# Cushman truckster



## Alexander (Mar 28, 2020)

These are the before pictures. This is a 1982 cushman truckster. It is a road legal truck registered and insured for street use in ab. What got me interested in this truck was just how tiny it is. I bought it not running 2 years ago and got it running as well as possible with the original 18hp outboard marine company engine. Unfortunately it burns oil and Is down on power.


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## Alexander (Mar 28, 2020)

This is the day i actually bought the truck. It only had one door. It seems the other door got lost in the last 10 years of it sitting in the alley. The back rims are bent, probably from carrying heavy loads as a maintenance vehicle at the mall. The biggest problem is the motor does not run. I was able to get it started by making new spark plug wires and rebuilding the carburetor.


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## Chicken lights (Mar 28, 2020)

That’s pretty cool!


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## Alexander (Mar 28, 2020)

Thanks! one of the first things I did is make wheel adapters. I started by turning two 1 inch thick aluminum discs. the first side got studs pressed in and the other side got 60 degree chamfered holes. these adapt the cushman 4x3.75" bolt pattern to a more comon 4x4"


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## Alexander (Mar 31, 2020)

After I drove this thing around for a year I decided this old OMC engine was junk. Omc made a good engine but with a little over twenty three thousand kilometers on the odometer it was worn out. I bought a 610cc honda v twin on kijiji and got to work swapping it out.


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## Tom Kitta (Mar 31, 2020)

Small sub 25hp motors are so cheap I wonder how they can sell them for so little. Even if workmanship is somewhat poor its still takes time plus raw materials are not cheap and someone has to put it together and ship it + later sell it.


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## YYCHM (Mar 31, 2020)

Alexander said:


> After I drove this thing around for a year I decided this old OMC engine was junk. Omc made a good engine but with a little over twenty three thousand kilometers on the odometer it was worn out. I bought a 610cc honda v twin on kijiji and got to work swapping it out.



What?????  No V8 and wheelie bar!  Blaaa…. you're no fun


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## Alexander (Apr 3, 2020)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> What?????  No V8 and wheelie bar!  Blaaa…. you're no fun


Nah no need for one this thing is pretty unstable even at 60km/h. Anyways I had to replace the brake master cylinders. The dam hubs were really stuck on the axles. Such a strange design. You undo the center nut and pull the hub off the tapered axle shafts.


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## historicalarms (Apr 4, 2020)

wow I haven't seen one of those for 40 yrs, and yes you are right, they are very "unstable"...the damn thing was on its side more than its wheels.

    two teenage brothers owned the one I was around and the last time it was used...older brother was driving the Cushman & younger brother was pushing him with an old British Anglia car across one of our hay fields. at somewhere close to 4o mph the brother driving the Cushman lost control and veered off into one of my old mans hay stacks...The Cushman caught fire & so did the stack...both were destroyed...My old man sure was pissed over that hay we lost...drug Percy out of the smoke before he went up also and kicked his ass all the way home to his parents farm.


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## Alexander (Apr 5, 2020)

Here is the old drivetrain, I am reusing the transmission but the rest is junk!







I had to cut the output shaft shorter and build a sleeve to fit the old cushman clutch.


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## Bofobo (Apr 5, 2020)

historicalarms said:


> wow I haven't seen one of those for 40 yrs, and yes you are right, they are very "unstable"...the damn thing was on its side more than its wheels.
> 
> two teenage brothers owned the one I was around and the last time it was used...older brother was driving the Cushman & younger brother was pushing him with an old British Anglia car across one of our hay fields. at somewhere close to 4o mph the brother driving the Cushman lost control and veered off into one of my old mans hay stacks...The Cushman caught fire & so did the stack...both were destroyed...My old man sure was pissed over that hay we lost...drug Percy out of the smoke before he went up also and kicked his ass all the way home to his parents farm.


Sadly my punishment was the same


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## John Conroy (Apr 5, 2020)

Looks like a fun project!


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## Janger (Apr 5, 2020)

Cool Alex.


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## Alexander (Apr 5, 2020)

Thanks guys. This is still a work in progress. I am saving the best part for last.


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## YYCHM (Apr 5, 2020)

Alexander said:


> Thanks guys. This is still a work in progress. I am saving the best part for last.



The V8 and wheelie bars?


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## Alexander (Apr 5, 2020)

YYCHobbyMachinist said:


> The V8 and wheelie bars?


NO!  basically all of my friends have said "put a big motorcycle engine in it" I wouldn't cut it up that bad. It is to cool for a hack job and I am no fabricator.


