Offroad go kart predator 212 build

[Hellion]

*Run what you have (the Greyhound) or run a stock engine, whatever engine you end up with. One of your stated goals was to learn, so learn. Go gradually.

Don't forget the photos. You should have posted photos before you tore everything apart. Don't do that next time as a photo is worth 1,000 words to our talented team of experts.

 

[marcusp]

*Run what you have (the Greyhound) or run a stock engine, whatever engine you end up with. One of your stated goals was to learn, so learn. Go gradually.

Don't forget the photos. You should have posted photos before you tore everything apart. Don't do that next time as a photo is worth 1,000 words to our talented team of experts.

I haven't torn anything apart yet! The build I'm talking about is for a sight unseen go kart frame that a coworker is giving me! So I'm essentially getting information *before* I start the build so that I can do most of it right the first time. My other go kart has the greyhound and that's what I've started learning on . Pictures for the predator build will come as soon as I get the kart frame!! I can upload photos of the frankenkart as I have dubbed my greyhound go kart, but it's not very conducive to any of my questions about the predator build

 

[panchothedog]

If I'm following your post correctly, you haven't purchased the predator yet. If that's the case, Don't buy anything until you have the engine. You might not have a choice of hemi vs non hemi. I have bought predators from 2 different HF stores, as well as on line. ( During the pandemic, no-one had them in stock.) I have never even seen a 212 hemi. Might not be the case where you live. Get the engine first.
Also, you are kind of getting ahead of yourself. Run the thing bone stock. Then upgrade to the stage one scenario ( pipe, filter, jet and gov delete.) This way you will get a feel for your improvements. If after that you want to take it farther than I would suggest the kit that also includes the upgraded cam shaft. If you're not going to spin the engine up into higher rpm range ( where the added power will be) there is no point in the billet rod and flywheel. You put them in so that you
CAN SAFELY operate the engine in a rpm range it was never intended to see.
When you do the stage one you must rejet the carb. The stock jet is .028" or .029". You will need a .036" jet. Unless you're at a very high elevation. Otherwise the engine will be very lean as it's going to injest more air, and requires more fuel. You will see a very good seat of the pants improvement with the stage one. Somewhere between 1&1/2 to 2&1/2 h.p. The very first modification I ever did to my Grandkids kart (our first one) took it from a governed top speed of 22 mph
to 34 mph. The smile on his face got ME hooked on building these things.

 

[marcusp]

If I'm following your post correctly, you haven't purchased the predator yet. If that's the case, Don't buy anything until you have the engine. You might not have a choice of hemi vs non hemi. I have bought predators from 2 different HF stores, as well as on line. ( During the pandemic, no-one had them in stock.) I have never even seen a 212 hemi. Might not be the case where you live. Get the engine first.
Also, you are kind of getting ahead of yourself. Run the thing bone stock. Then upgrade to the stage one scenario ( pipe, filter, jet and gov delete.) This way you will get a feel for your improvements. If after that you want to take it farther than I would suggest the kit that also includes the upgraded cam shaft. If you're not going to spin the engine up into higher rpm range ( where the added power will be) there is no point in the billet rod and flywheel. You put them in so that you
CAN SAFELY operate the engine in a rpm range it was never intended to see.
When you do the stage one you must rejet the carb. The stock jet is .028" or .029". You will need a .036" jet. Unless you're at a very high elevation. Otherwise the engine will be very lean as it's going to injest more air, and requires more fuel. You will see a very good seat of the pants improvement with the stage one. Somewhere between 1&1/2 to 2&1/2 h.p. The very first modification I ever did to my Grandkids kart (our first one) took it from a governed top speed of 22 mph
to 34 mph. The smile on his face got ME hooked on building these things.

You are following me correctly! I have seen multiple posts from people who have gotten a hemi in a non hemi box or their HF only having one engine in stock so I was already planning on waiting to buy the other parts until I got the engine first. I can certainly run the engine bone stock before getting into any stage 2 upgrades, it's probably the smarter thing to do financially as well because I may be happy with just the stage 1 improvements. Stage 1 is what I believe my greyhound has and so far I'm pleased with its performance- although I do need to tear it apart and ensure that whoever removed the parts for the governor actually deleted it internally. Funny you mention the rejet as I was actually trying to figure out why the greyhound was running a little funny today, more than likely it has to do with being a stock Amazon jet.
I think I'm gonna follow these steps once the ball gets rolling! I appreciate all the help so far- once again I'll update the forum once I get the kart in and can get pictures. I'll likely be having a little extra fun with it anyway as it used to have a 2 stroke engine on it and to be honest the recent flooding from Helene may have every crevice of the frame filled with mud

 

[Denny]

The greyhound is a much better engine to upgrade as it was built on the same line as the Hondas were in the same Chinese factory.

