Taping motor

Does taping motor make it run cooler or hotter? Also on stock predator should I run heat shield on the motor or take it off? A heat shield like the one pictured. I notice some people at my local track take them off and some people leave them on.
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Taping would make it run hotter, your preference on removing heat shield but check your rules, here it must remain as take out of the box and race.
 
taping a motor will make it hotter. It also takes the fan on the flywheel out of the equation. My motor builder only wants me to tape on qualifying for clone. its different for engines running methanol as the alcohol cools the motor as well
 
It doesn't say you can't do it and I would say there are only a few of us with the heat shield on there still. My motor runs 340ish temps and it is running just right on the jets not to lean not too rich. I wonder if I took the fins off the flywheel if it would help me any and make just a tad bit more power. Anyone recomend? Also half my pull start is taped already and it still runs 340ish in 95 degree air. Next race I am running is in mid Otober so it shouldnt be super hot. Should I take off fins and see if I make a little bit more power? As long as I am not over 475 I am not concerned.
 
I didnt know if it would rob a very tiny bit of hp. Because I know on big cars the fans rob hp.
If you do anything to the flywheel it is illegal. Technically not running the heat shield is illegal but Twister doesn't tech anything anymore. Probably why their kart counts are way down. Also, No need to tape around here. If you're worried about having it at operating temp quickly, Fire it up on the stand for a few minutes before your race. Otherwise let it eat as it. If air temps drop below 50 I would consider the tape.
 
I am not wanting to cheat by any means even if they don't tech anymore. They took the head off of a jr 3 kart last race and they checked his valves and check a bunch of stuff on the head. I will just leave the fins on the flywheel.
 
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If you do anything to the flywheel it is illegal. Technically not running the heat shield is illegal but Twister doesn't tech anything anymore. Probably why their kart counts are way down. Also, No need to tape around here. If you're worried about having it at operating temp quickly, Fire it up on the stand for a few minutes before your race. Otherwise let it eat as it. If air temps drop below 50 I would consider the tape.
I love it when i hear guys say i don't tape my stuff because XYZ. Nod and smile and know i have that as an advantage in my bag.
 
I love it when i hear guys say i don't tape my stuff because XYZ. Nod and smile and know i have that as an advantage in my bag.
Typically our race season doesn't get into the area where I would start to tape. Around here it's mainly April to October which is generally racing in 70-95 degrees. Occasionally there will be a chilly evening in which case tape may help, but its rare for us. Now there was a big race back in March and temps never cracked 65. I had mine taped up for that event.

Its not out of the ordinary for the predators we run to run 400-450* during the summer completely untaped. Something else I always take into account is the shape of my bodies and the airflow associated with it. I always run Highsides with full belly pans. I find that this restricts quite a bit of air from getting down to the engine as opposed to a swoop.
 
Also something to think about when removing fins from the flywheel . Unless you are perfect at trimming them down , you are taking an already un-balanced engine , and possibly making it worse . Which would possibly cause other issues .. JM2CW
 
On my predator it is just plastic fins. I am not going to remove them though because it is illegal for the track I run at. I didnt know it was illegal till the other day. Glad I didnt take them off.
 
The only time I taped was for my first winter indoor race in Kentucky. It was 6 degrees when I loaded my trailer, 8 degrees when I got to the track. My kart actually wouldnt run without tape unless it was half choked.
 
It doesn't say you can't do it and I would say there are only a few of us with the heat shield on there still. My motor runs 340ish temps and it is running just right on the jets not to lean not too rich. I wonder if I took the fins off the flywheel if it would help me any and make just a tad bit more power. Anyone recomend? Also half my pull start is taped already and it still runs 340ish in 95 degree air. Next race I am running is in mid Otober so it shouldnt be super hot. Should I take off fins and see if I make a little bit more power? As long as I am not over 475 I am not concerned.
You talking about removing the fins on the flywheel?...if so that's a tech item
 
I was going to remove them u til I learned that it was a tech item. So they find are still on my flywheel because I don’t cheat. I am glad I learned that it was a tech item because entry checked my flywheel and flywheel key last weekend but I was all legal so i am gonna leave the motor the other is.
 
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