1974 X440 Three Wheel EZGO Build w/ Upgrades

[sailtexas186548]

Bought a 1974 X440 Three Wheel EZGO on the cheap with a decent 36v charger, sans batteries (well I got 3 cores in the deal).

The good:

• It's old and my wife thinks it's cool looking (me too!)
• The seats is in good shape with no tears or pulls
• It has most of the lights I need for my area
• Body work is in decent shape
• The motor works
• The chassis is in good shape, except for rust in the battery tray area
• The brakes work
• The top is in good shape

The bad:

• Front right shock was bent/jammed
• The wiper switch is worn out
• The battery trays are all rusted out
• The wiring needs to be replaced in the battery bay and the lighting
• The motor needs a good cleaning, a couple studs are bent/stripped and need to be replaced
• One tire is a bit worn out

My plan was just going to be clean it up and get it running/reliable in stock form for poking around the neighborhood... But I always end up modifying everything I own so the plan is:

• remove all of the resistor gear
• Weld in new battery trays
• Go through the motor, clean it and fix the studs (might get it rewound $ permitting)
• Brake job and new lube in the gear box
• One new tire (front tire, any suggestions for a good 3 wheeler front tire?)
• Solid state upgrade from scottyb (C52 package, 500 amp FSIP controller and a 200 amp HD solenoid kit)
• New batteries (trying to decide on 36v or 48v, and 6x8v or 8x6v if I go 48v - I can do either since I'm building new battery trays)
• All new battery bay wiring and light wiring
• A back seat

The goal is to have an old school cart, with great range that can carry up to 4 people with stock size tires on flat asphalt. 20mph would be a plus but not a requirement, as the speed limits in my area are only 20 or 25mph.

So far (see pics) I have removed most of the old wiring (resistor bracket needs to be cut off) fixed the front right shock, pulled the motor, and removed the old cobbled together 12v battery trays. This weekend I'm going to cut out the remaining rusty battery trays, build new trays if I can decide on a battery bank configuration, rust convert/paint the rusty areas, rewire the lights, and wash the dang thing.

Not sure how long it takes to get the kit from scottyb if I order it this weekend but I should be ready to install it by the time it arrives.

I can't post links until I'm a member for 7 days... so y'all will just have to deal with attached pictures until next week when I can link my photobucket.

[dennycart]

looks good, I like the three wheelers That's what we had when I used to caddy at our local Golf Club

[cgtech]

Takes guts to go for high speed and 4 passengers with a 3-wheeler. The steering will not be more than a "suggestion" with 4 people on it (assuming 2 will be on the back). 2 on the back will make the front light.

[ridepate]

Had a 3-wheeled Cushman Ex-USPS mail-cart way back in the early 70s....good times with friends piled in the back! Looks like a good project man!

[Bryce23]

I just got a 78 440 last week; I'll be following your project closely!

[sailtexas186548]

Originally Posted by cgtech

Takes guts to go for high speed and 4 passengers with a 3-wheeler. The steering will not be more than a "suggestion" with 4 people on it (assuming 2 will be on the back). 2 on the back will make the front light.

It will certainly require some responsible driving at times!

Originally Posted by ridepate

Had a 3-wheeled Cushman Ex-USPS mail-cart way back in the early 70s....good times with friends piled in the back! Looks like a good project man!

Thanks, hope it turns out well

Originally Posted by Bryce23

I just got a 78 440 last week; I'll be following your project closely!

The yellow one right? Have you had any luck finding the ribbed tires like these originally came with?

[sailtexas186548]

did some more looking around online, and some measuring in the battery bay. I will be upgrading to 48v and using a 6x8v battery pack, there just isn't room for 8 batteries in there and I do not want to lose the cooler spot that is the bag well

just trying to determine if the stock motor will be enough of if I should upgrade to match everything else. I have to put 4 new studs on it and it;s ready to use for only $35 and my time

[Bryce23]

Originally Posted by sailtexas186548

The yellow one right? Have you had any luck finding the ribbed tires like these originally came with?

Yeah that's the one. I haven't really looked for any of the original tires. I think I am going to go with stock size Sahara Classic's. I want something with a little more off-road capability. I'm not going to do any true off-roading but I want plenty of grip to pull a utility trailer across the yard for small projects.


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[sailtexas186548]

Ah gotcha, I'm going to be 99.9% street so I'm looking for low rolling resistance which means uninterrupted ribs.

Made some good progress today, pressure washed the whole cart, cut the old battery trays and resistors out, wire wheeled the rust and old flaky paint enough to hit with rust converter, then fabbed up and welded in new battery trays and some braces for the two existing outside trays.

Going to hit it all with rust converter tonight, then with flat black undercarriage paint tomorrow morning. After that it's just some wiring for the lights, find some tires, and wait on the batteries, motor studs, and controler to show up (need to order the controler still)

Some pics are attached

[sailtexas186548]

Masked and painted with rustoleum "rust converter" after another go with the wire wheel, not a proper fix but it should slow the rust down enough to outlast at least another couple sets of batteries. I have some top coat to go over it in the morning, not sure how required that is I'll have to research it some.

It's only letting me attach one pic per post from my phone, so here's one pic!