[tekuhn]

Almost every RAV engine I have seen, has this decal on the left valve cover.





I think I have virtually every magazine article related to this engine, yet I have never found a single reference to this company. Does anyone have any insight as to who TARCO is and what role they played in developing the engine? I have heard one person speculate that it actually refers to TRACO (or TRA-CO) Racing Engines of Culver City, California. They were heavily involved in building engines for the SCCA Trans-Am series, which of course, the 303 tunnel port was specifically developed for. I could understand seeing that decal on a Trans Am race car if TRACO helped build the engine.

I have one of these decals, but I can't decide whether I should install it on my engine. I have a hard time believing that Pontiac would have installed it on a street RA-V had they actually made it to production. Why would they want to give credit to another company for their engine? Do we have anyone here who has unboxed a crated RAV engine that can state that Pontiac shipped engines with that decal installed?

I don't mean to disparage anyone who is displaying the decal - no doubt at this point we automatically expect to see it, and the whole concept of trying to create something that never happened is always a mixture of research and then making an educated guess.

I'd love to hear any stories from anyone who might be able to shed any light on the mystery of TARCO.