# Not you average Golf Cart



## rmack898 (Feb 2, 2015)

Ok so this project has been on my back burner for almost 2 years. I straightened up the yard yesterday and decided that since I had some open floor space in the shop, it was time to bring this project to the top of the list.

I'm starting out with an older Yamaha G16 golf cart that has no engine. I have a set of new rolling stock from a Suzuki King Quad, and a brand new 18HP Yanmar 3 cylinder diesel engine. This won't be a quick project and weeks may turn into months but I would like to have it finished before July so bear with me as it might take me a little while to get it all done.

After staring at all the parts for a little while I am starting to formulate a plan. First off I will have to modify the axle flanges and spindles to accommodate the bolt pattern for the ATV wheels as well as a way to compensate for the change in offset.
I'll need to design and fabricate a suspension lift and possibly a body lift to allow for the taller rolling stock.
The engine is quite tall and I'll have to figure a way to make it fit in the space under the seat. I'll also have to find a place to mount a radiator and electric fan along with all the associated piping to keep the engine cool. Electrical system, fuel system, clutch, the list keeps getting longer the more I think about it.

It should be a fun project and I should have a pretty unique and cool cart when its done. Feel free to make suggestions along the way, it's good to have another set of eyes to see things from a different angle.


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## davidh (Feb 2, 2015)

that looks like a cool project.  first, the diesel is only high because the oil pan is on the bottom.   could a fella mount the engine at an angle and make the oil sump in a different place ?   reminds me of a slant six molar of the day. . . .  just thinking outside the box.  
then again, maybe a "cab-over" design to put the seat right over the front wheels. . . . again, outside the box.  they would be really fun to play designer with . .


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## markknx (Feb 3, 2015)

Thinking if you have raise it for the new tires make the rise between frame and body this will give more room for the engine. also you cold put a grill on the front and add the radiator up there . Seems you would get better air flow.  Mark


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## kd4gij (Feb 3, 2015)

Check out jakes lift kits for ideas on lifting it. http://www.jakesliftkits.com/LiftKit/lift-kits/302423

 I am building an old 74 ezgo. No kits for it.:angry:


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## rmack898 (Feb 3, 2015)

davidh said:


> mount the engine at an angle and make the oil sump in a different place ?



The flywheel extends almost to the bottom of the oil pan. Once I get the dirt cleaned out of the engine compartment, I'll take some measurements and see exactly how much I have or don't have.



markknx said:


> also you cold put a grill on the front and add the radiator up there . Seems you would get better air flow.  Mark



That will be my first choice.



silverforgestudio said:


> any color scheme thoughts yet?



Nothing in mind as of yet other than it will be BRIGHT.


No time in the shop tonight but I should get a few things done tomorrow.


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## mr bill (Feb 5, 2015)

might be a good application for a stretch............


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## rmack898 (Feb 5, 2015)

mr bill said:


> might be a good application for a stretch............



I might have to stretch the front end out to get clearance for the new tires but I'll wait till I have them all mounted before I go there.

So here is what I know. I have 20.5" of vertical clearance in the engine compartment and the engine is 19.5", it's tight but it will fit.

The wheel bolt pattern is different as well as the back spacing. The old bolt pattern is 4X3-5/16 and the new bolt pattern is 4X4-5/16. In addition to the different bolt pattern the new wheels have 3" of additional back spacing that I have to make allowance for.  3" wheel spacers is just way too much so I am opting to make new hubs for the spindles with the new bolt pattern and the additional 3" of back space. The original front hubs are cast aluminum and look pretty weak. I'm making new 2-piece hubs from steel. This is a low budget project and I really don't want to spend any money on it so I'm going to use as much material as I have on hand to make it all work.

I had a slug of round stock that was 5-13/16" in diameter so I cut off 2 pieces 3/4" thick in the band saw, these will be the flanges for the new front hubs. I have some 3" round stock to make the bearing carrier part of the hubs from but the OD needs to be 2-1/4" and I don't want to have to turn them down that far so I will look for some sch 80 pipe at work tomorrow and see if it has enough meat in the wall thickness to work for me.