 

[bullseye670]

The greyhound is a much better engine to upgrade as it was built on the same line as the Hondas were in the same Chinese factory.

Wait a minute. Are you trying to say that Honda's are built in China, not Japan?

 

[JimD]

Yes, that is a fact, so are Kohler & Briggs on the small horse power engines are done in China. It is all about cheap labor and the Japan went there years ago which is why copies of their engines started to show up. There is no such thing as business ethics in China - try and sue me is their motto.

The chassis he is using is one of the best made. Bob put a tube inside a tube to give the frame stability to hold up for many years. It was one of the best chassis made and I had been in every kart manufacturers facility and Bob would rank number one for the longest lasting frames.

 

[Master Hack]

Everybody wants an engine built by people that earn $0.50 per week and eat fried chicken feet for lunch!

 

[jclev815]

Number 2 in progress. Same frame, also have another 6.5 greyhound to go on it.

Do you have a build thread or any progress pictures?

 

[gokartdave]

Do you have a build thread or any progress pictures?

Most of the stuff I've posted can be googled Bks go fur go karts, just scroll

 

[marcusp]

Update on my most recent shenanigans... I never did pick up the kart in question, just haven't had the time and my life plans have changed a bit with some home remodels and other boring adult stuff. However, my test subject, the Frankenkart, is theoretically operational! I kept it simple with the build. I've finished the job of removing the governor that someone else had started, added an aftermarket exhaust, broke the intake and replaced it with a stock predator intake that a buddy had, added an Amazon gas tank since the old one had been removed, and added a TC(which required an engine riser plate). I also concluded that the existing gear ratio is a 6.66. I have yet to mess with changing the tire size or gear ratio, but atm am pretty pleased with both the top end and torque that she has. Eventually, I'm going to weld two bars to the side to help a little bit with the overwhelming tendency to get thrown out of the kart when I turn fast. I ran it for about an hour pretty hard after finishing the upgrades until I felt it losing power near the end, and then it eventually wouldn't keep cranking back up. I assume the carburater but oh well... that's a problem for when I have time to mess with her again. I am going to attempt to upload pictures of the Frankenkart to this thread...

 

[Denny]

Slacker! Get that other kart and get going on it. Yours looks lonely.

 

[marcusp]

My kart is lonely! It just now ran for the first time since my last post. I switched carbs and ran all sorts of cleaners through it and fixed my throttle set up a little bit. I'm renovating a house so I still have yet to pick up the free kart that I originally started this thread about. The frankenkart has some mega torque, so as long as I can from overly abusing her on rough terrain I think she'll continue to suit me well! I certainly forsee some larger tires in my future seeing as how that massive 80t gear sits about 2" off the ground...

 

[Hellion]

....Eventually, I'm going to weld two bars to the side to help a little bit with the overwhelming tendency to get thrown out of the kart when I turn fast.

Shoot, the kart already has enough bars and tubing added to it. What's with the big sissy bar?

As far as getting thrown, you're supposed to lean into turns right, and since you are the nexus of all the actions on the kart, you know when it's coming and can prepare, unlike a hapless passenger.

I'm disappointed you fixed the throttle rope. That was some serious Hillbilly engineering ...

 

[marcusp]

Sadly my butt is not big enough to brace myself for a sharp curve without taking a hand off the wheel to grab the bars for support. I was proud of my rope but it was unreliable, I also wasn't super fond of having to wrap my foot around it to make it work . I might get extra rednecking points for it but the missus takes away points for trying to rip my foot off a few months before we are married... I found out after posting yesterday that my chain is loose and keeps throwing. It's not loose enough to remove a link but it's still enough to render it un-drivable. I hope to be able to simple twist the TC and solve that problem. Lord willing I'll have some updates before many months pass again!