Predator 212 Budget High Performance Build

[Metal_Rott]

Hey ya'll I just bought this Pred 212 for $30 at the flea market. Guy couldn't get it to start so he practically gave it to me. I knew what was the problem but I wasn't going to say. It was the low oil level shutoff. He didn't add enough oil or simply d/c the wire.

Anyhow It started like a match when I removed Oil sensor. I also went ahead and removed governor. I removed everything that had to do with it and the oil sensor. First real mod I did was re-jett the carb, and Man did it make a difference. But it was still a little sluggish. I noticed the Air filter box is extremely restrictive so I sawed out a much larger hole (see pic) I also gasket matched the carb spacer(no pic yet)
The ports were pretty big but I went ahead an honed them a bit larger and removed most of the valve bumps on both sides. I re-lapped the valves and hammered the intake rocker arm a little bit for some extra lift. lol.
The exhaust was horribly restrictive so I modified an old Vanguard header and attached an empty brake cleaner can for some sound. ( i love the sound lol) I have put baffling inside and it shut the tin pop sound completely. So it has two tones, loud and quite.
I advanced timing my 8 degrees by notching the key.
Removed head gasket for a little more compression.
I made this BAD*** Dragon Fire 10.5 mm spark plug wire that my dad had lying around from his twin turbo impala.(see pic for comparison)
I tried to adapt a vacuum fuel pump but it wasn't working it's too old. but I left the Screw tap there ready for when I/if/I get one.
Everything done and buttoned up and it's a real rowdy bastard garage junky lunatic of a motor. I can imagine if I actually had good parts to install ! So far I am $30 deep and I'm pretty sure it's hitting the 9-10 hp range.
I would love to get an aluminum flywheel some springs and a cam but you know...money. I ain't got non !

Let me know what else I can do to maybe push this thing to it's breaking point. I really would like to know it's max rpm in this stage. It get's pretty high up there.

Ended up boring the carb out 5/8 inch. I think it still had more room but I didn't want to push it till I have one for scrap. Put an O-ring on top of the throttle butterfly shaft. It looked leakyish to me.(see pic)

 

[mckutzy]

Wow that's pretty cool.
Could you explain a bit more about the plug wire conversion.
I thought automotive plug wires were carbon core. Not an actual wire.

 

[Metal_Rott]

The stock spark plug wire head and magneto have this screw in type insert. Actually the stock wire was copper core and the MSD wire was carbon but the DragonFire was a solid copper no wire just one big single copper wire. To replacr You simply unscrew the old wire out and screw the new wire in. This was a massive wire so i had to shave the insulation to fit the magneto and spark plug head. I also silicone the empty spaces and shrink sleeved so they don't leak water in and electricty out. It made such a big difference in spark, it gave a thick blue spark, before it was tiny and more yellow.

 

[landuse]

It looks like you know what you are doing. Just remember to replace the internals with billet parts before you get stiffer springs

 

[Metal_Rott]

It looks like you know what you are doing. Just remember to replace the internals with billet parts before you get stiffer springs

Thanks for the heads-up. I actually want to see what the stock bottom end can handle before it chunks out. I get them extremely cheap so I can fool around a little. I'll use billet parts when my son is big enough to start racing Right now I'm on a mission to blow one up(I get excited to see something surp*** it's potential) I don't want to spend as much as I would like to spend, I'm not cheap i'm poor So i'm thinking about welding and grinding my own cam, fab up some push rods and harden the stock springs a bit, more than likely the only thing I would spend cash on is the connecting rod. I have some aluminum rockers lying around that I think I will modify to fit
Next I will be fab'ing a very unique intake manifold that curves up and forward. I want the carb on-top and facing the kill switch. With phenolic spacers on the engine block.

Who knows what else! I'm thinking on how to make bigger valves and I have some decent ideas. I'll just have a local machine shop fit the bigger valves when i'm done making them.

 

[Metal_Rott]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLAkwti_0zc&feature=youtu.be

It's a little lean but I love the sound, I really want to make some radical different sounds. I want to make a miniature Flowmaster type muffler just to see what tones come out. Yea I know, retarded but why not?

 

[Metal_Rott]

Pics speak for themselves

 

[TheNewCarter]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLAkwti_0zc&feature=youtu.be

It's a little lean but I love the sound, I really want to make some radical different sounds. I want to make a miniature Flowmaster type muffler just to see what tones come out. Yea I know, retarded but why not?

That does sound nice but why not just run open header?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZXiZsec9cM

 

[Metal_Rott]

I don't like the suction sound open header makes. I got the idea while using a garden hose, when the water flows out it comes out slowly but when I bend the tip at 80 degrees the water starts to shoot out rapidly. So I tried to go for the same effect here. In effect the gasses are being pushed out quickest with a bend at the end. I confirmed it by feeling the gasses with my hand. Before it was scattered and would push against my hand slightly but after it was pulsing the gasses out with more speed. The Can is what makes the unique sound.

The Kart in the pic is an old one my brother had stashed away, I never knew he had it. Dirtbag was hiding it letting it rust away. So I took it! I got some bearing mounts for $bucks a piece at the flea market, score!

I painted the head using "Extreme Temp Coating". This stuff handles 1500 degrees all day !

 

[Moedog07]

You may want to brace the header any hard riding and it may come apart.

 

[landuse]

You may want to brace the header any hard riding and it may come apart.

I agree. It will snap off or bend badly at the first few bumps in the road. If you have braced it, and I cannot see it, then ignore this post