The previous owner of this cart started to make a 4' lift for it and it looks like is a sound design and maintains the factory steering geometry with the exception of the pitman arm, so I will go with it for now and see if I need to make changes after I have a rolling chassis.

I'll continue with making the hubs and getting the new wheels mounted and have a rolling chassis before I move forward with the engine install.
Stay tuned.


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## markknx (Feb 6, 2015)

4' risers you should have plenty room for tires and engine. ha! ha!


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## harrytbagger (Feb 7, 2015)

Subscribed.  I have a G16 so will be watching for ideas.


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## rmack898 (Feb 7, 2015)

Well I was able to spend a few hours in the shop today and I made some progress but I may have found a new obstacle, I'm not sure yet. Here's what I got done.

I drilled the new bolt pattern for the wheels in the flanges. I counter bored the backside of the flange so that when I press in the wheel studs they will be flush and also long enough to mount the new wheels. 


I was looking for some 2" sch. 160 pipe to make the bearing carriers from but pipe that heavy is non-existent where I live so I made the bearing carriers out of 2-1/4" solid round stock. I had to step drill the 4" long stock up to the biggest drill I had which was 1-1/4" and bore it the rest of the way. There are 4 different inside diameters over a 4" length and I had to do come creative fixturing with a 2" dial indicator to get the depths right.


Once the flanges and carriers were done, I welded them together. I installed the bearings and put the new hubs on the spindles. I re-used all of the old bearings and seals. I mounted the new wheels and this is where I think I may have a problem. The hubs turned out great and the wheels spin just fine, but I may have an interference problem with the steering. The 4" lift seems like it is more than adequate but I may have to stretch the whole front suspension forward about 2" to give steering clearance when the suspension is at full compression. It was a long day and I was beat so I'll take a closer look at  what needs to be done on Monday.


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## rmack898 (Feb 9, 2015)

Now that I have both front wheels mounted, it's on to the back wheels.

The new back wheels have 7" back spacing and the old wheels have 4" of back spacing so I need to make a 3" extension with 2 different bolt patterns. I'm thinking of making 2 separate flanges with the appropriate bolt patterns and connecting them with a piece of 2" sch.80 pipe to make a kind of spool looking spacer/adapter. I'm planning on using the original lug nuts and studs on the brake drum to attach the spool and I'll have to pick up some wheel studs at the auto parts store to press in to the other side of the spool for the new wheel.

After just holding the new wheel in place, I can see that I will have to do some major cutting and modifying of the wheel well to make them fit. I also noticed that when the rear was raised 4" with just a modified shock mount, that there were no modifications done to the pan hard bar so I will have to take a look at that and come up with a plan. I'll start cutting the flanges for the spool adapters tomorrow at lunch but it might be a few days before I get anymore shop time.


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## itsme_Bernie (Feb 9, 2015)

AWESOME CART!!  

Brings me back to fun with carts when caddying in high school!  Not that fast though 

Bernie


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## rmack898 (Feb 12, 2015)

I'm still making progress but it's slow going as I only get a little shop time after work.

I got all the flanges sawed off and got them faced. I drilled two flanges with the bolt pattern for the brake drum and counter sank the bolt holes. I cut and turned the pipe to make the spool centers. I still have to drill the outside flanges with the ATV bolt pattern and weld them together, but I should get them done over the weekend. As slow as I'm going, I'm making progress.


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## markknx (Feb 13, 2015)

Looking good. Hey why rushjust do what you do and do it right.  Mark


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## rmack898 (Feb 14, 2015)

Mark I'm not really trying to rush but I seldom have the time to work on my own stuff, I'd like to get as much of this build done before I have a paying job that comes in and pushes my project to the back burner.

I gat all of the pieces for the spool adapters machined and now I just have to weld them together so I can mount the rear wheels.