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## CalgaryPT (Apr 5, 2020)

That's great. What kind of certification and registration process did you have to go through to make it street legal?


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## Alexander (Apr 6, 2020)

It was actually already registered when I bought it. I was told it use to be a garbage truck for zellers. All I did was take my bill of sale to the registry and they already had it in there system as a utility vehicle.


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## CalgaryPT (Apr 6, 2020)

Alexander said:


> It was actually already registered when I bought it. I was told it use to be a garbage truck for zellers. All I did was take my bill of sale to the registry and they already had it in there system as a utility vehicle.


Good for you. I love unique stuff like this.


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## Bofobo (Apr 6, 2020)

Not surprised about the vin myself, who remembers these things on the street? I do!! Playing pop goes the Weasel and carrying ice cream. Perhaps not this specific one but for sure even at a mere 34 I remember these


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## Tom O (Apr 7, 2020)

Put a bicycle carrier on the back for your penny farthing!


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## Alexander (Apr 7, 2020)

Here is a picture what it looked like before dustless blasting.




And about 50 minutes later I had a clean starting point to paint the cushman.




Dustless blasting is nothing short of amazing. You mix water in with the media and there is no risk of warping sheetmetal because the water cools the metal while you strip it. Also clean up is easy. I just rinsed excess sand out of all the cracks with a regular pressure washer. After media blasting I acid etched the metal and let it sit overnight. The next day I put on a thick epoxy primer. The day after that I hand sanded and sprayed it with enamel paint.





Now I need to install the engine for the last time and wire it.


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## Tom O (Apr 7, 2020)

Looks good!


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## Alexander (Apr 7, 2020)

I had to patch a few rust holes. For material I went to steel inc. The company is under new ownership. The new owners were very friendly and have a plan to add cold rolled stock to there inventory.


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## Alexander (Jun 7, 2020)

I bought a wiring harness from Painless Wiring and got that installed. I regretted throwing the old wiring harness almost immediately. This one is going to be much more reliable so I guess it is better that I decided to replace everything. But wow that was allot of work.


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## kevin.decelles (Jun 8, 2020)

I can’t believe that’s your garage. Good job fitting that in there


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## Alexander (Jun 8, 2020)

Thanks. I think


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## kevin.decelles (Jun 8, 2020)

Last time I was there we barely fit in the doughnuts from Tim’s




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## Tom O (Jun 8, 2020)

That’s hot a bad setup who needs a workbench when you can put a piece of ply on the Cushman!


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## CalgaryPT (Jun 8, 2020)

Alexander said:


> But wow that was allot of work.


What a great project. That looks like so much fun. Keep going please


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## Chicken lights (Jun 9, 2020)

Alexander said:


> I bought a wiring harness from Painless Wiring and got that installed. I regretted throwing the old wiring harness almost immediately. This one is going to be much more reliable so I guess it is better that I decided to replace everything. But wow that was allot of work.


I HATE fixing old wiring. I did my engine harness about a year ago, just dropped in a new one. Fixed so many issues for me, but you’re right it’s time consuming


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## Tom O (Jun 9, 2020)

Years ago a bud had a 850 Norton that needed wiring I spent the morning making him a stock wiring harness making sure to wrap all of it,  nearing completion I went for some lunch and found another buddy had come over cut out my wiring replacing it with “ well this is all you need “


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## Alexander (Jun 10, 2020)

I got the wiring done and took this thing around the neighborhood for a test drive my initial impression is the engine is a lot better suited to the task. The engine is a 610cc v twin. Commonly found in generators, pressure washers and farm equipment. It is meant to be a stationary engine but i removed the governor and welded a simple 2 into one exhaust similar to a motorcycle. Now I need to put all the other small parts back on. In the meantime the machine shop i work at made drawings to reproduce the doors for this. Not sure how i will source the door handles yet. Any ideas?


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## CWelkie (Jun 10, 2020)

Very nice work on the restoration / re-fit!
About the door handles ... they wouldn't be OEM but the first thought in my head was for RV (i.e., trailer) door handles.  They are flush fitting with locks.  They are suited to rather thin doors and may be adaptable and useful.


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## Alexander (Sep 21, 2020)

I finally got some door parts made. the white door on the truck is the original. The shiny one is a new door skin from the sheet metal shop. They copied it exactly. I still need to actually build the door frame. But the hard part is done.


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## RobinHood (Sep 22, 2020)

That is a nice looking door shell, Alex. Good luck with building the frame.


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