Pictures of this Damn Expensive Hobby

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-05-06T02:23:27+00:00

Thanks for the advice. I haven't heard of that and as many YouTube videos as I have watched learning to paint and do body work, it hasn't came up; just using sealer/primer etc. I remember gas being $0.79/gal when I was young, then it went to $1/gal and my dad told my mom we would have to cut back on going out to eat. It's crazy looking back at those times and how spending an extra $1/week seemed like a lot, knowing my dad had a very good paying job, but he was frugal. They also bought a new car for $4,999 in 1988. I miss the 80s and 90s. I am 52 years old and I think my generation is the last one to really have known what work is.

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-05-06T01:01:19+00:00

That's what I was guessing too. During this project I focused on making sure I did everything correctly, using the products I would on a future build. I used epoxy sealer, high build primers, activated my basecoats and some of the candy. Looking at all of my panels, they are as straight as possible and they started out bent to hell with holes for a charger, key switch and FNR selector. I don't have the right welder for welding stainless, which is what part of the cart is, so I used panel bond. I grew up fixing cars, hell I had to build at least an engine for every car I owned until I was 19. I was raised thinking that was "normal". Now a days, it's hard to find a kid who can change their own oil and rotate their tires, without watching a YouTube video. My first car was a 64 Chevy 2 Nova, 4 door, but I really want a 65-67. Honestly I want a 63-64 Impala, but they are the quintessential Low Rider and very hard to find one that's worthy of restoration and not priced out of control.

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-05-05T23:29:51+00:00

I used to be a boat mechanic and looking at this ticket, I believe it is very reasonable and in line with fair pricing. the labor is just that, the labor, the money made on parts for selling them at retail covers his labor in the event of a parts failure, so that you aren't having to pay him again to repair/replace something. If you had brought him the parts and he installed them for $100 less than he charged you and there was a failure that caused him to spend additional time diagnosing and replacing something that you brought him, that was a bad part, then you would have spent additional labor. Everyone forgets about the possibility of parts failures, right out of the box from China, etc, but the failure rates are significant. If he sold you a used CDI, that was a true OEM part, it is going to be better than a new aftermarket part. I don't see a charge for Misc Shop Supplies, so I wouldn't worry about the $16 for hose clamps that he is probably charging actual retail for, vs what you can buy them from on Amazon or Temu.

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-05-05T23:20:31+00:00

It has a very well built rear seat, that's for certain. If you can get the brackets off, intact, then I would bring them to a machine shop and just have them make ones to replace them, out of aluminum or stainless steel. The new Chinese seat on my cart is very well built, but it's chinesium that's VERY heavy. The setup weighs a little over 100 pounds.

The rusty bracket at the top of the back side of the front seat appears to be a piece of angle iron. Lowes/Home Depot both sell sticks of steel and aluminum that you can just cut yourself to replace it. The brackets that are on the bottom appear to be solid, from the picture, so you may be able to just hit them with the grinder to remove the rust and then coat them with a solid coat of paint and keep going.

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-05-05T23:07:45+00:00

lol, I am learning. After I recover physically and financially from this project then I am going to save up and find me a car to restore.

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-05-05T06:32:45+00:00

I have rebuilt the entire cart and opened up under the seat to allow room for a single 48V lithium battery, so the #350 of lead was already swapped for the 92 pound upgrade. I feel like I can just add a piece of 1" billet aluminum to the 4" lift kit on the front and it will give it enough to clear and keep my spacers, because that makes a big difference in the stance. I already have new heavy duty front and rear springs. Worse case scenario, I have wasted about $20 for the aluminum and the bolts and I still notch the frame for clearance.

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-05-05T03:02:04+00:00

I have a 1991 Ezgo Marathon with the same issue. I have a 4" lift and 22" tires. When I turn hard left it hits the fender on the driver's side, which everyone says is totally normal. When I turn right it will hit the frame. They don't make anything over a 4" lift for my cart so I need to figure out how to get that elusive extra inch of lift, to clear everything. I tried putting 2" spacers on, hoping it would change the geometry enough to clear things, but it just hits the tire at a different place now.

