Franken-buggy #3
 

I'm attemping to build another FUN MACHINE:) While I wait on many parts/tooling for my other projects. As I'm cleaning up my junk pile I saw potential to create another buggy with what I think is a working combination of left-over parts. Here's what I'm using.I got an early DF Moto/Cazador 200cc chassis that was given to me when I bought a 300cc Kawasaki motor for a friend's build ($60.motor, buggy chassis-FREE!).Of course the buggy was pretty trashed/DONE. I was also given a rolling 90's Club Car DS golf cart, I already used the front end parts on the Black Yerfdog Spiderbox & it had the CVT differential left over. The golf cart rear end has a driven clutch & reverse is built into the differential as it turns out -it works with the Polaris motor if I turn the differential around backwards, I'm thinking this shouldn't matter. I sold a decent running 91' Polaris 250 2-stroke($250.) I pulled from a neighbors 6-wheeler & I swapped it out with one of my 86' Honda TRX200SX engines for easier functionality for him(he has disabilities). The guy that bought the motor out of the Polaris didn't see a way for it to work with his mini Nascar's so he went a with a different power plant and asked me if I wanted to buy it back along with a 90's Polaris Trail Boss (missing plastics & needed a lot of repairs) of course I was interested as the Polaris front ends are what my 2 other Franken-Buggies use. He offered all of it for his original $250. investment -So I got 2 running 250cc 2-stroke motors, near complete Trail Boss- I couldn't get there quick enough:cheers:.
Here's pic's of what I going to combine. The buggy came with the axle in the seat (ruined) so a replacement or alternative was needed if this kart was going to drive again.The golf cart rear end meets all the needs & it's not too narrow(40" hub to hub) like an ATV rear axle(32" hub to hub)-I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner:stupid::-it has brakes,differential with reverse all in one unit:biggthumpup:.Don't know how fast it'll go(at least 20mph) but I'm going to find out if it'll go faster. The CVT in the GY6/scooter motors has always failed at climbing our hills but this CVT should be big enough.Hope this build will inspire someone else to re-purpose/recycle your junk instead of it landing in the landfill.I'm hoping I can stay around $500! Investment so far
$250. motor & chassis, rear brake pads $30., new rear tires/rims $60. = $340. total so far

It's hard to get anything done:cussing:with neighbors & family members constantly breaking their mowers & expecting me to fix them-RIGHT NOW.
I did get a little something done- fabricated a swing arm based off the known's of the parts. The driven clutch was frozen closed & bonded to the shaft, so removal left it broken! Ordered a new driven clutch and a carb. for $117.00 to be here end of next week. Now I have a total of $457. so that idea of keeping it @ $500. isn't going to happen. I got the motor almost mocked up for belt placement, exhaust route & all the clearances needed. So far I'm going to have a wheel base just under 6' (close to stock) Next move for me is to get motor mounts made, but need the new driven clutch for an accurate belt alignment.I made the swing arm horizontals long because I didn't know how to calculate any of it, I made the differential brackets where I could slide it forward & back for mocking up the motor-to- differential spacing.Still have to figure out rear shock length & placement. I'm just going to sand blast all the dirty parts while I wait & fix some mowers!!!! The pic's show how it's all placed in the swing arm & buggy.

Here's what the swing arm looks like for this combination of golf cart axle & Polaris motor combo. The simplest one I ever built. I had to put a small curve in the frame connection portion to ease the angle of the differential. It's now a rolling chassis with the shocks mounted.

I had to swap sides with the rear brakes since I turned the differential around backwards for the Polaris motor to work.These brakes are mechanical w/ cables and the lever has to face forward. I had to pull the axles to swap the brake backing plates, since I had all of it apart I sand blasted everything on the rear end & painted everything. I should be getting my new driven pulley tomorrow so mounting the engine can proceed forward. I've got new brakes now.
I did a rotation check to see if reverse & forward had a different gearing- the simple test was to rotate the pulley shaft and count the rotation on the wheel/tire for a full revolution, Now forward is 6.25 turns- reverse was 6.0 turns, so it'll go faster in reverse than forward but not by much. We'll see soon enough how fast it'll go.

