Golf cart refurb… my head is spinning 😵‍💫

[Mdragger88]

Ok y’all, I have acquired a 2007 club car ds. My goal is to refurbish this cart for my mother to use in her resort community. Here she is in all her glory…


Overall it’s in decent shape- needs a clean up. Previous owner put 4 deep cycle 12v farm batteries in it & they are toast so 6- new 8v trojan blacks will be here tomorrow. They said the Original powerdrive2 charger stopped working so they were charging the batteries individually with a 12v charger. Then the man got sick so it has sat for 2+ yrs.
I have done some testing on the charger & believe that the Rectifier is bad. A repair kit should arrive today (thank’s prime!) It was also filled with a ton of wasp & dirt dauber nests Hopefully this will at least allow me to test the functions of the cart. It was running before they stored it.
If the charger still doesn’t work I will need to purchase an aftermarket one - been looking at the MODZ 48, it’s supposed to work without bypassing the club car on board computer (obc) whether its bad or not. Anyone have experience w/ this model? It would also be much more convenient for my mom as it could be mounted on board & then she would just need to move a cord - not a 25# dinosaur box. This cart will be parked outside all the time with a cart cover. There’s really not a convenient weather proof place to store the large oem charger without carrying it up steps.
Her wish list is -
*New batteries
*Back seat on the way (install looks easy enough)
*LED Head & tail lights ( debating on what to do here) head lights are required where she lives - I’m not really fond of having to cut large holes into the body to accomplish this (also many kits require a voltage step down converter but they all look so cheap- help me buy the right one!)
*Convenient charging - likely going with the MODZ charger
If anyone has input/thoughts/experience or better yet pics of their lights & charger set ups bring em’ on!
The golf cart forums have been sort of helpful but they are hard to navigate.

I am hoping to be able to drive it tomorrow night once I get the batteries in if the obc hasn’t locked out the cart.

 

[Katodude]

Been probably about 4 or 5 years since I have had a golf cart. But when I did I just added the lights from Tecscan. They worked out great for me and were very easy to install, including the voltage reducer.

TecScan Wireless LED Golf Cart Lights - We Make Lights Easy

You could in theory just buy some LED light strips and DIY it. Get some that are IP67 rated and silicon them to the front of the cart. Some small drilling for the wiring. I know you can buy some strips with either 12v or 24v. That might make the voltage reducing easier.

 

[Mdragger88]

Good to know I’m on the right path! - I actually have these in my Amazon cart already

 

[Mdragger88]

Ok y’all, been a long week but I got quite a few things done
Here she is now all cleaned up with the new back seat installed!

I can’t believe the front seat cleaned up so well - this is mid cleaning

And after

Got 6 new batteries
My husband helped by fabbing up the battery area so they fit - club car said 6 - 8v based on the serial #
there were 4-12v in it & the 6 wasn’t going to fit due to the cross bars but we had already bought them & the place didn’t have any 12v in stock so we rolled with it.

Had to do a little creative rigging to use the factory charger for the interim as the oem charging port fell apart in my hands I didn’t plan on using it anyway & installed a port that my mom can just plug in a normal extension cord to.
I plan to wire the modz charger directly to the cart & mount it in the battery compartment.

The good news is that until it arrives we are able to use the cart to test stuff out & keep the new batteries in top condition. I replaced all the little guts in the club car powerdrive charger since they come together w/ the rectifier that was bad. It comes on, charges & cuts off so this is a sign that the on board computer of the cart is functioning properly.
I plan to sell the cc charger to recoup a little $$.
Already sold the golf club carrier & cooler rack on FB marketplace the day I took it off
Today I finished replacing all the bushings- they were all non existent.
The kit for the whole cart was $20 & it has made a HUGE difference!
All that’s left on the list is -
*Installing the charger
*Installing the light kit
* grease all the zerks
*find a cool license plate - I’m thinking maybe an airbrushed one that says “Ganny” - that’s what my kids call my
mom .
* THEN …. DELIVER GOLF CART !

 

[kimkats]

Ganny! I love it!!! She is going to love that!

WOWZER on the cleaning up! That DID clean up great! Did you condition the seats or just scrub and dub?

 

[Mdragger88]

Scrub scrub scrub i did put a little 303 on them after.

 

[Newdude]

Scrub scrub scrub

Did you get behind the lights ? The fill valve ? Steps ???? Every inch is suspect.

 

[mknauss]

Did you get behind the lights ? The fill valve ? Steps ???? Every inch is suspect.

He's lost it .....................

 

[proavia]

He's lost it .....................

You're assuming he had it at one time.
And he may have.
Not sure any of us want to know what "it" is.

 

[Mdragger88]

Did you get behind the lights ? The fill valve ? Steps ???? Every inch is suspect.

I’m a little scared to get at all the crannies There was definitely some bleach involved though!
every day a new part crumbles in my hands & I have to order something else- I think I am single handedly keeping all the Amazon drivers in my area employed! I am wearing that prime free trial out!

 

[Mdragger88]

You're assuming he had it at one time.
And he may have.
Not sure any of us want to know what "it" is.

It’s been gone

 

[Newdude]

You're assuming he had it at one time.
And he may have.
Not sure any of us want to know what "it" is.

 

[Mdragger88]

Golf cart update…
All done & enroute for delivery

The lights turned out good

I also had to replace the MCOR - it conveniently died right after I bypassed the on board computer & I thought I had screwed something up in the controller. Thank goodness I had ordered one already- replaced it & off we went!
It’s been a long week - i had jury duty all week
So I didn’t do too much tinkering , just putting some stuff in the tires & they seem to be holding.

 

[kimkats]

I want to see her face when she sees it!

 

[Mdragger88]

I didn’t get a pic but she was thrilled!
Her & the kiddos will be zooming around all weekend while momma gets a little break

 

[kimkats]

What did she say when she say the name plate?

 

[Mdragger88]

She loved it- she used to have one similar on her truck years ago (back when u could get them made at Walmart) but it had her name on it - she wasn’t a Ganny then