KF82 Engine Swap

[colu41]

Looking to swap my blown KF82 with something with as little modification possible.
Also most I've researched with suggested engines are way too powerful for what I want. Just want to replace it with a modern reliable engine, suitable for a golf course.

Has any one put in one of the HF Predator engines?
Just need some suggestions for the spring.

[Copperman61]

Colu , I recently put a predator 420 in my '91 DS . Im still working out the bugs but i like it . One problem is the throttle linkage . I might try a boat " hot foot ". I am doing this on a budget , so I did not opt for a Vegas engine cradle ,with the Comet clutch . I bought the Comet clutch separately and drilled mounting holes for the engine mounting.The drive belt was a pain in the *** .Also , the charging system is not adequate if you plan on running lots of accessories . CP41 has helped me alot on this project. I will be glad ( or at least try ) to answer questions you might have .the cart is much faster , but the stock rear only brakes suck.

[CP241]

I would highly recommend getting the cradle and other swap parts from vegas carts. It will cost more than DIY but they’ve already put the thought and engineering into making a predator motor as easy of a swap as possible. With the mounting kit and parts from them it is a project easily doable in a weekend start to finish. I’ve done ezgo txt swap in as little as a few hours start to finish, and burning gas.

What exactly is blown on your kf82? It sounds like you aren’t necessarily looking to break any records, just get the cart operational again. It would be cheaper and easier, with a quieter engine to have your kf82 rebuilt. Which is totally doable as long as there isn’t a giant hole in the block. You may find the predator engine to be quite loud if you plan to use it on a golf course. Of course some creativity with exhaust and muffler configuration can help that but it will probably never be as quiet as a stock engine.

I forgot the old kf82 had those funky rods for the governor linkage. Is it a cable or rod that runs from the pedal to the governor itself on the rear end? You may find more info in the big block section how to work around that for the throttle. Or use a bike brake cable and be creative with attachment to one of those rods. I don’t remember exactly how those are set up but I do remember it is a little funky.

[raydhd]

Not familiar with that set up BUT some ideas on my clone throttle thread which I bumped and page 6 of my 440 cc sled engine swap using the speedway motors bell crank

[Copperman61]

i'll check it out Ray. Thanks

[larwill60]

I rebuild my kf82 last early fall. pretty expensive. I was lucky, it didn't use any oil, but had a very loud rod knock. I wasted $$ by replacing the rod, thinking, alumium rod , hardened steel crankshaft, rod should work. It did for a few days. I ended up tearing down . stone honed the cylinder bore, so rings would reseat ( reused piston and rings.) bought new crankshaft $435. new rod $90. head gasket, both crank seals and side cover gasket. I didn't need exhaust gaskets, carb gaskets or gasket for valve cover. Parts are hard to find and expensive. I think around $600. total. Oh new carb too. but it runs great, not fast about 17mph.

[Springbok]

Originally Posted by larwill60

I rebuild my kf82 last early fall. pretty expensive. I was lucky, it didn't use any oil, but had a very loud rod knock. I wasted $$ by replacing the rod, thinking, alumium rod , hardened steel crankshaft, rod should work. It did for a few days. I ended up tearing down

Yeah I did the same thing with one of my KF82s about ten years ago. The new rod was destroyed in a matter of hours. I ended up finding a running motor locally and that motor became a parts donor.

I rebuilt another KF82 in 2020 with the same issue, but that time I sent my crank and a new rod to J&M Golf carts out of Georgia and they machined them together and it came out great. I think I paid around $250 plus shipping for the work.

[raydhd]

J & M helped me out when I first got my smoking G 14 in 2008. They were great people to work with