Long time gone, restoring a 1988/89 Western (EZGO)

[JoeBleaux]

Giving anyone interested a head's up on a coming attraction. A buddy and I are restoring a 1988/89 Western Golf and Country. I am fairly sure it is Western's body on a 1988 or early 89 Marathon chassis, with the 2pg engine. Obviously, BGW is the place for this. Here's the story thus far:

About 2 years ago, I found this for sale by an owner who had wanted one since he first saw one back in the late 80s. He had found it on a trip to Colorado about 5 years ago, bought it and trucked it home with plans to restore it. He never got it going and his wife finally said get it out of the garage. I got it knowing it would be a while before I could get to it, so I cleaned it up and "mothballed" it. Now, we are beginning the work. Both my buddy and I are fair (hobby) mechanics and have fully-equipped shops but have very little 2 cycle experience, so there will be some brain-picking of the resident experts if they will allow it. We both have numerous other calls upon our time, so it will be a few hours a week as time allows type of process.

First order of business is getting it running properly. We started on that last evening (cleaned the carb and fuel tank, changed the fuel filter, the plug, etc. - the very basics) and will be doing some more this evening. It is still on the oil bottle and mixer system and unless one of the resident experts says that we should premix now, we'll leave it that way until the work is complete and it's running "factory style." From what we have seen of carb, manifold, mixer banjo, reeds, etc., it is remarkably clean, with either low run time or excellent previous care but we have no history and cannot get any at all. I have been doing some research, and have a few threads saved and printed out, along with the manuals.

Currently, it will run and drive (we drove it from my house to my buddy's larger shop) but only with some "choke-tending". It will start, rev up mostly fine, and then die unless the choke is "babied." We will be checking the exhaust and ignition this evening, along with the crank seals, and perhaps more if time allows. I will take pics and post them as things progress and I will not just leave the thread hanging. Regardless of the outcome, even if we give up, I'll make a final post with that (we do not anticipate doing that as we had been talking about and looking forward to a "buddy project" for a year). I'll also post anything we discover that might help others in the future.

Obviously, any tips, tricks, suggestions, etc. are more than welcome. I'll try to promptly respond to any and all ASAP (no longer than a day or so). Thanks in advance and I hope this will be a good thread and experience!

EDIT TO ADD: One thing that is missing is the filter canister cover. As it is now, it has the base and the filter, but the open end of the filter just has a metal plate so the filter itself is exposed and open to the air. I'll post a pic tonight or tomorrow. Will this "mod" effect the running?

[BigRed77]

Sounds fun
Would like to see some pics of what it looks like now/looked like when you started

[JoeBleaux]

Well, "when we started" and "now" are pretty much the same timeframe as we just started last night. I have pics and will try to get them posted tomorrow morning. Taking the muffler loose produced no results. We are about 80% sure the crank seals need to be replaced due to the results of the "carb cleaner" test spraying carb cleaner at the front and rear when trying to start it. Nothing on the front side but it fired up when hitting the rear side. The fuel pump seems to be working fine but we'll probably rebuild or replace it since it is 30-plus years old. One odd thing was that it seemed to run OKish (or at least a lot better) with the float adjusted wrong and fuel coming out of the overflow port.

We removed the body since we are going to sand it down and paint or wrap it anyway, which on the Westerns is a whole lot of fun - all the lights and turn signals, vent blower system, stereo and speakers, musical horn, air horn, etc., plus the front cap (with the "trunk") goes on top of the rear body side-rails, and it is all riveted together in about 872 places, top and bottom. It does seem like it was a good choice for a "buddy project," but time will tell.

[cart around]

Before you disconnect anything, do a compression test.

[JoeBleaux]

Originally Posted by cart around

Before you disconnect anything, do a compression test.

Already done. Good compression, 100-plus. And it's too late for "before you disconnect anything..." (GRIN)

[JoeBleaux]

I'll add some pics of the front and rear bodies, etc. this evening or tomorrow. BGW only allows 5 pics at a time, so it'll be batches of what seem the "best" of the bunch as things progress along. This is a "buddy project" so some pics are on my friend's phone and those will have a lag time until I can get them on a thumb drive, downsize, etc. and post here.

[cart around]

Looks like it just left the factory.

The best reason to delete the oil injection is if the lower diaphragm in the fuel pump leaks, you will be pumping raw gas directly into the engine case. That is where you need oil for lubrication.

[JoeBleaux]

OK, the engine is out and on the bench. With the body removed, it only took 20-30 minutes. For anyone doing a similar project, pull the body first. Remove the starter/generator and muffler, but leave the exhaust up-pipe attached for a hand hold. Remove all the engine mounting bolts except the top 2 passenger side bolts that fit into notches on the mount. Lift to the driver's side to clear and easily remove the drive belt. Pretty simple and straightforward. The very basic stuff like the air cover, etc. is removed but...

Here's a time-saving tip for those working on similar carts: Do not waste an hour or so going to Lowe's because it does not sell fine-thread 3/4" bolts in any flavor (5, 8, stainless, etc.) nor 6mm bolts longer than 75mm (slightly less than 3") and a bit too short to use with any puller either of us have. Which means that the flywheel and clutch assembly are not yet removed. We'll locate both over the weekend and there will probably be an update in the next few days.

From what we've read and what seems very clear from looking it over, I will add to those saying not to screw around with anything "improvised" when removing either of these. The flywheel and especially the fan assembly don't appear to be able to withstand much abuse in the removal process and the clutch assembly looks like it would be a frustrating fight trying to use brute force and prying. We removed the fan just in case.

One thing I noticed is that the fan looks like it might be clocked and balanced because there are two "pins" on two blades. I marked the location so it can be reinstalled in the same orientation as it was, again just in case. Does anyone know if this was necessary?

We are toying with idea of doing a refresh/rebuild on the engine while it is out. Do any of the resident experts on these engines have any thoughts? Our total novice thinking is that since it is out on the bench anyway and it doesn't look like a big job, why not? OTOH, no reason to waste time or money on something that won't have any real benefit.

[Dabble Inn]

I'm excited to see the body, the pics of the chassis so far look amazingly clean. I really like the Westerns, nice choice for a rebuild. Wish I could find one

[JoeBleaux]

Originally Posted by Dabble Inn

I'm excited to see the body, the pics of the chassis so far look amazingly clean. I really like the Westerns, nice choice for a rebuild. Wish I could find one

The first big uh-oh. We have no pictures of the cart before. He thought I took some and I thought he did. However, I'll take some pics of the body and get them up this weekend. It is the standard late 80s Camaro style front clip with the angular recessed headlights and the standard Western rear body (I think the same basic rear body was used for years) with the adjustable seats and the ice chest behind them, the chrome pillars and overwrapped top with the fringe (the fringe was long gone when I got it but the Velcro was still there). Speaking of the body, we have discovered that while Western and dealers aren't a source of any light parts, it appears that all are off-the-shelf parts. There is one cracked brake light lens but it is just a side-marker lens readily available from trailer supply outlets.

Another tip: when doing a multi-person "buddy project," confirm that any desired pics are taken by someone before proceeding (GRIN). I think we'll just decide on one of us being the "official photographer" from here on out.