87 Club Car Vegas 440 swap

[ncsu4life]

The time has finally come for me after reading and lurking on these forums for the past 6 months or so to swap out my engine in my 87 club car. Not having a fancy workshop or any fancy tools to fabricate i waited on Geoff at Vegas carts to get his kits together and let me tell you it was hard waiting over summer with a broken cart. The old KF82 has been a great little engine in this cart as my family has had the cart since about 89-90 with little to no problems until the last few years. then this past spring it got a bad knock and i believe either broke the rod or the bolts backed out one (haven't opened it up yet but will after its pulled). i decided not to mess with the KF82 anymore due to the high cost of parts and the cost of a rebuild would be more than what i could by a new clone with complete swap kit. I've ordered the GX440 Clone, Taper adapter for original clutch, engine mount, starter/gen mount, and exhaust which is scheduled to arrive Fri. I will likely have some questions along the way as I'm no mechanic but am fairly good at figuring out how things work and fixing things. Last night i got started on taking apart the cart to get prepared for the parts to come in. I've added a few pictures of the cart tore down and wow i didn't realize what 26 years of dust and dirt looked like. i stopped when i got to soaking the drive clutch over night to try and remove it. this clutch was put on this past spring by a local repair guy on the side so i thought i may be able to pop it off without the puller but no luck yet. i haven't tried hitting it with anything just prying with my hands so far. any tips or tricks are welcome. or if someone local has a puller that would be great in the Raleigh area.

[BIKERMIKEYBLACK]

I had a really hard time getting mine off with a puller from buggies unlimited finally had to use an impact wrench to break it loose i cant see getting one off without it , good luck and dont get in a rush :)

[slonomo]

Spend the $30-$40 on the correct tool, or you'll be spending $250 for a clutch. I don't recommend hitting the clutches at all, as this will bend the metal or crack it. Also, I don't recommend using any 3 jaw or 2 jaw type pullers, these put too much pressure in the wrong places, and the weaker metal part will give...usually the clutch.

Can't wait to see the finished product, I'll be following!

[dubs27]

I had to soak mine in pb blaster over night. It can be a pain good luck

[Springbok]

Originally Posted by slonomo

Spend the $30-$40 on the correct tool, or you'll be spending $250 for a clutch. I don't recommend hitting the clutches at all, as this will bend the metal or crack it. Also, I don't recommend using any 3 jaw or 2 jaw type pullers, these put too much pressure in the wrong places, and the weaker metal part will give...usually the clutch.

Yep. This is what happened to my clutch when I tried to remove it using the various methods described above, early in my rebuild. Get the right tools and save yourself the headache.

[/QUOTE]

[ncsu4life]

I'm convinced to get the puller after reading over other threads. I tried again last night with little luck and I didn't want to damage the clutch. It looks like it was pried on before so I'm guessing the guy I had put the clutch on pried it off the other engine with a screwdriver or something as the v belt pulley is bent at a few places.

Luckily a club car service place is relatively close by and has one in stock. Pricey **** tool but I'll have the right tool now for both family carts now.

[corkscrew]

That special tool is about 40 bucks on ebay. I got lucky and used the 1/4 extension with a bolt to push my clutch off. worked out good for me but I have been thinking of ordering the tool just for good measures. Cart sounds cool keep up the good work and keep us posted.

[ncsu4life]

I picked up an OEM club car puller tool locally for $34 and i must admit I'm a believer now! Turned it in a couple of turns and pop off came the clutch. Then i removed all the bolts holding the engine, dissembled the exhaust and called it a night.

Between two young kids and it being Halloween i didn't get much time to work on the cart and my delivery got pushed back to Monday so i have plenty of time to take it slow taking everything out of the old cart.

[ncsu4life]

Small update the old engine is out and now I'm just waiting on my new engine and goodies!

Since I had the extra time I opened up the engine to confirm diagnosis on the old engine and sure enough the bottom of the connecting rod had fallen all apart. Any ideas on what could've caused it?

[Larboc]

The BEST way I've found to pull clutches when you don't have a puller is to tip the golf cart or snowmobile on it's side and fill the bolt hole up with water (unless you have the engine out obviously, then you just set the engine clutch side up.) Then take a bolt the correct thread for the puller threads in the clutch, wrap it with pipe tape and thread it into the end of the clutch a couple of threads. Then take an impact, or be quick with a ratchet, and tighten the bolt. The clutch will blow right off the crankshaft. Works great. You don't risk buggering up the crankshaft end/threads like you do with an improved cut off bolt.