84 Marathon 36v restore - Help need advice

[Corey_W]

So I got this from the in laws and thought it’d be cool to restore being that it’s the same year I was born. I was going to take everything apart and clean it all up and get better connections and then I come across all this rust in the trays. And on the motor one of the post as I was backing off the nut the post started spinning.

Am I screwed on the post and need to take it to a shop to see if they can replace it?

What can affect the speed on these things?

What can I do about the trays?

Is this even worth it?

Thanks guys.

[Cobra,1]

Rebuild the motor, just due to it’s age.
Battery trays can be fabled up from angle iron. Not an expensive job especially if you have a friend with a migwelder.
As for other guestion,sorry not that familiar with those carts

[Corey_W]

Well good news the post and connections seem fine. The post has wires the seem riveted to it and then they go the the main parts of the motor. Gonna take it to the Texas Alternator Starter Service and see if they can replace all these posts.

Also gonna try and use an old bed frame and fab up a new battery tray.

I’m curious about all the different cables sizes. Some are 4 some are 2. They have different ends. I have a roll of 4 gauge power/ground car amplifier wire. Anything wrong with replacing everything with that?

[Corey_W]

so i am working on rebuilding the battery tray. i have new batteries coming today. the shop refinished my motor.

I was thinking about doing the controller conversion...but is there anything wrong with just doing a stock ezgo controller instead of these really expensive ones? i just don't have tons of cash to be dropping into a cart.

also was going to replace all the power wires with 4 gauge...i was told to go with 2 gauge...but is 4 ok?

[Sir Nuke]

Cory.....seeing as how the cart was free.....its worth it!

I have done this a few times, so here are a few suggestions.

first, the battery trays....making the replacements out of bed frames is a VERY common practice, and work great, its a very common and cheap way to get/find available angle iron.

do yourself a favor and strip EVERYTHING off if the cart....get all of the rust you can off of the frame. use a rust inhibitor on it....then recoat the entire frame with a product such as POR15. even your new battery boxes. this will keep your cart in good shape for a lifetime if taken care of.

as for your battery cables....the stock system had 6 ga. cables....SO 4 ga is an upgrade and will be fine, IF you are going to keep your cart at 36v. IF you plan to upgrade to a 48v system....then 2 ga. is the way to go.
AND as far as the cable you have...I have no idea how many strand wire that cable is, but you need cable that is 600 strand or better, such as welding cable. and for the best connections, they should be soldered, not only crimped.

[Corey_W]

I’m not saying it not worth it. I just don’t want to spend the extra $800 for the upgraded ones. I have already taken everything out and off the cart and was hoping to power wash it today.

And seeing that I had it completely stripped down that’s kind of why I thought about doing a stock ezgo controller. But just needed a parts list and from what carts it would work.

But if I couldn’t find it, the resisters and board are pretty worn so I was gonna get new ones.

I have the bed frame ready to cut it and start welding. Thanks for the advice about the POR15.

And the cable is power/ground wire for car amps.

[Corey_W]

I was looking at seems like the 600 strand is 2 gauge and 4 gauge will be around 325ish.

[rockfordpi]

Originally Posted by Corey_W

I’m not saying it not worth it. I just don’t want to spend the extra $800 for the upgraded ones. I have already taken everything out and off the cart and was hoping to power wash it today.

And seeing that I had it completely stripped down that’s kind of why I thought about doing a stock ezgo controller. But just needed a parts list and from what carts it would work.

But if I couldn’t find it, the resisters and board are pretty worn so I was gonna get new ones.

I have the bed frame ready to cut it and start welding. Thanks for the advice about the POR15.

And the cable is power/ground wire for car amps.

I would keep it as a resistor cart if it were me. It certainly will not be as efficient as an electronic controller, but it will be original.

If you shop really hard, you can probably find a txt in rough shape for about what you would pay to upgrade that one to a modern electronic controller.

[Corey_W]

Originally Posted by rockfordpi

I would keep it as a resistor cart if it were me. It certainly will not be as efficient as an electronic controller, but it will be original.

If you shop really hard, you can probably find a txt in rough shape for about what you would pay to upgrade that one to a modern electronic controller.

So what parts would I need? And is it only off the txt?

And as far as the resister goes. Is there a way to refinish the board and the part that contact the boards and slides across the connectors of the resistors.

On mine the little connector part(spring loaded) doesn’t sit flat on the board. And some off the round connectors are worn.

[binder49]

If you so a search on ebay. You can find new resister boards and the sweep for a good price. That's where I found mine when I had a resister cart,