you prolly dont care but does someone know of a method to get back into an Instagram account..? I was dumb forgot my login password. I love any assistance you can give me.

Now is this basically the same method I would use when installing a Torque Converter on a stock 196cc Mini Bike Engine ?

Should be. Both the 196cc and 212cc engines are clones of the Honda GX-series engines. The TAV kits are knock-offs of the Comet Torque-A-Verter. YMMV, but the install procedure "should" be similar.

This is a great step by step how to video minus the the part where you forgot to put the belt on at the end of the video but I'll try to remember to put the belt on before the pulley cover some time lol. I just got the Torque Converter and Riser Plate in the mail today so I'm getting ready to do this install. I just wish I could see how to remove the mini bike clutch that is on there now and install the riser plate that I will have to do before I start putting the Torque Converter on. Also not sure how to make the new chain the proper size but I'll have to figure it out on my own I guess. Basically I have a 196cc Mini Bike and I'm replacing the stock clutch with this new Torque Converter so i must figure out how to get everything off first before I put new stuff on. If I gotta put this Riser Plate in that means I have to take the whole Engine out which sounds like a lot of work but hopefully it goes smoother than I'm thinking it will go.

Re-sizing the chain is easy. But you WILL need a chain-breaker tool for your chain size. Trying to drive out a pin with a hammer & punch not only sux, but usually just mangles the chain.

Best comment I've ever read on KZfaq

10-4 I look to these for details & helps, all the other mumbo jumbo is a waste of MY time

THANKS! When I first started making videos for The SMOG Project, I never thought anyone other than my friends would watch them. But with this video, I decided to try to show ALL of the steps that the other videos skip over. It was sort of an experiment because I also write step-by-step guides at work. Sometime around last Christmas, this video started to take off. Which blows me away, because it really isn't a very good video. But I'm happy that a few thousand people were able to take something away from it, good or bad. I hope that everyone enjoys it, and that it helps with everyone's projects.

The company you work for should give you a RAISE if you're doing step by step guides, been there & done that & even butted heads with engineers & tech publications about how crappy theirs were LOL @@doktorscottdiabolical

Haters gonna hate , i enjoyed the video

Thank you. I really appreciate it. When I made this video, I never thought more than a few dozen people would watch it. I was creating a lot of step-by-step guides at work at the time, and the video was just sort of an experiment. I really wish I could be out in the lab making more videos right now. But in the last 6 months, I've been away from home almost 7 weeks. Between that, my own chronic illness, and the Colorado weather... there just hasn't been time. Hopefully I'll have some more content in a few weeks.

@@doktorscottdiabolical I'm same , But 11 Chronic illness's but NO snow or covit here but I know what you mean about the hindrances etc & just playing around with the video initially !. Goodonya .Trev New Zealand, Home of the world's fastest old Indian & Indy etc racer Scott Dickson.Good effort, for those who don't know Engineering wise but FINE threads in Alloy (Crankcase) have a habit of stripping if torque'd up too much...everyone's been warned....

Your welcome. I had the same experience before I made the video. Lots of banging and power tools, but never the critical details you really need. This was one of my early videos and I wish the production quality was better. But I'm glad you found it useful.

LOL ...... NOTHING wrong with the production quality my friend, and I'm a FANATIC about Quality issues & creation of such detailed helps having worked 40+ years within the Quality MFG field, NOTHING was lacking in this production & SALUTE to your dad ! @@doktorscottdiabolical

Glad you enjoyed it!

WHICH WAY the bevel goes was a EXCELLENT mention for sure

You're welcome!

He said that

He DIDN'T miss that point, BUT glad you mentioned that IMPORTANT part

Great. Now I'm hungry for Dean-O's....

NOT a real big deal, it appears that he has had to remove such that SHOULD of been anti seized in the 1st place

That is actually a good idea :)

It’s what this 72 years mechanic still does

You have watched the wrong video. You wanted "how to do it in 6 minutes and maybe screw up if you ain't lucky". My video is 27 minutes long. In my experience no power tool, especially an impact tool, provides enough tactile feedback to consistently avoid stretching or tearing out the threads of these cheap, Chineseium-alloy engines. Nor do they provide enough control to avoid warping parts due to inconsistent torque values on multiple bolts. Sure, impact drivers "can" be used successfully for this installation. So can an 11-ft long snipe. But neither will be a good choice in the hands of the inexperienced person this video was intended for.

