Thorpe Engine Development was born in the early 1970’s when we started making 2-stroke exhaust systems, known then as expansion chambers. Hand held calculators and look up tables were what we had to work with. We made custom hand-built exhaust systems for motorcycles in motocross and desert racing. Even dabbling in some Speedway racing. Off road racing trucks and circle track cars were outfitted with Thorpe exhaust systems and mufflers. Moving to the other side of the engine we built custom intake manifolds for motorcycles and a two barrel ram manifold for a circle track car. We also made roll cages along with tubular bumpers, and aluminum fuel tanks for off road racing. Starting a welding shop in the 80’s curtailed most of our engine development work. But loving engines, power, and speed, we just couldn’t stay away and next built an exhaust system with a special muffler for Ford’s Stadium and Baja trucks, being one of the first to use the stepped tube design. After a move from Southern California to Idaho we started making boat mufflers and custom hand-built motorcycle mufflers. With the acquisition of a Super Flow SF 600 flow bench, things really started to move forward. We could test, modify, and build all under one roof. It was a perfect setup. Just a few steps to the welding shop to make a change and a few steps back to the flow bench to test our theory and progression. With the flow bench, we could now test motorcycle, car, and boat engine components, anything that moved air! No more having to farm out flow bench work to get concrete data. The flow bench showed us what worked and what didn’t. No more guessing. Aluminum boat mufflers now were the order of the day. The mufflers worked good on the flow bench, but how do they perform in “real life”? Real life testing worked for a while, but was just too demanding in man-hours and time constraints. In 2006 we purchased a computerized Super Flow 902 engine dynamometer. The flow bench is now computer controlled and monitored to keep up with the dynamometer. Engine simulation programs have been added along with an electronic valve spring tester.
Realizing that an engines power is (generally) found in the cylinder head and the tools for testing flow are mostly handmade and not readily available, we saw a need for making these cylinder head testing tools available to flow bench operators. So we started making flow balls. Our flow balls are easy to use and come with a hanger system, making them convenient and user-friendly.
We want to shorten your learning curve time and make your testing time more valuable and productive. With good quality tools made in the United States.