How to Build a Competitive Kart Racing Engine (Stock Appearing)

A little advice on checking the valves for leaks: DON'T use water. I've seen so many people do this thinking that because water doesn't drip out the intake or exhaust, that there's no leaks. The reason you don't use water is because you're putting water on previously oil coated surfaces that are polished, which makes them slightly hydrophobic. With the surface tension that water has on that hydrophobic surface, it can float above small gaps and not bleed through. Instead, use a solvent like acetone, xylene, or even gasoline. They have lower surface tension, and will actively leech through any gaps or leaks in the valves. Hope this helps.

Man! This is GREAT! I'm a 42 year old automotive master technician and I had NO IDEA they made sooo many parts for small engines! You just opened a whole new world up to me! Coolest thing I've seen in years!

im afraid you are now part of the automotive community and you may never stop making automotive content. Congratulations!

When resurfacing a head with the flat glass/sandpaper technique, work the head in a figure 8 motion to avoid uneven material removal.

Alright, I don't have interest in go karting,, and I haven't messed with engine building for almost 20 years, but I watched this entire video because I follow your interests that you share via videos and the podcast. You have gained so much knowledge from when you started this hobby, which is really awesome to see. Your knowledge and passion is clear in this video. Kudos, and keep it up!

You are the cleanest mechanic I have ever seen. You rock Dave. “Some of us don’t have friends “ You always crack me up with your humor.

This is one of the best engine build videos I've ever watched. If a person can quickly and simply explain a complicated subject then they actually know what they're talking about. 10/10

I used to be into yard carts in my early teens but haven't had any opportunities to play with them since. I watched this entire video from start to finish--man, what a great little intro to engine building! I've been a sub of Cars&Cameras for years, and have seen some of the stuff you've done on their channel, plus a bunch more from you now. Thanks for that. Really enjoyed this. Cheers~

I started racing when I was 15 sprint kart racing (short course asphalt). It was a great place to learn to drive. Then I got into road racing karts. It was huge in the 80s. Every Christmas our family would race at Daytona. The smallest class I would run still had 50 or 60 karts. Some classes (usually Yamaha) had over 100 entries. It was the most fun times I had with my dad, not just the racing but the hours of preparation we spent in the shop and the travel to the races. It was all good, and I learned so much. It was a great way to grow up. Thanks for bring back the memories, even though we ran two strokes 😜. Be safe and have fun 👍

Watching from the perspective of someone who grew up on an automotive machine shop, looks like you did a great job. You can build a flow bench and actually play with porting a lot more. There is even a way to smoke it and actually see the flow characteristics and what a subtle change can do.

I was an engineering technician at Briggs & Stratton and worked on kart engines as well as the dragster engines. Fascinating, I never realized the fanatical customer base for these engines.

Idk how yt brought me here, but as a mechanic that worked in a bikeshop and tuned engines myself, I was very pleased to watch this. You explain things very well for starters with no needed fluff or editing. Great stuff! Hope you have a great day good sir.

When i first came across this video and had little to no experience with building or modifying these (or any) engines, I never got past the first couple of minutes. Now that I have modified several engines and I'm always swapping or grinding something to pull that little bit extra power out of them, this video is way easier to keep up with. I like the fast pace you've managed while being as thorough as this video is. One of the best clone building videos on YouTube, and Im confident because I think I've seen most of them. Great job.

Thank you David for putting this video out. I have been curious about the process and this will be a GREAT resource in the future for lots of people. You first teased this on the podcast and it had me intrigued, great information throughout the video. 👍🏻👍🏻👊🏻👊🏻

Came to this video by chance - was so full of knowledge and reminds me of 2 things - 1. A lot goes into these things, but 2. If one is willing to learn and put in the time, one can do this. Highly appreciated!

Some very useful information here ....glad to see someone working with what they have and not using extremely expensive machining equipment. To me this shows you can do it with basic garage tools along with a few specialty hand tools. Thanks for a very detailed video.

David, that was brilliant. You are an excellent teacher. I've watched tons of "engine" videos but this made it simple for me because there's only one piston to worry about. Thank you very much for that. New subscriber.

Racers today do not know how lucky they are having videos like this. When I started in the 80s, racers would tell you a little & the rest was bullcrap. You had to get pieces from different racers and put them together to get the whole picture.

This is the kind of quality content that makes YouTube worth existing. Thank you.

When i raced box stock i took new head gaskets to a shop with a 300 ton press. I made 2 steel plates 2" thick , put the gaskets between them and reduced them to the minimum allowed thickness. It helped get that fraction of compression other builders didnt have. Every tiny bit helps as you know. Great video!