Welcome to EC Carburetors. You've made it to this page because you scanned a QR code from our PRI booth or found us searching online.
You can find many of the parts we carry by clicking on the sections of our website above. You can also learn more about EC by clicking here on our About Us page.
We want to showcase many of the products we brought to PRI and information about many of the products we design and build in-house.
Starting with what we brought to PRI
Limited Mod Clone Class – In the late summer of 2023, Jerry Welch of Welch Performance spearheaded the development of a new limited, modified class for next year's Big O and other significant national races. Unfortunately, Jerry would unexpectedly pass in the fall. EC Carburetor, Dyno Cams, and others are working together to create a rule set allowing a 212cc-based engine to run with the Limited Modified Animals and create its own class. We have the rules nearly complete, and we are testing engines now.
"Kaiju" Billet Engine Assembly based on the GX200 Honda – We previewed this new engine last year but could not release it for sale. We may have been a little too ambitious with many other projects in the work simultaneously. We had many features we wanted to include, but it kept pushing back the release date. One of those features was different mounting brackets for the ignition coils. We wanted fixed and adjustable brackets for the standard and PVL ignition coils. Many supporting components for the billet block were redesigned or developed, which also postponed the release of the block.
"Blitzkrieg" Billet Heads – We have been on and off designing a billet head for the Honda-Clone small block engines. Like the block, we had a lot of ambitious ideas and wanted to make a head for the Briggs Animal and a Hemi and Non-Hemi Head for the Clones. However, things were changing faster than expected, and new components were added to our catalog that pushed back the development.
Last year, we previewed our hemi version. However, we were still determining if the hemi would be too difficult to set up between the machining for piston-to-valve clearance and rocker geometry. We shifted gears and worked on building a Non-Hemi Head that would use our current rocker arm selection. The cylinder head will be set up for our #270 dual springs, which we usually use in our big block and v-twin engines to get the spring pressure and allow up to .500" lift. To make this work without 5.5mm valves, we are creating new retainers to fit those springs. The new head should be ready around February once the retainers are made.
Heavy Duty Rev Rockers – We update our roller rockers with needle bearings. We have been highly requested to build our Rev Rockers for the Non-Hemi Clones to use needle bearings instead of bushings. We had to redesign the bodies and make them slightly larger to fit those bearings. At the same time, we increase the roller diameter to allow more clearance, especially for those running lash caps.
We're also updating our Vanguard/Intek V-twins rockers and adding a new lineup for the Big Block Honda Clone Engines. The Big Block Rockers will require clearance for the cylinder heads that use the single bolt valve cover. We highly recommend using the Wildcat 460 Big Block or Similar big block heads that use a four-bolt valve cover, which doesn't need the clearance and will allow more adjustment for rocker geometry.
Billet Valve Covers – We have previewed the "raceseng-style" valve covers for the Non-Hemi Heads for several years. The main issue has been making the internal check valve/baffle. We now have a solution and are working on having those made. We also have new valve covers in the works for the Ghost/Ducar/Tillotson 212E hemi cylinder heads.
Wildcat WC946 Non-Hemi Cylinder Head – The WC946 was based on our idea when developing the Tillotson 225RS to have a head specific to that model. That would have a smaller, redesigned combustion chamber with a larger valve combination. However, the decision was made to use the same head on the 212R. Seeing the value in having such a hea, we put the work in to build the head ourselves. The head has made improved features that offer better out-of-the-box performance and greater flexibility to modify the head. The head has a 31mm/25mm valve combination, and the spark plug hole is moved to allow much larger valve combinations. The inlet of the port is made larger to fit larger carburetors more easily, and the casting is fuller to give more room for porting. We focused on building it with the cylinder head builder in mind.
Over the years, we have used many different castings to modify them with bigger valves and used CNC equipment for porting. The Wildcat Head will further streamline production and raise the bar in performance.
