Adding generator pulley beside drive clutch

[army]

I want to put an generator on my 13 HP clone engine but the clutch I have doesn't have a provision for that. I currently have an 8HP Honda on the cart but I'm doing a frame off build and will be using the clone instead when it goes back together. My question is.. how far outward can I go on the engine shaft to make room for a pulley (on the inward side) and not end up with a clutch wobble? There's actually enough space on the inside for a generator pulley but no way to fasten it to the clutch so it will have to slide onto the shaft and use the keyway. I'd have to move the engine to the right to have the belt line up again but that's fine because I'm making a new engine cradle while I'm at it. I used a 1/2" thick aluminium plate to mount the engine originally. Works great but it's not adjustable, which I want to have.



You can see a straight black rod in the pic. I'm switching to a rigid choke linkage instead of a cable. Have to wait till the engine is back in the cart to do the rest. I'm doing this because the way the choke mechanism is orientated a cable has to head toward the back of the cart and then curve back around towards the front (the tighter the curve the stiffer the cable movement gets). I have a bunch of different types of cable mechanisms but it's a fair distance requiring a 180 deg change in direction and every cable setup I've tried has not been to my liking. I have a couple antique Ford tractors (8N and 800 models) and misc parts, incl throttle linkages so I'm using some selected pieces for the cart.

You can also see my one-off airbox for the carb. I made it from a plastic 220V junction box. An ABS plastic pipe fitting works nicely to allow a plastic nipple to be added at the end for the filter to snugly slide onto. Been using it for about 10 years with no issues. The top of the junction box is also handy for anchoring brackets plus installing a plastic nipple for the PVC hose.

Some sustenance for the pic hounds

Cart before being torn apart, worked great for years but not very pretty, so..


Rear view..


Just before teardown..


Frame/floor will be sandblasted and painted..


I put a TXT front cowl on the 90 Marathon I started out with. The only original parts left on the Marathon are the front half of the rear fenders, the steering system and front axle.


Front axle with extended forward a couple inches..


I'm fortunate to have a well insulated heated 2 bay shop to work in..


I have a spare transaxle, engine, swing arm setup prepped for a future project..

[raydhd]

You might want to look at Vegascarts, a sponsor, for both the pulley and some installation pics

[Shepard]

As Ray has said, Vegas Carts has a great adjustable engine mount plate that gives 2 way placement.

I had the same problem with my choke - not liking the feel or function. On the choke shaft top of carb body there is a cast pin that controls the choke motion and adds friction holding the choke where it's set. I filed half of it away and the choke moves with no effort. I'm using the same choke plate your using. I used a bicycle brake cable with a loaded lever -- a lever with friction washer. You can adjust it to have the stiffness you'd like. I posted a picture of the lever - I unscrewed the solid cable housing out and the black bike cable housing screwed right in.
With the spring on the choke plate to pull the cable back the is only the stiffness of the lever itself which can be adjusted by tightening or loosening the center screw.

[army]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm located in Ontario about 100 miles NE of Detroit. The currency exchange, customs/duties and cross border shipping costs often double the cost of buying something online from the US so I usually look for an alternative before I do that. Also I'm able to make a cradle myself so it's not really a problem.

Since the choke control is located on the seat base and the engine is bolted to the unsprung swing arm I'll still need a flexible connection. But it will be a relatively short distance and a straight shot to the choke lever. My goal is to eliminate the 180 deg turn and 5 feet of cable. The choke and throttle control rods on my 8N and 800 tractors work very well so I don't anticipate any issues. Famous last words right?

Originally Posted by Shepard

As Ray has said, Vegas Carts has a great adjustable engine mount plate that gives 2 way placement.