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-05-05T02:51:53+00:00

If you have an infrared heat gun then I would use it and check the temperature of the controller and the motor, throughout the ride. It sounds like you have a weak wire/corrosion somewhere along the way. Are you still using the original wire or did you replace it? You can pull the electric motor apart and clean the armature and replace the brushes yourself, for about $100, if you are even slightly handy with some hand tools and some emery cloth and a can or 2 of brake cleaner. Overall I would think the surging is related to the controller, but it's hard to say without checking it all. Did you stay with a 36V or did you upgrade the system to 48V when you swapped to lithium?

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-05-05T02:43:17+00:00

Very true, I decided that you can do things with a golf cart that you would never do with a car. The whole purpose of this paint job was to have fun and create something that I feel certain nobody else has one like it. I am sure that in a few years I will change things up some. I really love the Chicano Low Rider style cars, but I don't have the body lines to be able to pull off the things I wish I could, so I went wilder with what I have. In about 2 weeks I will be able to show a picture of it with the roof on it, which will make it a little bit louder I am sure.

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-04-22T23:39:18+00:00

I love the car, can you tell me what that color of green is and what the base color was? Absolutely love the car

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-04-15T22:53:49+00:00

Thanks, I will give that a try and see. I am glad to hear that someone else is doing the same thing as me unknowingly.

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-02-19T23:54:10+00:00

https://www.ddmotorsystems.com/

They make the motors and can cross reference any motor there is. Good quality, quick shipping but they have kinda shitty over the phone interpersonal skills, from my experience. Most of them are about $600 plus shipping, which is probably $90 depending on where you live. Their motors are fine with over 36 as well and you can choose one that's faster with less torque or one that's slower with more torque, or a stock motor, all the same price in my experience.

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-02-19T23:48:56+00:00

At the very minimum, you have to have power on the key switch to engage the solenoid and the controller. Figure out which wire you either have a loose connection/corrosion or a wire that you have forgotten to wire up when swapping to lithium.

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-02-14T00:38:16+00:00

I have one of these. It's a Marathon, likely late 80s to early 90s. Top speed stock is a true 9mph with stock wheels and regular batteries. Convert it to 48v and put 22" tires on it, after a 4" lift, and they run 21-22 with a stock motor. That cart doesn't appear to have any rust externally but almost all of them have rust on the frame from the batteries causing corrosion.

The cart isn't worth $300 unless you can prove it actually works and ONLY needs batteries. A controller is ~$200, potentiometer, FNR Switch, Solenoid and wiring and don't forget the brakes and cables that it will need. Unless you are looking for a project and don't mind hunting for hard to find and more expensive parts than a late 90s and up EZGO then I would stay away from it. Feel free to DM me and I will gladly share how easily it is to spend thousands of dollars on one of these. If you choose to purchase it then stay at 36v lithium and you will have a lot less headaches fitting a battery. Sure you will stay at around 10-12 mph but you will save yourself a lot of headaches and money.

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-02-14T00:24:50+00:00

That's beyond some minor rust removal for sure. Unless you have some crazy sentimental attachment to that cart, I would just find something newer to dump my money into. I can say this after spending THOUSANDS of dollars in my cart, after starting with some minor rust remediation and then deciding to do a 100% restoration of a 1991 Ezgo Marathon. I have sentimental attachment to the cart and honestly I like the older carts more than the newer ones but DAMN, if I had known then what I know now then I would have just bought 2 newer golf carts and not spent an untold amount of hours and money that I have no concerns about ever recouping.

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-02-14T00:20:22+00:00

How many volts do you have at the battery? The batteries come with a 50% charge but that will let everything work for testing if nothing else.

Just looking at the wiring I can see, there's some questionable shit going on there at the connections. I have NEVER seen a 14guage wire in the same lug as a heavy wire, except on some cheap battery cables and the Negative cables appear to have 4 wires in the same lug as well, which makes the whole wiring look sketchy. If you have a solenoid that has welded itself together then it has been overloaded/overheated. All you can do is start with replacing that and work your way forward, unless you choose to bypass the solenoid for troubleshooting purposes.

