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Old 08-09-2017, 10:45 PM   #1
srqco
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Default Gas Club Car DS Custom Body Project

Hello all,

I have decided to create a custom cart. If any of you are from the Brooksville area and into carts you have probably met my grandfather Dennis. He was a fiberglass mold maker and created many custom pieces. He also had a passion to make custom carts. I know that he was friends with the owners of Melissa's Carts and if anyone knew him PM me.

Now to the project. Dennis left behind one body that he never got started with. It appears to be a 33 Gangster style, but there are subtle differences from the Melissa website. Luckily he taught me a thing or two about fiberglass.

I just bought a 2007 Club Car DS gas. I went to trade school for automotive and I'm handy around cars, but this is something new to me. Any helpful comments will be appreciated. I have done quite a bit of reading on here and have picked up a lot of useful information.

So after driving the cart around the yard for a bit, I started to get into it. I have ordered a 6 inch lift, the HD rear three leaf springs, the VIP radio dash, 13 inch trailer wheels (which I plan to put whitewall tires on and moon hubcaps), 2 inch wheel spacers, the fold down rear seat, and some other accessories.

I also got a tune-up kit and plan to get the clutch worked on (nothing wrong just have big wheels now). The tires will be just under 23 inches tall. I would post pictures, but will have to after my 7 day ban on links.

I'm at the very beginning stages of this build. The first problem I see is that the front end is much longer than the factory wheelbase. I was under the impression that this front end was built for a clubcar, and it bolts up properly at the dashboard, but there is some design issues that make me think its for some other type of cart. Guess I'll be extending the front end after I get the lift in place. I decided on the Heavy Duty RHOX 6 inch lift (because it looks BadA$$).

I will eventually get the Low Speed Vehicle designation so I can register it too.
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Old 08-10-2017, 10:04 PM   #2
srqco
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Default Re: Gas Club Car DS Custom Body Project

Day 2:

Today my lift kit came in. I did not receive the HD leaf springs for the rear, but I couldn't wait. So I decided to go ahead and put the lift on the front. It was very well built. I especially like the double a-arm construction. The bolt up was very easy and could be done by anyone with a wal-mart socket set.

Question for the board....
I have to lengthen the front end. My initial thought is to use flat plate steel on the top and bottom and use angle iron on the inside of the I beam to essentially totally capture the Aluminum I beam with the plates/angle. Is there a better way to accomplish this? I have and do TIG weld aluminum (I'M BY NO MEANS AN EXPERT), but I'm concerned that the heat will cause a temper issue in that area and make the beam brittle.
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Old 08-12-2017, 06:04 PM   #3
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Default Re: Gas Club Car DS Custom Body Project

3rd Day:

Well today I got the lift finished with HD springs. The HD Springs I got are the three leaf version. One of the three leafs are a 'overload' style spring, meaning that it only get involved if there is really heavy weight. I plan to haul three kids and two adults. However the kids are big kids (my 12 year old wears size 14 shoes).



After getting the rear suspension bolted up, and it would roll again, it got a bath. Looks like the last guy must have taken that poor cart mudding. But it cleaned up nice.

I finished putting the dash in. The dash is a VIP Dash kit. I am very happy with the fit and finish. FYI the little round thing that comes with it is a spacer for the key switch. After making a spacer my son figured it out. The dash was the stereo version and was complemented with a Fusion Marine Stereo and Kenwood Marine Speakers. The reason for choosing these was simply because they are good quality and they were black.



I moved onto the fold down rear seat. It bolted up fine, but the instructions were quite poor. What do ya want for $250.00? It is quality steel construction. A little on the heavy side, but using that HD suspension I think the weight could be good.



I cant wait to see them there white wall tires. Waiting on wheels.

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Old 08-12-2017, 06:18 PM   #4
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Default Re: Gas Club Car DS Custom Body Project

Looks like you know whats going on. Hope to find me a club car and start something soon too, and sure will be following your build. I'm new to golf cart and I'm looking forward to the hobby.

