McNaughton’s Engine Reconditioning

24/06/2024

Is this looking a little bit like home before working in the engine/mechanic industry?

Get it DONE!

15/06/2024

Some memorabilia from c. 1994.
William Zechel, Darren, Earl, and Frank McNaughton standing in front of an ACME Engine at McNaughton’s Engine Reconditioning in Council Street Wallsend.

This engine was a national first (and patented) - to be fully manufactured here in Newcastle Australia by ACME Engineering in the early 1900s.

ACME Engineering consisted of three Hunter Valley families - Rodgers, Morrisons and McNaughtons - all related by marriage. Many of these men and their offspring went on to work for Tetrin, Goninans, Robertson Brothers, Better Spares, and some even went on to establish their own businesses such as McNaughton’s, EBS Engineering, Voodoo Engines, etc.

09/03/2023

𝗪𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺, 𝗼𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 City of Newcastle 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘄𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 #𝗡𝗲𝘄𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲𝟱𝟬𝟬 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗱.

𝑁𝑒𝑤𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝐴𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑎 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 1900𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐴𝐶𝑀𝐸 𝐸𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 (𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑁𝑒𝑤𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝐶𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐻𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑡).

𝑁𝑒𝑤𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝐴𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑎 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑢𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑒 – 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝐶𝑀𝐸 𝐸𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑒 - 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑙. 𝐴 𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑐𝑁𝑎𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑜𝑛, 𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑜𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑅𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑠.

𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆! 𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑨𝑪𝑴𝑬 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝑴𝒄𝑵𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒐𝒏’𝒔 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑽𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒐𝒐 𝑬𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒔
𝒉𝒕𝒕𝒑𝒔://𝒎.𝒗𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔.𝒄𝒐𝒎/𝑯𝒐𝒎𝒆.𝒉𝒕𝒎𝒍

17/12/2022

Earl Kennedy McNaughton first started his engine reconditioning career with ACME Engineering in the 1930s, then onto Robertson Brothers, Better Spares, and finally McNaughton’s Engine Reconditioning.

(17 December 1917 - 23 May 2004)

Image (Left to Right): William Zechel, Darren McNaughton, Earl McNaughton, Frank McNaughton standing with an ACME Engine)

08/12/2022

Relate?

One for the peeps who work in the automotive industry.

02/09/2020

A conversation with Frank - the longest serving engine specialist in the Hunter Valley region.

Frank is interested to know more about vintage enthusiasts in our local region, throughout the Hunter Valley NSW Australia.

If you’re a member of a vintage car club, and love your engine, give us a holla. Comment below...

Who are you?
Whats your make and model?
How can we find you?

09/07/2020

UPDATE for July 2020.

Frank McNaughton of 's Engine Reconditioning has now retired, but continues to engage in small repairs for and projects as hobby work. If you have requirements for motorcycle and small vintage projects, Frank is the man to call on M: 0401 072 005.

If you have other engine requirements, like and engine and work, or racing , Frank's son Darren of Enterprises is the man to see. For more information, go to: https://m.voodooengines.com/Home.html

McNaughton's hope our community of engine enthusiasts are faring well during .

Voodoo Engine Enterprises is a boutique performance engine specialists based north of Newcastle NSW. We specialise in performance engine modifications to suit both enthusiasts and serious racing professionals. We also supplying a wide range of AUTOMOTIVE and MARINE (inboard and outboard) products ...

11/03/2020

It’s official!

After more than 50 years in the engine trade, Frank McNaughton of McNaughton’s Engine Reconditioning has retired.

Frank has been the longest serving engine reconditioner in the Hunter Valley region - a family tradition that started with ACME engineering in the early-1920s, Newcastle.

From 15 years of age, Frank had worked for Robertson Brothers, Tetrin and Better Spares before establishing business as McNaughton’s Engine Reconditioning in 1989, Wallsend NSW.

Apart from machining the odd motorcycle barrel and tinkering as a hobby, Frank now looks forward to relaxing from many years of labour. Darren, his son, will continue the engine trade and family tradition with Voodoo Engines.

We wish Frank a truly enjoyable retirement.

06/11/2019

While Frank engages more in consultancy and smaller machining work these days, here is a picture his grandchildren sourced from the archives c. 1990. Here Frank is modifying a 350 Chev crankshaft to suit specs for a 308 Holden.