EC Forged 72mm Pistons & Oversizes – As part of our Billet Block Project and the Tillotson 72mm cast block, we have designed a new 72mm forged piston vs the stock hypereutectic Tillotson piston. We have shortened the compression height to allow a slightly longer rod, added moly coating to the skirts, and have made .005", which will enable a rebuild to our 236cc kits while still meeting the legal requirements of the 14.5ci classes. We will also have .010" and .020."
Lightweight Flywheels – Standard Billet Flywheels are designed to meet the minimum weight allowed for the 196cc box stock kart classes. However, most customers are not restricted by those rules and would benefit from a lighter-weight flywheel. We have a finned and fin-less version of these flywheels that will use the standard analog coils.
Billet Side Covers – We made two revisions to our billet side cover for the small block engines over the last year. We first moved the oil fill from the top to the front to be more accessible for kart racers using the chain-guard heat shield. We did not expect those with electric start engines to use a billet side cover, but the new oil fill location made it impossible to use the billet side cover due to the electric starter. So we moved the oil fill back to the original location, added an oil fill and dipper hole to the factory cast locations to have multiple options, and added a new dipstick to check the oil fill level.
Engine and Clutch Tools – One of the areas we are growing is the engine tools to make building this small engine easier and as precise and professional as a big car engine. Our latest tools are a universal depth gauge and clutch spring height gauge. In the works are engine stands, degree wheels, indicator brackets for checking camshafts, valves train, and crankshaft endplay.
Those are many of our new and revised parts that we are bringing to PRI, but below are many components that make up our catalog.
What are some of the EC Products?
We must start with carburetors because that has been our claim to fame for the last 40 years.
Tillotson/Dominator Carburetors – Tillotson is synonymous with kart racing carburetor performance. But did you know EC Birt was designing and developing many carburetors in the late 80s through the early 2000s? EC's design influenced the modernization of the carburetor's venturi shape used by many similar diaphragm carburetors in karting. However, EC's development with the original diaphragm carburetor Tillotson and his modified Dominator versions helped them gain the reputation that holds to this day, especially in the 4-cycle karting.
Intimidator Carburetors – The Intimidator is a cast and later a billet diaphragm carburetor based on the Tillotson platform. EC's current owner, Carroll, wanted a semi-universal body covering various applications. If you don't know, Tillotson and diaphragm carburetors generally have their fuel circuit drilled into the body, meaning no metering rods, fixed jets, air-bleed, etc. The carburetor was limited in application because of the fuel circuit made into the carburetor from the factory. Carroll wanted blank bodies made, but the only way was to cast them himself. Later, making them out of the billet allows more flexibility to change the shape and orientation as needed.
Slide Carburetors – EC Carburetors is no stranger to slide and bowl carburetors. In recent years, slide carburetors have become very inexpensive, driving their popularity. While any brand can be blueprinted, the trend has gravitated toward the "PWK" style carburetor. Thankfully, carburetors can share more parts across different sizes, including the billet intake manifolds, to adapt these carburetors to our small engines.
Tillotson R-Series Engines – Our relationship with Tillotson put us in a partnership to develop their R-series of engines, including the 196R, 212R, and 225RS. The 196R was designed for the 196 box stock classes used primarily for dirt oval racing, the 212R is a wide-application range from dirt ovals to hopped-up mini bike replacement engines, and the 225RS is a Touch-and-Go style engine for 4-cycle sprint racing similar to the Briggs LO206.
We designed the R-series blocks to improve the architecture of the Honda GX200-based blocks with reinforcements to endure high cylinder pressures and higher rpms. This block, in particular, the 72mm bore, has elevated the entire modified market, providing the best platform for the development of newer parts from camshafts and cylinder heads and beyond.