"This guy has a vendetta against impact wrenches lol."

YEP, your clip removes potential issues for those unlearned, IF someone follows YOUR procedure to a T they will have NO issues unless it's defective parts@@doktorscottdiabolical

SMOG weighs 1,350 lbs. I had plenty of power and no belt slippage while climbing a 4% grade. But I use a ton of gear reduction. Top speed is only 5 mph because : parade float.

Thanks. That means a lot to me. I'm glad that it made your day just a little bit better. I personally still can't believe that this video has been viewed 45,000 times! When I started making these videos, I honestly thought it was just going to be my Mom! If I had known it was going to be so many people, I would have tried a little harder.

Great video. I have seen people have prolly with the brass bushing locking up the clutch and they recommend not putting the bushing on. Have you had any problems like this?

The bolt that goes into the end of the crankshaft depends on exactly which engine you have, and where you live. Some are metric, some are American threads. Check the manufacturer specs for your specific engine & model.

I'm not sure what information you're looking for. With sprockets, there are three critical dimensions: chain pitch (i.e. chain size, like #35 or #40), axle diameter (the size of the hole in the sprocket), and tooth count (determines your drive ratio). There's more information on the sprockets I used in my "transmission assembly" and "dog clutch" videos. But keep in mind that I'm building a big, heavy, very slow parade float with 60" wheels. So my choice of components are based on my experience with that application.

Fingers crossed. With any precision made part, thousandths of an inch (or 10ths of a millimeter) count. But the tolerances on the parts in my kit are pretty loose. So you may get lucky. Let us know how it goes.

Did ya get your golf cart project finished?

Good suggestion. Currently, electric start is beyond my budget. But I'd love to have it some day.

The stainless steel bolt that threads into the crankshaft in this video is nominally 2" long. It actually measures 1-15/16" from the underside of the cap to the end of the bolt. That's what worked with the setup and washer stack that I used in the video. Your kit and setup may be different. The thread standard on my motor is 5/16"-24 tpi (SAE fine). BUT, that's for a Predator 212 sold in the USA. I would expect that in every other part of the world, the crankshaft would be tapped for a metric thread standard.

Not absolutely necessary. But it provides the driven pulley & jackshaft with the correct geometry in a convenient package.

Assuming oil was coming out of the spark plug hole... not necessarily anything wrong. Oil may have been added to the top end of the cylinder by the mfg as a corrosion preventative. Oil may also have seeped past the piston rings if the bike was sitting upside down or at an odd angle for more than a few minutes. That much oil (less than a tablespoon full) will burn off. You shouldn't see any more oil than that above the piston. With the ignition off, try pulling the motor through a few revolutions. If it doesn't lock up, turn on the ignition and fuel and try starting it. It'll probably smoke like a train for a few seconds. If it keeps on smoking after a minute or more, then there may be internal damage like a broken piston ring or broken valve stem, etc.

No, I haven't tried yet. In my application, it's not really necessary. My plan is to eventually enclose (or at least partially enclose) the engine with soundproofing. If I were installing this on a go-kart though, especially one used by kids, I'd definitely be installing a guard of some sort. Mt Dad had a bad experience with a go-kart pulley when he was 10, and he still had the scars 30 years later.

The bolt that I used measures 1-15/16" (50mm) from the underside of the head to the end. However, longer bolts are easy to get from any decent hardware store. Your engine manufacturer should list the diameter and thread pitch of the hole bored into the crankshaft. Those are the critical dimensions (they may be metric). Assuming you know what bolt length you need, you just go to the store and buy one that fits the hole. Note: if you can't find a bolt that will work, you can shorten a bolt that is too long by threading on a nut, cutting the bolt to length with your weapon of choice (hacksaw, grinder, This-Old-Tony karate chop), cleaning up the end a bit with a file or sandpaper, then unthreading the nut. Ain't pretty, but it works.