Thanks for sharing,

Terry
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Old 08-14-2017, 10:42 PM   #5
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Default Re: Gas Club Car DS Custom Body Project

Thanks Tnaz, I was starting to wonder if I was the only person to see this. Lol

Day 4:

Today I got the cart back running. I still have quite a bit of work to do to it. But it's fun to get it back rolling and drive it around a little. I got the radio wired. MAN it sounds good on a cart!! I highly recommend the Fusion (by Garmin) Marine stereo. It's amazing. All joints were soldered using Western Union splices. If you don't know what that is Google it. There is a reason it's the only splice used by NASA. The

Something to remember if you put a lift on... The snubber is a rubber doughnut that goes on the front of the skid pan. That thing is under tremendous pressure if you do nothing to it when lifting the cart. Mine, and the models around the time of mine have the snubber mount bolted on. There are posts in her about making an extender etc., I chose to try and flip the snubber bracket and bolt it back in place. I was happy with the results. The snubber is "pre-loaded" but still will move with spring compression.

There is great information in this site when you start digging a little. A couple other things include a tune up, a plug, fuel filters and new hose, and a new air filter/oil.

The 2 inch wheel spacers came in today but I'm going to wait until the wheels get here to install it all at the same time.
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Old 08-15-2017, 05:14 AM   #6
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Default Re: Gas Club Car DS Custom Body Project

Western Union splices is a technique not something you buy great advice love to see more photos thanks
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Old 08-15-2017, 05:59 AM   #7
srqco
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Default Re: Gas Club Car DS Custom Body Project

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dennisneri View Post
Western Union splices is a technique not something you buy great advice love to see more photos thanks
Thanks for the clarification. That is the technique I used to splice all of the wires in the wiring harness instead of using those useless crimp splices. Then I heat shrieked the splices with marine heat shrink (it has an adhesive inside the heat shrink that makes the splice water tight. Not that I plan to get it totally wet, but if it rains in the equipment and/or it gets wet when I wash the cart I want it to last.
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Old 08-15-2017, 07:13 AM   #8
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Default Re: Gas Club Car DS Custom Body Project

i like it keep showing pics
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Old 08-15-2017, 10:19 AM   #9
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Default Re: Gas Club Car DS Custom Body Project

Sounds like you have it going in the right direction; with the rest, more pictures.

Terry
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Old 08-16-2017, 09:57 PM   #10
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Default Re: Gas Club Car DS Custom Body Project

So tonight I got an opportunity to work on the cart for about an hour. In between pulling my cummins out of the mud and working on my roof. BTW, the 2x4 YouTube trick for getting your truck unstuck doesn't work on heavier trucks. I tried....

Anyway. I mounted the wheels and tires and installed them. 4x4 bolt pattern (means 4" 4 bolts and generally trailer wheels) fits the cart perfectly. I used 13" wheels that were 4.5" wide. I mounted 155/80r13 tires on the wheels. A couple reasons I chose this. First, even though I'm using a '33 front clip the cart is inspired from a model A pickup truck and they had tall and narrow wheels. Next I wanted to use moon hubcaps and my research led me to using 13" wheels so that I could fit them with the proper hubcaps. Finally I wanted white walls without paying Coker prices (don't get me wrong if anyone in here wants to send me a set, I'd be honored to roll around in them) but since that a'int happening I'll stick with the walmart white walls. And Walmart is where I got them.

Finally these wheels/tires were attached to the cart using 2" aluminum spacers (summit) I believe was the sticker on them. They are really well made and it comes with lug nuts. No rubs whatsoever and if you didn't modify the plastic it would fill the wells perfectly. Also I tried to roll the cart in a couple turns on a dirt road. I'm sure I could do it if I really wanted to. But the cart was super secure and had very little body roll with the stiffer suspension. I'm a very happy camper.

I know they aren't the wide monsters that everyone is used to, but the work for me and I really like unique!! Now for the cart porn...





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