need help on ezgo engine swap choice

[98ezgo]

I have read through the complete big block section. I have a 98 ezgo workhorse with a 6 inch lift. I don't care about speed. I need torque for climbing hills and pulling or hauling. I have done the 28 degree clutch with a one inch shorter belt and it did help but I need more hp and pulling power for the hills I live on. which way would be the best. jakes with a Honda engine or go the money saving vegas cart. I read that the vegas cart engines are not fully put together when you get them. is this true? thanks

[firemedic247]

Yes you can get a fully assembled from VC or they can send you a disassembled motor cheaper. I just put one in my G9 and it runs great. The clone offers lower price for higher HP but after reading through all the big block threads I'm kinda thinking I should of done the V Twin. I'm not tring to build a cart that will do 45 mph I just wanted a cart that will climb any hill and pull what ever I put behind it. The Vtwins have more torque but lower RPM's and speeds. Read through some threads and you see some love clones and some love Vtwins. I'm in the middle some where but I'm happy with the clone so far even through I'm not done yet.

[sho305]

Unless you get a little one the v twins are larger than a clone. The clones are a stroked/bored honda gx390, that is 390cc engine really. The stroked versions do add some torque. They do run well, they will rev pretty easy especially a Vegas it has the parts in it to do so and so they have a great top speed. If you clutch them right they have lots of power. I think they work well for about any use, but again they are smaller engine and they don't sound as cool lol. The price is awesome for a plain 420 or a Vegas with the parts beefing it up. If you want torque and still don't want to pay the big price of a name brand you can get a clone v twin now and it looks like a really nice motor. The mudmotor guys are said to be figuring out a rev kit for them as right now you can't run them without a governor, assuming you want to wind it up for more speed. Anyway you are looking at about 300 for a 420, 600 for a Vegas or a stock v-twin. All are great deals but depends on your needs what will work best. The twin has lots of torque much like a vanguard or honda its about the same thing. I have done a stock 420 and little bit modded one and I can tell you the stock one runs like twice the power the stock cart had, it will spin 22s in dirt and go up hills like nothing compared to stock, its a huge change. The twins have more power yet, but when I pull a trailer I can spin the tire so not sure how more power would help me, but suppose on big hills at speed it would or going up sand hills. If I had a wad of cash when I put it in I may have gone twin I mean twins are cool and more power is great, but I wanted a new reliable engine and not a $1500 one as the clone twin was not out then. But I am quite happy with it, it runs like a stock cart with way more power. I kept the pedal start on it. I would not get a new honda you cant mod them at all like the older model hondas. The only issue with a clone single is you have to buy a certain one with a 18A charge to get charging if you want to run it key start like a lawnmower. Or you add an alternator to it. Not an issue if you run the stock generator/starter. The twins all have stators to charge 18 or more amps.

[98ezgo]

thanks, I am leaning towards a v-twin for the torque. I am on a fixed income so I got to watch my spending but I use this so much around the home. can your brakes hold them still when at idle. I know you got to shut them off to change from forward to reverse. many questions to find out

[sho305]

The yamaha doesn't have a spring in the primary, so it drags the belt and makes it hard to shift when running unless you idle it very slow which can be hard to do. Ezgo does have a spring but I am not familiar enough to know how much they drag. Some aftermarket clutches have a roller in the center and they do not drag at all and work the best.

If you can do it, some people are buying used vanguards and rebuilding them with some better parts for low cost. The better parts are usually stock parts that came on certain models, if you put a certain carb and another model heads and so on it makes a nice cart engine. Though you can just rebuild it if it needs, and run it, and have a good twin for more of a clone price. A rev kit is around $100 for a vanguard, that is all you really need to put on them to use in a cart with no governor. The vanguard is likely the best twin to go with you can mod them and get performance parts more so than any other twin, though some others are also raced and you can get parts for such as kohler and kawasaki are raced in lawnmower and pulling. If you don't care about speed you can run any twin stock even a subaru, sometimes you can find a great deal on an alternate brand. Clutches are harder to find for 1 1/8" shafts some of them have, but you can get them, you can't run the adapter for the stock taper clutch that only fits a 1" shaft. Figure $300 for a new aftermarket clutch though some can be found low as 200 like the 94c I have, it does not work as nice as newer designs though.

The cheapest twin is going to be used, or a new clone twin at HF.

[raydhd]

Originally Posted by 98ezgo

thanks, I am leaning towards a v-twin for the torque. I am on a fixed income so I got to watch my spending but I use this so much around the home. can your brakes hold them still when at idle. I know you got to shut them off to change from forward to reverse. many questions to find out

You should not to have shut the engine down to change from F/R at least with the stocker or the comet 780 unless you can't get your engine to idle.

[slonomo]

Just a heads up, if you go Vtwin.....in stock form these engines are lacking in higher rpm power. They have the low end grunt, but climbing long hills you might slow down in speed.

As a comparison....My built Vegas Carts 440 engine would do 35 mph up the same hills that my stock/de-governed 16hp Vanguard would only do 20 mph. This is not to say that the power isn't there to climb the hill....just delivered differently. The VC engine builds power after 3000 rpm, especially with a cam, possibly peaking at 4500-5000. This is where the sweet spot is. Conversely the stockish Vanguard has peak power at around 3000 rpm or so.

I've had both engines in the same cart. I liked the VC engine, it had lots of revs, plenty of power to do most chores with ease. But, I can tell you that I prefer the Vanguard Vtwin. However, I recently exposed it's weakness on the hills of Southern Ohio. I need more power, particularly in the higher rpm range. So I have decided to add a cam, rev kit, and 2 bbl carb to the Vtwin.

My advice to you.....build it right....not on a budget. 1989marathon tried to tell me this a couple years ago..... I didn't listen.....until now.

[sho305]

Slo you need to change your primary to shift at maybe 3-3400 range, but if you are building the engine there is no point. Even then it would run out of power once you shifted out. A cam is the answer.

[csason]

....cammed vtwins sound better....

[98ezgo]

I talked with Tom ( very nice customer service too ) at carts parts plus. He advised me to go with the 18 HP kit. it will give me all the torque I need. I am laid up now from knee replacement on Dec 9th. ( second time on right knee in 3 years ) As soon as I can I am going to remove the dump bed and take it apart so I can paint it and then start prepping for the engine upgrade. He is going to send me the instructions so I can get started. I may also install the kit for a limited slip rear end while doing this.