Another critical component is the 72mm Tillotson piston we designed. The goal was to make an alternative to more expensive aftermarket forged pistons. Typically, most Honda-Clone engines like the Predator are no bigger than 70mm, which allows the Tillotson to have a displacement advantage. To make the bigger piston more durable, we used a smaller wrist pin than stock, a thinner ring package, a shorter compression height, and a longer combination of rods. These pistons have been used in highly modified combinations, turning more than 10,000 rpms. It's not bad for being based on a power equipment engine.
Wildcat Engines – The Wildcat is a new brand that EC is developing. While the Tillotson has been a game-changing platform, it can come at a higher cost. EC has more liberty to work on its own to improve the performance of these engines while limiting the overall cost for those on a limited budget. The Wildcat brand starts with a 223cc engine and a block second only to the Tillotson in strength. Over the last few years, EC has developed a 26mm slide carburetor based on the PZ26, curved intake manifolds, and a new cylinder head casting with new parts and engines coming in the spring of 2024.
Evolution EVO-1 Cylinder Head - The Evolution was designed to bridge the gap between cast and billet heads. Rather than building the head strictly off the stock inlet and exhaust ports and many stock dimensions, we made the head more like a billet head with raised ports, bigger valves, etc. The difference is that it cast the first of its kind for the Honda-Clone engines. When it comes to class rules, there are many cases where billete heads are not allowed. However, no rules limit the extent of modification to a cast head. Since labor is a driving cost factor, a modified cast head could cost as much as a billet head. To resolve this issue and fill the gaps in the market, we cast the EVO-1. After proving itself on the race track, the head has been hugely successful in the last year.
Stainless Steel Valves – In developing the JT-207 Tillotson Head, the EVO-1, WC946, and our billet heads, stainless steel valves had to be made. Unlike the automotive and motorcycle world, these are not readily available items. So, we designed new valves to fit our new heads and some of the more common heads on the market. We've also started to design valves for the Big Block and V-twin engines.
Aluminum/Titanium Retainers – Lightweight aftermarket retainers, like the stainless steel valves, were not readily available for our different engines. We designed aluminum and titanium retainers for 5mm, 5.5m, and 6mm stems and for our single, dual, and beehive springs.
Pistons – We mentioned we designed the 72mm piston for the Tillotson 225RS or 72mm bore blocks. We also made a cast 76mm piston for our big bore small block engines. Like the 72mm, creating a more affordable alternative to the aftermarket forged pistons made these big displacement engines more accessible.
Connecting Rods – In combination with the new parts created during the Tillotson 225RS, includes a billet rod to fit the new 72mm piston. We started to build our forged aluminum rods for the Tillotson blocks that would allow different stroke crankshafts. We continued with our Wildcat Engines and the other Tillotson engines and combinations that would increase the stroke of many other common Honda-Clone Engines. We've now started designing billet rods for the big blocks and v-twins.
Flywheels/Ignition – We have designed billet aluminum and steel flywheels with different companies in karting. We also designed the billet flywheel used on the Tillotson 225RS to use a CDI ignition coil made by PVL. We've made new models of flywheels using different tapers, PVL, standard ignitions, and low-fin and finless designs. These air-cooled engines use the fins on the flywheel to help cool the engine. In drag racing, there is minimal temperature in the engine due to the short runs and use of methanol. To reduce drag on the engine, most use a lightweight finless design.
PVL is now owned by Tillotson, which has allowed us direct access to the PVL ignition coils. We have our 12,000rpm model based on the Briggs Animal Footprint. We chose this platform since most flywheels and bracket adaptors are made for this style coil.
Tennessee Thunderstix – We've been in and out of camshaft development for over a few decades. The growth and concentration of the Honda-Clone performance market has given us more opportunity to go deeper into developing new camshafts. We want to expand this part of our business beyond the limited profiles and catalogs to create our original designs. Most current catalogs were developed on different engines or developed before many of the latest cylinder heads, carburetors, and engine blocks were produced. Thanks to the newest part development, we believe more power can be made for a broader range of applications.
We still have many more projects in the works for 2024!