lifted club cars - lifted ezgo
Home FAQDonate Who's Online
Go Back   Buggies Gone Wild Golf Cart Forum > Modified Golf Carts > On Road Golf Carts!
On Road Golf Carts! Low to the ground Golf Carts!



Post New Thread  Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 05-24-2017, 03:50 AM   #21
BobBoyce
Gone Insane
E-Z-GO
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: TN/NC/GA Tri-state area
Posts: 3,952
Default Re: RXV chassis based road car

I dismantled the road car chassis and reassembled it on my cart trailer. I brought it with me to Biscoe NC, where we will be bulding the body frame assembly that will attach the body to the chassis. I had to reassemble it in the middle of the night, in heavy rain, during a thunderstorm. It was quite a wet experience.

We will be installing the floor pan, seat support members and a seat pan made of thicker aluminum to support my heavy carcass. I will travel to the factory today and pick up the body panels and various other parts such as bumpers. I may be buying a racing seat, IF they have one that will fit my wide butt!

Yesterday, I bought a set of less expensive 12" trailer tires/wheels to get the chassis up and off of the ground once it's ready for that. The skid plate work will be done here before the body work will begin. The body shop has a much better assortment of tools specifically designed for body work. And a lot more square footage than my little shop in comparison.

For those that had not followed my history, in 2013 my shop was broken into, and over $82K in tools and materials were stolen. This pretty much put me out of business, as insurance barely scratched the surface of what was stolen and I could not afford to replace much. I have had to farm out a lot of work for lack of tooling. I have the machine shop equipment, but none of the very expensive tooling for those machines. The insurance money went into replacing my highest priority of what was stolen, the solar power system that powered my home and my shop. Even then, I could only replace what I formerly had with a solar power system a fraction of the size of what it had been. It powers my house, but only a few hundred watts of shop electronics. It will not power the one welder that was not taken, a Lincoln 225 AC, or the machining equipment, even if I had the tooling for them.

So I am taking advantage of the hospitality of my buddy with the body shop to assist me in the body part of this project. His help and expertise will be fully appreciated. My project must take a back seat to his paying customers of course, so it may be slow going.

I will photo document this project as best as I can. Cellphone camera photos will have to do, as I no longer have the high end digital camera that I used to have and use in the past.

Bob
BobBoyce is offline   Reply With Quote
Alt Today
BGW

Golf car forum Sponsored Links

__________________
This advertising will not be shown in this way to registered members.
Register your free account today and become a member on Buggies Gone Wild Golf Cart Forum
   
Old 05-24-2017, 07:54 PM   #22
BobBoyce
Gone Insane
E-Z-GO
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: TN/NC/GA Tri-state area
Posts: 3,952
Default Re: RXV chassis based road car

Well I made it back from the factory after picking up the Bandolero body panels and bumpers. Miserable weather today so nothing else was accomplished on the project. I took a photo of the chassis on the trailer first, then a photo of the body panels in the back of the van, and a photo of a bag of DZUS fasteners & springs. Hopefully we'll get the workspace cleared and the van unloaded tomorrow. I need to go buy a 4' X 8' sheet of aluminum for the interior. I did not buy the racing seat, way too much money for so little seat. I'll fab my own. My wallet is certainly a lot lighter now.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg ChassisOnTrailer.jpg (32.5 KB, 0 views)
File Type: jpg BandoleroBodyPanels.jpg (138.0 KB, 0 views)
File Type: jpg DZUS.jpg (198.6 KB, 0 views)
BobBoyce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-25-2017, 07:22 AM   #23
Tommy T
Gone Wild
 
Tommy T's Avatar
Club Car
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Zephyrhills fl
Posts: 252
Default Re: RXV chassis based road car

this is the best idea, or project I have ever seen. I would love to have you build me one. I have been and am watching every post . Best of luck
Tommy T is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-2017, 05:33 AM   #24
BobBoyce
Gone Insane
E-Z-GO
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: TN/NC/GA Tri-state area
Posts: 3,952
Default Re: RXV chassis based road car

Thank you Tommy. It's been fun to actually build something like this for myself for a change.

Thursday, 5/25/17, was an interesting day. No internet where I'm working so I must wait to post until after I wake the next morning because I'm too beat to stay up for more than a few minutes after hitting the bed.

