to answer your question about the carb swap.
1. you simply take off the 2 10mm bolts that hold on the air-filter
2. you disconnect the throttle linkage ( and the small spring, then the fuel line)
3. slide the epa crap off
4. install the new carb and just reverse steps 1 and 2
5. now you have a stock predator
if you want a cheap carb, this should work just fine. (for 13$ you cant go wrong)
https://www.amazon.com/FitBest-Carb...=1544153271&sr=8-1&keywords=predator+212+carb