I've been busy working on my new project this week. Here are a few pics of the build so far. I'm going to work hard on it today and hopefully get it running for a ride tomorrow. Some plans have changed. Instead of big blocking it I went with a 383cc "Honda" from Harbor Freight. I finished building the motor mount and painted it today. Next I have to fab drop brackets for the front of the the swing arm that lowers it 3.5" and moves it back 3". I still need to make risers for the tie rods, install the engine/rear end assy, cables, ignition wiring, finish gussets and paint the front end, buy the air shocks, finish building and paint the bed and the list goes on.
Anyway, the tear down begins..
I wanted to turn this into a utility cart, so I removed the rear body and built a flat bed frame.
The next project to tackle was the suspension.
My goal was an 8" drop, moved 3" foward and 6" wider. I used 2" square tubing 11ga. for the drop sub frame. I'm going to use air shocks for a 1970 Chevelle on both the front and rear of the cart. These shocks are twice the length of the stock G2 coilovers thus giving it more travel and a much smoother ride.
Breaking in the new chop saw. I love it!! I'm use to cutting metal with only the angle grinder. Angle grinders are handy and all but it's almost impossible to get a straight cut on a 4 sided tube with one.
I had planned on mounting the control arms by sliding them into the 2" square tubing. Turned out that the ID of the tube was not enough. In order to make this work I welded 1/4" flat bar on the sides of the tube and the arms fit perfectly now. Later on, I boxed in the top of the flat bars for strength and then ground down the welds to make it look like it is 1 piece. I need to go back and weld in gussets over those before calling it finished.
And there it is on 26" Mudlites. It doesn't look quite right with the narrow 10" tires up front. I'm probably going with 25x12x12 Swamplites all around. The cool thing about this suspension setup is down the road sometime the stock control arms can be swaped out with Jakes 6" lower arms.
I'm still working on adding more gussets and need to build the winch mount. Also on the top portion of the lift I''m going to weld in a 2.5" angle to cover the square tubing holes. This might be where I end up mounting the winch.
The tie rods were too short so I had to cut and weld in extensions.
Last but not least, the 13hp engine. Yes I know, China and Honda.

But honestly, I don't see these as bad engines for the price. I picked this one up at Harbor Freight and it actually has a 2 year full replacement warranty. They might not be able to compete with a big block but they really do have decent torque and are quick reving, speedy little things. I use to have one in my Arctic Cart for a short time and dayumn I was impressed. It was very reliable, starts good everytime and runs strong. Also has plenty of power to do donuts in the grass.