I set up a platform in the body shop with a 4' X 8' sheet of plywood on top of the RXV floorboard box from E-Z-GO as the base. I unloaded the body panels onto it for now. I've been in the materials gathering stage with very little work done up to this point. I reinstalled the front suspension yesterday morning, then put on the tires/wheels. I bought a 48" X 120" X .125" (1/8") sheet of 3003-H14 to fabricate the floor pan with. I also bought two 12' sticks of 1" X 1/8" 6061-T6 flat bar stock and a 25' stick of 1" X 1" X 1/8" 6061-T6 angle. The cost was $313 from Ryerson in Greensboro NC. Metal prices in this area are a lot higher than back home. The 48" X 120" sheet alone was $250, while my price back home is $170 for the same sheet.

The major accomplishment was getting the tires/wheels on, so I could compare body panels to the actual chassis. The windshield frame supports will have to be cut and rewelded to accomodate the double angle of the two body panels. The front clip has an outwards rear-facing angle, which immediately translates to an inwards/upwards angle at the windshield post of the dash panel. This conflicting angle was not apparent in my inspection of a completed Bandolero at the factory, because it is hidden inside of the frame channels of both body panels once they are assembled. I had hoped to attach my windshield frame metal to the bracket, then do all of the bends within that structure. But the fiberglass panels of both panels have inward folded edges that encroach into the frame space, resulting in an interference fit with my existing window frame supports. Not that big of a deal, but I would have loved to have discovered this internal conflict within the interface between these 2 panels. To put it simply, the Bandolero body was not designed to have an internal frame in that location. It was designed to attach to support pads at very few locations that are welded to a roll cage structure that surrounds the driver. The only opening in that roll cage is through the center of the roof portion of the roll cage, from above, via a hinged roof. My design calls for at least one door that opens, therefore the roll cage needs to be incorporated within the space of the channels within the body panels themselves. Not an impossible task, just annoying that the body was not designed for a vehicle with a real frame structure vs a tubular space frame as used within a race car chassis. I will have to cut out one side of the windshield frame support, bend that complex angle into the remaining side, then reweld the metal before continuing. This will require removing the chassis from the trailer, BUT...

I plan to drive over to a tire shop to have the guy look at the chassis and calculate which aluminum wheels and DOT tires will best fit my application. I may end up stuck with my temporary steel wheels and bias ply tires for a while. So this is where I will end for now, until I can get this chassis looked at for wheels/tires, then brought back and unloaded. I will leave you with the photos taken of the Road Car on the trailer with the temporary wheels/tires installed. The front tires/wheels are 4.80 X 12 (20.5" tall) and the rear tires/wheels are 5.30 X 12 (21.5" tall), both rated for 60 PSI maximum. They fit well, I just want aluminum wheels and a bit wider tire, preferrable in a lower rolling resistance steel belted radial design for highway use. Sorta like the Viva 3 that I use on my daily driver EV.

Bob
Attached Images
File Type: jpg RoadCarFrontOnTrailer.jpg (272.5 KB, 0 views)
File Type: jpg RoadCarDriverSideOnTrailer.jpg (159.0 KB, 0 views)
File Type: jpg RoadCarPassengerSideOnTrailer.jpg (260.0 KB, 0 views)
BobBoyce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-2017, 11:48 PM   #25
BobBoyce
Gone Insane
E-Z-GO
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: TN/NC/GA Tri-state area
Posts: 3,952
Default Re: RXV chassis based road car

Another day of fun! After yesterdays test fitting of the front clip/dash and finding that the roof frame mounts were not shaped or angled right for the fiberglass panels, I decided to take action.

