TheSamba.com :: View topic - Art Thraen

Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:25 pm

I have noting but the up most respect for Art and the boys at ACE.
Art’s attention to detail, quality and knowledge is second to none. The work that comes out of his shop speaks volumes.
His carburetor work is the best in the business. His motor builds are unbelievable. The extreme detail and quality control measure he has in place is top notch.

Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:06 pm

Needed a set of dual carbs for my 1776 I'm building. Nervouse about buying carbs because you just don't know what you're getting, what the quality is and what the rebuild status is. Found Art selling a set of 40mm Kadrons with air cleaners and linkage. Knew his reputation and jumped on the chance. Arrived today boxed perfectly. Each carb in it's own packed box. Came with all the gaskets, fuel line, linkage, manifolds and carbs for a great price. Wish my motor was done so I could bolt them on. Thanks Art.

Thu Feb 19, 2009 2:29 pm

Just got my kads redone and a proper vacuum port put in by Art. Incredibly fast, price was reasonable, very helpful and knowledgable on the phone. I have the utmost confidence that the carbs will totally rock when I get the engine together. Thanks!!!!!

Wed Mar 25, 2009 9:32 am

Just made a minor purchase from Art:he handled as if it was a 20K sale.Kudos'bro,and thanks for all your help.Keep up the great work.

Wed Mar 25, 2009 2:26 pm

Quote: he handled as if it was a 20K sale

Ya know - that attitude that he has impressed the hell out of me. Theres too many that feel like they are doing you a favor by letting you give them money. Not Art.

Wed Mar 25, 2009 2:35 pm

andk5591 wrote: Quote: he handled as if it was a 20K sale

Ya know - that attitude that he has impressed the hell out of me. Theres too many that feel like they are doing you a favor by letting you give them money. Not Art.
His after sale support is second to none.

Fri Apr 10, 2009 2:11 pm

I did many searches after having problems with clutch slip. Art replied to a thread and I ended up buying one of his highly rated copperhead discs. He even offered very helpful advice on pressure plate choices. It will be fitted soon and I know it'll be the cure. It was shipped to me in the UK when he said it would and came perfectly packaged too.

Thanks Art :wink:

Shawn.

Fri Apr 10, 2009 2:22 pm

shawn63deluxe wrote: I did many searches after having problems with clutch slip. Art replied to a thread and I ended up buying one of his highly rated copperhead discs. He even offered very helpful advice on pressure plate choices. It will be fitted soon and I know it'll be the cure. It was shipped to me in the UK when he said it would and came perfectly packaged too.

Thanks Art :wink:

Shawn.
I had one of Art's Copperhead discs in my old engine. When he built my currently engione I sent him the disc and he said there was plenty of life left in it. He also told be to step down from a KEP Stage 2 to a Stage 1. I did and still have plenty of grip and a softer pedal.

Sat May 09, 2009 10:41 pm

I had a brand new 1914 built and ended up sending my 44IDF's to Art after it just wouldn't run right. Amazing work and turn round time. I emailed with a question after receiving them and the reply was super quick. I am completely satisfied and will recomend ACE to all I know, thanks Art and Dave.

Thu Jun 04, 2009 10:00 am

I have known Art for while now so I know he does awesome work. I called him one day to tell him I was wanting to get back into the vw sandrail scene. He invited me to the dunes and took me for a ride in his rail. Wow, that thing was fast. He told me of a guy who was hard up and was selling an identical 2276 motor that Art had built. It had low hours and the best of everything in it. I was able to luck out and pick up the complete motor from the guy for 2k. I know It will be the best motor I have ever had and that I will have no probs. with it. Thanks for taking the time to help me Art. I am sure I will be in touch with you.
-Gary

Thu Jun 04, 2009 11:34 pm

Art and Dave at Aircooled Engineering,
Hopefully you guys see this. Thank you very much for your courteous dealings over the phone over the past month. You guys took my bastard'ed 40mm Dells and turned them into some finely tuned pieces that they deserved to be. You were informative and friendly over the phone, and in the end, the $$$ was scarey, but it's cuz my carbs were more $hitty than the PO had led me to believe. But hey, when you 'just don't know', then you leave it up to the experts. With regards to the 'care' of the items, you guys might as well be shipping fine crystal!! My carbs arrive wrapped, double wrapped, and bagged with the little 'air bags', and a ton of peanuts--very nice! You guys did a fine job, my car is running, and will hopefully be leaving to head out to Cali on Saturday morning or evening. Thanks again guys--
John

Here's the engine running with the carbs..

Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:05 pm

Just got back two sets of carbs (pair eachh, Dellorto & Weber) today from ACE. All I can say is if they run anywhere near as good as they look, I will be a very very happy camper! Art, let Dave know how happy I am with them and the thorough estimate he did before the work was done.

Sun Dec 06, 2009 4:06 am

I had ART hand pick me a set of dell 40's and rebuild them for my 2007 motor that has yet to be built. The carbs look beautiful. Art was very nice/informative on the phone and I hope to have this motor done by summer 2010. I am also going to send a pair of IDA's to ART for refreshing on my other motor. Great service. vwdon

Tue Dec 08, 2009 8:24 am

Art & co. just rebuilt a set of 36hp heads for me. Quick turnaround and nice work.

Sun Mar 28, 2010 7:50 pm

Another happy customer. They say that the expense will be forgotten quickly, but the quality will be remembered forever, and I think that is true. Art and Dave were very communicative, gave me a written estimate in advance, and the product:

This is how they were sent to ACE:

Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:28 pm

I know there's a lot of bitchin' about parts suppliers. Here's a tip o' the hat to ACE VW in Salt Lake.

I bought the Weber carbs from Art awhile back and two weeks ago he sent me a snail type flow meter to help me adjust them. The needle broke off the second time I put it on the carb. I called Art and he said there was no warranty on the meter but send it back and he'd see what he could do.

Just got a new one back (6 day turn around) no charge. He didn't have to do this. It came out of his pocket. Now he has a customer for life.

Thanks Art- You're one of the good guys.

RB
_________________
"There's no nookie like Chinookie" Ray Troll

Sun May 16, 2010 5:08 pm

Just got my engine upgrade kit and tranny installed from ACE. Went from 1600SP to DP, dual Kads, header, SVDA, late geared tranny and some peripherals. I gave Art my requirements for the engine and he put together the combination. Seemed more conservative than I would have thought, but I figure he has worked on a couple more VWs than I have.....

Tranny is a work of art (pun intended) - came hub to hub which made the swap easier.

Dual Kads with vac mod - Took all of 45 minutes to get pretty much dialed in (most of that was synching) - vac port works perfectly.

Heads - nice porting. And the cc's were written on the heads - called Justin at the shop after we measured the deck height and he told us what we needed to get the compression I wanted.

Header - got the dual tip TriMill and Art really wanted me to send my heater boxes in so he could flange them since the header will probably leak - I didn't and he was right, but I am having a local shop lengthen the one heater box to correct the problem. Should have sent the heater boxes to him :oops:

Plenty of fasteners were included - it was just so nice to work with such a pro.... And I am a pain because I always end up making some changes part way through.

So - am I happy? Hell yeah. Havent run it on the dyno yet, but the engine feels great - absolutely night and day. Tranny feels good. Any issues? Yeah - I should have listened to him about the header......

Mon Dec 27, 2010 10:23 am

About three years ago i took my engine to get it rebuild and he did a great job fixing my engine. My engine runs good and like champ. Thanks.

Mon Dec 27, 2010 6:51 pm

Art builds at least 20 pair of carbs for me per year... I have ACE prepped carbs on every carbureted car that I own. Art goes above and beyond time and time again, and I am very hard to impress.. He does it every time.

I just installed a single 40 Dell that ACE prepped for my winter car, last week and it dialed in perfectly without a single jet change on my chassis dyno. Right out of the box all I needed to do was richen up the mixture control screws 1/2 turn and its been perfect.

I'd expect nothing less from a fellow Marine.

I've been fortunate enough to work along side Art on a large project and was never dsappointed.. He fulfills his obligations, he communicates well and he is dedicated to the ACVW industry.

Tue Jan 18, 2011 9:57 pm

I had Art build me a stock 1600 single port for my baja about four months ago. After I got everything dialed in, my baja is running better than ever. Art was great before, during, and after the sale. I'd highly recommend him to anyone looking for carb rebuilds up to turn-key engines.

Greg