89 Carryall Lifan swap

[dbrick]

Nice,I was going to use aluminum, went with the Unistrut to get the engine lower. But one question...You set up the clutches the same way I did the first time, which makes me ask
Is your driven clutch in backwards? Hopefully not, I had mine that way and the belt went diagonal as it upshifted. Drive end of the belt moves toward the engine and driven end moves away as it upshifts. I had to reverse the driven and move everything around.
Hopefully not

[Maineiac]

I’m not sure how I’d move anything around d. The driven clutch slides onto the shaft and I bolted it on. I’ve run it quite a bit, and it works properly. I’m at a loss as to what the difference was between your set up and mine. As for the motor mounts, mine couldn’t have been any lower without using the VC throttle box relocation bracket to clear the K&N air filter, and then you have to re-route the gas pedal actuator rod from a through the frame crossmember set up to under the crossmember. It’s doable, but not ideal. Luckily I had plenty of height clearance even with having to use a starter generator belt that was a couple Inches longer so I could get the belt clear of the driven clutch sheave movement. Shoehorning these clones into a cart is a real layered puzzle where one solution to a problem creates another problem. I can’t wait to drive it though. Just need to get a muffler onto it.

[dbrick]

It sure is a puzzle with no picture to show you how it should look. I could be mistaken on the clutch, mine is a 780, might upshift differently. Easy way to know, as the engine accelerates and clutch upshifts, if the belt stays straight, all is good, if it goes diagonal, you have one backwards.. I removed the throttle box and harness and went key start and direct throttle, so a bit more room to play.
Neighbors may disagree, but a quick test drive with no muffler can't hurt.

[Maineiac]

I have the 780 and the new wider driven clutch. Was your cart originally a counter clock wise motor(up to 95-96 i think) the clones are CCW motors, maybe that had something to do with it?

[dbrick]

no, mine is a 92, normal rotation. Here's the setup that was wrong, just sitting in place before final install. Since the moving part of each half of the clutch were on the right, belt moved left on drive and right on driven as it upshifted. I reversed the driven. Haven't roadtested it yet, but the belt now should stay straight. Unless I got it totally wrong, hope not.
If you want to check, just put it on jackstands with rear wheels removed for safety and throttle up, you'll see how it moves, right or wrong. I'll test mine this weekend

[Maineiac]

I have mine on blocks and was test running it with the little muffler like you while I worked out spacing etc. I got the Comet 780 and the high performance driven so I could run the wider belt. I’m at a loss for what’s up there, it’s above my pay grade. Is it possible you got sent a CW clutch?

[dbrick]

As far as I know, from gokarts and 2 stroke yamaha carts, Comet clutches work both directions. Regardless of the type or brand clutch, as long as the belt stays straight as you accellerate and the clutch upshifts, all is oriented properly all is good.
I just got mine running again yesterday, on a fast test in neutral the belt movement looks corrrect. Road test next week.

[Maineiac]

So, update on my progress. I was able to road test the cart using the original muffler from the KF82. The motor is very quiet but still plenty of power. I, like many before me, had to drill out the main jet to get sufficient fuel flow to the engine on hard acceleration take offs. It feels like I could get the front end off the ground if I tinkered with the carb a little more. Jetting isn’t quite perfect yet. Awaiting my adjustable main for that. I also had acquired a clone carb from VC on sale for $15 and was able to free the idle air mixture screw from its prison of locktite and no head. I removed some of the carb body that created a shroud for the screw, then dug all the thread locker away with a dental pick, and finally, I cut a slot into the top with a dremmel so that I could turn it with a screw driver. Now all’s I have to do is get a replacement air idle mixture screw and I’ve got a functioning idle circuit. I realize based on reading other posts about this topic that I probably got lucky in succeeding to free the screw without destroying the carb, but I figured since I only had $15 invested in it, if I failed I’d only be out that much. Anyways, cart goes great except for the weird noise from the back somewhere that I haven’t resolved yet. The Lifan has the UT2 ignition with the rpm limiter coil which kicks in on mine right around 4100 according to my Tiny Tach( which I have to say is light years better than the cheap Chinese knock off that I bought to try initially) at 4100 with 20” tires and a 6-1 gear ratio in the rear end, I’m getting right around 26-27 mph before the rev limiter kicks in. Pretty happy with that initially. We’ll see if I acquire the need to go faster than that. Then I’ll have to buy the NR racing coil and harness, and install the beefier valve train components. I’m still going to use the yamaha muffler since it’s stainless. I cut the heat shield off and it’s only 5.5”diameter by 10”long without the shield, but quiets the cart nicely without seeming to impact its performance dramatically. It will also allow me to use the big aluminum muffler clamp that held the OEM muffler in place originally. It has a nice rubber grommet mounting system and bolts to a flexible flat bar that eats up vibration and allows movement. I’ll post some pics of that when I get it finished.

[raydhd]

Nice job

[dbrick]

Sounds good, I can't wait to get a properly jetted carb on the cart. Was fun with the clutch wrong and carb barley working.
You are more patient than I am. I bought the same carb, worked but was bogging and clogging. Original Lifan carb worked OK, but had no choke and couldn't transfer from the Vegas carb. either way, worth the $15.00 just for spare parts. Just got the Amazon Chinese replacement carb today, larger jets from OMB arrive soon, we'll give that a try. Almost there, got lots of little stuff done.