Project "Viper" EZGO Build

[Bob-o]

Howdy Fellas,

Since HRC mentioned that it would be ok if I posted pics of some of the cars I build, I thought I would share this one with you all.

I did not get pictures of what I did to the engine, but it has been heavily modified. I have a few plans for some other mods to the engine, but right now this build is completely in the first stage of development.

Here is the engine... brief description of changes to follow:

It has a long duration cam (custom made), a BV-15 carb (was 13mm), larger pilot and main jets, lapped valves, set valve interference angle, changed to stiffer valve springs (old style) with new style keepers, A 3PG 2 cycle clutch (higher stall speed for more torque), a 28 deg driven clutch, and a HD drive belt.

The body is going to be coming off this one, and as soon as more parts arrive for the build, I'll be able to tell you the theme of this car.

After doing the engine work on it, I decided to do a little trespassing... I mean trail riding. Man, this thing really is a torque monster. It went ape monkey on the drainage ditch to the left here:

These didn't come out like I had hoped, this was actually very steep. It doesn't appear that way in the pics, but at least I didn't get shot

I'm not sure of what all I'll be doing to the car, just yet. It will be joining the low oxygen club for sure, and get a bunch of cosmetic stuff. When the parts arrive, I'll be able to get a better idea of what I'll do.

I'll keep the progress pics coming. For right now, it was all just engine stuff. Next I'll have some of the body coming off, and the lift kit. I was told that Commander Carlson went over so well, that this time they are going to take bids on the car.

Have a great one,
Bob

 

[HotRodCarts]

Sounds like it should be a strong running engine. Keep the pics coming on the rest of the build.

Looks like you have some nice trails there to ride on.

 

[Bob-o]

When no one is around, I can ride on those. Their really nice, but bumpy as heck. I have to move a ginormous rock to get around a gate somebody put up. Its worth it though, there are around 15 miles of trails back there. I was suprised when I found them, because we are right next to a major highway with a road behind us. That back road is where we test drive cars, but its also where I found that

.



Today, I removed the body. Yea, that's right... its NAKED :wink: .

I'm hoping that I can help others looking to do a body swap, or remove it for painting. So I included a few extra pics to show a few things.



Here we go, working outside... just too nice to work in the shop

This is the best way to remove those pesky sill plate bolts. This is an impact driver with a #2 Phillips head. I didn't get it all in the picture, but here is what you do: Jam a 7/16" box end wrench against the frame, under the car. Hold said wrench in place with foot. Get BIG hammer, and remove fingers from impact zone. Requires no lubrication or other prep... and it works on ANY sill plate bolt (even got one that was bent):

My arm doesn't look that hairy, but all those blonde hairs in the sun make it look like that I guess

Sill plate now removed, we need to remove the front and rear rivets of the rocker panel

Since I'm not going to reuse the name plate, I used a pair of dike cutters to remove the studs and snap nuts. To reuse the plate, use a small screwdriver to remove the snap nuts (Furthest studs out)

For a quick body swap, you don't need to remove the shock shield.

For this build, however, it comes off

For the rear body, we start by removing the entire rear seat frame assembly. This way we don't have to remove a bunch of extra things

I pulled the floor mat so that I could clean everything real well, and not have to worry about keeping it held out of the way. I just hate a clean golf car that you get in, and the floor sounds like your stepping on cockroaches

Now, Remove the rear drive rivets shown here with the blue line. Use a 1/8" punch.

Save this 'J' clip, the new body won't have one:

Here it is with the body off... No airbrushing like in those "magazines", but still sexy

A quick washing... looks like it is going to be a nice car

Have a great one guys. The cool stuff is coming up soon. I'm going to get started with some of the cosmetic things

.

Later,
Bob

 

[Fairlane]

While you can get to everything PUT A BIG BLOCK IN IT!!!!! and I'll buy that wimpy little motor from you. lol

Glen

 

[Bob-o]

This is gonna be a fast build... cool stuff for it, but were in a hurry. Tires/wheels and most other stuff will be here Thursday/Friday. So, hopefully, I'll have it all finished by Monday next.

See you guys for the next round of pix

 

[HotRodCarts]

Keep the pics coming!!!! We like pictures.

 

[Bob-o]

Pics... I found some... They were right here in this camera thinggy all along... Fancy contraption this thing... I don't know how it got the golf car inside of it, but somehow there it is... But now I'm putting it inside this website thinggy

Another Saturday, and another 3 hours of work

.

This project is turning out to be even more fun than the last one I did.

I installed a brand new front cowl on this one. Everything went so smoothly that I almost wondered what I had forgotten. Thankfully, Nothing..

So, here are the cool things. I'll put a short list of add-ons before each picture:



-New rear seat frame assy.
-New seat back, back
-New seat back cover

-Installed front Cowl

-Front lift kit hardware
-shock boots
-22x11x10 All Trail on Chrome Rims
-Chrome "E-Z-GO" Nameplate:
(don't mind the mess, Its a weekend and no one is there to Bitc* at me)

Don't know why the rim's blue came out so light colored. It matches the shock boots, but I took these about 7:00pm... so maybe the gloss and flash makes them look lighter? I dunno...

