Yamaha G9 Resurrection

[CP241]

First off, thanks to everybody here for helping me get this thing up and going. If it wasn't for this forum i'd still be chasing ignitors... as I'm a cheapskate and refuse to pay $300+ for an OEM ignitor. And sorry for the long post, but at least it has a happy ending!

So, as a back story, I “play” with 4wheelers, go karts, and stuff all the time. It’s kind of a side hobby for me, find them cheap, broken, and forgotten about (craigslist is great!). I’ll put some money into them, clean them up and we’ll ride them for a while. When the kids (I’ve got 9 of ‘em) get tired of them and the novelty of something new wears off, I’ll put them back up on CL and sell them off. I wouldn’t say I’m a “flipper”… I don’t do it for the money and generally price so they sell fast and I can move on to something else. I usually do make a little profit for them, but that’s not my goal. I just like to have a “self-funding hobby” that doesn’t cost anything, makes a little extra, and keeps the wife happy that I’m not “spending” money on all the junk I bring home lol. Really, I just enjoy the process of bringing something back to life that’s otherwise forgotten about.

About a year ago I picked up a club car DS that was in pieces… 36v electric. Long story short, I loved having a golf cart, and it was really handy. Only downside is that it was electric. That doesn’t work well for me on the farm, so I sold it. Too much hassle having to charge for 6+ hours and only get 90-120 minutes of run time on a charge. I really enjoyed having it, and decided to keep my eyes out for a gas cart that wasn’t ridiculously expensive.
About a month ago, I found it. $350 Yamaha gas golf cart. Doesn’t run, $350… That’s all I needed to hear, and it was on my trailer following me home that day.

I got a lot of help from this forum trying to figure out how it’s supposed to work, and ultimately ended up chasing my own tail because the “OEM” ignitor I got off of ebay was the same one on amazon and everywhere else. Cheap junk. I went through 3 of them and they all behaved differently (though none of them behaved correctly). You can see my other post for all the fun I had with that… Ultimately ended up doing the Chrysler ignition module/ballast and it has worked GREAT ever since. I’m really happy with the end result (and only having to spend $30 on it as opposed to a $300 ignitor for a $350 cart).

Once running, I got a $70 4” lift kit for it from ebay, and put on a set of wheels/20” tires I had laying around from a previous project. Huge improvement.

Originally, I was going to cut up a lawnmower dump trailer and mount it on the back, but that’s tall and a hassle for a dump bed to have to shovel stuff that high. I’d rather have a cargo rack to throw stuff ON, if I want a dump trailer I’d just build a little receiver hitch and drag the dump trailer behind it. So, I also had a cargo rack laying around from a previous 4wheeler project. I thought it was ugly on the quad so I took it off before I sold it. I just needed to figure a way to mount it. $30 in steel later from Tractor Supply, I have a nice base for it fabbed up and custom built for my cargo rack. Just high enough I can still fit (2) 5 gallon buckets in the cubby below, and I’ve already had 300+ lbs of feed bags and stuff on the top. Guess my welds held lol. I do need to lift the front mounting points up about an inch on the side supports to level it a bit more, but it works great.

Then to fix the ugly. Some sparkly blue paint my wife picked out, a few coats of clear and she shines like new. There are a few gnats and a couple small runs in the clear; it’s not perfect but they’ll wet sand and buff out if it bothers me enough. Honestly it’s going to get used around the farm and see plenty of wear and tear so I’m really not overly concerned about it, I don’t plan to sell it.

With $12 worth of black vinyl from hobby lobby, recovered the moldy ugly seat bottom. I had some foam laying around (no idea where it came from to be honest, but it’s nice and thick and firm) so to build the seat back I used a piece of plywood, some nuts with claws in them and got rid of the wood plank the previous owner had put in as a “seat back”. Since there was no hardware, I had to make my own mounting method for the seat back anyway so had a lot of flexibility. A couple 3/8”x2” steel strips going between the pillar posts work great, that sucker is solid.

All in all, my wife is no longer embarrassed to have it running around here and it’s actually quite comfortable to drive with a real seat.

For future, I have a front bumper/brush guard and a set of cargo racks from a Kawasaki Prairie I parted out. I’ll weld up some tabs in the front to mount those up and have some cargo capacity on the front of the cart as well. (and something to protect it a bit when the kids run into stuff, which in inevitably going to happen). I’ve got tons of car stereos and speakers laying around so will probably put a radio in it here soon “just because”. It will always live in the workshop when not in use anyway so not overly concerned about “environmental factors” but if it gets stuck in the rain and radio gets fried, I’ve got plenty of spares to swap out.

I’m undecided about whether or not I want a top. I might find a top on craigslist (probably opt for an ez-go with the grab handles on the side if I do) but regardless I’ll have to fabricate my own mounts for it anyway. Not a big deal, but also not really necessary. Top is on the “maybe” list.

Anyway, still a project in the works but now that it’s not a complete eyesore, and functional (still need to put a little hitch for the lawnmower trailer on it) this one is going to be here to stay. You can count this G9 as saved and resurrected from a certain grave 😊 And an absolute bargain for me to have at about $500 total investment (and quite a bit of time, but hey it’s a hobby!).

I’ve attached some pictures, starting from the ones at the guys place before I picked it up and took it home, to in my workshop, the atrocity the previous owner called “wiring repairs” (it was easier to just gut all the wiring and create my own wiring harness at that point). Then, added lift/tires, added the cargo rack, then paint, and seat. Cleans up pretty good, but my mailbox is about a half mile down a dusty dirt road so with the daily trip to get the mail, it surely won’t stay clean and pretty long.

[CP241]

Additional pics

[TheNewGuy]

Turned out great!!

[CP241]

Thanks. Still got a ways to go before it's where i want it to be, but for now it's functional, runs great, and my 2 year old loves going for rides. Hell hath no fury like a 2 year old that doesn't get a daily ride on some type of motorized toy lol

[Chilly]

I think the G9 are the best looking cart of them all. I like the clean, basic utility look of yours.

[VigilanteTrail]

Looking good! Did you use an automotive sprayer or rattle cans to paint it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CP241]

I cleaned it real well (pressure washer acetone and scrub pad, then pressure washer agaun). Cleaned with alcohol and a rag, then sprayed a good layer of promoter on it. From there, it is rattle can and clear coat on top of that. The paint job isn't perfect but like I said, I have no plans to sell it. Gonna use it around our hobby farm for working mostly (becauae my wife refuses to drive 4wheelers) so the paint is going to get knicked, scratched, dirty, etc. The main r3ason for putting the front cargo rack on it is to keep the goats from climbing on the painted part lol

It's not bad, just a few small runs and some spots where gnats landed when I cleared it. It could all be sanded and buffed out but it's just going to get messed up anyway with use so not concerned about it. I do plan soon to paint the cubby in the back (golf bag cubby) with Berliner as that area is very prone to getting beat up.

Mostly I was going for something that wasn't stained, ugly, dull yellow-white. I did get a section of the hood really.clean like new with brake cleaner and a lot of elbow grease, but was more work than it was Worth to do the whole thing. And still be stuck with white after all that work.

[CP241]

For now it will work. But have ither projects to get to... at the moment another 2006 suzuki LT80 for my kids (my other LT80 will never be sold either) a 2008 Honda recon with a blown up motor, and a 2016 Honda foreman with a blown up motor. Then I'll get back to work on the cart but I'm running out of room in my shop until I can finish a few things and get these 2 motors off my work benches lol

[VigilanteTrail]

Great job with rattle cans in my book [emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[justwondering]

Looks great ..