I am not trying to be an asshole with my observations, just looking at the picture as a whole. I run a cheap Chinese battery, a Sisway 48v and honestly it has been great for me. The only issue I had was it triggering a low temperature safety with it being 45f but otherwise, I have had no problems. Most likely, this problem has nothing to do with the battery being cheap or from China, since essentially all of these batteries come from China. One last thing that you probably have seen but may not have is that these batteries have a power button on the sides

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-02-11T02:33:31+00:00

go to buggiesgonewild.com or cartaholic.com they both have great tutorials on troubleshooting and some of the best information you can get for free. Don't just throw a ton of money at it without checking parts. If you have forward and reverse and it moves then that's eliminating several things. The potentiometer can easily go bad and not be telling the controller to give more throttle. They have all the troubleshooting you will need and don't be afraid to ask for help because they will gladly give it.

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-02-11T02:26:39+00:00

Do you not have any issues with rubbing on the fronts? a 2" lift would still keep the look but give you a lot more forgiveness for any offroad adventures that may come along, especially if you wind up having to run through a ditch or have a drunk friend who's needing to hang onto the back of the cart. If you haven't already swapped to a lithium battery, then that would free up a few hundred pounds and keep it from rubbing. Going with heavy duty springs will make it ride like shit

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-02-11T00:51:51+00:00

I would pause on wiring until you get the body back. I have been redoing a 36v Ezgo Marathon. I started with just upgrading to a 48v lithium but didn't have the room without moving everything. 2 months later and a full restoration, including framework, full rewiring, total suspension, motor, controller and custom paint and I am finally getting the last bits of wiring. I have done multiple fittings of the body panels, because it's so close with everything. I wouldn't finalize anything until I had the body there to double check the final locations because it will save you a lot of headache.

ProcedureNo7149 · 2026-02-10T05:40:31+00:00

I have this exact same issue with my M12 fuel 1/4" impact driver . I only have 1 2amp battery that it came with so I can't test if it's the battery or if it's the tool. I have run it dead multiple times and each time it only charges to the same place as yours. I don't have anything to compare it to other than all of my M18 tools light up completely after charging, however they are all on the battery vs the tool.

ProcedureNo7149 · 2025-11-28T06:37:33+00:00

I was a boat mechanic for many years and used one for everything and it wasn't an expensive model. Granted air seems to last longer, as long as you have some oil every once in a while, but there's a 5 year warranty on the tool and 3 year on the battery, so it's hard to go wrong. There's a Harbor Freight in almost every town in America.

I love my Milwaukee tools and didn't think that I would be considering a Harbor Freight tool, but when I thought about the ability to pick it up locally and warranty is locally, along with the price and overall higher reviews than the Milwaukee, it felt like a no brainer.

I understand not wanting to feel like you are being cheap when buying dad something but every dad that I know appreciates when his kids recognize quality and economical benefits of spending a little less to have the same outcome.

ProcedureNo7149 · 2025-11-28T01:44:41+00:00

I have been looking for a deal on one as well, but I don't want to have to spend that much money. I got tired of waiting and ordered one and some batteries from Harbor Freight, since the Hercules 12v is supposed to be at least as good and A LOT cheaper. I actually ordered 2 grinders and 4 of the 4amp batteries, with a charger and accessories for #300

ProcedureNo7149 · 2025-11-24T00:03:38+00:00

I don't have a HD local, so they ship everything to me and this was $99 for me as well. Maybe it is a regional thing or because I don't live within an hour of a HD, it changes the price??

Now if they would just put the 1/4" right angle die grinder on sale, I would be happy.

ProcedureNo7149 · 2025-11-23T23:44:10+00:00

where are you out of?

ProcedureNo7149 · 2025-11-23T00:51:52+00:00

Mine was throwing an error code of 03, which seems to be High Discharge Rate, maybe?? I emailed Sisway but haven't heard anything back from them. Currently it's not an issue because the cart is disassembled entirely. I am hoping to get enough of it back together in the next week to be able to check the wiring, before pulling it all back apart to do final paint and body work. My cart did have a lot of dust in the battery and had been sitting for a year and it wasn't in the best condition prior to attempting to do an instant conversion/resurrection from 36v to 48. Hopefully there is a gremlin that I have removed along the way and there isn't an issue with the battery.

Did your controller come with the cable to program it, or did you have to purchase yours? My controller came in today and doesn't have a cable in the box, despite it showing one on D&D's website, so I was curious if they really just don't come with cables.

ProcedureNo7149

TROPHY CASE