More work to do tomorrow, and I'll try and update things again. Hope you all enjoy the pictures, time for a little beverage now aye :wink:

Bob

 

[Grizzley]

Bob, can you snap a couple of pics of the clutches with the belt at rest. from the rear like the pic of you pointing to the J clip? Except just a little to the left. And maybe one from above the belt and clutches? I am trying to see if my clutches are aligned where they should be.
Thanks, Gregg

 

[Bob-o]

Say Gregg, No Problem on that one. I'll get those pictures on Wednesday, because... well... I think I'll be working late tommorrow. If this is the begining of the busy season, then I guess I can talk more about Job security

I'll P.M. those to you... I have the rear body off still, so I can get good angles on them for you.

Bob

 

[Grizzley]

Thank you Bob, Wed would be fine. Sorry bout hijacking your thread.
Gregg

 

[Bob-o]

I'm gonna report that to the F.A.A

No problem, anything I can do to help... just ask, and I'll do the best I can. No matter if it is unrelated to the original topic, the whole idea is to share... right

I should have some pictures up soon. I guess it is ok to share this, since we received our answer.

There was a delay in this build, due to a flaw in the rear lift brackets ("Blocks"). Everything is good to go now, and we were able to help E-Z-GO out in the process

Here is what happened:

I ended up staying untill about 8ish to finish things. The first lifted car I built was back in for an upgrade. Nothing against the owner, he is a large person. He wanted to upgrade the springs to what amounts to a 5 leaf in the back, and 3 in the front. So, I got that finished and out, plus 2 engine rebuilds.... I think the guy that invented drinking water was really onto something when he invented air ratchets

.

Please, by all means, feel free to ask any question... state your opinion good or bad .... even recommend something if you would like.

I don't know what Mr. Rod had in mind for these sort of things, so if any of that doesn't coincide with your goals... please let me know.

Have a great one guys
Bob

 

[HotRodCarts]

I would box the ends of the blocks to keep them from spreading open. I've seen guys bend the open ended blocks like that from over tightening the u-bolts.

 

[Bob-o]

The steel used to make those blocks was flawed. I was using a torque wrench to tighten those down, and somewhere less than 20ft/lbs that happened.

 

[HotRodCarts]

Bob, I wasn't saying you bent them from over tightening. I've seen the cheaper lift kits bend like that from over tightening. What I was getting at is if they can be bent by tightening the u-bolts how long will they last when the cart is in use. If EZGO wants to fix the problem they should think about boxing the ends in or using square tubing to make the blocks. I won't use the open ended blocks because of that problem.

 

[ruredy]

I always use a 2 3/8" spring perch from northen or tractor supply on the rears. They will not spread out because they sit inside of the bolts/u-bolts
Cart looks great Bob, your quickly becoming a pro at this. maybe you should consider working on carts for a living.

 

[Bob-o]

HRC,

From what I've been told, E-Z-GO is working on a fix. It sounds like they are going to box the open ends in, just like you were saying

.

Mr. Jon

I'm not sure about that, I mean you have to learn stuff

.

I didn't get the pics for Grizzley, my camera needs to be charged... apparently

.

And YES... stay tuned for more pics in the next few days. I made some progress on it today, but you can't see any difference. All lift kit, and adding a few things to the engine.

Bob

 

[Bob-o]

Did a bit more work this weekend on Project Viper

.
E-Z-GO was nice enough to send us the seat back cover, however, they didn't realize that we needed a seat bottom instead of another seat back. So I didn't get to work on the seat bottom, but at least they already sent us the R.A. for the extra seat back.

I'll just get right down to business

The Pics

:

A little fun with the new engine:

The new stuff:

Here is a little preview of what the pinstripes will look like. They will be custom made for us, but I used what we had to do a little mock up. They will be larger (much), and have a little something extra.

The power this thing has is fantastic. The clutches and head work made a huge difference. The only downside is that I can't drive it yet. I haven't aligned and tightened down the front end. I can't wait till I can though.

See you guys for the next updates,
Bob

 

[ruredy]

Sweet, I like that color better than the red one. I bet y'all will be selling the $hit out of those carts if you keep putting them together.

 

[ACEGOLFCARTGUY]

Cart is looking nice. I had the same problem with my lift blocks. I thought I did something wrong so its a relief to see this happened to a golf cart pro.

Should the stock spindle caps fit the new hubs or should they have come with the kit?

 

[Bob-o]

They are showing it to people as I build it, most are just curious ("What, I didn't know you could do that") <<< I hear that more than "Can you use that on a golf course" LOL. I had no clue how well Commander Carlson (the red one) went over, because they never told me. Apparently it went over so well that this one is going to be sold by bid. The red one was sold just after I put the lift kit on (small tires, plain seats, nothing).

That color is really growing on me

. I love green, but I keep having ideas for that blue one that seem to work well.

Ok, Ok... you beat it out of me LOL (Really, I just can't wait). My favorite thing to do is pinstripe. Well, the stripes were having made are racing stripes. Center is gonna be 3/4" and the singles (both) 3/16". With "SS" just under the middle of the hip restraints

.

I went to a car show today

. I'm having a few more Ideas now... I'll have to experiment with those first though

.

Bob