390 carb on 212

Would be nice to hear someone who runs one answer, but here's what I've picked up. I believe Jody from ARC said (don't quote me) in one of his videos that the 390 carb worked good on methanol but he wasn't able to get one to work as well on gas. As far as venturi size you're going from something like 17mm on a bored 196 to 21mm on a stock 390. I've seen 390's that are bored to 24mm for sale online. I'd say that's a substantial move up in size.
 
I have only seen 390 carbs on the 212s in alcohol applications. Infact we have one on a predator 212 on alcohol with a 390 and it works good. I don't know how it compares to bored stock carb thought cuz I have never ran one. I saw with the right setup and cam you can run a 390 alcohol carb on a 212 and it will run like a beast.
 
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The 390 carb will flow a considerable amount more than the bored stock one. With a good head the 390 carb makes far more power. I run stocked bored carbs with 28.5 valve heads and 390's on 32 valve heads.
 
17 MM to 21 MM, I calculate, is a 53% increase in area. That's a bunch.

I would be interested in knowing the jet sizes. Isn't that meant to be a gasoline carburetor?

Strange that it works better with alcohol versus gasoline! Any theories on why that is? It is, after all, a gasoline carburetor! Right! Maybe it's that big increase in area!
 
I run alky in 2 built 212's. Started out with out of the box NR 390 carbs and they both ran very well. Recently switched one of them to the 24mm version and it made a significant improvements. Both motors have 32mm intakes and both run at 8500 rpm. I have a 28mm Mikuni slide on and animal and while its a really good carb I personally woudnt spend the $$$ to put one on my 212's. I don't think it would run that much better than the 390 carb.
 
Does anyone run a 390 carb on a 212? if so how does it compare to a bored stock carb
I run a 390 stock bore on 212s and 220s with E-85, works great, especially my 220 with 28mm valves. Working on a 212 with 32mm valves and a bored 390 not to my liking yet.
 
i read that too somewhere... here? that the 390 is hard to tune on a 212. i got one on my new motor that i havent started yet. thin air here, needs more air... less fuel for 13 PSI atmospheric pressure instead of 14.7 PSI at sea level... and no matter what... lose 12% power cuz of less air... no matter how much fuel dump into it, just wasted fuel. still with the stock valve opening minus valve stem x .85 (85% efficiency of engine)... figure 25mm valve opening minus 5mm stem x .85... and it is ~17mm or .669" . . i hand drilled a few carbs with 17mm drill bit. got into the idle jet pocket and the needle and seat pocket, epoxied them ... havent run them. just a somthing to do thing . if cld drill UP and to the opposite side of the idle jet pocket that wud be the way to go, but hand drill with big just centers itself in the hole.
 
Need to keep in mind that there is the same 13 psi pushing the fuel thru the jet.

I believe Al tries to tell people this.
I don't always agree with his methodology, but simple truths are there.

Flow rates at pressures and pressure differentials are where I think the calculations have a problem.
 
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