Who are the best engine suppliers?

I am building a new Beck Speedster, and need some advice on where to get my engine. I am located in Michigan, and plan to use the car as a daily driver in the summer. I would like something with about 100hp and obviously very good reliability. Should I order a turnkey engine, or is it better to find a local mechanic to build one?

Hi John,

Greetings from Dearborn. I would recommend CB Performance. Mine is a 140 hp 1915 that has been stroked to 2054. I would contact Carey Hines from Special Edition for a recommendation on engine. CB is one of his biggest engine suppliers. Where in Michigan are you? Good to have another Beck owner here.

I'd add Art Thraen (at ACE) to that list.
http://www.aircooledengineering.com/

Jake from State Farm, oops wrong commercial, check with Jake Raby about a bulletproof type IV.

Subaru.

angela

Sheesh, I put that up HOURS ago and nobody has offered to kick my hiney!

You guys are slippin' - LOL!

All teasing aside, John, you'll get great advice and suppport from the terrific people on this site! Please post pics of your build - we love to see what everyone is working on!

angela

OK, I'll get in line for the Hiney lick, I mean kick..(Angela, you knew I would) I hope it's a short line, I hate lines...

I take my tub in today to have my new 2332 installed, If all turns out well, then we will have another builder in So.Cal. who we can rely on to fill our needs....

If you want to see some build pics...
http://media44ys.onlineview.it/GalleryThumbnails.aspx?gallery=2589121

Pic's show shroud grey but will be satin black...
Place is called powerhaus, located in Torrance...

nice lookin engine. cam? 110 or 125?

Beautiful engine, Vince.

Looks like the engine in my old IM Roadster.

Suddenly everyone is going 911 shroud crazy.

Robert, do you recall where those rain hats came from?

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..........Robert's not wearing a rain hat.

And neither is his engine.

Robert, I still remember driving that car. Very nice.

Geez Vince, the guy needs to clean his shop! Nice motor.Go fast.

aaaaaaah, Gordon, I take it that was a joke. What are those black things on Robert's carbs called if not "rain hats"?

Rich, I got a pair of rain hats from Carey Hines at Special Editions....

I bought that car from Henry, so I assume it was he who installed the 'rain hats'.

Can't tell you much more than that.

And I stand corrected. When I first looked, I thought it just had black filter elements with black covers. It honestly doesn't look like there's enough of an opening for the filters (from the angle the photo was taken) to get enough air in there. Usually we see the rain hats flared somewhat to allow free passage of air. Must be more to it than can be easily seen from the photo.

I'll second the recommendation on CB Performance. Pat Downs builds a great motor.

John, will Carey be installing your engine?

Tom- I'm in Midland. Carey recommended CB performance. I talked to Pat Downs at CB, and he said a 1915cc making about 110 hp sounded like it would work for what I was interested in doing. I also got a recommendation from Sam Shakelford at Rancho, where my transmission is coming from, that Chico Performance was very good as well. CB quoted about $6000. Does that sound about right? I plan to do the install myself with a little help from friends that are more mechanical than me. Is that crazy? Should I be looking for a shop to install? I bought the kit rather than a turnkey car because I wanted to do the work myself. But, I want the thing to be driveable.

Vince, that is awesome!!!

John, just in case you haven't ordered your Rancho yet, I've got a 3,600 mile Wright tranny looking for a new home which came with my Beck. 3.88 R&P, stock VW gearing. Asking $425 or B.O. You seem to be on a tight budget so it might help you out.

John, the price is about right. I think you'll be fine with engine install yourself. There's not an easier Powertrain to install. All you need is a floor jack. I was planning a group photo shoot in front of Rosie's Diner near Grand Rapids, but they closed down last fall. I'm not sure if the building is still there.I

I went with a Chico motor,so far 2200 miles it has been a dream,no oil leaks/oil burning/valve train is quiet,very happy with mine.
All of the above mentioned builders are good as well,I just went with Chico due to his great rep,and he provided a dyno sheet which powerhaus (my second choice) did not. I asked for 130HP and was provided a dyno sheet with 136hp,which was awesome.
Both CB & Powerhaus have good reputations/experience so you can't go wrong.
Here is a video of my motor,it cost $4900.00 this included new Webere 44 IDF's,and aluminum block/straight cut cam gears/Webcam/Kennedy clutch/all rotating assemblies dynamically balanced/CNC heads/ratio rockers/chromoly pushrods,etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdwRa7H-1kA&feature=g-upl&context=G27c4f73AUAAAAAAAAAA

Tom--impressive sounding engine! Great sound. I know you will be happy with your engine! Congrats.

Jack - Nice sound. What muffler system have you got?

Me? I have the A 1 Sidewinder on my Type IV---a new model designed so you don't have to remove the muffler in order to adjust the valves.

I'll attach a photo. It's well made, ceramic coated and lots of pipe!

It dynoed at 18 more hp than a CSP Python we tried and much more than a Vintage (Taiwan) exhsust.

I like it a lot.

John, btw, contact me when it's time to get it registered.

Thomas - that is a very respectable hp/$ ratio

nice powerband too:
http://speedsterowners.com/files/download.asp?subfolder=/JamesBondSilver/scan0002.jpg

what is it like below 2500 rpm?

I thought an 82mm stroke and 90.5 bore makes 2110cc?

Thanks Mango,the tq. is there from 1k on up,it is so smooth and sweet and feels very linear,and not super peaky at all,however you cn feel the power increase as the revs rise vs. the old motor where it had tq. but no high end HP.
Yes the typo is on the dyno sheet,it is a 2110 motor. I treat it like a "race" engije with valve adjustment every 1K miles and oil change every 1500-2K miles tops.
With the light weight and goo tq./HP it really moves and the powerband makes it very easy to drive,I love this damn car!

Mango-man,how does that T4 motor feel in that car? It must really boogie...,have you ever dynoed your setup? Is it stock displacement/porting/cam/???? What is your rev limit with your setup? Just curious,never drove a performance built T4 car before.
And the big question,"how much did it cost",I know those engines can be spendy.

Sorry about all the typos in my posts,I am typing/proofreading challenged....

Thomas - i built the motor myself

It's not a massive high performance, but it's a healthy one.

the specs are here:
http://www.mangosmoothie.ca/specs

I've never dyno'd it, but based on the setup and tuning - i'd estimate it around 130 / 135 ish hp. The torque curve has got to be flat as i can easily drive up steep hills at 2500 rpm.

it MOVES. it has boatloads of torque

rev limit is driven by my electronic system (programmable). It's currently set at 6000rpm. although, i have only hit it once. i can feel the power band drop off before that (~5500rpm)

as for price - parts - i kinda stopped counting :) It was sub $5K for sure though with everything (A1 sidewinder, DTM, alternator, core engine, dual webers, P&C's, webcam, liters, heads (incl. valves & work) and all misc stuff.

i spent the time, doing research, slowly building it. The Bugme T4 video was helpful. There is also a helpful video on youtube with lots of details.

Mango, any clues on that You Tube video?

shortblock:

longblock:

Oh, yes, Ivan's (he goes by Van) videos. He did a fine job on this, his whole web page is great. We communicate every few months via a friendly e-mail or two. Nice guy! Here's his link: http://www.ephotomotion.com/914engine/page15.html

For those who can't get enough motor pic's, if you go to the link I provided earlier in this thread, my shroud is now painted and installed on motor, should go in the tub in the next few days...