2002 EZGO TXT Shuttle project

[bama_brannon]

My wife had at some point after a recent trip to The Villages in central Florida informed me that she would like to own her very own golf cart. I surprised her for our 13th anniversary with an EZGO TXT TXT Shuttle. The cart had started it's life as a parking lot taxi for the Green Iguana resteraunt in Tampa. The cart had been traded in with only 600 hours and the dealer was willing to give me a good deal on it. I spent the next three months tranforming the cart into the ride my wife wanted.

I searched this forum many times in the weeks to follow as questions arised from topics covering body removal through lift kits to break lights and turn signals. I never needed to ask questions because the search function always seemed to yeild the information I desired.

I know many on this forum like to show off their handy work and see the modifications done by others so I will post some pictures of my cart and list some of the parts I used and the suppliers I used.

The cart turned out amazing and the finished product is well worth all the pain.

This is what the cart looked like when I started. It had a tropical custom pain job that had been brushed on rather than airbrushed.

[bama_brannon]

The first weekend I started stripping the paint and removing as much of the body as possible. The top came off easily except for one bolt which broke off. Unfortunately, the bolt that broke was one of the front supports which would be a problem later when I would install the new windshield. I also removed the rear seats.

[bama_brannon]

Next, I removed the body using a nice illustrated demo from this forum. I then spent the next two weeks sanding the body in preparation for painting. I also spent a great deal of time looking for someone that could do the custom paint work and not charge me $1200.

[bama_brannon]

At this point the body was completely off. I had made minor fiberglass repairs to the front seat console and wet sanded all surfaces to 400 grit. I had started off stripping the paint from the plastic which created a HUGE mess. Do not use stripper!!!! Just sand the surface to 180 grit and take it to the painter. But now I am getting ahead of myself.

I found a painter out a small tow north of Gainesville that would do the custom paint I wanted for $500. I left the body with him and then turned my attention to the frame.

I sanded and painted any areas of rust involving the frame and attempted to back out the broked screw I had mentioned earlier. This ended very badly with the front roof support not being salvagable. I ended up having a new support welded on by the local 'Cart Doctor'.

I also removed the old muffler because it was making a horrible noise. I managed to break off both screws holding on the old muffler. I had already learned not to attempt to back out the screws so I just drilled them then tapped the holes. I then installed a new muffler like this one...

http://cartaddictions.com/shop/index...1&currency=USD

It sounds great...

Next I started ordering all the parts I would need to finish the build...

[bama_brannon]

The parts I ordered in no particular order are as follows:
blinker switch
diamond plate rocker panels
stainless steel steering collumn
Stainless brush guard
steering wheel cover
diamond plate rubber floor mat
new seat covers
jakes drop axil lift kit
17" wheels with low-profile tires
marine stereo
Faux Burrell wood dash cover
undercarriage neon lights
stainless steel sport windshield
new brake lights
2" wheel spacers
brake light kit

while I was waiting on all of this to come in I got a call from the painter....

He stated that there was something wrong with the cart body and the paint was bubbling and looked horrible. I went and inspected the parts and while I was there I had a moment with one of the other painters that worked in the shop who told me the young man woking on my cart body was not a trained painter and had not applied primer prior to base coating the body. This error had lead to the bubbled paint. I took the body with me and resumed my search for a good painter. Thank the lord for craigs list!

[bama_brannon]

Through an add on craigs list I found Liquid Lenny' Custom Paint in Port Richey, Florida. The owner is Mark Anderson, Liquid lenny is his nick name, and he is a super nice guy and a very talented painter. You can see his work at....

http://liquidlennys.com/default.aspx

http://s298.photobucket.com/albums/m...view=slideshow

He has a slide show with several pictures of my carts body. I really can't believe how good it turned out considering how bad it looked. I highly recommend using Mark if you have custom paint needs.

[groundpounder]

i bet she is real happy. nice job looks good...

[bama_brannon]

While the body was off with Mark in Port Richey I returned to working on the the remainder of the cart.

I wired the blinker kit and hooked up the break lights. I found a switch for $27 and a break light kit with timer on ebay for $50. I replaced the rear break lights because the plastic was really worn and just wouldn't look good with the newly painted body.

I also cut a radio hole into the dash and dash cover. I noticed that many people put their stereos in the dash but I did not feel this was functional so I cut out the small storage space on the factory dash then outlined it on the dash cover. I used a dremel to do the job and it works great.

The lift kit went in without much problem except the kit did not have the extended front tie rod. I didn't even know I needed one and spent all day trying to make the original work. The people at Jakes helped me out and the Jakes replacement tie rod works as it should.

I ordered the 17" rims and tires from a dealer on ebay. They set me back $1K but look great. Unfortunately, they did not come with spacers for the front which were needed. I managed to order Yamaha spacers from summit engineering but they sent me the correct ones right away.

I ordered the neon from China via ebay. Set me back $50 shipped. Very Easy to install.

I ordered the windshield and front brush bar off ebay. Neither could be installed until the front frame support was replaced. The repair worked great and the install was simple.

The seat covers cost over $300 but look great and were easy enough to install. The cart had always been outside therefore the seat wood had to be replace because of rot.

The diamond plate rockers and rubber mat were plug and play.

I ordered a replacement rivet kit online which didnt seem to have what I needed but I managed to get it all back together and this is what she looks like now..............

[groundpounder]

wow very nice

[bama_brannon]

Now for the punch line.....

The day I had it all together, the project officially finished, after 3 months of slaving over this project and over $6K invested, I almost lost it all.......

The day I had it back together I took it for a test spin prior to presenting my wife with the keys. The cart died in the road. I thought that maybe the carb was gummed up since she had been sitting a while so I sprayed in sme carb cleaner which caused the engine to fire right up................ Literally!!!!!!

The engine backfired through the carburator and a fire broke out. For a split moment I could see in my mind the burning hulk of this cart in the middle of the road, completely destroyed and leaving only a pile of charred metal for me to clean up.

Luckily a young women near by was watering her lawn and help me extenguish the flames. I sent the cart to a local cart dealer the next day for carburator and fuel pump repairs.... I had had enough at that point as was willing to pay someone to repair the engine!!!!!!

She runs like a top now and is the envy of all the neighbors. Thanks to all who post here for their help and I hope everyone enjoys their cart as much as our family enjoys ours!