@@doktorscottdiabolical Thanks for the detailed replying! It is indeed the 5/16-24 pitch thread in the crankshaft, so since they were less than $1 each I got the next 3 sizes up and will choose one to use as is or trim to fit. Looking forward to getting the machine going!

I did not remove the governor. The motor is factory stock. SMOG is a parade float. He's designed to have a cruising speed of 2-3 mph.

Converting mm to bananas... 19mm = .748" so it "should". But... you won't really know until you try. All of the components on my drive pulley assembly had a pretty sloppy fit. And the kits are made in China, so maybe they're actually 19mm kits marketed to us Yankees as 3/4"?

That bolt goes directly into the end of the crankshaft. So the diameter and thread pitch depend on the engine you're using and what it's tapped for. My Predator 212cc wedge-head is tapped 5/16"-24 tpi (I'm in the USA). Length is also dependent on your engine, your actual setup and how you positioned the backing plate, the number of shims you had to improvise to get everything to line up, etc, etc. That may take some experimentation. But remember, you can "shorten" a bolt with a hacksaw.

@@doktorscottdiabolical thank you for your help!!! Do you think that it is in home depot?

Maybe. But it would be in one of the "special bolt" drawers since 5/16"-24 is UNF "fine" pitch. You'll have better luck at Ace Hardware or Tractor Supply.

If you're installing it in a bicycle, I'd recommend waiting to make your decision until after I upload the next video. I've been experimenting with the rubber engine mounts and have made a LOT of progress. That may change your decision, because rigidly mounting a 212 in a bicycle frame will transmit so much vibration that you may not want to ride it more than once. SMOG weighs 1,150 lbs, and even at that weight, rigid engine mounts were a total fail.

Call up your local machine shops and get quotes on how much itll cost to have them to make you one.. you can have them bolt the plates together. no need to weld although welded together is preferred. Bring in your bike and they can measure it for you but you can easily design your plate with 1"x6" wooden boards from lowes. You can screw up and still have plenty of board to cut a new piece of plate till you get your mounting plates perfect .. draw in where you want your bolts at that clamp the plates together and the holes for the wooden clamps that hug the seat post pipe and bottom pipe. drill out.. bolt together.. test for fit. Not big enough.. cut larger pieces.. too big.. shave off. easy. For the clamping plates that hug the seat post pipe and bottom pipe.. simply picture a 1" thick rectangle plate about 5" long. Drill a hole in the center of it that is the size of the seat post pipe. Then cut a line from one end of the rectangle down the middle till you hit the hole. Now you have a wooden clamp than can huge a pipe and have bolt holes drilled through the "clamping" end of that plate for the bolts to squeeze the "slitted" end together to hug the seat post pipe tighter. Then you you a piece of wood that bolts the clamping piece of wood to the "seat post pipe plate" that stands up vertical. Then you cut another rectangle block as a reinforcement plate to bolt the black plate to the base plate that gets clamped to the bottom pipe. And youre done. Its basically two plates, two clamping plates. and 3 reinforcement blocks that allow you to clamp the individual plate to each other and to the clamping plates. Nothing to it. oh and as the Doktor said.. rubber mounting pads everywhere the plates meet contact with the frame and motor to absorb as much vibration as possible. Itsll make the bike quieter and keep your bike from falling apart when nuts vibrate loose and fall off.

To be honest, I had to watch someone else's video for that. I've only torn down a 212 carb once. And that was on my generator after it sat for a year and the metering needle stuck shut. Dunno about mud. Parade floats generally don't get very muddy.

On my kit, the largest diameter on the drive-pulley assembly is the outer cover. It is 4.900" or 124.5mm.

Discussing torque procedures and thread-lockers is like discussing glue... or religion. Everybody's got an opinion. My best advice regarding the Predator motors is "soft alloy, small motor, take it easy with the wrench".

