Let's take a serious look at evolution of change to this engine. The blue H.F. engine was the starter. Most of us are aware that the specs from one to another was way out of line. some of the cranks were 2.118 to 2.135. Some of the pistons were .040 in the hole and some were as little as .009. Some of the heads had the valves sunk below the surface of the chamber and some were as high as .030. Many of the cams were much more lift and duration than others. Everyone knows that an engine with a short crank, piston in the hole a lot, and a head that has valves sitting above the deck is not going to perform as good as an engine that has a long stroke, minimal piston in the hole and valves that are sunk in the head and cam that has lots of lift let alone duration. When the organizers got together and decided to create this program for karting, it was expected to get karting going again. The first engine was the Box Stock Project yellow. That was the engine that the actual first specs for AKRA came from. The first thing they needed to do was spec out the cam. To this day the cam still has the original specs of .050 and .200 duration checks and the lift at the push rods and retainer. There isn't much room for improvement on a cam that has those checking points. Some may think so and I know some are trying. But has anyone ever seen any dyno numbers on any cams that prove to us that there is a "BIG" difference from cam to cam? NO. Just hear say. Next there had to be a spec on the stroke. Why" Because AKRA opened up the "any 196" ruling and due to the big stroke cranks in the H.F. engines, it was only fair that all of us would be allowed to find a big crank for our use. Now you have a number on the stroke. Had to be put there, no getting around it. Next, the rings had to have some rulings put on them. AKRA had no means of proving that the rings were not stock during tech so they had to put a spec on them as well. Then they had to put specs on the weight of parts because of the builders ( not necessarily the big ones either ) Most of you can see where I am going with this. What do you get for 900 to 1000.00 dollars from a big time builder? Are you getting that max. stroke crank, that lightest specially treated rod, that lightest piston, that best flowing head, that special set of bearings, that lightest set of valves, that lightest wrist pin, that lightest lifter set, that lightest set of push rods, that best carb. How many engines do you think the builder goes through to find the lightest and best stuff for that 900.00 to 1000.00 engine. Now with that being said, if, and that is a big if, I am getting all that then the time he spent giving it to me is worth every penny. BUT, just how many of those special parts exist for every single engine that goes out the door for that price? Man, there must be a bunch of junk parts lying around in some of those shops!!!!!
