Suspected broken timing belt, advice, info, thanks

[JPonLKN]

I have two on my bench, one that had a broken belt and another that was "tight" to turn, relative to other engines. Starter would turn it no problem, but both have significant scoring in the cam bearing seats. I was gonna build the extra 350 with the 295 head, but found that the head is shot. Now, just need to rebuild the 350 stock.

[stjames4xl]

Well, the more I think about this the more it looks like it's time to replace the engine and go forward with this project. One of my buddies has a 5.3 chevy truck engine he wants me to put in it but I think cost wise converting to something like a Predator 420 may be within my budget. So now my question is am I thinking straight or not? Thanks

[CP241]

I bought a TXT with no motor for $100 a few years ago. Well, it had a motor but it was in pieces and the dude narfed it pretty badly...

I got a big block mounting cradle, belt, and clutch from Vegas carts. The. A lifan 420 with a 15 or 18 amp charging circuit for $450 from Home Depot. All in, I had about $1000 into the cart and it only took me a couple hours to install the engine once it came. My cart was lifted so I was able to put the whole motor in exactly as it came out of the box, muffler, airbox, gas tank, etc. all as one piece and drive it just like that.

Plus you can part out whatever isn’t wrecked in the motor and everything on eBay and recoup come of that. I stripped EVERYTHING out of the cart, harness, ignitor, solenoid, etc. didn’t need any of it, and just extended the lifan key switch to the dash. Worked out perfect and was a lot of fun to drive.

If it’s not lifted you’d benefit from the Vegas carts airbox, and muffler also. They make a carb spacer with a nipple to run the oem fuel pump and gas tank, but I just drilled a hole in my stock spacer and put in a $1 nipple and did that myself.

[stjames4xl]

Originally Posted by CP241

I bought a TXT with no motor for $100 a few years ago. Well, it had a motor but it was in pieces and the dude narfed it pretty badly...

I got a big block mounting cradle, belt, and clutch from Vegas carts. The. A lifan 420 with a 15 or 18 amp charging circuit for $450 from Home Depot. All in, I had about $1000 into the cart and it only took me a couple hours to install the engine once it came. My cart was lifted so I was able to put the whole motor in exactly as it came out of the box, muffler, airbox, gas tank, etc. all as one piece and drive it just like that.

Plus you can part out whatever isn’t wrecked in the motor and everything on eBay and recoup come of that. I stripped EVERYTHING out of the cart, harness, ignitor, solenoid, etc. didn’t need any of it, and just extended the lifan key switch to the dash. Worked out perfect and was a lot of fun to drive.

If it’s not lifted you’d benefit from the Vegas carts airbox, and muffler also. They make a carb spacer with a nipple to run the oem fuel pump and gas tank, but I just drilled a hole in my stock spacer and put in a $1 nipple and did that myself.

That makes sense for my similar situation. I'll ask for a little more input before I move to the proper threads for engine swaps though since I'm getting such good advice here. Is it acceptable to use an adapter for the stock ezgo engine crankshaft/clutch? Is engine rotational direction an issue? Should I get the engine cradle or just the mounting plate? BTW, I'm working on a 1992 ezgo "Marathon".

[CP241]

While you *can* use the oem ezgo clutch, I wouldn’t for a few reasons, first there appears to be quite a bit of rust on your sheaves. Gonna take a lot of cleaning to clean that up and if there’s any pitting left behind it can eat up belts.
And 2nd reason, to use the oem clutch you will have to cut the crankshaft down on the new engine. Then drill it out and tap it for the oem bolt threads. The crankshaft is hardened steel and this is less than an “easy” task. I’ve done it once and it was enough hassle I’ll never do it again. It’s worth every penny for a comet or cvtech clutch from Vegas that just slides into the key way and bolts on. 5 seconds tops.
Third reason, the oem clutch is designed to engage pretty much immediately once the engine begins to run. When you switch to a clone motor, it idles at a speed the oem clutch would normally be closing to start driving the cart. You have to experiment with some stiffer springs to get it to hold open at idle, but close when you start to rev the motor to drive. If it closes while it’s idling the cart will “creep” slowly and make it impossible to shift between forward or reverse without shutting the engine off.

It’s totally doable to use the oem clutch. But IMO a lot of hassle and pain, time is money too and I’d rather spend my time doing something more worthwhile on the cart instead of trying to fiddle with the clutch to make it work.

Just my opinion anyway

[stjames4xl]

Even though the pulleys look bad I'm confident I could save them. I am in agreement about not cutting/drilling/tapping the crank though. I've been researching the web for available clutches but I'm not sure exactly what I need. I'll have to make some calls for info. I also want to have the starter/gen pulley since I will use that.

[CP241]

Vegas carts sells everything you need

For simplicity of installation I ditched the starter/gen so didn’t need the pulley. Lots less wiring involved and with the HD charging circuit it was plenty to run lights and stuff with no issues.

I used the cv tech clutch from Vegas and it worked perfectly. They to make and sell a billet pulley for the starter/gen if you go that route and I believe it works with both the comet and the cv tech

[stjames4xl]

I'll admit I'm skeptical about the charging system. The local HF has a 420 Predator in stock but I don't know the rating on the charging system. This cart will need lighting though.

[CP241]

Originally Posted by stjames4xl

I'll admit I'm skeptical about the charging system. The local HF has a 420 Predator in stock but I don't know the rating on the charging system. This cart will need lighting though.

That’s exactly why I went with the lifan. The predator and all the other 420’s only have a 2-3 amp charging system. Lifan LF190F-BDQC 15 HP 420cc 4-Stroke OHV Industrial Grade Gas Engine with Electric Start, 18 Amp External Charging System and Universal Mounting Pattern https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008H2G1CO...WH7MHFAKD4ZTP5

[raydhd]

It is very simple to use the stock S/G system as the wiring does not change. Also as Vegascarts recommended the stock clone starters are not very powerful or durable particularly if you modify the engine. And again if you want to retain the pedal start system nothing needs doing. Why do golf carts even currently use this method ? It is absolutely reliable and Very long lasting.