Making a little progress! Here's pic's of the motor mount before paint.It may not make much sense to you untill it's installed.It also leaves the golf cart differential un-modified & the engine pulls straight up for removal. I'm using the stock rubber mounts since I know these motors vibrate A LOT. I'm hoping that with the mount I made that has 3 rubber mounts will support the motor solid enough as it has an upper mount that I don't want to deal with. The bracket is adjustable for fine tuning belt alignment if needed. The next set of pic's are the mock-up motor installed on the bracket.
I did a You Tube search to see how others had mounted their Polaris motors and found no video's using the golf cart rear end-I checked a few other forums and still nothing.There are lots of Polaris motors & sled engines but they changed out the rear ends for a go kart style axle or used the ATV axle. I can't be the first to do this, by simply turning the rear end around & switching the brake plates-TOO EASY!! If you've seen or heard about someone else doing this type of swap I'd love to compare notes :)

Here's a short video to confirm I have something that'll function! I guess I need the upper mount to stabilize the motor, the rubber mounts have tons of movement. The clutch & driven seem to be working properly-that was what the test was for , to see if I had it lined up fairly close.
https://youtu.be/6Pnv6kBbJ9U

Man you ain’t kidding, those motor mounts have some movement in them LOL That thing will eat some belts if you don’t stiffen it up some.

It’s difficult to tell with the Buggy jacked up, but it looks like you may have to do some spring and slider adjustments on that clutch.

I definitely couldn't believe the movement in the 3 bushings after watching the video. I spent the evening building another type rubber bushing with a wider stance,that won't sag like the first one-that's what the pic's show.It should still provide some damping with a lot more stability,I can't shake the motor now! Too late in the evening for a test run tonight, so tomorrow I'll video another test for alignment & functionality of the CVT.Untill I fire it up I won't know how well the clutch reacts.

Here's another video of the drive train- I see I need to move the motor slightly to the drivers side for better alignment of the belt.
https://youtu.be/ePTk_aCe5AE
The new motor mount seems to work much better and there is very little vibration on the chassis. Now I can focus on all the other tasks to get it drive-able again.

Got the CVT finally lined up properly:cheers:
https://youtu.be/bKXTHaQWI7M
It's taking much longer than expected but there are so many variables to the motor alignment & making changes to it.I looked at the last belt and saw it was wearing slightly on the left side. I installed the belt that belongs to the clutch (wider) & it appeared it was too wide for the driven but seems to track well now,this provides the greatest amount of speed/travel on the CVT. I've eliminated the Polaris rubber mounts completely for just 1/4" rubber type washers, it doesn't vibrate as bad as I thought it would. Time will tell after I test drive it.I'm going to leave this part of the build alone!! and start work on the other many needs to get it out the door & back under it's own power.

I couldn't leave well enough alone! When I fabricate stuff it need NOT have TOO many compromises, that said I was having an issue with putting the belt on without nearly tearing the belt from stretching it.I can now adjust the motor-side to side, front to rear (tightening/loosening the belt). The newest rubber mounts will be a lot better for longevity. I also discovered when I fully compressed the suspension to see if the expansion chamber I built would hit anything I found the carb. was so far out of level it probably wouldn't run or die after a big jump. So I used all that I learned over the past 2 weeks to improve my engine mount & figure out some more adjustments to make it easier to maintain. I try to assume someone else may own it some day and not have the same mind-set or tooling I have. Here's pic's of the pipe I made (will test tomorrow), and my new & improved engine cradle - mount. Also had to make a couple of needed tools- I made a heavy duty tapered cone for shaping the pipe pieces & a broach for making square holes easily.The last pic shows how close the motor sets to the differential & having to overcome the clearance & still be able to get a bolt/tool in there for maintenance.

A small but important note: Though the Pandemic has been terrible for most people. The stimulus money has been very beneficial to my tooling. I managed to buy tools I couldn't afford otherwise that I've needed for a very long time to make building these "Fun Machines" easier & more professional.

Got a little work done- mounted the exhaust, made the brake cable mounts & got the seats installed (new take-off's from a Polaris Slingshot) they just fit, the drivers seat adjusts a full 6".

I ended up making the foot controls as the ones on the kart were beyond repair-to bent up/rusted and had been welded on & the cables were routed under your feet(not good in my world). I found a simple set of pedals & made a demountable bearing bar encase I want to modify it in the future(like add a clutch pedal or add hydraulic brakes again).It get's the cables/shafts on the side where you're not stepping on them and I can protect them from damage. Plus I moved the pedals much farther forward for more leg room.I could've bought a pre-fab set of pedals but where's the fun in that! it did take me an evening to round up the material & fabricate the parts (couldn't have got them any quicker if I'd found a place that had them). The brake pedal is the main shaft and the gas pedal is a sleeve over the shaft. I still have to make the cable end mount for the throttle & the shifter handle,but the rear brakes are complete and functioning.I don't like the support tube in between the pedals as that's a BAD habit using both feet.

