PowerHouse Engines

PowerHouse Engines Powerhouse Engines — precision performance in Warragul, VIC 🇦🇺 Engine machining, custom builds & dyno tuning. Street, V8, Diesel & race builds.

Real workshop knowledge. Subscribe for tips & builds. Power isn’t guessed, it’s engineered. 📞 (03) 5623 3447 We have a state of the art facility and are one of the few shops who:
- Machine
- Assemble
- Dyno Tune
- All in-house
- Petrol or Diesel
- Road or Track

09/09/2026

🇦🇺 HOW MUCH POWER DO YOU WANT FROM YOUR EARLY-STYLE HOLDEN V8?

Today we’ve got Craig Bennett from Torque Power in the shop talking us through his Australian-developed early-style Holden V8 cylinder heads — the TP182, TP223 and TP238 — along with the new Powerport intake manifold.

Here’s where each head fits:

🔧 TP182
• 2.050” valve standard, with the option to go to 2.080”
• Aimed at combinations making low 500 HP

🔧 TP223
• 2.080” valve
• Designed for roughly 500 to low 600 HP
• Capable of around 650 HP on race fuel with the right combination

🔧 TP238
• 2.080” minimum valve, with the option to go up to 2.100”
• Designed for the serious combinations making high 600s to low 700 HP

Both the TP182 and TP223 will accept the popular Yella Terra 5020 rockers, but Craig has also had Jesel shaft-mount rocker systems developed for guys wanting to take their combination further.

In the video Craig explains the differences between his designs, the factory Holden heads and the other aftermarket options — and why different port sizes suit different horsepower levels and combinations.

What we like is that Torque Power is Australian owned and run by Craig, so you can actually pick up the phone and talk to the bloke developing the gear.

And development certainly hasn’t stopped. Craig is also working on his new VN-style Holden V8 cylinder head, which looks like it’s going to be a pretty serious piece.

For an engine that hasn’t been produced for decades, it’s bloody good to see this level of Holden V8 development still happening right here in Australia. 🇦🇺💪

07/09/2026

🔧 YOU MOTHERF # CAUGHT ME OUT! 😂

After our last tension-wrench video, plenty of you pointed out that using a straight extension apparently doesn’t affect the torque reading.

Fair enough — I’ll wear that one! 😂

So while we’re on the subject of tensioning fasteners, let’s take it a step further and show you how we actually stretch a rod bolt.

In this video we:

👉 Zero the gauge on the shortest bolt
👉 Check the difference in the second bolt
👉 Tension the rod bolt while watching the gauge
👉 Physically measure the bolt stretching until we achieve the required .006” stretch

And this is the important bit: torque is really just a means of achieving the correct clamping load. Rod bolt stretch lets us measure what the bolt is actually doing.

You can literally watch the bolt get longer as we tension it.

Pretty cool when you see it happening in real time. 🔧

04/09/2026

⚠️ WHY HEAD RE-TENSION IS IMPORTANT

Daniel Beddome’s 355 Holden has already done 20+ pulls on the engine dyno, running Cometic head gaskets and going through plenty of proper heat cycles.

Before it leaves PowerHouse, there’s still one important job to do — head re-tension.

We brought the engine back up to operating temperature, then backed off each head bolt one at a time and re-tensioned it to the correct torque.

Before loosening each bolt, we marked it at 12 o’clock so we could see exactly how much additional rotation it took when re-tensioned.

👉 Most moved from around 12 o’clock to 2 o’clock — roughly 60 degrees.

It’s a great demonstration of why head re-tensioning is an important part of finishing an engine properly, even after it’s already been thoroughly run and heat-cycled on the dyno.

Every engine we build at PowerHouse Engines gets this as part of the dyno process.

It’s one of those little extra steps that can make a big difference long term.

02/09/2026

⚠️ BASIC RULE: THREAD ENGAGEMENT = 1.5× BOLT DIAMETER

Something worth checking before you simply bolt aftermarket hardware in and assume it’s right.

In this video we’re looking at a set of ARP bolts for a Holden V8, available through Precision International — Part No. P1105-3601.

The factory bolt gives us approximately .604” of thread engagement into the block.

But when we fit the aftermarket bolt with the supplied washer, we’re only getting approximately .414” of engagement.

For reference, on a 7/16” bolt, the commonly used 1.5× diameter rule works out to approximately .656” of thread engagement.

That means the aftermarket bolt in this case isn’t even engaging one full bolt diameter into the block.

It’s another good example of why you should never assume something is right just because it’s listed to suit the application.

Measure it. Check it. Then bolt it together.

31/08/2026

🔥 YOU DON’T NEED A HUGE CAM TO MAKE POWER AT 7,500 RPM!

This 355 Holden is a perfect example of what can happen when the whole combination works together.

The combo:
🔧 355 Holden
🔧 11.3:1 compression
🔧 Factory VN-style heads — fully CNC ported
🔧 Torque Power high-rise dual-plane manifold
🔧 LS-style rocker setup
🔧 Hydraulic roller cam — just 242° @ .050”

And here’s the interesting part…

👉 With only 242° @ .050”, this thing was still making power at 7,500 RPM!

And just to make sure the car’s tacho wasn’t telling us porkies, we put the digital timing light on it and independently verified the RPM. Sure enough — it was right.

Before the CNC head work, the same combination made 360 hp and 318 ft-lb on a hub dyno.

With nothing else changed except the full CNC porting:
👉 397 hp
👉 335 ft-lb

That’s 37 hp and 17 ft-lb just from improving the cylinder heads.

