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

[Dave Box]

Very nicely done Plumbergs. I sure have enjoyed watching your project come to fruition. I hope you get many years of pleasure from your cart.

Dave

[Plumbergs]

Originally Posted by Dave Box

Very nicely done Plumbergs. I sure have enjoyed watching your project come to fruition. I hope you get many years of pleasure from your cart.

Dave

Thank you Dave. And once again, thanks to you for all your help with this project.

[sandman1]

Hi I recently aquired a gas powered EZ GO that looks pretty close to yours but I'm not sure of the year. I was wondering what did the front suspension come from? I am wanting to lift mine also but am still learning about these carts. Trying to figure out what I have( year and model). The cart was given to me because they were frustrated with it not running right but I figured out they were mixing the gas way too rich and fouling plugs.

[Plumbergs]

Originally Posted by sandman1

Hi I recently aquired a gas powered EZ GO that looks pretty close to yours but I'm not sure of the year. I was wondering what did the front suspension come from? I am wanting to lift mine also but am still learning about these carts. Trying to figure out what I have( year and model). The cart was given to me because they were frustrated with it not running right but I figured out they were mixing the gas way too rich and fouling plugs.

Hi,
The front suspension is OEM 76-79 as far as I can tell. Mine just has a 2pg engine from a newer cart.

Notice how on the front of mine it has a single leaf spring running from one wheel to the other:



If yours looks like this, its pre-1979.

If yours has two leaf springs on the front, running from the body to the axle, its 1979.5 or newer:


If you'll post pictures of your cart, including the body and engine area we may be able to help narrow it down to the exact year. Check to see if it still has the plate with the model and serial numbers.. If so, post that info too.

[sandman1]

I did figure out it is an 84. I am also finding out that my ideas of an engine swap are going to be more difficult than I thought since it has the sideways mounted engine configuration. I might just fix it up a little and sell it. It runs but I think it will only be good for golfing and I don't golf. I was wanting more of an off-roader. I will try and post some pics of it later.

[Plumbergs]

A couple of minor updates to this project. I added a speedometer, tach and trailer hitch.

At first I was looking at some speedometers designed for golf carts but after seeing the price tags (yikes! ) I changed my mind. Then I found this neat little bicycle speedometer at Walmart for $12.. With a little ingenuity its pretty easy to make it work on a golf cart.

Installed in about a half hour and it works great. I compared it to the GPS speedometer on my iphone and it was really close (within 1 mph). I was happy to see that my old ezgo does 21 mph on flat ground.

I also installed one of those cheap ebay rpm/hour meters. I don't know the name brand but it seems to work fairly well.

[Hardatwork]

[QUOTE=Plumbergs;648630]A couple of minor updates to this project. I added a speedomoter, tach and trailer hitch.

At first I was looking at some speedometers designed for golf carts but after seeing the price tags (yikes! ) I changed my mind. Then I found this neat little bicycle speedometer at Walmart for $12.. With a little ingenuity its pretty easy to make it work on a golf cart.

Installed in about a half hour and it works great. I compared it to the GPS speedomoter on my iphone and it was really close (within 1 mph). I was happy to see that my old ezgo does 21 mph on flat ground.

I also installed one of those cheap ebay rpm/hour meters. I don't know the name brand but it seems to work fairly well.


Can you please give more information on the speedometer installation. Sounds pretty cool Thank You

Chuck

[Plumbergs]

Originally Posted by Hardatwork

Can you please give more information on the speedometer installation. Sounds pretty cool Thank You

Chuck

Sure, its really easy actually. The most difficult part is getting the sensor mounted. As you can see from my picture above, you mount the magnet on the back side of the front wheel hub, and then you need to mount the sensor so that its about 1/8" away from the magnet. To do that, you'll need to fabricate a little bracket like the one in my pic. Doesn't matter what you make it out of as long as its fairly sturdy and puts the sensor in the right position (about 1/8" from the magnet). I made one at my workplace out of thin metal flatbar, but thats probably not an option for you, so you'll have to look around the house or garage to find something suitable. Any stiff piece of metal that you can bend to fit should work fine. To mount it, I used JB Weld. Once you have your bracket made and the sensor/magnet mounted, you'll probably need to cut and splice the wire going to the speedometer to add some length. After that, just run your wire and mount it in the desired location.

[Hardatwork]

Thanks Plumbergs

Is there a calibration that must be done to allow for the size of the wheel.

Chuck

[Plumbergs]

No problem, and yes you have to calibrate it by putting in the circumference of the tire. I just made a mark on the tire and another on the ground, then rolled it forward until it made one full revolution and put another mark on the ground. Measure between those two marks, put it into the speedo and you're good to go.