Didn't realize my drivers seat hadn't move all the way- it has 11" of travel! a small kid can reach the pedals as well as a 7' person.

This how I managed to get a barrel end throttle cable and a ball end throttle cable to come together since the stock cable wasn't long enough. Cheap to make (1" aluminum round stock) but it took a couple of hours to machine & tap the ends,but still quicker than shopping for one. The Polaris motor has a dual cable for the carb & the oil pump, I'm using a stock 4-wheeler throttle cable so if one needs to be ordered I can get one easily without having to do any custom work to replace them.I'm currently working on getting the shifter/shift cable, oil tank & gas tank mounted so I can hopefully see if it go on it's own power for a test drive-see if it was worth the work & go faster than 20 mph:drive: I then have to figure out where to mount a battery & hook up all the electrical system.Still have lots of modifications/repairs to the kart to get it reliable.

First pic's show the how they hook together-2nd pic shows the little cover plate to make sure the cables stay put.I made a plastic sleeve that just slides over the whole piece to keep it water-proof & I'll throw a little grease in it for good measure.

Here's the first drive :drive: https://youtu.be/COZwBIefqKI
The Good-It made it out of the shop & back in on it's own power:cheers:
It's worth the effort to finish making it a fully functioning "Fun Machine". It definitely goes as fast as a Gy6 powered kart with good climbing ability (no fear of belt slippage on our very steep hills).Seats are very comfortable, the ride isn't that bad.

The bad- motor needs crank seals as it doesn't idle properly & the throttle doesn't go to idle when you let off.The steering wheel is way too far forward for a grown person.The differential doesn't let you do donuts:cussing: which is what the kid's/guest are constantly wanting to do.Roll cage is too low for my 7' friend (1" clearance).Needs a stiffer driven spring.Still has tons of work left to do to it!

Took it out for a better shake down - the driven clutch that I bought for my year (pre-'97) model Club Car differential was supposed to have a counter-clockwise spring. After playing around on it for an hour or so I saw the belt was 1/2 way down in the driven unit pulleys - so I pulled it in the shop for an inspection. Pulled it apart to find the spring was for a clockwise running motor, as it turns out the only other spring I had was a heavy duty counter clockwise spring:biggthumpup:. Installed it with some "Never-Seize" & she really gets up and goes. My 7' -290lbs friend & his daughter 65lbs took it out for a spin- it pulled like it didn't know there was 350lbs in it-lots of torque. The steering is so loose (needs work) that you can't drive safely at WOT, I'll GPS it soon to verify- top end with the driven working properly is well over 35mph now.Just ordered crank seals & seat belts - may let it sit for a minute and work on one of my other many projects.We'll see!

It stopped raining enough to test it out again. Still have something going on with the engine after replacing the crank seals. It does idle now but started missing during the test (might be my exhaust). I did manage to take it out in the trails again & it climbed our big hill with no issues & that's my goal when I build one. Waiting on more parts to come in-new seat belts, new rack-n-pinion/steering shaft, lighting. I'm going to start wiring it so I can have electric start. The previous owner must have replaced the stator as it's near new looking with everything else being RUSTY!
https://youtu.be/nZ88ZJNud50

I ended up putting a 30mm after-market carb I bought for another project that I have jets for- it runs perfect now. Finally got a speed test- slowest buggy we got!!! it only GPS-ed @ 34mph. The great torque from take off gives you the illusion it's much faster. I'm not disappointed with the speed as it's ideal for our trails, it climbs with no difficulty & you get up to top speed very fast. Well worth the effort & still waiting on parts to be able to turn it over to the kid's & guests. I'll get more pic's/video's up as I get more completed.

For entertainment purposes-proof of life:)

https://youtu.be/c4la7uhsneA

https://youtu.be/5oZCi4EsDFw

I got the roll cage raised 3" so far- can't keep my daughter out of it long enough to do more to it!

