What the diff. Malibu GP

[Unicorn]

Hi folks, I am rebuilding an MGP go kart and would love to know where the various bits of the diff come from. The axels are 5 stud 7/16 bolts with 114.3 PCD.

The drum brakes are from an old EZ GO golf kart or some such. The Brake calipers are Bendix torque spiders from EZ GO as well. The age is 1978 for the MGP go karts.

I would love to know the exact model of EZ GO any parts are from.

The engine is a Cuyuna ULII.02 driving a comet duster 94c.

The diff has a driven clutch mounted on the pinion shaft.

The pinion shaft has about 10 splines around it which matches the driven clutch.

The pinion has 6 teeth and the crown has 47 teeth.

The Aluminium housing has Dana stamped into it. I cannot find any vehicle that used these Axels, Diff and driven clutch.

The Axels have a Timken U199 bearing that holds the torque spider on. This bearing is very hard to find and costs $160 per side if I order them from the US. If I can figure out what the diff is from maybe I can salvage parts.

Those rear tyres are 20" tall and 12" wide.

Any help I can get will be appreciated.

I saw on here someone thought they had an MGP but the photos did not match. Some one else got an MGP but the engine and diff had been replaced by a three wheeler rear. I guess due to a lack of parts or knowledge.

 

[David Ham]

That's a flipping batmobile

 

[Unicorn]

The Mario Andretti version is like the Batmobile, black fibreglass from end to end. They had a 55hp water cooled 2 stroke.

The Malibu GP karts had a 24HP sachs rotary when first built. They were then replaced with 35HP 2 stroke ultralight engines. I have heard of people putting 85HP engines on these MGP karts.

That is why I need to know where these parts came from. 85HP would be insane as these karts go hard at 35HP.

 

[pRoFiT]

My friends dad use to run the malibu grand prix location hear in fresno ca. One of the first locations.

I just saw him the other day too. Next time i will try to get some info out if him. Wonder who has all the karts after they shut down? I still have my mgp license from the 90s!
Those things were fun. Only got to drive the big ones right before they shut down.

Cant imagine 85hp in one!

 

[Unicorn]

Awesome I have found the man who bought all 20 of the Mario Andretti ones but getting useful info out of him has been hard.

Mt Hood in Oregon still has some MGP karts that used to be at Beaverton. They only run in the summer months.

Some of the places that closed sold their karts on to the next place. As far as I can tell there was only 100 built. 15 or 30 were shipped to Australia.

Most places converted them to Snow mobile engines of about the same capacity. I found out the Village grand prix ones had a metal pedal extension to limit throttle to 60%.

I just need to figure out where the diff started live and what the driven clutch is as both seem to handle high horsepower so probably came from something heavy.

I also would love to know what the front hubs are from as they are 5 stud 7/16 bolts at 108 PCD. There just seems to be no wheels for 5 stud but if I can change to 4 stud I can use modern golf kart wheels.

 

[Denny]

That rear end has nothing in common with any EZ-GO golfcart. I had a golfcart business for 12 years. It looks as it they were built just for those go karts. EZ-GO had a cast iron center section (few were aluminum), ball bearings on axles, 2 piece axle and drum and much smaller brakes. In general a much lighter duty unit.


Denny

 

[Unicorn]

That rear end has nothing in common with any EZ-GO golfcart. I had a golfcart business for 12 years. It looks as it they were built just for those go karts. EZ-GO had a cast iron center section (few were aluminum), ball bearings on axles, 2 piece axle and drum and much smaller brakes. In general a much lighter duty unit.


Denny

Thanks for that. The banjo front part of the diff must be standard for something as it is mounted upside down on the axel. The axels seem to be cut down dodge axels with 27 splines to match the diff.

In some further research I found the correct shaped diff housing gasket. It seems to be for Harley Davidson golf kart or Columbia Par Car who bought Harley golf karts.

The year is right but I still have not found any Par Car etc that uses that gasket.

The Brake drums, Torque spiders and brake pads are definitely from EZ GO. All Bendix made from around 1978.

The Axel tubes and diff back are possibly hand made or converted from something else but matches the front dana diff assembly.

This seems to be Axel gasket.

https://cartguy.ca/collections/common-parts-differential-transaxle-parts-ezgo/products/21575-g1

This is the diff housing gasket, I think

https://mrgolfcarts.com/Rear-Axle-Components/E-Z-GO-GX-1500-Differential-Housing-Gasket

 

[Unicorn]

I think I have found the diff origin.

it seems to be from an EZ GO GTX 1500 3 wheeler with tipper tray.

The gaskets all fit that model. The pic is low resolution but it definitely looks like the front half of the diff. it has an 800lb load capacity.

 

[Unicorn]

OK most of the mystery is solved. The MGP cars use an EZ GO GXT 1500 Diff cut down with the standard GXT 1500 brakes.

All of the drive shafts on the GXT 1500 are splined the same way. The diff is connected to the 5 speed gear box by means of a universal jointed shaft with the same splines.

The diff is right way up on these. You can see the 4 bolt holes in the housing that holds the engine mount on MGP cars.

https://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/auction/view?auc=1459061

Lots of pics here.

Now I need to find someone who knows EZ GO GXT 1500's

I now just need to know where the driven clutch comes from as the splined version is not common.