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Cushman Club
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Pictured on this page is my Cushman Model
52 Vanguard conversion. I plan to completely assemble and
road test the entire conversion, then knock it all back down for final
sand blasting, priming and painting. The sheet metal is completely
finished and ready to install.
The first thing that became very obvious was that there was no room for the jackshaft and the conversion appeared to be impossible. I removed the brackets that hold the swing arm, turned them around, and welding them back to the frame in the same spot. The swing arm was widened at the front to fit the new bracket width. This allowed the jackshaft with the Comet driven pulley and the drive out sprocket to fit between the swing arm brackets. The jackshaft is located directly on the former transmission bracket. A support brace goes from near the top of the jackshaft to the engine but it is not shown in the pictures. The other vertical brackets are used to mount the gas tank as shown in a later picture. 1/4 x 2 reinforcement plates were welded across the existing motor mount rails. There is a 1/4 inch aluminum bar spacer under the engine mounting bosses at the front and rear to raise the engine just enough to allow the shroud to clear the side rail. The engine is mounted as far to the left as will allow the Comet clutch to clear the sheet metal cover. This leaves approximately 1-3/4 inches of space between the Vanguard shroud and the sheet metal on the right side. I left as much space here as possible to avoid restricting the air intake. Since the air intake is now on the right side the louvers are backwards, so it remains to be seen how hot the engine will run. April 2, 2001 Update: More pictures posted below. All is finished except for painting and installing the front fork and finishing a portion of the wiring harness. . A front brake was fabricated using a new dust shield and a drum from an old Highlander. The cam, heel pin and activating lever were fabricated. The handlebars were cut off and a chrome later model handlebar was installed using standard Cushman mounts. The standard Cushman throttle cam to activate the carburetor bell crank. The handlebar assembly is complexly finished and includes two of Steve Lorenz's fantastic oval mirrors.
The right end of the handlebar has been adapted to the standard Cushman twist grip by crushing it to the proper size and cutting slots for the cam to run in. A bell crank is located on a bracket mounted to the engine. A bell crank is used because the Vanguard carburetor pushes to increase speed. The bell crank reverses this so that the twist cam can pull to increase speed. It also has a slight mechanical advantage to allow the use of the full twist grip range. The scooter will have a speedometer driven from the rear wheel with a concealed cable. A mini console will be located in the upper fork support area with the speedometer, an electrical oil pressure gauge and a volt meter. The battery will be located in the bottom of this area, concealed by a vertical panel covered with rubber matting. The foot dimmer switch will be relocated rearward to just enough to clear this panel. Turn signals will be installed at the rear of the scooter only. They will be mounted to each side of a chrome after-market license plate holder. The engine starter solenoid will be
interlocked through the brake light switch so that it will not start
unless the brake petal is depressed. This is an absolute must for
any Vanguard conversion; if the carburetor is open when you hit the
starter switch you may not be able to react quick enough to avoid an
accident.
At this point the engine and
jackshaft still refused to co-exist because the oil filter hit the
jackshaft. It was necessary to make an angle adaptor out of a
block of aluminum to tuck the oil filter up close behind the
engine. I could also have use the Briggs remote oil filter kit, or
just purchased the block-off plate and gone without a filter. Note that
plumbing is provided for both the original oil light sensor and the new electric
oil pressure sensor. The oil pressure
warning light on the dash does double duty as a turn signal flasher
indicator.
I am using a shaft to shaft spacing of 8-5/8 inch with the appropriate Comet belt. This model Cushman uses a single bracket for mounting the transmission. It looks strong, but it is totally inadequate for the jackshaft. I added a brace from just below the barrel of the jackshaft to the rear of the engine to keep the bracket from flexing. The brackets for the gas tank can also be seen in this picture. Yes, that oil filter can be changed without removing anything!
The gas tank is slanted at the rear to allow clearance for one of Steve Lorenz's 10 inch tires. The tank looks small, but it holds slightly more than an Eagle gas tank. It will have a tight seal cap and a remote vent tube with a flame arrestor. The top of the tank fits just under the rear storage compartment floor on the sheet metal cover.
This picture of the left side shows the overall assembly and the exhaust pipe. Dual exhaust was just not practical and the single pipe will work just fine. Note the aluminum spacers on the manifold to space it out from the engine. They can also be seen in the previous picture. If I can find space for an air cleaner I will be about ready to ride. The kick stand bracket will have to be removed and put back on at a greater angle to obtain a satisfactory lean angle with the larger tires. Note: The exhaust system shown here was replaced by a flex tube and a muffler. See the later picture below.
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