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## rmack898 (Feb 14, 2015)

I got the spools welded up and they are going to work as planned. As I suspected there is some major interferences on the back side of the rear wheels. I had to take the body off and do some serious cutting to be able to bolt the wheel on. Now that the wheel is mounted, I will have to figure a way to cut some more of the frame away and still maintain the cross member in the rear that the body mounts to. 

I'm thinking that I will weld in some temporary supports to the cross member to maintain its location and then cut it off the 2 main tubes that it mounts to and fabricate new frame tubes that wont interfere with the rear wheels. I'll probably sit and stare at it for a while and I'll come up with a plan.


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## rmack898 (Feb 17, 2015)

Well now that I have a rolling chassis, I have some figuring to do.  The engine and rear axle mount on a common trailing arm. When the 4" shock extensions were added, that dropped the suspension 4" but the front of the trailing arm was never considered nor was the pan hard bar. This shifted the rear axle to the left a considerable bit. It's not easy to see but once I cut the frame away equal amounts on both sides, the tire clearance difference on each side is clearly obvious.  I will need to drop the front mount of the trailing arm the same distance as the shock mount drop, as well as the mount for the pan hard bar. 

Since I have to fabricate some mounts for the rear suspension trailing arm, I may re-make the shock mounts and increase the drop to 4-1/2" . The rear wheels have an OD of 23" and the front wheels have an OD of 24" so to get a level ride height I'm thinking of increasing the rear lift by 1/2".
A side benefit of dropping the front trailing arm mount is that it will give me some additional vertical clearance for the engine.

I dragged the engine out from where it was living under a bench for the last 2 years and it looks like it will not be too hard to make it fit in the cart's engine compartment. I will how ever need to mount the drive clutch on the front of the crankshaft due to the engine's clockwise rotation. I'm also looking around to see if I can find some kind of compact rubber engine mount to isolate the engine as I think it is going to shake a little bit more than the single cylinder Yamaha that it is replacing.

Looking ahead, the only thing that is giving me any concern is the rear axle being the weakest link. The original engine was 8 HP @3600 RPM driving rear wheels that were 16" in diameter and the new engine is 18 HP @ 2800 RPM driving rear wheels that are 23" in diameter. If the rear axle didn't have much of a safety factor designed into it than I think there is a good chance that is where my first failure will occur. I'm not going to worry about it now, I'll just build it and run it till I break something.


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## f350ca (Feb 17, 2015)

Coming along nicely.
You might be surprised how smooth and well balanced these little Yanmar engines are. I have the two cylinder version on my band saw mill. Its 14 hp at 3600rpm. Mounted solid to the saw frame there's really no noticeable vibration.


Greg


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## rmack898 (Feb 17, 2015)

Thanks for that info Greg, not having to find a relatively small rubber mount will make fabricating the engine mounts much easier.


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## rmack898 (Feb 19, 2015)

After last night's flood, I got a little bit done this afternoon. 
I got the trailing arm removed and got the forward mount cut off and modified for the 4" drop. I'll cut the new hanger for the mount tomorrow and get it welded in place. I made some brackets to give me a little bit more clearance on the rear tires but I still have to cut the frame and weld them in.


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## rmack898 (Mar 13, 2015)

Getting time to work on this project is not easy, it seems there is always something else the takes priority. I did however get a few things done since the last update.
I got the trailing arm mount welded in and was able to trial fit the engine and check for interferences. The engine fits and I actually have a little bit more wiggle room than I thought I would have. I have decided to modify the rear suspension and make it a 3-link and eliminate the pan hard bar. Once I get the 3-link set up built and installed, if it not stiff enough to keep the rear axle aligned I will add a Watts link.

After way too much time spend doing math, I was able to cut the metric taper and make a mounting adapter to mount the clutch on the flywheel of the Yanmar. I hope to get a near full day of work on this project tomorrow and get the 3-link set up done.


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