Don Terrill’s Speed-Talk

I bought a set of buick small block chevrolet heads that have EPD 2538 stamped on the end. Was just wondering if anybody knows anything about these heads.

bigun wrote:I bought a set of buick small block chevrolet heads that have EPD 2538 stamped on the end. Was just wondering if anybody knows anything about these heads.

I think they are Engine Prototype Devolopment. We had some 4or5 years ago in our shop. They were big blocks. Hope this helps.

That was Carl Olsons company, whatever they were for Im sure they were good! He is one of the best and understood that it was quality over quantity,when it came to flow numbers... a lot of people preach it but most dont understand that how much air a head flows in a static flow bench test and how much power a head is capable making are two vastley different things, EPD is one of those people!!! Their stuff is consistently good... day in and day out!!!

Hi my friend Dan,
You almost got it right. Carl Olsen was a racer. Larry Olsen is who you were meaning.

Many years agoin the very early 1970's one of the most innovative and in my opinion, one of the best cylinder head companies was formed called EPD, which was short for Engine Protype Development.

The founder and owner was Larry Olsen, who had been working with Larry Ofria of Valley Head Service for a number of years. When Larry Olsen left the employment of Valley Cylinder Head Service and re-located to Carson City Nevada, his brother, Keith McMann. and one of their best friends named Mike McKay also decided to go with Larry to start the new business and to move to Nevada. This was in the very early 1970's.

At that time Larry Olsen was already the dedicated Cylinder Head Porter used by Warren Johnson. All of Warren's Pro stock Engines have always had Heads done by Larry Olsen of EPD. or at least Larry's hands and/or brains were involved in them. Not long after opening shop in Carson City as EPD, Larry began doing work for Bill Jenkins and has always done his cylinder heads until the recent times.

Until all of the R&D work was completed with the DRCE Oldsmobile head Warren was using the EPD Conventional Heads highly modified by Larry. So was everyone else in Pro Stock except Shepherd and Glidden. Glidden was using EPD Intake Manifolds though.

Long before the first Pontiac Spread Port head mold casting was developed by Lee Shepherd, Larry was modifying the Shepherd designed Bow Tie heads to make them into Spread Ports.

Larry Olsen of EPD was the pioneer innovator to first make a conventional Chevy Head into a Spread Port cylinder head design, by using the Lee Shepherd designed BB Chevy Bowtie 861 raw castings and cutting them apart to literally move the intake ports spacing them further apart, placing the intake ports where previously the pushrods were. At the same time he moved the valves to different locations and installed the valves and the valve seat at different angles and locations. He also really butchers the exhausts in to several different port configurations, all depending on at which stage someone would be getting them. He tried so many different exhaust designs and port shapes and port raising, spacing methods. All of them were good, shall I say very good, but it took a large number of Protype designs before he settled on how he was going to do them.

IN the Pro Stock Heydays you had EPD Heads on your car if you were a winner except the Reher Morrison Shepherd Car, and the Bob Glidden Car, or you were a non-qualifier. Larry was able to ride that wave of sucess for a very long time. It was a long and enjoyable ride to be at the top.

Many of the then Top Rcaers were using EPD Heads, including some wierd combinations. Larry had a long satisfied customer base from any class of drag racing allowing head mods. Larry Torez was a big EPD customer with his SB and his V-6 stuff too.

All of the extreme serious made for racing heads to come out of EPD looked ugly and butchered and welded up and patched up and looked like trash. Most all of the BB Heads had intake runners with partial epoxy filling.

If those early Buick SB Heads were done to be real serious, they will likley look like trash. IF they are his special work they will likely still be real strong. He was the master in his day.

By that number on them, I am guessing they must have been done in the early to mid 1990's.

Not all heads EPD did were custom wild creations. He also did porting like other head porters did.

IN the mid to later in the 1990's EPD was ruined by a crooked bookkeepr that embezzled and drove Larry broke. Larry Torez of T&D Machine picked up the two key employees from EPD who had worked with Larry Olsen from day one, and employeed them in his operation. Larry was down to only himself, and liquidated all his EB Cylinder head inventory and sold his EPD Rocker Arm design and retired. He still owns his home and his shop, as far as I know, the last time I talked with he or his brother. He is still working with a couple of his main Pro Stock pet customers.

Send me an email, Please not a PM, My box stays full. Send me an email and I will send you the email address for Larry Olsen the Founder and Ghru behind EPD. He is retired now, but does some work for a very few pet customers who he still does work for. If one of his heads are damaged, he definetly wants to be the pone to fix it, so it will be done right. His repairs are not very expensive.

Ed
edvancedengines@hotmail.com

Ed-vancedEngines wrote:Hi my friend Dan,
You almost got it right. Carl Olsen was a racer. Larry Olsen is who you were meaning.

Many years agoin the very early 1970's one of the most innovative and in my opinion, one of the best cylinder head companies was formed called EPD, which was short for Engine Protype Development.

The founder and owner was Larry Olsen, who had been working with Larry Ofria of Valley Head Service for a number of years. When Larry Olsen left the employment of Valley Cylinder Head Service and re-located to Carson City Nevada, his brother, Keith McMann. and one of their best friends named Mike McKay also decided to go with Larry to start the new business and to move to Nevada. This was in the very early 1970's.

At that time Larry Olsen was already the dedicated Cylinder Head Porter used by Warren Johnson. All of Warren's Pro stock Engines have always had Heads done by Larry Olsen of EPD. or at least Larry's hands and/or brains were involved in them. Not long after opening shop in Carson City as EPD, Larry began doing work for Bill Jenkins and has always done his cylinder heads until the recent times.