First, in order to better work with the front clip and dash as an assembly, I needed to attach those panels together. I installed 10mm automotive panel fasteners at the 3 factory locations to get things aligned. Those fasteners were not enough to pull the panels together well, so I filled in with additional fasteners. I used 9 fasteners in all to get these two fiberglass panels assembled good and solid.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg FrontClipToDash.jpg (102.1 KB, 0 views)
File Type: jpg FrontClipDashHardware.jpg (43.1 KB, 0 views)
BobBoyce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-2017, 11:56 PM   #26
BobBoyce
Gone Insane
E-Z-GO
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: TN/NC/GA Tri-state area
Posts: 3,952
Default Re: RXV chassis based road car

If you remember from page 1, I had fabricated mounts that were designed to attach a roof structure, which also framed out the windshield opening. These mounts were based upon width measurements of an assembled Bandolero, without being able to see the inside side of the panels. Yesterday, I found that there were protrusions into those spaces, one of which was the front clip to dash seam where the two panels fasten together. This is shown in the previous post. I order to accomodate the geometry, I needed to first remove the uprights from both roof mounts. Here are pictures of before and after the modification.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg RoofFrameMountPriorMod.jpg (23.5 KB, 0 views)
File Type: jpg RoofFrameMountPostMod.jpg (109.8 KB, 0 views)
BobBoyce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-27-2017, 12:08 AM   #27
BobBoyce
Gone Insane
E-Z-GO
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: TN/NC/GA Tri-state area
Posts: 3,952
Default Re: RXV chassis based road car

Having done that, the mounts are still angled wrong, and needed to be removed. While I was at it, there were other modifications to be made. I wanted to relocate the brake pedal assemble, which requires removal of the brake pedal mount pan on the left side of the frame rail. I also wanted to remove the vertical U channel that runs from the lower dash frame, up to behind the upper dash frame panel. This was originally put there to provide additional support for the factory RXV/2Five steering coloumn mount. Since the new steering column will be centered in the dash, there is no need for that support. So I removed it as well. Here are before and after photos, and a photo of the brake pedal pan and roof mounts that were removed. The roof mounts were reshaped and prepared to be welded back on in their new locations and orientations.

This is all that was done today. Tomorrow will be spent welding, prepping, and sealing the bare metal.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg RoofFrametMounts+.jpg (272.3 KB, 0 views)
File Type: jpg Mounts&BrakePanRemoved.jpg (224.5 KB, 0 views)
File Type: jpg RemovedBits.jpg (166.5 KB, 0 views)
BobBoyce is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-27-2017, 08:08 AM   #28
Seaquell
Gone Wild
 
Seaquell's Avatar
E-Z-GO
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Wilmington NC USA
Posts: 268
Default Re: RXV chassis based road car

Looking good Bob ,maybe I can get over there and take a look at it in person
How far away from Wilmington are you?
Seaquell is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-27-2017, 02:16 PM   #29
FluxCapacitor
Gone Wild
 
FluxCapacitor's Avatar
E-Z-GO
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 227
Default Re: RXV chassis based road car

Impressive project.
FluxCapacitor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-28-2017, 03:25 AM   #30
BobBoyce
Gone Insane
E-Z-GO
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: TN/NC/GA Tri-state area
Posts: 3,952
Default Re: RXV chassis based road car

Quote:
Originally Posted by Seaquell View Post
Looking good Bob ,maybe I can get over there and take a look at it in person
How far away from Wilmington are you?
I'm at the center of the state, near Star NC. I had planned to head over to Wilmington, but was delayed with the daily work on the project. I must head home in a day or two, deal with some business issues with one of my licensees, then head back here on tuesday. At least I can pick up more materials on tuesday from my metals supplier back home. Maybe we can meet up before I must head back.

Quote:
Originally Posted by FluxCapacitor View Post
Impressive project.
Thank you. More to come.

Bob
BobBoyce is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply
Go Back   Buggies Gone Wild Golf Cart Forum > Modified Golf Carts > On Road Golf Carts!


Thread Tools
Display Modes


Similar Threads
Thread Forum
what can you tell me based on serial number? Electric EZGO
Old timer-based charger: Diode(s) blown? Electric EZGO
Banshee based Drag trike Side x Sides/ATVs/Quads/Bikes/Jeeps/4x4's!
Water based paints (Auto-Air) Body and Paint


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:41 AM.


Club Car Electric | EZGO Electric | Lifted Golf Carts | Gas EZGO | Used Golf Carts and Parts

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This Website and forum is the property of Buggiesgonewild.com. No material may be taken or duplicated in part or full without prior written consent of the owners of buggiesgonewild.com. © 2006-2017 Buggiesgonewild.com. All rights reserved.