Three 3 Wheel Harley Davidson Golf Cart Project

[Don B.]

just bought a newer-than-mine 3 wheel HD cart off Feebay; very clean looking; probably cheaper than what this one I have here already will wind up costing once done;
its up by Freeport IL supposed to run, but has cracked plastic gas tank;
not sure of yr; my 73 has the metal gas tank on the right side once you flip up the body; and the battery in the back; this one I just bought has the bar steering and the plastic gas tank;
the gas tank and battery locations are flip flopped between the two;

 

[Don B.]

couple days later wife still don't know; I gotta wait til next week though to go get it. (seller outta town)

 

[ovalguy]

Post pics when you get it. Good luck with the wife.

 

[Don B.]

well she now knows that Golfcart#2 will be here soon; I'm still among the living but she don't know the price or how far I'm going for it......

 

[spr]

what was her reaction?

 

[Nubs]

 

[Don B.]

More uneventful than I expected; nothing glamorous though I know she ain't happy;
it'll hit the fan when she sees "something else" around here (that cart) like usual when I bring home another car, mower, tractor etc....

 

[HotRodCarts]

I know the feeling...

 

[Nubs]

nuttin' better than doin' a drive by at the dump on Saturdays

i get some crazy sh!t outta there sometimes.

 

[Don B.]

well it's home; and was not what it was cracked up to be once I saw the damm thing; not as "clean" as the pics appeared; missing parts and such, but at least the "split gas tank" wasn't; someone along the way drilled a hole down low in the tank to put the outlet instead of at the top like stock, and the grommet split; Vintage Carts wants $14 (yikes) for that $.29 piece of rubber; looks liek the same grommet as on my 8 HP Deere snowblower or 12 HP Kohler on my mower; I can get themn for <$3 from the mower parts places;
throttle unhooked and waving in the wind like my 73; governor less; (must be an Illinois thing sounds like our political setup) thatw as one thing I was counting on seeing just how it was supposed to be so I could rehook up my 73 as it is supposed to be;

On a related note I met Verne (AKA "old cart fart") from this forum yesterday; he lives in MI but as it turns out, his Dad lives a couple exits away from Braidwood and Shadow Lakes, off of 55; (just north of the construction zone over the river) he brought me down a 74-older steel tank like what is on my 73, that I can pop on there to at least try and fire this thing up, while I look for the parts to fix the 81 the right way; he's a great guy to deal with.....
I did score all the gov parts on Feebay (here we go again) today for $15; another seller has 3 sets for $39/set. Way too rich for me; I may refer him to the ad in which I got all the same stuff for $15 and offer him the same so I can put both my carts back "right";

As far as cond. of this 81, the old man that sold it pizzed me off; after all the pics he posted (conveniently hiding the "problems" by camera angles, and pics he didn't show) said something about "no hard feelings" if I were to "walk" and leave it behind; but when I went to take him up on that offer he balked and tried to claim that I would owe him $50 to do so for his Feebay fees;
lets see; I was 160 miles from home; I spent the gas to go up there already; and had to get gas to get home on; wasted trip; and now he wants to add $50 to the cost of my trip when it wasn't as he claimed? so I wasnt happy but I wound up buying the thing; with the $50 he wanted for me to leave it behind, that would have made it a $200 trip for nothing;
I had a job offer (1st job since going on Disability nearly 4 years ago) and I delayed my start date by a day to go get this cart; I wasn't gonna give him $50 for nothing..... I hope I can get this thing going now.
How does the thing work as far as telling Feebay "not as advertised" and not being bound to carry out a buy there? (too late now on this cart, I'm asking for "future")

 

[ovalguy]

Did you already leave feedback? That's the #1 way to let people know the seller is full of it. Leave him negative feedback.
Hate to hear the cart wasen't as clean as you had been lead to belive. Looking forward to reading how it comes out.

 

[Nubs]

I'm with ya on the feedback deal I gotta work my butt off sometimes to maintain a 100% feedback.

 

[Don B.]

she went with me to drag home #3; an engineless 78 that I plan on using as a body donor for the original 73 that made me seek out this site.... she was more PO'd that we wound up driving thru the "heart" of Gary IN on the way there and not getting home till 11PM;
yeah I did take a different way home BTW; though now she is starting to grumble about all my "junk" and where I am gonna put it all; this most recent one I bought to "snatch the body" from, still sits on my trailer in the driveway almost a week after I got it... gonna drop it off at a friend's farm and stash it in his barn, til I get the mechanicals done on the 73.

 

[Don B.]

well I got this cart running for the 1st time and drove it around the neighborhood today....
When I bought it I certainly realize its 30 years old not "new" I did expect to have to do some work on it for sure; but when the seller said "complete and intact" that's what I expected;
that statement does not necessarily mean running and working, just that "everything is there", no more. It wasn't. On top of that, it appears that someone took some things apart and replaced good parts taken from this cart and replaced with junk.....

With alot of help from Craig's Carts (not sure if he posts here or not) and of course our own Old Cart Fart, from whom I got a bunch of "little" parts and pieces, plus an order from Vintage Cart Parts, and "robbing" a piece or two, from my original 1973 cart that started this mess, I have this '81 running; now to get on that 73 and finish it up; once both run on their own, then its on to the gooey messy part (fiberglass repair)
I picked up an engineless 78 with a good body to donate that body to these 2 carts to cut down on the amount of sticky gooey fiberglass work that I'm gonna have to do this winter.
and my wife was actually glad to see it run as she threatened not to go to the show this weekend if I didn't have a running cart to take with us; this will be our 1st show (we go to alot of these as well as car shows) that we will have a cart to ride around on;
cool as I'll be able to take a cooler for drinks, (and not have to lug it around, that's what the "bed" of the cart is for) meaning more $$ for fresh pork chop sandwiches, pulled pork, and such....... shows like these have some of the best food.........(there are a few "losers" among them, as well)

for a pile of parts that fit into a Priority Mail box the size of an order of checks from your bank, it didn't "seem" like $122 worth....... though there are parts in that pile, for both my carts.