Gervais Engines is a family-owned air-cooled Volkswagen engine building and machine shop in Menifee, California. Every engine that leaves our shop is built by hand, tested, and backed by decades of real-world experience — not assembled on a line.
Meet Jeff Gervais
Jeff Gervais has spent 46 years building, machining, and troubleshooting air-cooled Volkswagen engines. What started as a passion for VWs grew into Gervais Engines, a shop built on a simple idea: build the right engine for how you actually drive it, and stand behind it. Whether it’s a daily driver, a weekend dune buggy, a drag car, or a numbers-matching restoration, Jeff and his team take the time to match the build to the customer instead of just selling the most expensive engine on the shelf.
A Family Business
Gervais Engines is still a family operation today. Two of Jeff’s children work alongside him in the shop, learning the same hands-on machining and engine-building process he’s used for over four decades. When you call, you’re talking directly to the people who build your engine — not a call center.
What We Build
- Turnkey air-cooled VW engines, ready to drop in and drive
- Longblock engines for customers doing their own final assembly
- Stage I performance builds
- Rebuilt VW Type 1 transmissions — stock replacement, Freeway Flyer, Pro Street, and Pro Drag
- Full machine shop services: boring, align honing, head work, and more
- EMPI and other quality aftermarket parts for air-cooled VWs
Trusted by the Air-Cooled VW Community
Gervais Engines holds a 5.0-star rating from 14 Google reviews. Here’s what real customers say:
“Best VW shop around. Whatever you need worked on or purchase. Pricing is more competitive. Highly recommend.”
— Roy Arroyo, Google review
“Best VW air-cooled engine shop in SoCal. Motor, transmission and parts.”
— Johnny Carpenter, Local Guide, Google review
“Jeff gave me a great deal on a part. Awesome seeing what he is working on in the shop.”
— Rudy Regalado, Google review
Contact the Shop
29590 Merjanian Rd, Menifee, CA 92584 · (951) 694-9595
Tuesday–Friday, 9am–5pm (closed Saturday, Sunday and Monday).
Ready to build your engine? Browse our engines and parts or call us to talk through your build.