actually MOVE the cart from zero up, you would have a very fast cart.

In other words, if my NINE hp motor has enough power to get the cart going, and develops 3000 rpm max, and I replace it with a motor that is 50 HP , and has enough torque to get the cart going (it better) but its max RPM is 3000...it is not going to make the cart faster..

IT WILL HAVE MASSIVE TORQUE on the low end.

When I changed my cart from the stock Robin 9 to a BRiggs vtwin 23 HP, it was like stepping out of an old worn out Datsun pickup that had three weak cylinders into a new Chevy S-10 with a v six.

The Datsun will actually get up to 55 or more, after a while, but the S-10 gets there fast.


NOw, if you want to convert the Vtwin into something that translates into more SPEED, I have to look at increasing the rpm, and the BRIGGS is very capable (with a different camshaft) of doing that.. but not stock.
My current Briggs is stock, so it really doesn't go that much faster than a good running Robin 9 or 11, but if I added a different ratio to the axle using gears designed for that, and for sale by CPP, OR, if I added a hot cam (also for sale here and there) I could make the Vtwin sing..and make the cart faster.


Just wanted you to have a real clear picture.

IF you do add the Briggs 16 hp... You will wonder why you waited, and you will know that the Robin was designed for the golf course, to cart people between holes and not make noise.

The V twin changes the entire dynamics of the standard golf cart into a real live utility vehicle. With my Robin, if I loaded my cart down, or was on an incline, I had to wait and wait to see if the little motor would make it.

With a my Briggs, I can put 1000 lbs in the back a dog, and me and tie a boat to it, and still pull off like there was nothing on it at all..

Total change.