Yes, but it's designed to. That's how this type of torque converter works. As RPM increases, centrifugal (centripetal, whatever) force causes the weights to move outward. These cam the two halves of the cone-shaped pulleys together, engaging and driving the belt, and also increasing the effective diameter of the pulleys and thus the drive ratio. This happens automatically and is self-regulating depending on engine rpm and load. If I filmed SMOG going uphill, you would see the pulley sides move apart as load increased and RPM decreased (that's what the springs do). That would decrease the drive ratio and have the same effect as shifting into a lower gear in a manual transmission. The idea is that engine rpm remains constant for a given power setting. It's not perfect, but it does an effective job.

@@doktorscottdiabolical thanks bro. I really appreciate the thorough explanation.

Good question! If you're in the US, I would try McMaster-Carr or Granger first. Look for something like "unthreaded spacer" or "shaft bushing". You might also try an online bearing & chain shop. I've had good luck with The Big Bearing Store. If you've got a GOOD local hardware or farm supply store (the kind that has an entire isle of just nuts and bolts), you might be able to find a few spacers/washers/nuts that you can stack up. Keep in mind that on a rotating shaft, thousandths of an inch count. Standard clearance of .005" is the thickness of a sheet of paper. Anything more (like the washer I used) will introduce additional vibration and wear. IDEALLY you would determine exactly how long your spacer needs to be. Then you would find a guy with a lathe or take it to a machine shop and have the spacer faced down to the correct length. Do you know any local kart racers, drag racers, retired machinists? They may be able to point you toward a friendly shop. If all else fails, clamp your spacer in a vise, cut it off a little long with a hacksaw, then carefully file it down to size with a mill file. That method sux, but it can work if you're patient and careful. I personally intend to turn a new spacer in the mini-lathe once I have the engine location and vibration issues worked out. But that's going to be a while. I got stuck rebuilding my back yard deck this summer.

Ok! Thank you for the reply! Good info!

@@brentd3443 Saw a video where the guy said he uses copper pipe as spacers and said works great. Just cut to whatever size spacing you need.

EXCELLENT idea, I've use PVC & CVP plastic pipe for some quickie setups @@ChristopherJones16

Must be. @3:05 The bearings for the driven shaft in this kit have different bore sizes and the shaft itself has a larger diameter on the "plate side" than it does on the "pulley side". Also, there's no keyway on the "plate side" of the shaft. So there's no way to "install the shaft backwards in the plate" or to mount the sprocket to the "plate side" of the shaft. You would need to machine an entirely new driven shaft for that setup to work with this kit. Of course, there's no accounting for idiots. Somebody may have put the driven shaft in backwards and just let it flop around.

@@doktorscottdiabolical on my kit you can mount pocket n either side of plate depending on your needs. Mine is for 1in shaft not 3/4 " like this one

@@hittinone Where did you buy that one?

My belt is very stiff compared to a v-belt. But it isn't tight enough to always be engaged. Your engine should idle without turning the belt. I've noticed that these belts come in several sizes that are very close to one another, but different enough to matter. If you've checked everything else and the belt is the only issue, your kit may have included the wrong size. Or, it may just be a bad belt. Unfortunately, consistent quality is not a thing with these kits.

Turn belt around, it matters

I realize you posted this question a long time ago. But I had the same problem. I had the wrong size belt. Ultimately, I found out I needed a 725 size. 725 is the same size as this belt in this video. You can see "725" painted on the belt. GoPowerSports sells them.

YEP I worked inspecting incoming belts that were used on our Snapper mower products, there was quite a length variation ( tolerance ) used on the lengths of those belts, due to MFG variations of the mating parts occasionally there would be issues, thus ALL the belts in ONE shipment would be marked with the same part number but the actual measurements would vary BUT WITHIN tolerance, can't remember now but seems it wasn't nothing to see up to a 1/8 or more on variations @@doktorscottdiabolical

The knock-off "30-series" definitely will work with the Predator 212 wedge-head engine. Whether or not a 30-series will work in your application really depends on which Predator 212 engine you have, and the axle, sprocket, and driveline setup of your kart. You'll want to consider crankshaft diameter, chain pitch(size), Sprocket sizes (#of teeth and ratio of drive:driven), and available physical space and how much flexibility you have in mounting the unit. Each of those parts has to match the next. A TAV designed for a 3/4" crankshaft dia. won't fit on a 1" dia crankshaft. #35 chain & sprockets are not interchangable with #40, etc.

@@doktorscottdiabolical hello again... I think I may have figured something out instead of the replacement of the torque converter assembly. After I installed a new belt a couple of months ago I noticed belt dust everywhere around the engine and seat back. Last night I was looking at the alignment of the engine pulley and the axel pulley. The axel pulley sits 3/4” off center of the engine pulley. I’m guessing that could cause issues? The clutch seems to operate nicely when I have the tires off the ground and running the kart. I was told by a guy that because it’s a belt the alignment won’t matter. What do you think Doktor Scott? Also do they sell a shim or spacer set for the clutch where it mounts on the engine??

Alignment always matters. With v-belts, you can get away with a lot of misalignment. But it comes at the expense of heat, wear, and power loss due to increased resistance. With a TAV, I've read from multiple sources that the engine-side pulley alignment is critical. I had to shim mine quite a bit. I've never seen a specific shim/spacer made for this application. I'm planning to machine one at some point. Assuming you don't have a lathe, you might try searching for "shaft spacer" or "bushing stock" from McMaster-Carr, or Grainger, etc.

@@doktorscottdiabolical sounds good thx

@@doktorscottdiabolical one other thing. The pulley on the axel shaft that has a visible spring. Sometimes when riding it won’t go into the fast speed. I can sometimes here a clunk . Can that spring mechanism be cleaned and lubricated and make it function correctly??

I don't recall what came with the kit, but the crankshaft on my engine is tapped 5/16"-24tpi. I would expect engines not sold in the USA to be tapped metric. As far as the length of the bolt, I think I've answered that somewhere in the comments with an exact measurement (2 1/2 - 3 1/2 inches???). But what I'm seeing is that different kits may need different length bolts, and even the same type of kit can have significant variations. Also, the thickness of the spacer used to align the belt will make a difference. Keep in mind that any bolt can be "shortened" by cutting a bit off the end with a hacksaw or angle grinder.

2" worked for me with the spacer and washer stack I used. But if 2" is too short for your motor, get a 2-1/2" and cut it down as needed to fit your application.

​@doktorscottdiabolical oh, I was actually just putting the pacman washer on backwards, so the flange wasn't inside the shaft and was spacing it too much. Embarrassing! But thanks for your response.

Not on my kit. The bearings are different I.D. sizes and the shaft is "stepped" so it only fits one way. I've heard of a kit that allows the driven shaft to be reversed, but I've never seen it.

That's good to know that one may be out there@@doktorscottdiabolical

#35 chain is narrower, lighter, and has a shorter pitch (shorter links) than #40. That allows all of the components in the drivetrain (sprockets, shafts, etc) to be lighter and often smaller than #40 components. For a single-seat go kart, #35 is plenty strong, and is generally easier to work with. I'm using #40 because 1) I originally needed the additional strength to handle the torque of the human-powered drivetrain 2) I was already using #40 in the human-powered drivetrain and had components and tools to work with it 3) SMOG is a parade float with a top speed of 5 mph. I'm not really concerned with weight savings. If I were building a go kart where space and weight were an issue, I'd probably use #35.

Not with my kit. At least, not without a good bit of modification and lathe work. I have heard of a kit that does have that setup. But I've never seen it.

nevermind i just missed it ,,i went back over this video ,,lol

Check your pulley alignment. The belt is designed to move parallel side-to-side as the pulley faces move in and out. It isn't designed to handle misalignment angles like a v-belt would. I had to shim my driven pulley quite a bit to get it to align. Also, make sure you're using the correct belt. There are several similar looking belts available that have very subtle differences.

@@doktorscottdiabolical the alignment is perfect with the chain and belt. Before i bought the new clutch, my old one didnt tear apart the belt but burnt it until the belt lost enough width and it hardened to the point it rode up and down the spindles but wouldn't grip anything. And those were comet brand kevlar belts.. idk i guess i need to return to stock motor.

Sounds like you're cooking the belt. Too much power for a stock Series 30. Unfortunately, I don't know enough about the stage-kit world to know if a TAV upgrade would be worth the money, or if you need a Series 40. Maybe someone else can answer that question?