New Guy's Cart Build

salinasgoodoleboy

Hey Everyone! My name's Peter, I ended up at this forum when googling ideas for my 1980 super tight-budget Marathon build. Got the cart for $250 from a guy who had it sitting on his property for about 10 years without running, he thought the starter was burnt out. After getting it home and fiddling with the rusted connections the starter started spinning flawlessly. Checked for spark, good. Checked for fuel, no good. Needs a fuel pump, but have found them for about $40, so no big deal. I manually fed some fuel into the carb and it fired right up with very little smoke! I was impressed.The body was a little rough and all the trim was dried up and rotten, so I decided to scrap the whole body and opt for a custom build tube - crawler/buggy type - body. The whole reason of the build is to tote my beer cooler around Pismo with me...so i dont much mind what it looks like.

Yesterday I built the lift, it sure aint pretty but its solid and straight, that's all that matters right? I raised it up 6" and out 2" on each side. I lengthened the tie rods, and raised the mounts so that the steering is out of the way. Thanks for all the ideas you guys have posted here. It sure is alot easier to come on here and modify other peoples designs than to start from scratch!

Photos to come once i've been a member for 7 days and can post a link.....kind of a rediculous rule.

BGW

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StoveBolt

*MAGIC*

Welcome Aboard Peter, Kool project!! looks like your pretty handy.

StoveBolt

BTW.. you know that's a 2 stroke right? (gas oil mix) , you might want a little smoke.

salinasgoodoleboy

Thanks for bringing the pictures over StoveBolt! Of course i know it's a 2 stroke haha, I mean for a two stroke it doesnt smoke much. -- I worked as a farm fabricator/mechanic for a few years, got a few tricks up my sleeve

salinasgoodoleboy

Thanks for bringing me over as well!!

Pitbull Joe

Subscribed. Looks like it's going to be a good build.

salinasgoodoleboy

Thanks, It may be pretty slow though, I scored an internship with the USDA for the summer which starts tomorrow. Looks like it will be a night/weekend project rather than my originally planned "whenever the f*** i wanna work on it" project....**** happens.

Pitbull Joe

Congrats

StoveBolt

I knew you were smarter than that, I could tell by your fab work , but it was just incase.. SB

salinasgoodoleboy

So I finally have some free time in my life to play with my 1980 Marathon 2stroke. Im basically just building a glorified beer wagon but it's gonna be badass!!

Made a new floor, Was going to use a nice piece of alum diamond plate I had in the yard but then I decided this cart deserved astro-turf so I went with wood so the glue can bond better.


Decided to shear the nice piece of alum diamond plate to replace the ugly, dented, pink front kick panel, currently awaiting my buddy who is far better at forming metal than I.


Then, today, I went on a nice long (8 hour) drive up north to Prather, Ca arrived a bit early so I stopped by Millerton Lake to let the pup run. (Figured you guys would like to see my Catahoula, Dixie) Yes, she looks slightly retarded in this picture,but in her defense, she just finished her landing from the last rock and was preparing to return her ears back to her normal, flat on her head, aerodynamic, position.


The reason for this trip was these.
26.5x10 fronts and 26.5x12 rears Mud Lite tires on some sweet lookin rims. Turned out great, I traded the guy some old reloading equipment I had laying around and a few thousand rounds of spent brass and HE gave ME $100 on top. I felt like a true winner for sure.


Here the axle is pretty much sitting on the ground, so use your mind and imagine the body about 13 & 1/4" higher than it is now.


Obviously anything this cool wouldnt pop off without a hitch, so I'm going to have to order a set of adapter/spacers to mount them. No biggie.

THE FUTURE duh nuh nuh nah
I happen to have a 2006 Buell XB12 Lightning 125hp Vtwin motor sitting in the garage, so Im thinking it should get installed in the cart to make those tires spin. Obviously some upholstery, a cute little roll cage with a bikini top, custom winch mount bumpers front and rear...

AND OF COURSE- THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE, a cooler that holds around 150 canned beverages.


More photos and fun stories as the days roll by...Hope everyones having a great week. Any suggestions/tips would be greatly appreciated.

-Pete