I had the same problem with my choke - not liking the feel or function. On the choke shaft top of carb body there is a cast pin that controls the choke motion and adds friction holding the choke where it's set. I filed half of it away and the choke moves with no effort. I'm using the same choke plate your using. I used a bicycle brake cable with a loaded lever -- a lever with friction washer. You can adjust it to have the stiffness you'd like. I posted a picture of the lever - I unscrewed the solid cable housing out and the black bike cable housing screwed right in.
With the spring on the choke plate to pull the cable back the is only the stiffness of the lever itself which can be adjusted by tightening or loosening the center screw.

[mdbuggynut]

Here is my writeup. I did exactly what you want to do. My clutch has no wobble, either.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url...7&share_type=t

Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk

[army]

Thanks. That's good to know. . I see you mounted the alternator to the rear. I'm probably gonna have to do that too because the seat platform on my EZGO limits the height of the generator above the engine. Mounting it behind the engine would work. Lots of room back there. Would be a long belt though.



Even if I didn't need the cart for property maint I'd still have it for our 13 year old 3 legged border collie Franky. He loves riding shotgun and will sometimes sit on the cart in the garage hoping for an outing. He's a speed freak too. I had to install a plywood divider to stop him from stepping on the gas pedal. He pretends it's accidental but I know better, heh heh.

[army]

I forgot to mention that's the pic where I caught him red handed trying to reach over and mash the gas.

[army]

It's a pain in the butt to shift my cart because the driven pulley rotates a bit even at a low idle. I have the 8HP Honda idled down as much as possible but it still won't shift till just before the engine quits so I've been 'almost' shutting it down to shift. I switch it back on just before it dies. Doing it exactly right was a challenge at first but it got old pretty fast once I mastered it. So.. to stop the clutch from moving I'm going to use an old lawn tractor drum brake setup that I've been hoarding for about 30 years (I almost hate to use it). I'm gonna add another pedal beside the stock EZGO brake pedal that I can step on for shifting. I thought about connecting it to the existing brake linkage but decided I'd rather have it separate.

I added a coil spring to the clamping band to insure the drum doesn't drag and wear out the brake pad. I'm gonna connect the new pedal to the brake with a cable. At the moment the brake drum is just bolted to the driven clutch shaft. Friction stops the drum from turning but it will loosen off eventually so I'm gonna drill and tap some 1/4" bolt holes in the end of the outer hub on the driven clutch to bolt the drum to. I'm gonna take the clutch off and use my drill press so the holes are nice and straight.







I thought about doing this to guide the cable downward to avoid the drive clutch but I don't like how close to the clutch the spool would be. I'm using a section of clothes line to mock up the linkage. Clothes lines are actually pretty strong. I used some to get my car out of a ditch one snowy night. I didn't have a chain so I 'borrowed' a clothes line from a nearby house to hook my car to my buddy's pickup. I doubled it up and tied it together and it worked by golly.

[army]

The engine has electric start so I don't need the generator mounted as much as I need to get a lot of other stuff done to get the cart operational again. Gonna go back to the gennie issue later.

Prepping parts for paint with a chemical stripper can be aggravating at times. One of those occasions was when I somehow got a big blob of stripper in my running shoe. Boy does that ever sting.



Some parts were just stripped of paint but anything with rust on it got wire wheeled too. I also have sandblasting equipment but that's an outdoor task and ..it's February. I have a blasting cabinet too but it doesn't work worth a ****.

[army]

The swing arm is stripped down to just the transaxle still attached. It's coming off too. I'm gonna use the spare transaxle I have already prepped and painted. I know this one is in A1 working condition so I'll refurbish it and it'll be ready to use again (I used to be an IT guy so I compulsively make sure I have back ups for everything).



The 8 HP genuine Honda will go on the shelf for a while till I put it on something else. I bought it new in 1993 and it's powered various machines over the years. It handled a 42" mower no sweat for several years and has more than enough guts for an everyday cart.



Lots of parts waiting for paint. Some cast stuff will be given a light wire wheeling and then clear coated. I'd prefer to sandblast some parts instead but my blasting rig is under a tarp out back and I don't wanna use it bad enough to screw around with it in Feb.