Project Yamahauler - I miss MM project threads!

[Jeff]

So yeah, I miss breaking shit up all the time and always having a new project thread. Running out of spare cash for cars made me want to get into a mechanical hobby that would take up less money, but more importantly less space and let me do some work with my welding. This led me to the idea of golf cars as an outlet for this extra energy. When I go to these horse events with my wife there are always a ton of them running around all lifted up and pimped out and it got me to wondering what I could come up with. Needless to say golf cars (carts, I guess) are not exactly cheap. Of the three major brands EzGo, Club Car and Yamaha, Yamaha is the smallest...so naturally when there is a "big three" I gravitate toward the questionable underdog! So I wanted to find something I could afford and for no logical reason I had developed the idea I wanted a Yamaha. I found several but was never able to beat other Craigslist hounds to the kill until I found this 1993 Yamaha G9 just a short drive away. It was in tatters (was, HA!) and not running. The old man was asking $850! Needless to say I saw a diamond in the rough and made a deal to haul it home. Here is how it would have looked when it was fresh and new on the links back in 1993...



Specs -
Year - 1993
Make - Yamaha Golf Car
Model - G9-A Fleet Convertible
Engine - Single Cylinder 4-stroke OHV 8.5hp Gasoline
Trans/Drive - Single speed forward/reverse Dana belt driven (mine is from a 91 or older cart :dunno: )

Mods at Purchase -
Wheels/Tires - 10in steel wheels with Duro 22in off road tires (OEM were 8in rim with 18in tall tire)
Suspension - Jake's 6in A-arm suspension lift
Body - ATV Brush Guard slapped on with nasty weld

New Parts at Purchase -
Starter/Generator
Ignition switch
All cables and linkages

Parts Missing at Purchase -
Steering wheel clipboard - Purchased
Cup holder/dash bracket - Purchased
Hood cowl trim/brackets - Purchased
Passenger seat back trim - Purchased
Gas cap - Purchased
Reverse buzzer - Purchased
Arm rests/safety bars - Purchased
Golf bag brackets - LOL

Here are some pics! It looks pretty much the same now as it did, I didn't really take any when I first got it from my man Vernon.

This is the one picture I found from when I first got the cart. Pretty much right after we rolled of off the trailer. The only picture I have with the rear cladding installed.



The initial work involved a full service, rebuilding the airbox (proper sealing and restriction is important to how it runs), replacing the carb, repairing the rear motor mount, installing a new voltage regulator, repairing the main wiring harness, removing and draining the fuel tank and many many hours of testing and work to find out I had a bad spark plug! Once all that was done she was running like a champ! Perfect compression.













Work currently under way -
Install new clutch shoes
Install Jake's High Torque clutch spring

Pics of that later, all posted out for now! So, for those that give a shit I will update the thread here. Questions and comments are appreciated. I will do some polling on color combos and mods here soon. Thanks guys! :bootyshake:

[Goodspeed]

Just :lol: I am very excite for this project

[JPolen01]

After driving a lifted golf cart around hyperfest, I like this lots. Keep this thread going!

[Jake]

When and how do you add more powarrrr?!

[ispoonwithmugen]

^that. Also how difficult is it to find parts for this? Definitely a unique build.

[Jeff]

When and how do you add more powarrrr?!

More "power" is all in your definition. Obviously there are ways to get more horsepower out of the engine but that is mostly limited to re-jetting the carb and installing an open element air filter. An open filter by itself will cause the cart to not idle and run lean. If by power you mean speed, I have already removed the governor system that would cut back the throttle to keep the speed down and protect the engine from over-reving. That was a simple procedure of unhooking a cable and running it from the governor lever on the trans directly to the carb to make the throttle 1:1. :mrgreen: So it is pretty quick. Only real way to make it faster is to replace the gear set in the trans to decrease the final drive ratio and increase the top speed. Now if by power you mean torque...I am on that already.



This is a Jake's Off-road "high torque kit"


This spring replaces the stock rear sheave "driven clutch" spring to lower the gear ratio and give the cart more low end grunt. Faster take offs and better hill and trailer pulling power. It also makes a big difference to make up for the ratio change of the larger tires. The spring is much stiffer then the OEM and does not require a preload.



This is the driven side of the clutch in the cart. This wheel is attached to the transmission, you can see the spring inside.


Ghetto puller setup I came up with.


When it pulls off the sheave comes into two pieces. The steel side is the stationary part and the aluminum side slides on the input shaft of the transmission.


Also replacing the clutch shoes at this point as well. Broke one of the new ones so I am waiting on a second set. Two of the old ones were gone entirely, you can see how worn the last one was.


Broken off flush, had to some up with something!




Anyway, that should give me some more torque seeing as I plan to install a trailer hitch and a rear seat on the cart. I will report back on how much better or not it is when my second set of clutch shoes get here!

^that. Also how difficult is it to find parts for this? Definitely a unique build.

Great question! Service parts are not at all hard to find. Aftermarket sources are pretty good and of course there is always the Yamaha dealer. Which strangely can't be a motorcycle dealer. Yamaha Golf Car has a separate franchise setup and their own parts catalogs that does not cross to the ATV or motorcycle dealers. Body panels and accessories however can be hard to come by and I used a forum to acquire most of the missing pieces I had from the beginning. Most of the time a cart has to be pretty bad to total so finding parts can be tricky. As for accessories the G9 is just a touch to old to really get good accessory support which means I will be making most of the stuff myself. If it was a 1998 G16 I could get anything under the sun for it direct bolt on. What is available for the G2-G9 style carts is usually expensive. Strangely the G1 which is a 2 stroke cart and Yamaha's first has a cult following and is rather well supported in the aftermarket.

[Goodspeed]

When and how do you add more powarrrr?!

More "power" is all in your definition.

Needs more Garrett go-kart turbo

[Jake]

::Like::

My grandpa would let me drive their golf cart around the neighborhood when I was younger and pre-license. Theirs was a Club Car, in an Arizona golf community, so I was always fascinated by how the old folks tricked the cars out with custom stereos and rimzz and such. Very cool re: torque increase.

I'd think between the greater torque and no governor, it'd be pretty peppy. What is stock governed top speed vs now?

[Senor_Taylor]

Sick! My parents love to ride their golf cart around at the beach, so they went and bought one of those lifted carts with that torque spring in it, but their's is electric. Hearing them talk about spending ridiculous amounts of money to replace those batteries is mind-boggling. Fun to drive, though.

[SlimKlim]

Kickass. Needs moar 'busa swap.

[WRXtranceformed]

Good call on the gas powered! Electric carts are not super fun. My buddy bought one to putter around his neighborhood for when he was drinking (I am not sure his logic was sound as you can definitely get a DUI on a golf cart) and we drove it down the back roads to go shoot bottles in the cul de sac of a never built defunct housing community :lol:

[SlimKlim]

That reminds me of back in my driver's ed class they set up a course in the parking lot and made us try to navigate it with drunk goggles on. One girl ran over our school's police officer. :lol: