Buggies Gone Wild Golf Cart Forum - View Single Post - Long time gone, restoring a 1988/89 Western (EZGO)

JoeBleaux · 10-14-2021, 12:18 PM

Giving anyone interested a head's up on a coming attraction. A buddy and I are restoring a 1988/89 Western Golf and Country. I am fairly sure it is Western's body on a 1988 or early 89 Marathon chassis, with the 2pg engine. Obviously, BGW is the place for this. Here's the story thus far:

About 2 years ago, I found this for sale by an owner who had wanted one since he first saw one back in the late 80s. He had found it on a trip to Colorado about 5 years ago, bought it and trucked it home with plans to restore it. He never got it going and his wife finally said get it out of the garage. I got it knowing it would be a while before I could get to it, so I cleaned it up and "mothballed" it. Now, we are beginning the work. Both my buddy and I are fair (hobby) mechanics and have fully-equipped shops but have very little 2 cycle experience, so there will be some brain-picking of the resident experts if they will allow it. We both have numerous other calls upon our time, so it will be a few hours a week as time allows type of process.

First order of business is getting it running properly. We started on that last evening (cleaned the carb and fuel tank, changed the fuel filter, the plug, etc. - the very basics) and will be doing some more this evening. It is still on the oil bottle and mixer system and unless one of the resident experts says that we should premix now, we'll leave it that way until the work is complete and it's running "factory style." From what we have seen of carb, manifold, mixer banjo, reeds, etc., it is remarkably clean, with either low run time or excellent previous care but we have no history and cannot get any at all. I have been doing some research, and have a few threads saved and printed out, along with the manuals.

Currently, it will run and drive (we drove it from my house to my buddy's larger shop) but only with some "choke-tending". It will start, rev up mostly fine, and then die unless the choke is "babied." We will be checking the exhaust and ignition this evening, along with the crank seals, and perhaps more if time allows. I will take pics and post them as things progress and I will not just leave the thread hanging. Regardless of the outcome, even if we give up, I'll make a final post with that (we do not anticipate doing that as we had been talking about and looking forward to a "buddy project" for a year). I'll also post anything we discover that might help others in the future.

Obviously, any tips, tricks, suggestions, etc. are more than welcome. I'll try to promptly respond to any and all ASAP (no longer than a day or so). Thanks in advance and I hope this will be a good thread and experience!

EDIT TO ADD: One thing that is missing is the filter canister cover. As it is now, it has the base and the filter, but the open end of the filter just has a metal plate so the filter itself is exposed and open to the air. I'll post a pic tonight or tomorrow. Will this "mod" effect the running?

10-14-2021, 12:18 PM	#1
JoeBleaux Getting Wild Join Date: Feb 2017 Location: US Posts: 76	Long time gone, restoring a 1988/89 Western (EZGO) Giving anyone interested a head's up on a coming attraction. A buddy and I are restoring a 1988/89 Western Golf and Country. I am fairly sure it is Western's body on a 1988 or early 89 Marathon chassis, with the 2pg engine. Obviously, BGW is the place for this. Here's the story thus far: About 2 years ago, I found this for sale by an owner who had wanted one since he first saw one back in the late 80s. He had found it on a trip to Colorado about 5 years ago, bought it and trucked it home with plans to restore it. He never got it going and his wife finally said get it out of the garage. I got it knowing it would be a while before I could get to it, so I cleaned it up and "mothballed" it. Now, we are beginning the work. Both my buddy and I are fair (hobby) mechanics and have fully-equipped shops but have very little 2 cycle experience, so there will be some brain-picking of the resident experts if they will allow it. We both have numerous other calls upon our time, so it will be a few hours a week as time allows type of process. First order of business is getting it running properly. We started on that last evening (cleaned the carb and fuel tank, changed the fuel filter, the plug, etc. - the very basics) and will be doing some more this evening. It is still on the oil bottle and mixer system and unless one of the resident experts says that we should premix now, we'll leave it that way until the work is complete and it's running "factory style." From what we have seen of carb, manifold, mixer banjo, reeds, etc., it is remarkably clean, with either low run time or excellent previous care but we have no history and cannot get any at all. I have been doing some research, and have a few threads saved and printed out, along with the manuals. Currently, it will run and drive (we drove it from my house to my buddy's larger shop) but only with some "choke-tending". It will start, rev up mostly fine, and then die unless the choke is "babied." We will be checking the exhaust and ignition this evening, along with the crank seals, and perhaps more if time allows. I will take pics and post them as things progress and I will not just leave the thread hanging. Regardless of the outcome, even if we give up, I'll make a final post with that (we do not anticipate doing that as we had been talking about and looking forward to a "buddy project" for a year). I'll also post anything we discover that might help others in the future. Obviously, any tips, tricks, suggestions, etc. are more than welcome. I'll try to promptly respond to any and all ASAP (no longer than a day or so). Thanks in advance and I hope this will be a good thread and experience! EDIT TO ADD: One thing that is missing is the filter canister cover. As it is now, it has the base and the filter, but the open end of the filter just has a metal plate so the filter itself is exposed and open to the air. I'll post a pic tonight or tomorrow. Will this "mod" effect the running?