On our Mainline chassis dyno, the car made 350 hp at the wheels.

It just shows that RPM capability isn’t simply about throwing a massive camshaft at an engine. Cylinder-head flow, compression, intake and the entire combination all have to work together.

A 242° hydraulic roller still making power at 7,500 RPM — and we verified the RPM. 👌

28/08/2026

🔥 609HP LX TORANA — AND IT SOUNDS AS TOUGH AS NAILS! 🔥

We’ve got Graham Catchpole’s four-door LX Torana strapped to the chassis dyno, and this thing is an absolute weapon.

💪 609HP on the late Wayne Cartlidge
Engine Dyno
🔥 425HP at the wheels
🏁 10.40 @ 128MPH

THE COMBO:
👉 383 Holden
👉 VN cast iron heads
👉 Harrop single-plane intake manifold
👉 950 CFM carburettor
👉 Engine 1” 7/8 4-into-1 extractors
👉 Solid roller camshaft
👉 98 pump fuel

Nothing too exotic — just a tough, well-sorted Holden combo that gets the job done.

We wind it all the way out to 7200 RPM on the chassis dyno — and if those numbers don’t get your attention, just listen to the bloody thing! 🔊🔥

You might also remember Graham was the very first bloke to grab a carton of Smoil from us — and it’s now in the Torana doing exactly what it was bought to do. 👌

At the end of the video I also give a quick plug for Pillar of Rock at the Robin Hood Hotel this Saturday night.

Winter can be bloody tough on pubs and live music venues, so if you’ve got nothing on, get out, support your local venue, have a few beers and come rock out with us. 🤘🍻

Turn this one up — the Torana sounds absolutely savage!

26/08/2026

🔥 200,000 VIEWS LATER… PENRITE CAME TO SEE US!

Our oil failure video certainly got people talking — and it didn’t take long before around 90% of the comments were pointing in the same direction.

Today, Jamie Roger from Penrite came down to PowerHouse Engines after seeing the amount of discussion around HPR 30 in the comments, and he was happy to jump on camera and clear a few things up.

Jamie explains that HPR 30 probably isn’t the right oil for this particular application, and talks about what the product was originally designed for — including helping engines suffering from high oil consumption.

He also takes us through some of Penrite’s newer product range and what they now recommend for different applications.

And to keep the conversation completely open, we also show the oil we currently use and recommend in our engines and explain why we’ve gone that direction.

Big credit to Jamie for coming down, getting on camera and being willing to have the conversation. 👌

There’s some really interesting information in this one — especially after the response to the original video.

24/08/2026

⚠️ WHAT OIL DO YOU RECKON WAS IN THIS ENGINE?

Grant Hayes’ stock-stroke 308 left our shop making a healthy 373 horsepower and running beautifully.

After only a few short drives, we got the phone call nobody wants to get:

“The engine’s rattling.”

When we got it back and pulled it down, the damage was savage.

👉 Camshaft destroyed
👉 Lifters destroyed
👉 Serious damage around the piston pin bosses and other high-load areas

We sent the failed camshaft back to the supplier for inspection. One of the first questions they asked us was:

“What oil was it running?”

We hadn’t supplied the oil, so we checked with the owner and went back to them with the answer.

Their response definitely got our attention.

They told us that around 95% of the camshaft failures they’d been seeing were engines running this particular oil.

I’m deliberately NOT naming the oil brand.

Instead, I’d love some input from our followers — particularly the engine builders, machinists and racers out there — and see what everyone comes up with.

👇 What oil do you reckon it was?

It’ll be interesting to see if one particular name keeps coming up… 👀

21/08/2026

⚠️ WHY WOULD CP-CARRILLO DELIBERATELY MAKE A PIN BORE NOT PERFECTLY STRAIGHT?

CP-Carrillo is rolling out Profiled Pin Bore Technology across its shelf piston range — and there’s some clever engineering behind it.

Instead of a conventional perfectly cylindrical pin bore, CP machines a precise trumpet-shaped profile into the bore.

Why? Under peak cylinder pressure, the gudgeon pin is heavily loaded and can deflect. The profiled bore helps spread that load more evenly, reducing concentrated stress around the pin bore and piston bosses.

CP says that in some applications this can reduce peak stress by as much as 30%, resulting in better load distribution, reduced wear and fatigue, and improved piston life.

And this technology is now being introduced into their high-volume shelf pistons, with plans to eventually roll it out across the entire shelf range.

A tiny detail you can barely see — but one that can make a massive difference under extreme cylinder pressure! 🔧💪

🏁 FIRST CARTON OF SMOIL OUT THE DOOR! 🏁A big thanks to Graham Catchpole, who picked up the very first carton of Driven S...
20/08/2026

🏁 FIRST CARTON OF SMOIL OUT THE DOOR! 🏁

A big thanks to Graham Catchpole, who picked up the very first carton of Driven Smoil – Steve Morris Racing Oil 25W-60 from PowerHouse Engines today.

The pallet has landed, the oil is in stock and ready to go, and Graham was first cab off the rank!

Smoil has been developed with serious performance engines in mind, particularly high horsepower, high bearing-load applications and alcohol/methanol fuels.

If you’ve been waiting to get your hands on it — we’ve got it on the shelf now.

🇦🇺 Available from PowerHouse Engines – Australian distributor for Steve Morris Engines products.

Address

6 Lindy Court
Warragul, VIC
3820

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+61356233447

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