Welcome to BGW Brett!
Club Car engine/transaxle rotation viewing the Drive Clutch:
1984 to late 1996:
Kawasaki engines w/the 2 part transmission/differential rotate Counterclockwise.
1997 to late 2013:
Kawasaki engines w/Unitized transaxles rotate Clockwise.
2014 to present:
Subaru engines w/Fuji transaxles rotate Counterclockwise.
ALL (well, almost all) of the aftermarket engines rotate Counterclockwise. (off the shelf HF, Briggs etc.)
I say almost, because I had heard there was one...
ONE... Honda engine that rotates Clockwise,
(Don't ask me which one, because I don't know!)
Club Car is an odd duck!
Nobody really knows
WHY the Club Car and Kawasaki designers got together
and thought it would be a good idea to make the later model carts rotate Clockwise!
(maybe because all of the other manufacturers rotate counterclockwise?)
Counterclockwise aftermarket engines
CAN be used with the Clockwise transaxle,
It's been done a number of times with positive results!
(as long as you don't mind the shifter being in reverse while moving forward)
Because of the gear ratio change using the reverse gearing for forward,
most 97+ CC engine swappers add high speed gears to improve the top speed and still have loads of torque,
and most use 18hp or better engines with the HS gears,
(I don't think the smaller, off the shelf Harbor Freight engines would fair as well w/HS gears as the larger V-twins do.)
I've never done a swap, but the things to consider for a BB swap would be:
Engine mount, drive belt, heavier drive and driven clutches, possible charging system, throttle, and air/fuel delivery upgrades, and yes, high speed gears!
Check out the Big Block forum... granted, most CC swappers prefer pre-96 counterclockwise transaxles for a big block swap,
but, there are a few 97+ Club Cars with Briggs, and Clone big block upgrades that I'm jealous about!
Click>>>
http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/big-block-talk/
Hope this helps!
