BRIGGS & STRATTON 5HP built up to (16HP) METHANOL ENGINE

#1
Hello Guys. I just bought a sprint style go-kart and it has a worked 5HP Briggs &Stratton on there that has been supposedly modified up to 16HP and it runs on Methanol. The engine does start and has good compression. Other than typical wear and tear it looks in good shape. It is missing the muffler on it. Would anyone be interested in something like this or is it worth anything to anyone? I just bought the kart for the frame and other items on it really and plan on putting a Predator engine i havw been modifying on there once I get some spare time. I dont have any great pictures of the engine right now,but I have some of the entire Kart. Also can anyone tell me what is on the back of my kart? The extra Tank? I'm assuming it has something to do with gasoline and methanol to start the engine. Any help to ease my curiosity would be greatly appreciated and if anyone is interested in the engine please let me know. Sorry if I should have posted this elsewhere like the classifieds. I am located in Levittown, Pa.
 

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#6
For free?

Convert it to gasoline and go on your merry way.

Predators suck. Lousy quality control and they blow up.

I haven't had an issue with a predator yet and I have 5 of them currently and 2 of them are 4+ years old and all of them have stage 1 kits on them and have been ran hard. I guess I'm just lucky. I don't know how to convert the Briggs back to gasoline. I could research it,but I don't really care to.
 
#7
I haven't had an issue with a predator yet and I have 5 of them currently and 2 of them are 4+ years old and all of them have stage 1 kits on them and have been ran hard. I guess I'm just lucky. I don't know how to convert the Briggs back to gasoline. I could research it,but I don't really care to.
Change to a gas carb and depending on how well the swap was done you might need to retard the timing.
 

joshua. c.

Well-Known Member
#8
I would convert the engine back to gas by switching the carb to a one set up for gas, there's no going back on these carbs once its methanol the jets are bilt into the carb and have been drilled to big for gas and there's no fixing that. after that just try running it. the power output of that old flathead may just surprise you. I got a built up one on my bike and its got more power than I can use most of the time.
 
#11
I would convert the engine back to gas by switching the carb to a one set up for gas, there's no going back on these carbs once its methanol the jets are bilt into the carb and have been drilled to big for gas and there's no fixing that. after that just try running it. the power output of that old flathead may just surprise you. I got a built up one on my bike and its got more power than I can use most of the time.
Thank you! Those are the encouraging words I was looking for. Any advice on where to buy a carb. I haven't looked yet,but do you have a good source?
 
#12
Check out eBay, they have all price ranges depending on your budget. I have had good luck with them, just use an ethanol protector in your pump gas and you'll be fine. ( I use a product called "Ethanol Shield")
 
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#13
Check out eBay, they have all price ranges depending on your budget. I have had good luck with them, just use an ethanol protector in your pump gas and you'll be fine. ( I use a product called "Ethanol Shield")
thank you for the advice. I saw some carbs on there and the price is definitely reasonable. Maybe I'll give it a shot and see what happens.
 
#15
Yeah ebay or even amazon for the factory style replacement carbs. They are so cheap I don't even bother rebuilding mine anymore and just get a new one. If you don't mind the wait and want super cheap buy one shipped from china. You don't want to wait you can pay the middle man and order one from a US seller. They all come from china tho.


I'm a fan of the slide carbs also but if you are just wanting to get rid of it I would just put the factory style back on it. Converting it back to run on gas widens the audience you can sell to. The people that want to run alcohol know how to convert it easy enough and you can sell the other carb.
 
#16
I like those slide carbs as well, but I am not spending that type of money on them unless they are knock off mikuni's. If that is the case then where can I get one at? The one's I have looked at for my predators are around $100.00 and for a carb that seems crazy to me. I just wish I had more interest in this motor. Seeing what you guys have done to them makes me want to build it, but then I think how easy the predator is and I like how I can throw them away if something breaks.
 

Harquebus

Well-Known Member
#18
I haven't had an issue with a predator yet and I have 5 of them currently and 2 of them are 4+ years old and all of them have stage 1 kits on them and have been ran hard. I guess I'm just lucky. I don't know how to convert the Briggs back to gasoline. I could research it,but I don't really care to.
But you're in the Briggs forum, so best to make the most of it, right?

Plus, I was just stating part of the mantra which states that The Almighty Briggs & Stratton engine is King! All hail B&S!!! :bowdown:
 
#19
But you're in the Briggs forum, so best to make the most of it, right?

Plus, I was just stating part of the mantra which states that The Almighty Briggs & Stratton engine is King! All hail B&S!!! :bowdown:[/QUOT

I guess you're right. This post wasn't meant to praise Briggs though, but it has given me a lot of good advice. I don't care what engine it is as long as it runs and is dependable.
 
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