My wife finally agreed to let our daughter ride a 4-wheeler! So I pulled the Polaris 250 2-stroke out of this buggy and put it in a Trail Boss I bought for $150. with a blown motor. Scored a "FREE" 2004 Suzuki LS650 (single cylinder/air-cooled) complete bike:cheers:- I cleaned the carb,put a battery to it and it fired right up & runs excellent. So I pulled the motor & electrical out of the bike and started modifying the swing arm for it to fit. I made a driven pulley to chain drive adapter for the golf cart transaxle. I waiting on a front chain drive sprocket (bike was belt drive) to come to do the alignment/engine mount location. I'll post some pic's soon. I've got to re-do the foot controls (add clutch pedal) & add another shifter. So far I have $36. dollars in it!!!Hopefully another "Fun Machine" for very little money & my high priced labor!

I got a few things done- mounted the motor (of course it's adjustable for the chain)Small things but important items. Had to make a speedo plug/mounting point for the clutch cable since it's going forward and not straight up anymore and I needed a mounting point for the routing conduit to keep it off the motor
https://www.buggymasters.com/forum/a...1&d=1640005524 https://www.buggymasters.com/forum/a...1&d=1640006064 https://www.buggymasters.com/forum/a...1&d=1640006064
https://www.buggymasters.com/forum/a...1&d=1640006064 I got the exhaust installed-I used a new stock Honda Shadow take-off exhaust (free) & the chrome shield worked out after shortening the muffler.
https://www.buggymasters.com/forum/a...1&d=1640006426
I got the pedals re-done with the clutch pedal added, the brake pedal is set-up for cable rear & hydraulic for the fronts (not installed yet).
https://www.buggymasters.com/forum/a...1&d=1640006642
Also got the F-N-R linkage & shifter linkages worked out and installed
https://www.buggymasters.com/forum/a...1&d=1640006800
https://www.buggymasters.com/forum/a...1&d=1640006898
more to come-

Here's the sprocket adapter I made.
https://www.buggymasters.com/forum/a...1&d=1640007758
https://www.buggymasters.com/forum/a...1&d=1640007758
A pic of how it's mounted in the swing arm
https://www.buggymasters.com/forum/a...1&d=1640007940
https://www.buggymasters.com/forum/a...1&d=1640007940
https://www.buggymasters.com/forum/a...1&d=1640007940
https://www.buggymasters.com/forum/a...1&d=1640007940
Got lots to still do-

Merry X-mas everyone
Got some more stuff done-I changed the roll-cage for a couple of reasons. The seat belt attachment wouldn't really work with the reverse bend at the head height area of the original cage so I made it work for my requirements, then I added a rack that can haul a big cooler & lots of tools if needed. The angled bars are removable like if I wanted to haul a bale of hay!!!Of course there is a hinged 2'x2' opening for engine removal/service.I'm currently hooking up the wiring harness to verify what needs to stay & what can go, also need test my linkages to confirm it all works properly. I also want to see the wheels turn to get an idea if the gearing is going to work.

Update: I got it up and running to find my gearing is terrible with the 12:1 golf cart gear ratio- it went about 10mph in 5th gear!!! I swapped for a 38t rear sprocket(was 41t) and still waiting on a 17t front sprocket(was 14t)-snow here has slowed deliveries as it should've been here already for me to see if it'll go any faster. My turning the rear end around for the drives to be on the same side makes it even slower since it's running in reverse gearing. I did take it out in the snow to just spin the tires in every gear- sorry no pic's or video.

My front sprocket came in- I don't know if it goes any faster as it started perfectly & then bogged down to the point it wouldn't get up any RPM's. I did take pic's while it was outside just for reference of modified features. I'm going to check the carb. and see if I can get it to run for a test drive/speed check.

Nice!

I finally think I got the gearing & the motor running correctly after numerous trial & error efforts and a lot of brain farts.I plan on getting some video/proof of life tomorrow as the weather is getting better/dry.

Here's proof of life-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFkMR_WHmus
Still muddy out but dry enough for a test run. I have another sprocket coming this weekend to try and increase the top speed.I'm being semi-gentle on it as the sprocket on the trans axle is only temporary.I'm currently shopping for a bigger set of tires/wheels simply because it sets too close to the ground for our trails/hills.I can say that it's another "Fun Machine" for very little money. This motor isn't a beast by any means- only rev's up to about 4,000rpm (30hp) but for a "free" motor it works REALLY well!.