97 Club Car DS 48v Restoration

[Dragracer_Art]

Looks like its in very much the same mechanical / electrical condition I found mine in.

Word of advice.

If you can swing it financially... don't bother trying to save the old rats nest of wires. Just replace everything with new stuff, sourced from one of our site sponsors.

You will be pulling your hair out trying to troubleshoot nickel and dime crap if you try using all the old wires/components. Just assume EVERYTHING is bad or defective. (It probably is anyway)

I paid $300 for my cart and was told "It only needs batteries". (I probably have $2k+ into it now)

The only factory original CC component still on my cart is the actual drive motor... (and even that was upgraded to a 2014 Sepex unit previously)
Every single wire and connected component has been replaced, including the motor controller.
I don't regret it one bit. I had the wife and kids out on Saturday cruising around a few trails in the woods behind our house and up/down our street. It was a blast and it ran like a champ.

[jbarsn]

Originally Posted by Dragracer_Art

Looks like its in very much the same mechanical / electrical condition I found mine in.

Word of advice.

If you can swing it financially... don't bother trying to save the old rats nest of wires. Just replace everything with new stuff, sourced from one of our site sponsors.

You will be pulling your hair out trying to troubleshoot nickel and dime crap if you try using all the old wires/components. Just assume EVERYTHING is bad or defective. (It probably is anyway)

I paid $300 for my cart and was told "It only needs batteries". (I probably have $2k+ into it now)

The only factory original CC component still on my cart is the actual drive motor... (and even that was upgraded to a 2014 Sepex unit previously)
Every single wire and connected component has been replaced, including the motor controller.
I don't regret it one bit. I had the wife and kids out on Saturday cruising around a few trails in the woods behind our house and up/down our street. It was a blast and it ran like a champ.

Awesome, thanks for sharing! As I mentioned in my other post, I hooked up new batteries and the cart surprisingly ran! So component wise, I think everything is there in place.

I'm going to try my best to save money wherever I can cause I know in the end I will be in for close to 2K! So far I have about $800 into the cart including batteries. If I add a lift kit and larger wheels that's about $600 more. I can grab a newer style used top and rear seat locally for about $350. I will need to purchase or build a main seat bottom and seat back as well. I also plan to send out the motor for upgrade.

I do plan to replace all linkages and connectors for both the accelerator and brakes. Most of the rods and links are heavily rusted and deteriorated. I would feel much safer with those components being new! I will be using all new 2awg cable throughout.

[jbarsn]

Here are some more pics of the front end being taken apart and restored.

[Swan]

following

[jbarsn]

Here are some more pics of the front end parts being disassembled and refinished.

[jbarsn]

Got the entire front end taken apart and refinished to my liking. Now comes the fun part where I get to put it all back together

[Swan]

lookin good , i just did my front end over last month

[jakesnake27]

Excellent, looks great

[Mooncarter]

Nice job!

[jbarsn]

So after a week of sanding the old rusted parts and bringing them back to life, I am now ready to install the parts. Each part now has a smooth black semi gloss finish. I was able to clean up all the rusty bolts and nuts by soaking in vinegar for 2-3 days.

To start, I installed the front leaf spring and delta shock tower. I then moved on to installing the kingpins and then the spindles. Everything was going smooth until I tried tightening down the spindle onto the kingpin.

It seems as if the rusty threads on the kingpin have expanded since taking the front end apart. I could not get the nut to fit back on for the life of me! I tried everything, lots of pressure, grease but no luck. At one point, I was okay stripping the nut just to get it back on but could not even get one turn on the nut - it just didn't fit like before!

At this point, in order to put the front end back together, I will need to buy new kingpins as well as a new control rod and 2x ball joints as those threads were bad too.