Need help with my '83 G1 (J24) cart

[Isa]

Hello all. I'm new to the forum and would appreciate any help offered.

Just bought a nice looking '83 G1 cart for $500, but it has problems. Ordered a tune-up kit and will drain/refill with gas and oil mix--the auto injection is disconnected.

The motor does not have good compression (barely over 100 psi in reverse and slightly under 100 in forward). Was told I probably need to do a top engine overhaul. Could I try replacing the piston & ring assembly first?

Cart makes a loud 'clanking' sound beneath driver's seat and leaked a very small amount of gas/oil upon delivery (had been run earlier that day). Cleaned engine, but now cart does not move in either f/r when accelerator is depressed. It does start and will idle. Spark plug is good.

Any advice on where to start or should I sell it immediately? Thanks in advance! Cheers, Isa.

[Michael Eddie]

The parts are not really that expensive for a rebuild, so it is not that big of a deal to have to sell it. but it is time consuming, and if you are hiring someone to do the build then it will get expensive.

As for the clanking sound, maybe you threw a connecting rod or blew a bearing. If you find that you need to replace the crank shaft it can get expensive. The idling you are talking about is not the engine running, it is actually just the starter spinning the motor.

A word of advice, if you are doing normal rebuild you will need to replace the rings, all the gaskets, the crank seals and check if the cylinder needs to be honed by getting it measured. If it expanded then you just need to get your cylinder honed and upgrade to the slightly larger piston.

[Isa]

Thank you, Matti! Appreciate. I'm not mechanically inclined and do not wish to sink money into this project, so believe I'll attempt to sell it.

Great forum btw--I've actually learned a lot reading the various threads. Cheers.