rescued marathon

[Aaron.perez]

Good evening all !i rescued from my uncles property a 1994 marathon gas cart. i brought it home and my wife said what did you bring home..lol
it has no brakes, i believe seized cables. it didnt run and the frame is pretty rough. I bought new plugs ,fuel,air filters and a new carb changed the oil which smelled like old nasty gas . I runs! a small glimpse of me being able say haa haa quickly went away. it smokes i mean smokes so bad i pissed of the lovebugs here in florida. so i did a compression check. 130 each cylinder. where do i go from here? i was going to try valve seals but it smokes way worst when i give it gas than idling. Now this thing sat in a field for about 7 years.....
my first cart and it is ugly as sin , but i figured it didnt cost me anything
Thanks in advance
aaron

[trig123]

I hope you can do mechanic work because I do think you will need to dig deeper into the engine.
Compression has got to be at least 150 , 170 is better.
The smoking is probably oil rings stuck. It does sound like you are going to have to remove the engine and do a rebuild. There are manuals here on this site that shows everything you would need to know if you do decide to rebuild the engine.
The parts for these engines are quite pricey .

I am guessing you purchased a $20 carburetor ?

Show us some pictures. We always like to see before and after. T

hey are fun to work on.

Not complicated engines just small stuff that will fly off on the floor

Good luck with your new project. Lots of good people to help and guide you.

[Aaron.perez]

i am not afraid of mechanical work lol. i did buy a 30 dollar carb. i also priced engine rebuild kits and they are pricey. I a, just trying to justify dumping the money into this basketcase

[trig123]

Originally Posted by Aaron.perez

i am not afraid of mechanical work lol. i did buy a 30 dollar carb. i also priced engine rebuild kits and they are pricey. I a, just trying to justify dumping the money into this basketcase

I do understand. You could always part it out. Upload some pictures and lets see what you got

[nwocart]

Depending on how bad it is depends on what you end up doing with it. Do you have to make a new seat? is the frame rusty bad or does it have holes in it bad?

Rebuilding made simple is send it to J&m golf carts, should cost about $675 by the time they are done but they do it all and send your motor back and you drop it in. I've done two because I'm nervous of rebuilding myself and they have been great. I did that with my old four stroke.

I replaced my carb with a factory $80 carb. I'm not sure how the cheap ones perform, so I can't speak to that. I don't know much about the brakes either, but you could end up with a cart for less than $1000, since your initial investment is free.

[Aaron.perez]

i will upload some pics this weekend. The frame is rusted, where the pivot for the rear suspension connects on the right side completely separated . the floorboards are good but the frame is pretty rusty. honestly even with it smoking it goes down the road pretty good, just cant stop it..lol . I have been looking at carts on here and dreaming of getting mine done. lifted, wheels and tires and add a back seat. We have an 11yr old girl and she has aleady claimed it when we take it camping
thinking of trying valve stem seals first, than if needed ..rings etc.

[trig123]

thinking of trying valve stem seals first, than if needed ..rings etc

You will be wasting your money and time I am afraid.

[Aaron.perez]

the cart now has brakes! a lot of cleaning and new rear brake hardware. also I got the engine removed today. exhaust manifold bolts all but one broke. with the engine removed I can see how bad the frame pivot mount is. completely broken/rusted off on right side.

[CP241]

I think I'd have to bail on this little project if the rust is that bad. If it's bad there, it's probably equally as bad everywhere else. unless you plan to fab up a new frame it may be best to quit before you sink a bunch of time or $ into something that will probably (literally) break in half as you're driving down the road sooner than later.

Just my .02. We all love rescuing something abandoned and forgotten about, but sometimes you gotta know where to draw the line.

[LukeL]

Originally Posted by CP241

I think I'd have to bail on this little project if the rust is that bad. If it's bad there, it's probably equally as bad everywhere else. unless you plan to fab up a new frame it may be best to quit before you sink a bunch of time or $ into something that will probably (literally) break in half as you're driving down the road sooner than later.

Just my .02. We all love rescuing something abandoned and forgotten about, but sometimes you gotta know where to draw the line.

Says the person who bought my G8 with a rusted through frame! [emoji2][emoji14]Just kidding though- seriously this might be good advice. I got this cart a couple years ago and the frame was rusted so badly no amount of fabrication and welding could save it...

Upload some pictures of yours though – we still want to see it.