Rod Penrose Racing Blog

Hi Rod, Sorry it's been so long getting back to you - how time flies when you're having fun. The engine has now been tuned (with the flow meter I bought from you) and actually required very little adjustment. The Beetle's body is in Melbourne getting painted so am looking forward to putting everything back together soon. Whilst my car is not the high-end project you're probably best known for, the advice and  assistance you provided was outstanding. It's unusual to find an internet site where you can actually talk to an expert and get the right bits for your engine and transmission, as well as plenty of good advice to go with them. I've attached  a photo of the engine end of the chassis - it's not super flash but I'm happy! Cheers, Roger

This 100% brand new engine of Doug's will be fitted into an early Karmann Ghia that he is  restoring. This 2276cc engine has custom CNC ported heads, Engle FK-43 cam and 1.4 rockers, Dual 44mm RPR IDF carbs and a TriMil 1 5/8" ceramic sidewinder exhaust system and a 8.8 compression ratio. When dyno tuned in 2 weeks' time I expect that it should produce about 165HP with lots of torque. I will post the dyno video on my website once tuned with the results so keep checking! Cheers Rod

Here is another engine I have just finished for Alan who lives near Coffs Harbour that he will fit into his 54 oval beetle.  This 2276cc engine is identical to the one I finished on Monday and posted recently with the difference being that this engine has a Vintage Speed competition exhaust fitted. The engine uses an Engle FK-43 cam, custom CNC ported heads with 42 x 37.5 valves, 8.8 compression and a set of my RPR 44mm IDF carbs. I will dyno this engine along with about 4 more engines on my next dyno day in 3 weeks' time and I will post the results of these 2 identical engines to compare the difference in the exhaust systems....keep an eye out. Cheers Rod

This is Greg's car and is a beautiful sky blue 1967 on the Dyno. Greg was after an engine that was both very "drive-able" and easy to maintain and yet with a bit of grunt! Here is the link to the page on the website for this engine...please note that we added all of the ancillary tinware, carbs etc.

Howdy Rod .. just a quick shout out mate .. drove my bus 6 hours straight in 35 degree heat never under 60 mph sometimes hitting 75 .. good test .. ran like a f****** train didn't quite reach 90 degrees engine temp .. and she loved it! .. woo hoo! .. get down! .. loving it man

Thanks for your great service – that order made it to me in a week, I’m really impressed with your systems & efficiency.  Even the courier was great.  Most couriers look at my steep driveway & don’t go down it – they just  leave a collection notice – even when there is someone home; but your courier made the effort. From start to finish, buying from you was great.

Hi Rod, I would just like to say thank you, for the help and assistance you have shown me throughout my motor rebuild. Without it I would have been in all sorts of bother. I remember when I arrived at your place with an engine that had died in pieces and I was expecting to spend way more than I did due to you telling me that some parts were reusable where you could have sold me much more than you finally did, which probably would not have been the case if I had gone elsewhere. Well the knock I thought I had in the motor was my imagination and all is well and now the car is finally registered and mobile. Again I cannot thank you enough for the amount of times I rang you asking for information and advice.

Luke from Newcastle in NSW has a 1957 split Kombi van. He was looking for a powerful fast revving engine to get around town. After having a chat, he ended up choosing a 2276 turnkey dyno tuned engine ready to install. This engine acheived 137 HP @ the wheels ( 172 @ the engine ) with over 210 ft./lb's of torque. The engine is fitted with some of my custom round port 044 heads and Engle W110 cam with 1.25 rockers and my RPR 44mm IDF carbs. The engine has a compression ratio of 9.26 and is supplied with an external oil cooler for added cooling. In addition, an oil temp gauge was also supplied and installed in order to keep the engine temps under control. The TriMil 1 5/8" ceramic coated Sidewinder exhaust system allows the engine to make peak revs @ 6500 rpm's.

Thanks again for sending the crank so quick. Also, I've got to say that your website is really great and very easy to use. There's a lot of good info on it as well......

Just thought I'd let you know that the dual 40mm you sold me are working superbly, I bolted them on, it started no problem straight away, I balanced them, did the mixtures and the linkages and its a totally different machine to ride now, awesome power in the midrange and topend now, I can hardly believe its the same motor...