REborn Golf Cart

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This is a custom-built golf cart for my cousin who is a world-champion breakaway roper. She needed it to transport tack and feed around her horse barn. I started by pulling a junked golf cart from a golf course and installing a high-performance motor that I thought would get it running, but it needed more than I could've imagined. While waiting on more replacement parts, I welded a custom-made frame onto the back end to hold a service bed that I got from a junkyard, replaced the old leaf springs with heavier-duty ones so my cousin could haul more stuff, and finally, I attached a service bed for hauling tack and feed.

I had no idea this golf cart would have so many electrical and mechanical problems. At first, I thought it just needed new batteries, a motor, and tires to run again. But it turned out that the electronic control box was fried, the cart was stuck in limp mode, the hubs were shot, and the rear brakes were locked up.

I replaced the control box, but the cart still wouldn't move, even though I could hear the engine and axle turning. So I had to rethink my approach. Luckily, the next day, while I was replacing the brakes, I noticed the axle shaft spinning inside the hub without turning it. That's when I realized the splines had somehow been sheared off inside of the hub and they had to be changed. 

After that fix, the cart moved, but it was stuck below 5 miles per hour. After some digging, I found out that I had to adjust the speed sensor to get it out of limp mode. Finally, after a ton of work, the golf cart was back to normal, and I could finally get back to making exterior modifications.

The last thing I needed to do for this project was to sand down the old paint and rust on the junkyard service bed I found and to mount it on my custom frame.

           I came up with a way to mount the bed so it could slide on and off easily for motor repairs and other fixes. After sanding the paint and rust off the bed, I coated it with a tough bed liner to make sure it could handle the outside weather and repeated use. Once all that was done, I mounted the backrest and roof, finishing up this project.

This truck started its life as a ranch truck that was sitting in a barn, covered in dust, and completely inoperable. With my friend's help, I towed to my workshop and started diagnosing the problems. 

             After a new battery, a fuel pump, and a carburetor cleaning, I managed to get it started and driving around again, and started focusing on the interior. There was a big rust hole in the passenger floorboard and multiple entrances that water could leak in from that I had to tackle. Because of these holes, the carpet was moldy and rotten, and the seat was destroyed. Many of the interior panels were cracked and faded, and someone before me had painted the door panels and roof trim a bright blue color that did not match the truck at all, so I set off to address it.

Because my main focus with this truck was to make it a comfortable daily driver, I started work on fixing the interior which challenged me because I did not have a lot of experience with upholstery or sheet metal welding. I started by ripping the disgusting carpet up to reveal a much bigger hole than I had anticipated. I also removed the ripped-up seat and dash pad as well as the roof trim, the kick panels, the door panels, and the gauge cluster. Most of the floor was in great shape but the passenger side had small rust holes that let in water and created a massive hole that I needed to patch. I cut out the rusted area and rewelded a new floor pan, making sure to seal any holes with body filler and paint to prevent any new rust. After the floor was prepared, I moved on to installing the new carpet and seat which really transformed the interior. I finalized the interior by repainting the roof trim and replacing the door panels. The interior is pretty much done, I am just waiting for dash to be available again before I can put one.

I'm very happy with how this truck turned out. The interior is extremely comfortable and looks like it came from the factory. I plan to daily drive it for a while, and when I finish up with some other projects I'll revisit the factory A/C and maybe even add a radio.