briggs flathead carb on ohv motor... can it work?

I have found a functional but dirty carb from one of my old racing flatties (12hp) and thought I may be able to use it to cure a fuel problem on my 16.5 ohv stock motor. Would this carb starve the motor for fuel or just what? Could I port it a bit to add fuel intake to compensate? or really does it matter?

I know in some flatties they used piston size differences to adjust HP in given blocks (28, 31 etc) and yet others used the carb/intake to make the change. I've had flatties with both kinds of differences, and some where the differences were not noticeable (like a flattie 8hp having the same stock carb as a 12hp, part # and all)

So, as I was saying, would this carb, properly prepped work on a 16.5 ohv motor? Not worried about the fuel cutoff, I have a shutoff valve for that... will it be enough of a carb to run it though?

I'd say no. You'd need to swap to bigger needles and jets and by then the air fuel mixture would be way off.

Ive swapped from flathead to ohv several times usually works fine sometimes have to change jets probably will since its going from 12 to 16.5 but the only way to know dor sure it to try it .

Its worth a try it might work.
But im not sure.

Things to think about-

1)A carb is a carb. It doesn't care whether it's on a flatty, OHV, OHC.
2)Size matters. In the automotive world, we'd calculate CFM requirements and work from there. Unfortunately, in the world of small engines and OPE, we don't get CFM specs. So measure the old venturi size, and the new one. Too big is just as much a problem as too small.
3)Bolt-On? Probably not. Be aware that you may have to fab an intake adapter, or buy one.
4)Jetting- Expect to have to re-jet. Get it on, get it going, read the spark plug, and let the engine tell you what it needs.

Your carb swap plan may work, but there's a size difference between the donor engines. Give it a shot, but remember- a carb that's too big may actually cause the engine to run too lean. With a huge venturi, there may be so much air available that it's not drawing enough fuel. A carb doesn't "deliver" air or fuel, it allows it to be drawn in...