Engine Vendor

I just purchased a new Beck without engine and transmission. I have an engine and transmission out of a '70 Bug but, cannot build them for what I could exchange them for. I am interested in recommendations for a vendor who is reputable, has a good product at a good cost with a warranty. I would appreciate any input.

Thanks,

Gary

Find an engine builder as close to where you live in case you need the services later on down the road.

Joe,
I tried a couple of places and both told me it would be much less expensive to buy from a California vendor.

Thanks,

Gary

From all the posts I've seen, the two kings of the air-cooled industry are:

www.cbperformance.com (Bob Thomlinson) California
www.aircooledtechnology.com (Jake Raby) Georgia

I've heard horror stories about other builders, so I'd stick w/ one of the biggies for Type 1 or 4 engines. I ordered my engine from CB, mainly because I have one of Claude Thomlinson's books on Type 1 motors and they are Vintage's first choice. I've heard great things about Jake too, and appreciate his valuable knowledge on SpyderClub forums.

Find yourself a good local tuner to do the mainenance, and you should be ok w/ one of these two guys' motors.

Pat Downs at CB Performance is the engine builder; he built a very nice 2,110 for me and will be building my new Speedster's 2,387. Jake is a type 4 specialist that also builds type 1's; on the East Coast Kurt Mezger's shop in Pensylvania builds very nice type 1 engines.

Thanks for the info. I checked CB and Raby websites and both offer a good selection of engines. Is there a recommendation on a displacement that best fits the Spyder for driveability and performance?
Thanks

Gary.

I ordered the 2276 Type 1 from CB. That's quite a bit of horsepower. Make sure to use a taller tranny setup if you're going to use a 2L+ motor, otherwise you'll just smoke your tires in first gear. I went w/ the 3.44 final ratio to keep my RPM's lower on the highway.

Aloha,

Clyde Berg is also building motors on the side (last time I heard). Try FAT Performance also.

If you want reliability, don't cut corners. You can pretty much make anything bulletproof if you have the $$. People who read my posts on other forums are probably sick of hearing this, but for my next project I'm thinking of using a 1600T(urbo) kit from A.J. Sims. Build a nice solid 1600 or 1776 with some decent headwork and I think it would be a fun ride...especially in a Spyder!

~Joel

Another excellent engine builder is Bernie Bergmann, he will build you what you want. Explain what you want and he will tailor it for your vehicle. IMHO, no one can build a better engine.

Uh, if you want some opinions about Bernie Bergman built engines you might ask on the cal-look forum. Don't be surprised if you get MANY responses and they are all BAD.

Well George, I'll tell you that you may have been fed some incorrect information. Mr. Bergmann has built me two engines, neither less than 2liters, one in 1984 and one in 2000, both engines not only perform faultlessly, but also hold together, the 1984 one is still running strong. FYI, I asked Mr. Bergmann why he doesn't argue about complaints, like in this petty instance, and challenge those who would degrade his product(s), he said that talk is cheap and performance will always prove those wrong. So, if you don't know Mr. Bergmann by either dealings or have some real strong first hand information, I for one would consider you just another opinion in the wind, if you get my drift.

There are a few very fine engine builders in the market, my first choice would of course be Jake Raby, Burgmann also build a good product and I would personally by from Bergmann before I'd ever buy a CB Performance.

George builds a really good engine, but the monkeys in his shop do not and his volume prevents high quality control and testing. I had one that had mis-matched internal engine parts like connecting rods from two different makers and I wondered why before I tore it down and found two different makes of connecting rods, and they were not even the same weight. There was also some other questionable parts and set-up problems too. To his credit George sent me a set of matched rods, but I just wouldn't do it again.

Damn, this is a very interesting post...

Go to Google and do searches on each name here and see what pops up....I know what will come up on my search, and the others as well.

When I turn down work I send the customers to FAT or CB, but NO ONE else, to everyone else, this is just a job, to guys like us, FAT and CB we live for it.

CB builds most of the engines for Beck and have a 1900 and a 2165 motor. I have the 2165 in my Beck installed his long gearbox after a year. I have driven both and found the 'long' gearbox works best with the 2165 motor and the regular gear box with the 1900. I would make sure you get the external oil filter and electronic ignition. Just my thoughts, good luck.


Arnie
Beck 638