Finally got my 94 medalist

[leftex]

Was it necessary to remove the body to get the engine out? I have a '95 Medalist and need to rebuild the engine.

Thanks,
Wayne

[SouthCentral]

i dont think it is necessary. it might make it a bit easier because you can get your hands in more places which might make it easier to remove the bolts. but overall i believe you can do it with the body still on.

there are 8 bolts that hold the motor in place and of course you need to remove some of the throttle linkage and some other small stuff. it would also be easy if you remove the exhaust first. i left the clutch and exhaust connected and it was kind of hefty. But i did get it out by myself (i dont consider myself to be stronger than average by any means so its not too bad). if you need me to i can snap some pics of the bolt locations.

[leftex]

SouthCentral,

Thanks for the input. I can probably find the bolts. My cart is actually farly clean in the engine area.

[SouthCentral]

thats good. mine wasnt... it was a flippin mess. looked like he went mud boggin with the thing. I think it threw up some oil (because he filled it up with too much oil) and it got all over the place. then, after not cleaning up the mess, dirt and dust and debris just caked on everything.

good luck!

[Pitbull Joe]

Nice transformation you've done. Both are cool looking carts.

[SouthCentral]

Thanks Joe! I actually had to remove the motor again from the 94. After we replaced one connecting rod, the other one had the cap fall apart (it broke while i was running it half throttle, under no load(drive belt was not on)). So we are basically replacing the whole bottom end to make sure we dont have any weird issues with the crank. So hopefully after all that it will be running like new.

My buddy is also doing a full set of seat covers for me. Hopefully this thing will be comepletely done by the end of june.

Until then, i am tearing down my old honda 250x to get it looking new again!

[SouthCentral]

Also, Leftex, if youre still looking at this thread and wondering about engine removal: it is very possible to remove the motor without taking the body off. I had my new body on and riveted in place and i was not about to take it all back off again to get the motor out. Piece of cake!

[SouthCentral]

interesting development... got everything installed after replacing the shattered rod and ran it for about 45 seconds. POW! CLACK CLACK CLACK CLACK CLACK! broke the other rod. great. removed the motor again and after some time was able to have a completely different shaft and rods/ pistons put in (not new but off of another motor) and now we're good to go. My buddy thinks there was some type of bearing or shivs for the crank that were in backwards or something like that. regardless i put the motor back in and now its much smoother and not busted rods yet! Unfortunately now i think i have another problem...

i think my coil is bad. never fails... fix something and something else breaks. i have no spark from either plug so it has to be that right?

I got the seats almost done too. here is a picture of her as she sits now.

[Pitbull Joe]

Sorry I can't help with your problem but the cart is looking good.

[SouthCentral]

no problem Joe, thanks for the compliment! im really happy with how it looks compared to how it started. my plans after i get it running properly include a drop axel up front and some heavier springs in the rear. im also goin to do the upgraded clutch springs. it'll get done sooner or later! ive almost replaced or fixed everything on this cart including parts in the motor... its almost a brand new cart!!