Until all of the R&D work was completed with the DRCE Oldsmobile head Warren was using the EPD Conventional Heads highly modified by Larry. So was everyone else in Pro Stock except Shepherd and Glidden. Glidden was using EPD Intake Manifolds though.

Long before the first Pontiac Spread Port head mold casting was developed by Lee Shepherd, Larry was modifying the Shepherd designed Bow Tie heads to make them into Spread Ports.

Larry Olsen of EPD was the pioneer innovator to first make a conventional Chevy Head into a Spread Port cylinder head design, by using the Lee Shepherd designed BB Chevy Bowtie 861 raw castings and cutting them apart to literally move the intake ports spacing them further apart, placing the intake ports where previously the pushrods were. At the same time he moved the valves to different locations and installed the valves and the valve seat at different angles and locations. He also really butchers the exhausts in to several different port configurations, all depending on at which stage someone would be getting them. He tried so many different exhaust designs and port shapes and port raising, spacing methods. All of them were good, shall I say very good, but it took a large number of Protype designs before he settled on how he was going to do them.

IN the Pro Stock Heydays you had EPD Heads on your car if you were a winner except the Reher Morrison Shepherd Car, and the Bob Glidden Car, or you were a non-qualifier. Larry was able to ride that wave of sucess for a very long time. It was a long and enjoyable ride to be at the top.

Many of the then Top Rcaers were using EPD Heads, including some wierd combinations. Larry had a long satisfied customer base from any class of drag racing allowing head mods. Larry Torez was a big EPD customer with his SB and his V-6 stuff too.

All of the extreme serious made for racing heads to come out of EPD looked ugly and butchered and welded up and patched up and looked like trash. Most all of the BB Heads had intake runners with partial epoxy filling.

If those early Buick SB Heads were done to be real serious, they will likley look like trash. IF they are his special work they will likely still be real strong. He was the master in his day.

By that number on them, I am guessing they must have been done in the early to mid 1990's.

Not all heads EPD did were custom wild creations. He also did porting like other head porters did.

IN the mid to later in the 1990's EPD was ruined by a crooked bookkeepr that embezzled and drove Larry broke. Larry Torez of T&D Machine picked up the two key employees from EPD who had worked with Larry Olsen from day one, and employeed them in his operation. Larry was down to only himself, and liquidated all his EB Cylinder head inventory and sold his EPD Rocker Arm design and retired. He still owns his home and his shop, as far as I know, the last time I talked with he or his brother. He is still working with a couple of his main Pro Stock pet customers.

Send me an email, Please not a PM, My box stays full. Send me an email and I will send you the email address for Larry Olsen the Founder and Ghru behind EPD. He is retired now, but does some work for a very few pet customers who he still does work for. If one of his heads are damaged, he definetly wants to be the pone to fix it, so it will be done right. His repairs are not very expensive.

Ed
edvancedengines@hotmail.com

Thanks Ed, been a long time since I messed with that stuff. Brought back memory

I think that perhaps I am the biggest fan of both Larry Olsen and of Warren Johnson.

Although Larry got ripped off back in late or mid 1990's he has pulled through with some really lucrative contracts from some OEM Mfg that are heavily involved in the F1 and that kind of stuff he works with a develops for them part time. He also still has his fingers in Pro Stock.

Ed

Ed, it wasn't Mike McKay, it was Mike Matei (sp). We all worked for Larry at VHS, at the same time. I was the #2 machinist and trained Mike. As soon as he could do most of what I did...Larry fired me. That was July, 1972.

Wow!
Cool!
Glad to have you here, or glad to be with you here.

Looks like all these years I was calling him the wrong name and he never sad a word against it. Well it does sound kike I spelled it. I think.

If you want to re-hash old times with him he is availaible to talk with his position. He is the Buyer or Purchasing Agent for T&D Machine. Actually I have not talked with him in many years. Keith is now working as a night shift machinist there too. If you don't have it and want the email addy for Larry Olsen please email me and I will send.

When you said Larry Fired you, I am assuming it was Larry Ofria and not Olsen. Correct?

I had a set of the original Chevy BB LS-6 Cast Heads, I sent to you folks at Valley to open chamber for me. I got them back with spots of brazing done in the chambers, and was told that they would be better becuase of the brazing. The reason given me made sense. I was told those heads were too thin in places to make into a full open chmaber so they had to be filled in.

wRE YOU WITH vALLEY AT THE TIME THAT wARREN jOHNSON WAS SENDING HIS HEADS IN FOR WORK IN THE VERY EARLY 1970'S? (sorry about caps lock.)

Did you also end up moving to Carson City too?

Ed

Ed, yes...it was Mr. Ofria that fired me. AFAIK, if WJ sent anything to VHS, it was after I was gone...but, I remember the GM blueprints, courtesy of WJ, hung on the wall of Olsens place in Canoga Park, before he moved. I have no desire to converse with him and I think he feels the same way toward me as our last meeting in '78 or '79 did not end well. Next time you speak to Mike tell him I said Hi.
BTW, back then, in the shop, Larry Ofria was referred to as LO1, and Larry Olsen was LO2.

I was always told Ofria brought the cash...Olsen brought the brains???

Does anyone know how to get ahold of them? I have a couple of sets of their heads that I'd like to get some info on.

So ... Chuck from the past,
Larry

EPD Heads wrote:So ... Chuck from the past,
Larry

Except for this last post, they were all from before 2008.
Chuck Stevens died a couple years ago. He was liked by many of us who respected his no nonsense, get to the point, demeanor.

Mr. Stevens was a cool guy...may he R.I.P.

I've got some EPD Dart/Buick heads and they are top notch...