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Big Block Talk! Everything about swapping a big block engine into your cart! |
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12-11-2021, 02:35 PM | #11 |
VC 460 CLONE GONE WILD
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Ray BY The Bay NJ
Posts: 10,647
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Re: Planning Engine Swap
Your present engine has a tapered shaft clutch.
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12-11-2021, 11:24 PM | #12 | |
Searching for The Way
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Medina, Ohio (NEOHIO)
Posts: 11,441
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Re: Planning Engine Swap
Quote:
Engine with 1" straight shaft crank (like Vanguard 16hp Vtwin 479cc) Primary clutch for 1" straight shaft crank (like Comet 780) Stock secondary clutch (as long as its in good condition) HD Belt (cogged style, stock size or size it to fit your setup) Engine mount (purchase one or make your own) Starter switch (Briggs style for lawn tractor) That's all you need if you already have a cart with a lift kit, you should have plenty of room in the engine compartment. The engine you choose is your preference. I like the smaller 16 and 18 Vanguard twins, just make sure it's 1" straight shaft horizontal crank. The smaller engines with the smaller carbs run really nice and usually don't need any tuning. The bigger 23hp engine has a 2 barrel carb that I'm not super fond of, and it usually needs some fiddling with to get it just right with no dead spots or lag. With the key switch you'll use the engine mounted electric starter so you'll have to wire that in. It's fairly simple if you're mechanically inclined. Plenty of threads about it and lots on the internet. Basically you wire it up just like a lawn tractor. Your accelerator pedal will be the tricky part. But with some imagination and some deep thought you should be able to get it. Every engine has a linkage that you can adapt your cable to. Every one of them is different so there's no single "right way" you just have to rig it up. Sometimes the cart pedal travel is different than the engines carb travel and you have to make a linkage that will get it adjusted equally. I like the "bell crank" throttle mod. |
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12-12-2021, 06:36 PM | #13 |
Gone Wild
Join Date: Nov 2021
Location: NW Indiana
Posts: 717
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Re: Planning Engine Swap
I guess I was thinking I could just unbolt the Fugi 350cc and bolt on a larger engine in the same location
Even if I had to make a mounting plate for the new engine, if the bolt spacing pattern didn't match up |
12-12-2021, 07:51 PM | #14 |
Gone Wild
Join Date: Nov 2021
Location: NW Indiana
Posts: 717
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Re: Planning Engine Swap
Brainstorming with a friend
He suggested a 14hp or 15hp engine, with almost a 100cc larger Still a 3hp to 4hp gain and the engines can be had for under $500 I just wonder if that will make me smile, or should I focus on a 16hp engine |
12-12-2021, 09:37 PM | #15 |
Searching for The Way
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Medina, Ohio (NEOHIO)
Posts: 11,441
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Re: Planning Engine Swap
The new engine won't bolt in place of the old one, you'll need to fabricate or purchase an engine mount plate/cradle. The older TXT's the Robin engine was bolted in between two cast aluminum mounts that when they all bolted together they became the swing arm. Remove the engine, now you have no swing arm. That engine actually had bolts on the side toward the bottom, the aftermarket engines have the bolt holes on the bottom. Not a direct swap.
The smaller engines are what we call "clones"....that is...."Honda Gx390 clones" made in China. They are single cylinder engines that are copies of the the Honda engines. If you can get a genuine Honda GX390 they are great engines and made quite well. The clones, while decent in quality, will never be like the Hondas. Just the same, the Harbor Freight Predator 670 will never be a Honda GX630. In some ways, clones are better, like cost and availability. Will a 15 hp clone be better than a 16 hp Briggs Vanguard Vtwin? No way. The Vtwin not only makes way more torque, you get that torque low in the rpm range, perfect for a golf cart. Also, the V twin is smoother and quieter. Single cylinder clones are notoriously chattery and loud and vibrate quite a bit. Briggs quality is much higher than any clone. Honda also makes Vtwins, and they are known to be excellent. Down side to new Briggs and Honda Vtwins is cost is high. Will a 15 hp clone work? Absolutely, quite well actually. But no comparison to a Vtwin. Do what your budget allows. If you can only afford a new clone, go that route, it will be much more power than stock. Just know the cons that go along with the clones. If your budget allows for a Vtwin, definitely go that route. You won't regret it. Ask anyone who has one, especially anyone who has had both a clone and Vtwin. |
12-12-2021, 11:54 PM | #16 |
Gone Wild
Join Date: Nov 2021
Location: NW Indiana
Posts: 717
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Re: Planning Engine Swap
Thanks for the info......I definitely would not use a single cylinder engine
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12-15-2021, 06:49 AM | #17 |
Gone Wild
Join Date: Nov 2021
Location: NW Indiana
Posts: 717
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Re: Planning Engine Swap
I found a nicely used 18hp Vanguard for $300, just needs a carb rebuild
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12-15-2021, 01:54 PM | #18 |
Gone Wild
Join Date: Nov 2021
Location: NW Indiana
Posts: 717
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Re: Planning Engine Swap
Who makes the engine cradles?
Vegas Carts CPP Wicked Carts |
12-16-2021, 06:31 AM | #19 | |
Gone Wild
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: South Jersey
Posts: 623
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Re: Planning Engine Swap
Quote:
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12-16-2021, 07:28 AM | #20 |
Not Yet Wild
Join Date: May 2021
Location: Upstate, NY
Posts: 70
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Re: Planning Engine Swap
You pretty much hit it on the head there. I have no experience with the EZGo platform but we run a VC swap kit with HF 670 in a CC DS that pulls wheelies just as they show on their website. Torque is stupid. If your looking budget you wont get that with a prefab swap kit for a "Big Block", you will need a home made custom fabricated cradle (might not be a big deal if you have fab skills).
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