89 Carryall Lifan swap

[Maineiac]

So after much back and forth about which motor and more specifically which charging set up, I’ve decided to repower my 89 Carryall with a Lifan 15 hp and stick with the pedal start and starter generator. Old motor is out. Ran pretty good when it was in, just old and tired. Getting a new one from Home Depot has been an adventure, though I don’t believe they have much to do with it besides selling it. I’m on my fourth order now. The first one came in with the sheet metal housings all dented up. The box looked like it had been rolled down a hill. The second motor came with the right numbers on the box, but the wrong motor in the box. The third motor came in with the exhaust manifold broken completely off. I know I’m not going to use their manifold anyway, so what’s the difference? I was worried a blow like that could’ve done something unseen and caused trouble down the road. The fourth one is due here tomorrow. I’ve gotten most of the upgrade parts from VC, the new primary Comet 780 and the new secondary with the 1 3/16 belt. The SG bracket, belt and billet pulley, the header, the throttle box relocation bracket. The only thing I haven’t gotten on the advice of the experienced on here is their universal motor mount. I think I can manage that myself. I haven’t gotten the extended throttle cable for the CC DS in my vintage, and was wondering what opinions are about that. I was planning on disabling the mechanical Governor and I understand that it had an internal electronic Honda style rev limiter that can be defeated with a new charge coil, but curious about linkage options. I’d be interested in hearing suggestions and experiences with swapping a clone specifically into a counterclockwise Carryall.
As far as exhaust goes, i have my original muffler that is still in decent shape, and was thinking I’d put a flange on the header and try to mate them up. I also wondered if anyone had ever tried to use a late model Yamaha GC muffler in these applications? They being SS and pretty effective at quieting their motors. What’s the latest wisdom on quiet muffler ideas? Looking forward to the process.
(Pics are reversed, but motor out pre-cleaning and post-cleaning)

[dbrick]

I just finished the swap in a Carry 2, little more room to work. I did key start and it works great, idles low enough the clutch fully releases and shifts fine. Used a universal throttle cable and completely removed original harness and box. I used a Steeleng 6" lift kit with Chevette air shocks, and it gives added clearance. The clutch fits VERY close to the front spring bolt, will be worse on yours with the pulley for the generator pushing the clutch out further. Without the lift, I don't think it would work, the clutch would be too close to the spring bolt. I had to remove the right spring to install the driven clutch. Belt is straight, about 3/8 clearance between clutch bolt and spring bolt. Put front spring bolt in with nut on the outside, consider a buttonhead bolt. I fabricated a link from sway bar bushings to suppport the front of the cradle. Made my own motor mount from unistrut. With a stock governed motor and 22" tires, I'm getting approx 25mph and plenty of power. Still using stock muffler for now.
Mine doesn't have the 18amp alternator setup, looking for the parts now.
If you need measurements or anything, let me know

[Maineiac]

Thanks for the reply dbrick. So far in mock up, tolerances are close but not a problem. Curious, did you retain your original motor mounting base plate or replace it with the unistrut?

[Skoal82]

I have put a few clones in carryalls. The best and simplest option I’ve used is the stock muffler with a 90 degree bend welded on and a longer downspout. The down pipe I used stopped just below the engine mount.
Has been the most reliable and break free exhaust I’ve made

[Maineiac]

Originally Posted by Skoal82

I have put a few clones in carryalls. The best and simplest option I’ve used is the stock muffler with a 90 degree bend welded on and a longer downspout. The down pipe I used stopped just below the engine mount.
Has been the most reliable and break free exhaust I’ve made

Skoal,
Were those Carryalls with the FE350 motors and the exhaust exited the passengers side of the head and crossed over behind the head?

[Maineiac]

Originally Posted by dbrick

I just finished the swap in a Carry 2, little more room to work. I did key start and it works great, idles low enough the clutch fully releases and shifts fine. Used a universal throttle cable and completely removed original harness and box. I used a Steeleng 6" lift kit with Chevette air shocks, and it gives added clearance. The clutch fits VERY close to the front spring bolt, will be worse on yours with the pulley for the generator pushing the clutch out further. Without the lift, I don't think it would work, the clutch would be too close to the spring bolt. I had to remove the right spring to install the driven clutch. Belt is straight, about 3/8 clearance between clutch bolt and spring bolt. Put front spring bolt in with nut on the outside, consider a buttonhead bolt. I fabricated a link from sway bar bushings to suppport the front of the cradle. Made my own motor mount from unistrut. With a stock governed motor and 22" tires, I'm getting approx 25mph and plenty of power. Still using stock muffler for now.
Mine doesn't have the 18amp alternator setup, looking for the parts now.
If you need measurements or anything, let me know

Did you upgrade your clutches or use the factory ones with adapters etc? I’d still be curious to know what you ended up with for spacing between your shafts.

[dbrick]

The Unistrut/Superstrut is 4 pieces of 7/8 thick, like a Tix Tac Toe bolted to the factory plate. I left it bolted loose until I got the lineup, then welded the crossbars and use the sliding unistrut nuts to bolt the unistrut to the plate. The Vegas adjustable will do the same with alot less efffort, but I'm cheap and had the Superstrut already.

Using the original clubcar muffler is interesting, I have to dummy it in and see.

I used a Genuine Comet 780 clutch set, bought from a few sources, wasn't on sale thatr wqeek at Vegas, and Vegas carts belt. Motor is about 3/4" from transaxle, just fits, has to relocate starter solenoid.
I can measure the spacing, but Vegas Carts belt put it right in the sweet spot, so I'd go with that.

[Maineiac]

So, some updates to my clone swap. The motor is in. I used 2” x 3” aluminum box tube for the mounts. I left the original flat motor mount plate in place. It has front to back elongated 3/8” holes. I mounted the box tubing side to side with side to side elongated holes, so between the two, I had a fair amount of movement in any direction. Fuel supply is the factory pulse pump who’s pulse is supplied by the carb spacer. It’s really strong, so much so that I think I’ll have to to tee into the main supply line with a pressure relieving return line to the tank.
I had obtained a VC throttle box relocation bracket, but determined that I could just lower the front bolt of the factory box mount so that the box is angled down in the front at the same angle as the cart frame. That gave me the needed clearance for the K&N intake filter and allowed me to re-use the original short throttle cable with the addition of a home made cable bracket. Th last piece of the puzzle is the muffler. I have a VC header, but want a quiet muffler. Still in the works.

[slonomo]

Nice job on the mount, never seen one like that before.

[Maineiac]

Thanks, it falls into what I call the blind squirrel category, as in “even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then.”😏