68 cushman gc400 questions

[johnkielle]

I'm new here and I just picked up a cushman golfster 36volt. I think it's a 68 model year based on the motor id. I would like to partially restore it and use it around our private community ranch in Santa Barbara with the kids. The lady I got it from said she got it in palm springs and said bob hope owned it at one time. (Not sure of the validity of that.) I put new batteries and seems to work ok. I would like to get a little more top speed out of it. Seems like it goes about 10 mph but takes a while to get there. Any help is appreciated.

Has anyone put the newer AMD tapered shaft motor in one of these with any performance gain? We live in a private range with 700 properties and I would like to get about 18mph out of it if possible.

Has anyone put 2 more batteries to make it 48volt with the newer motor to get additional rpm? Probably have to change out 36v solenoid to a 48.

What brand of voltage reducer should I get for lights?

Much appreciated
Thanks John

See pics.


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[Lochlin]

I have one of those. Mine is also a '68 and has the same cool Cheech and Chong roof. It also goes only around 10 mph. I have 8 vintage carts and it's the slowest. That said, I don't mind. If I want to go faster I take a faster cart.

Adding additional batteries or even changing the motor wouldn't do much for speed. The additional batts would do wonders for range, though. That's a resistor cart. You'll see the resistors, one for each speed, beneath the F/R lever, driver's side. These are going to choke down the amperage from the battery pack no matter how many volts are going into them and no matter what motor is there. You might gain a bit of speed but not as much as you think.

What you want to do is to change resistor(s), at the least the top speed one, so that it isn't resisting as much and allowing more amps the motor. The issue is, it can tough to get specs on resistors without having them in hand so there could be some trial and error involved. Good news is that, obviously given the cart's age, it has very basic wiring set up. There are no exotic electronics there you have to be concerned about harming.

You'll notice that all of the resistors have coils like in the pic. Some time ago, I read in some forum that you can lessen a coiled resistor's resistance by simple removing a coil or two and that this will increase speed. I have never done it though. My Cushman is a my "cruiser" cart that I take slow cruises on. It's 50 years old. I have never wanted to monkey with it.

Regarding the voltage reducer, mine already had one. No idea what it is. Most golf cart reducers now operate on a range between 36v - 48v so pretty much anything should work fine. You just want to make sure you hook it up to the entire battery pack an not just one battery.

[johnkielle]

Originally Posted by Lochlin

I have one of those. Mine is also a '68 and has the same cool Cheech and Chong roof. It also goes only around 10 mph. I have 8 vintage carts and it's the slowest. That said, I don't mind. If I want to go faster I take a faster cart.

Adding additional batteries or even changing the motor wouldn't do much for speed. The additional batts would do wonders for range, though. That's a resistor cart. You'll see the resistors, one for each speed, beneath the F/R lever, driver's side. These are going to choke down the amperage from the battery pack no matter how many volts are going into them and no matter what motor is there. You might gain a bit of speed but not as much as you think.

What you want to do is to change resistor(s), at the least the top speed one, so that it isn't resisting as much and allowing more amps the motor. The issue is, it can tough to get specs on resistors without having them in hand so there could be some trial and error involved. Good news is that, obviously given the cart's age, it has very basic wiring set up. There are no exotic electronics there you have to be concerned about harming.

You'll notice that all of the resistors have coils like in the pic. Some time ago, I read in some forum that you can lessen a coiled resistor's resistance by simple removing a coil or two and that this will increase speed. I have never done it though. My Cushman is a my "cruiser" cart that I take slow cruises on. It's 50 years old. I have never wanted to monkey with it.

Regarding the voltage reducer, mine already had one. No idea what it is. Most golf cart reducers now operate on a range between 36v - 48v so pretty much anything should work fine. You just want to make sure you hook it up to the entire battery pack an not just one battery.

Lochlin
Thank you for the info and taking time to respond. Great input. I spoke to a golf cart supplier and I was told the top speed pot on this had no resistor and looking at what you stated and verifying with the cart wiring, you are right. I had found a parts cart in the mean time for a $100.00 so I grabbed it. It's completed so I'm going to play around With the resistors. I thought about making a clamp style bridge to jump across the individual coil winding one at a time to reduce the resistance to achieve a higher top speed and to make sure the transition from the other coil windings are smooth. I will keep you posted or everyone how it goes and maybe just to get a few miles a hour would suffice. Thank you again for the help.
John


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[Lochlin]

Awesome.

Also, I am pretty sure that there is 6g wiring in those. If you replace all of that with 4g that may well give you a bit more pep as well as fatter wires will allow a bit more current. You still have the resistor issue though but it might be worth a try. Maybe even do both.

[johnkielle]

I just got all my 1/0 gauge ends and wire from TEMCo on amazon. The ends I chose were the bare copper and welding wire. Small strands in the wire for the least amount of voltage drop. That will be next, to re wire all batteries and motor for the cart. I installed the new motor with no other changes except for rear suspension mounts and 3 stainless couplers for drive flange. I picked up about 1- 1.5 mph from before. I like to systematically do one thing at a time to see what the gains are. My old motor was fine but I wanted the option to go to 48v later. I will update as time permits. I think next will be the rewire. I hope I pick up some torque going up hills.


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[Mooncarter]

Cool cart. How old are those cables?

[dls322]

Neat looking cart, I love the roof and the light pastel paint, very retro