18 HP Honda V-Twin Golf Cart Conversion

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dougbonney

Member
So I'm heading to VA Beach Saturday to see if this 18 HP Honda V-Twin is what the guy says it is. If so, it's coming home with me for my Big Block golf cart conversion. So I been doing a little measuring. Looks like I will have to drop the front of the cradle. It's already hanging down about 3", suspended by two bolts each with two clevises.

DSC00993.JPG


My first question is, would it be a good idea to drop it using heim joints or should I consider something else?

Second question, got to go down about 3 more inches. that's going to give me a ground clearance of 8.5" at the bottom of the cradle. Is that enough? Cart has a 3" lift now, so I suppose that gets me back to the original GC. Plus I'm running 23" mud tires so there's a bit more ride height there.

Thanks for any feedback :hattip:
 
Nubs

Nubs

Cartaholic - V.I.P.
if you buy it make sure you get the voltage regulator, there very seldom mounted on the engine.
 
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dougbonney

Member
Cool thanks Nubs.

Yes I still have leaf springs, but I don't like them. I have been looking around for some coil overs but it's a sea of options out there and I simply don't know what to get. I'm wide open to suggestions as to what to look for. I'm thinking about just making a new cradle out of 1.5 tubing. That way I could extend it a little and use coil overs. Need a lot of info I don't currently have at the moment. You ever made your own cradle that replaces leaf with coil over? If so, how did you figure which shocks to get? Sure would be fun to do a little jumpin' with it......

10-4 on the VR, I'll be sure to grab it.

Which heim joints do you recommend? There's everything from aluminum to chrome moly, which the CM is prolly the strongest, but expensive. Not to mention races made out of teflon , steel, brass, and prolly five other materials. 3/8, 1/2, 5/8? Been looking at Midwest Control's website. Looks like they got it all. o_O

On the front suspension, It looks like I could replace the leaf used in place of a lower control arm with one made from heim and tubes with shock mounts and use coil overs there too. Again, got a lot of research to do..... :dazed:
 
Nubs

Nubs

Cartaholic - V.I.P.
If you build a four link you can find atv shocks that will work. i use alot of these honda 400ex front shocks on front and back. Wicked has stuff you could make fit I would think.
 
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dougbonney

Member
Well because it is coming from a contractor, the mechanic will need to remove it cuz it's on their property and liability but it belongs to me now. Best I could tell it is what he said it is.
Honda2.jpg


Can't see what the shaft is yet.

Honda3.jpg


And I cant really tell if it is a commercial or standard model until I see some others to compare the intake manifold and how it attaches... :dazed:

Honda4.jpg


Honda5.jpg


So I'm thinkin' as long as the PTO isn't cut to 3/4" or something crazy, it will work.

What do you guys think???
 
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dougbonney

Member
That's great Nubs. If I have to replace it I'll holler. :thumbsup:

On those 400 ex shocks, in that pic they look new, you just get them from a Honda dealer when you need em?

I'm sure I could make some of Randy's stuff fit up, but I wanted to try my hand at fabbin it up myself. I have a couple small welders so I'm stoked to learn and get some good tools. People are already wanting to get their own around here and build them after riding on mine with just the little 9 hp in it. You know what comes after that, so I'm going to need to learn fast to be fast. :yes:

I would put a bigger cam in this one if I could find one, but it's probably a good idea to shim the springs and put better pushrods in to guard against valve float while it's on the bench. I mean it's cheap, easy, and not going to hurt a thing, right? If you know a guy, the right guy, he could probably tell ya how much to take off of a timing key for the right amount of advance :rolleyes:
 
Nubs

Nubs

Cartaholic - V.I.P.
those are used ones :yes: just cleaned them up, used sets on ebay are 50 to 80 and dealer take off are around 175.00.
no cams out there, the push rods are fine but i would go with a heavier valve spring over the shims but thats just me. i would just spend the money and buy the advance key, just not worth doin' it yourself :twocents:
 
Nubs

Nubs

Cartaholic - V.I.P.
theres lots of different shocks out there, i just know how these act on a cart.
 
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dougbonney

Member
I gottcha, I was thinking there was no advance timing key available. I will call Tom, (the real one), and see if he has one.

50-80 for a pair of those shocks would be sweet. I'll be lookin'.

I will be on the road for the next two weeks, so won't be gettin' much done on her. This whole work thing really gets in the way.

Just kiddin', I'm blessed to have a job! :usa:

Can't tell ya how much I appreciate all the info :hattip:
 
D

dougbonney

Member
I'm still alive, just getting into my trade show season and busy. Soon as I have something to report on the conversion I'll post it up. I hope everyone is doing well! :hattip:
 
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dougbonney

Member
Finally got her in the shop and had a few hours to start stripping off all the stuff to get it cleaned up a bit. :thumbsup: Hopefully I can get some test wiring done and do a compression test tomorrow. I'll try to get a few pics up after.
 
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dougbonney

Member
I was able to compression test. I just want to know who the :censored: designed the spark plug ports on these things to include a seemingly unnecessary obstruction that prevents a plug socket from getting on the plug all the way? :no:

Anyway, both cylinders tested 110-115 lbs. So I guess that aint too bad. Unless anyone offers advise otherwise, I'm going to call it good.

So next, I will check to see if it's getting fire. One of the plug boots is missing from off the end of the cable. And I don't see anywhere to buy just the cable, looks like I have to buy the entire ignition coil.

So here's today's question: can I buy just the plug wire or not. If so a link would be great. Here's some pics:

2011-03-29_18-30-27_364.jpg


2011-03-29_18-30-10_982.jpg


:hattip:
 
Nubs

Nubs

Cartaholic - V.I.P.
the compression will be higher when its running and the comp releases are closed.
 
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