Project Frankenstein-Buggy (Marathon build, lift, paint, etc.. lots-o-pics)

[Plumbergs]

Originally Posted by madoc1

the size of the bed is just right, imo. looking really good!

Thanks! I like the size of it too. I didn't see any need for a big bed since I'll only be doing a little light hauling.

[Plumbergs]

Got a little more work done on the cart this weekend.

Ever since getting this thing running its been having some issues with starting consistantly. Sometimes it would fire up, others it would just turn over and over until flooded. It was getting spark but I thought it had to be weak since it only starts about half the time and never starts instantly like it should. So Saturday morning I started looking for a solution.. After a little inspecting I noticed that the coil was in pretty rough shape. The place where the plug wire connects had some gunk inside of it, and the contact appeared to be broken.



So I pulled the coil off of my old John Deere 314 and wired it up to the cart to see if it would fire any better.. Wow, what a difference! It starts instantly every time now with no flooding, and it seems to have a little more power! I liked it so much that I decided the John Deere wasn't getting its coil back (its not running anyway) and bolted it onto the ezgo permanently.



Problem solved!

Now, you wanna hear something funny? I'm almost ashamed to post this... but I will anyway because its worth a laugh.

I was feeling so good about solving the spark/starting issue that I decided to do a few more improvements under the hood (or seat).. I took out the gas tank and cleaned it up really good, replaced the fuel lines and filter, and put in some fresh fuel. Jumped on the cart to take it for a spin and about 5 minutes into my ride it just went dead. So I thought maybe I knocked some trash loose when I cleaned the tank and it got stuck in the carb. I took the carb apart and sure enough I found a little piece of trash stuck in the needle seat. I cleaned it out and put it everything back together feeling like I had found and fixed my problem. Took the cart for another spin and the same thing happened. It fired up, ran for about 5 minutes and then died again. To make a long story short, lets just say that I spent my whole Saturday taking the carb back apart several times trying to figure out the cause of the problem. After putting it back together for like the fourth time that day and having it die on me again, I lifted up the seat to take another look. This time I was just glaring at the engine thinking to myself "what the hell is going on with this thing".. Then it hit me. I looked over at the new fuel line I had installed and noticed that I had ran it over the top of the rail which the seat sits on. DOH! That explains it! It would run for like 5 minutes and then shut off because my fat *** was sitting on the fuel line! Ran the line under the support and it didn't shut off anymore. I was relieved to find the problem but felt like a complete jackass for not noticing it before.

[vponder]

That reminds me of the time I was trying to get a Honda express scooter running, had gas, had spark, would not do anything ! I asked my neighbor who was helping "DO you think the muffler is stoped up ?" Sure enough there was a dirt dobber nest in it , cleaned it out fired right up I like to have worn out that kick starter!!!

[madoc1]

dirt dobbers. hate those things. have a fridge in the garage that we only use occasionly. well the last time we needed it it wouldn't get cold, tho you hear the compressor working. called a friend who is a appliance repair man and he found the d--- dobber build up on the fan. easy fix, but still a pain.

[Plumbergs]

I hate those things too.. They built a nest up under the tank of my Honda Magna a couple of years ago.

Added a little safety deco to the bed this morning. The SMV sign is homemade and isn't regulation size but there's tons of carts running the streets in my small town which don't have them at all, so I don't think it'll be a problem.

[racin161]

Plum nice pics. 1 thing I noticed about your new found friend (THE COIL) it's mounted upside down and I believe it is oil filled and having it mounted this way my shorten (HER) life due to heat. Just a thought ! Keep the pics coming

[Plumbergs]

Originally Posted by racin161

Plum nice pics. 1 thing I noticed about your new found friend (THE COIL) it's mounted upside down and I believe it is oil filled and having it mounted this way my shorten (HER) life due to heat. Just a thought ! Keep the pics coming

Good point on the coil. Thanks! I'll flip it around this weekend.

[Plumbergs]

I scratched a few more things off of my to-do list.

- 22x11x8 tires and wheels
- Homemade windshield
- Headlights & Taillights
- Horn
- Homemade switch panel for the lights, horn and aux power
- Some tiny stick on mirrors

Cosmetically I'm almost done. The only thing left to do is replace the dirty white seat covers with some new black ones. It still has a few minor mechanical issues that I want to work out but the end is in sight!




Front lugs need to be painted black.











I still need to conceal the wires a little better behind the switch panel but it'll do for now.

I also figured out why the cart seems to be down on power a bit. With the freshly rebuilt engine I was only seeing a top speed of around 14 mph and it felt like it was losing power/speed on hills. So I measured the width of my drive belt and it was only 15/16" wide. According to the websites that sell new belts, its supposed to be 1 3/16". That would explain it. Hopefully a new belt will make it a little more peppy.

[Plumbergs]

Installed the new seat covers. All done.

[Plumbergs]

I gave the little bed/cargo box its first workout over the weekend. Sure beats the hell out of using a wheel barrow.