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

[Plumbergs]

I thought it would be a better idea to blog all of the modifications to my cart in a single thread rather than starting a thread every time I do something new. So here's the story of "Franken-Buggy"..

The obligatory "before" picture:


I picked this thing up for nearly nothing on Craigslist (not running). The identification plate wasn't legible, so a few other members and I were trying to guess the model based on the engine compartment, top, etc. It has a 2PG with an external S/G, so we knew it was definitely a 1980 or newer (or at least thats what we thought). We originally came to the conclusion that it was an 84 model, but then I read somewhere that only 83 models have the horizontal muffler behind the engine (which mine does).. So that made it easy.. Its got to be a 1983 model, right? Nope! After even more research I learned that from 1974 to 1979-1/2 Marathons had a transverse front leaf spring suspension. This means that a single leaf spring went from the bottom of the front tire on the driver side to the bottom of the front tire on the passenger side. In mid-1979 E-Z-GO updated their front suspension to feature a solid front axle side to side with two short front leaf springs (attached to the axle and to the frame under the floorboard).

Guess which style of front suspension mine has? Yep, the pre-1979 single leaf! Grrr... Back to square one. I have no idea what year my cart is. Apparently its a mutt with a 1980+ 2PG engine & exhaust, and a 1979 or older body. Now you see why I gave it the "Franken-Buggy" nick-name.

Oh well, at least it has the 2PG which means I can find parts for it.

Anyway, after purchasing the cart I took it home thinking I would just clean out the carb and instantly have a good running golf cart because the PO was too lazy to do it himself. Wrong! After spending a Saturday cleaning out the carb, checking the fuel pump, spark, etc, no such luck. It was getting fuel and spark, but wouldn't fire up. So I did a compression test and only got 70 psi. That explains it.

So I needed to add an engine rebuild to my already long "to-do" list:

*Engine Rebuild
*5" Lift
*Over-sized tires & wheels
*Paint Job
*Bumper or brush guard
*Bed
*Roll Cage (maybe)
*Better steering wheel
*Lights
*General Maintenance & Repair

With the help of several great members here, (Dave, Scooter, madoc1, papaholt and probably a few others.. sorry if I missed anyone) I did a complete rebuild with new crank, bearing, seals, cylinder, piston, the works.

I won't go into too much detail on the rebuild since its already been covered in this thread:
http://www.buggiesgonewild.com/gas-e...estions-5.html

I'll just post a few pics and move on to the next item on the list of things done.

Phase 1 - Complete engine rebuild:








Now that the cart was running, I decided to do the lift kit. I thought I was going to be using a simple block lift kit and the job would be easy. Wrong again. This is when I realized that my cart's body (or front suspension at least) is pre-1979 and that no lift kits are available. So I had to lift it the hard way using a welder & cutting torch. I found a post by scottyb showing some pics of how he lifted his cart using this method. I believe the idea came from a member named CRASH12888. So thanks to both of them for the idea and the pics.

Phase 2 - Lifting the cart 5":

In order to lift it, all of the front suspension components had to be completely removed. To do this you have to cut two round tubes which attach to the lower part of the plate box assembly, two thick flat bars which attach to the upper part of the box, and of coarse the steering linkage:





Once everything is cut loose, you need to lower the plate box by 5" (or however much you want to lift your cart). I did it by using the same method as scottyb, only with slightly thicker plate (3/8"). Gave them further support by adding a couple of gussets and a cross member to attach the hinge for the steering knuckle:



The tricky part is getting the modified front end realigned on the cart.



Everything reattaches to the same location as it was mounted from the factory. Only 5" lower:



Here you can see how the steering linkage was lowered by adding a piece of flat bar to reconnect the two pieces:





Front end lift complete.



On to lifting the rear. This cart has coil springs instead of leafs on the rear, So I just fabbed up an extension for both the coil spring seat and the shock.



All done. Lifting the rear was a piece of cake compared to the front.




So everything worked out great with the lift. It was a lot of work, but on the bright side I saved myself a few bucks by fabricating it myself rather than buying one. And yes, I know it looks goofy with the itty bitty stock tires and wheels.. We'll fix that soon.

VV(Continued in next post)VV

[Plumbergs]

Anyway, no off-road cart would be complete without a brush guard..

Phase 3 - DIY Brush guard:

First we cut out some up-rights on the cnc plasma (yes I have access to lots of great tools!)



Then we wrap some 1/8"x3/4" flat bar around 'em to give it a nice smooth appearance.



Then comes the mock-up with it mounted on the cart:



And finally capping the ends, welding everything up and taking it back off for painting.




Thats it for now. Next up is a paint job, off road tires & wheels, and the rest of my to-do list. I'll update this post as I make progress.

Thanks for reading!

[Night]

Nicely done.

Mark

[Dave Box]

Excellent post, keep it coming

Dave

[madoc1]

looking good plum. you have some skills there.

[Plumbergs]

Thanks guys. Got a little more work done last night.

Phase 4 - Army Green Paint job:







Next up I'll be building a small bed to hual stuff around the yard. I'm trying to get all of the free/cheap stuff out of the way before I spring for anymore money items (tires, wheels, seat covers, etc). I need to let a little time pass between purchases b/c the wife is still griping about the $350 engine rebuild kit I bought a few weeks ago. I really need to get the wheels and tires soon though.. It looks funny with the lift and the tiny stock tires.

[Plumbergs]

Got the bed done (sorry for the poor lighting in the pics)..

[oddpowers]

Cool Keep us posted.

[Plumbergs]

Here's a few better pics of the bed. As for the steering wheel, I decided to just touch up the OEM wheel and wrap it. Cheap = good!

[madoc1]

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