ez go clone swap

milltown

I think I'm about to start a clone swap on my 2003 ez go txt. I plan on using the Lifan engine from Home Depot without the electric start. I plan on using the existing starter/generator and maybe even rerouting the air intake to some cleaner air (dirt roads). I have a couple of questions first though. Would it be better to tap into the valve cover or use a carb spacer/adapter to get pulse for the fuel pump? I also plan on using the clutch adapter from cpp and the stock clutch. Will this be straight forward and line up directly with the rear end pulley and use the same belt? I do understand that I will have to trim the shaft that is going to drive the clutch. I also haven't made up my mind if I will use the engine cradle from cpp or get somebody to make one for me, any thought here? Any other pointers that will make thing easier will be greatly appreciated.

BGW

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milltown

Also, what do I gain by removing the governor from the engine? Will it rev up higher with out the governor? What are the break in procedures?

bansheemxer

I would say that having some background knowledge in various facets of DIY mechanics would be the biggest plus when doing this conversion. It just helps to know a little about everything...and where to find or source parts that you will need for fabrication along the way. If you get stuck somewhere in the build don't hesitate to ask. I can at least tell you I have know idea....

pachanga90

There are plenty of clone-swaps detailed in the Big-Block section.Don't be afraid to ask either,there are plenty of us here,with various levels of skill and knowledge in alot of different areas.A few questions can get you on the right track quickly.Enjoy!!!

bansheemxer

I most likely wouldn't have started my project if it weren't for this site and the information that is available...and I sure as heck wouldn't have got it done in the time I did without help from the guys on the forum.

sho305

Try to find some threads on your type of cart to see if they use stock belt or have to cut the crank. In a yamaha the gas tank is on the other side so the engine can't be moved that way due to a longer crank, so it must be cut down. Some carts you can leave it and space the adapter out more. Same goes for the mount. There is also a distance issue to use the stock size belt, some carts the trans hits the clone or height is different so not sure you can use stock size, good idea to see what sizes you can get in belts. If a 1 3/16 wide belt there are quite a lot of sizes in that.

You can look at my G9 thread in clones for airbox ideas, I put a car box on and piped it to the front with 2" pvc for clean air.

Sure it run more rpm without the governor, it pulls to around 4500 then lets off. You can put gx200 springs inside the 390/420 springs and put an advance key in the flywheel to get a little more rpm out of them. I cut and ported my head too. Its mostly more top speed.

I would highly recommend you don't run over governor rpm for a while, get some hours on it. If you do then only for a few seconds. Some have held them on the floor for a bit and blown them when new. It took quite a while to break in the first clone I put in.

My clone is a HD engine a 420 recoil. I is working great so far but some of my block cover bolts came loose have to loctite them now. It could have been from me taking the governor out but I did re-torque them properly...but did not put new loctite on them. The bolts were dipped and seemed to have plenty of the stuff on them. I have been able to pull the front tires off the ground a little with the stock yamaha clutch. Its a riot to run it has way more power but runs just like stock far as pedal start and all that.

milltown

Thanks for the great information. I have a guy that is going to do most of the work for me that put a diesel kubota in his golf cart so he has plenty of fabrication skills and I feel he can build about anything. If I have any questions I will be sure to get back on here and I will try to keep you all updated.

milltown

Sho, about how many hours for break in are talking? 10, 50, 100

sho305

I rode it on weekends so I would notice a difference, I would say he went through over a full tank of gas about 6 gal. All the sudden one weekend it ran better you could tell it was looser and ran better. I would say 50 hours minimum it took a while, hard to say he ran it every day multiple times but not very far. It took about 2 months in summer for it to do this. Mine is running better now and I've done about a tank full. I would not hold it WOT for very long until lately (once it shifted out at higher speeds). Though I didn't climb any big hills or anything long term large throttle either at lower speeds/rpm. I think big rpm is what you want to stay away from in break in, and full throttle for longer than 10 sec at a time or something. I can reach full speed in a few seconds pretty much.

milltown

What about removing the governor and drilling into the valve cover, does that pretty much void the warranty? How long are clone engines lasting?