Tillotson 212E improvements

[Voodoo Rufus]

I picked up one of these for my Invader rebuild. It's running 15" turf tires on a 12/72 gearing. It really scoots up to the governor easily. I adjusted the governor via the different holes on the arm to soften the engagement, but the engine still feels like it wants to run faster.

It sounds like these engines were built a bit better than standard Predators. Does anyone have experience tweaking these 212E's for more RPMs? It's a nice motor and I don't want to mess it up. I am mechanically inclined enough to tear into it.

 

[KartFab]

Stage 1 mods will give you a nice boost in performance from 6.5 hp to 7.5-8 hp with a predator or tillotson 212.

The engine is basically a hemi-predator 212 with stiffer valve springs, slight head difference, slight cam difference, and better quality control. Should run up to 6000+ rpm before valve float vs the predator that will go to 5500 before valve float.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

If it already has the stiffer springs and a superior flywheel (I read good for 8krpm), is there anything stopping me from a straight governor removal?

 

[karl]

If it already has the stiffer springs and a superior flywheel (I read good for 8krpm), is there anything stopping me from a straight governor removal?

Well, generally no, but if you tamper with or remove the governor, the liability is in your hands.

Proceed at your own risk.

 

[Flyinhillbilly]

We have two 196R’s on the boys race karts, and I don’t give them any instructions on rpm or anything else, we just let ‘em eat. The valves get floated a lot, and we’ve had zero issues with either of them. I wouldn’t hesitate to chuck the governor.
I have a tillotson 225 block for my new build and it’s an impressive piece, the casting is very nice, as are the 196R’s. Tillotsons are far superior to predators in my opinion.