This came to me in a PM, but I thought interesting for the thread, so I'm posting it here:
Hi, I race on a tight budget, so I was looking into the Orion 3 port motor (sells for about $199). Do you have any suggestions for maximum power and reliability? Which pipe also. Thanks a bunch.
Hi there. I think you are making a good choice
Have you owned other engines before? Just take your time breaking it in, and if you don't have a lot of experience, you can maybe get help from an expert level friend. I always seal up the carburetor before doing anything to the engine. Put grease on all the o-rings and just make sure there won't be any air leaks. Also, use a small zip tie on the dust boot. Pre-heat the engine if possible the first few times you start it. Just run some figure eights in a parking lot somewhere and make sure the engine is rich. Then after a few tanks take it on the track rich for awhile. It depends on the initial pinch in the engine, but once it starts to loosen up a bit after a half gallon or so, you can tune for power. I recommend the 2058 or 2013 pipe for that engine. 2058 is a little quieter...