Lets Talk Dubs Classic The Classic VW podcast Apr 28, 2026

Ep 357 The Big Super charger Kit from Rababak performance

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75:19

Term

supercharger kit

A supercharger kit adds extra air to the engine so it can make more power. It’s a bigger upgrade than just a bolt-on filter, and it usually needs the right setup to run safely.

Company

Rababak performance

Rababak Performance is the shop/company that built the supercharger kit they’re talking about. They didn’t just bolt it on—they tested it on the road and on a dyno to make sure it works.

Company

VW trends magazine

They’re plugging a Volkswagen magazine. It’s a way to stay connected with VW events and builds.

Company

Ross Wolf

Ross Wolf makes aftermarket parts for VW owners. They’re talking about seal kits designed to fit correctly and help prevent leaks.

Part

rear wheel seal set

This is a set of seals for the rear wheel area. Seals keep fluids from leaking, and the point here is that these are designed to fit like the original ones so they don’t leak.

Term

Viton seals

Viton seals are made from a tougher rubber that resists heat and oil better than many standard seal materials. That helps them last longer and stay leak-free.

Company

Icon pistons

Icon Pistons is a brand that makes replacement or performance pistons. Pistons are inside the engine, and for higher-power builds you want them to be strong and reliable.

Term

Compression ratio is how “tight” the engine squeezes the air-fuel mixture before it ignites. With a supercharger, you usually can’t just crank it up without thinking, because too much compression can cause knocking.

Term

Wrist pin height

Wrist pin height is where the piston’s pin sits in the piston. It changes how the piston sits in the engine, which can affect compression and how the engine is built to work with different crankshaft setups.

Company

Type you motorsports

They’re talking about pistons—one of the main internal engine parts. The hosts say they like the “icon pistons” from a specific supplier, which matters because pistons need to survive the extra stress from performance builds.

Brand

Whipple supercharger

Whipple makes superchargers—devices that cram more air into the engine. People like them because they’re built for making real power, and there’s usually plenty of info on how to install and tune them.

Term

standoffs

Standoffs are basically spacers that move parts away from the engine or body so everything clears and lines up correctly. With a supercharger, that’s important so the belt and hardware don’t rub and the system fits under the decklid/engine bay space.

Term

prototype motor setups

A prototype setup is a test version of the engine build. They run it to make sure the parts fit and the power is safe before selling the final kit.

Company

rabbit-back performance

This is the company that makes the supercharger kit they’re talking about. They’re a performance shop, not a mainstream car brand.

Part

supercharger set up

A supercharger setup is the complete forced-induction system used to pressurize the intake air. It typically includes the supercharger itself, drive components, and intake plumbing, and it’s designed to increase engine power by adding boost.

Term

twin screw

“Twin screw” describes the type of supercharger. It uses two spinning parts to push air into the engine, helping it make more power.

Concept

evolved from there to where we got today

This segment frames the supercharger project as an iterative development process—starting with an earlier design and refining it over time. For forced-induction builds, evolution usually means improving packaging, drive ratios, boost control strategy, and overall reliability.

Concept

evolution of supercharging

Supercharging is when you force more air into the engine to make more power. The “evolution” part means people have kept improving blower types and sizes so the car is faster but still manageable to run and cool.

Brand

Volkswagen

Volkswagen is the car brand they’re talking about. The idea is that VW engines are popular for modifications like supercharging because people have lots of experience making them work.

Part

low compression 1800

Low compression means the engine is built to handle boost more safely. When you add a supercharger, the engine can knock if it’s too high-compression, so lowering compression helps it run stronger without damage.

Part

371 blowers

A blower is the supercharger unit that forces air into the engine. Using a “371” blower is basically choosing a particular size/type that changes how quickly boost comes on and how the car feels.

Part

electric fans

Electric fans are aftermarket or upgraded cooling fans that help pull heat out of the engine bay. When a supercharger setup runs hotter than expected, fans can be the difference between “works” and “overheats.”

Company

B&M

They mention “B&M” as a reference for what kind of blower setup they’re talking about. It’s basically shorthand for a known performance parts brand/category.

Part

root style

A “root style” blower is a type of supercharger that pushes air in quickly. It tends to make power early, but you still have to keep the engine cool so it doesn’t overheat or knock.

Term

compressor size

Compressor size is basically how big the supercharger’s air-moving capability is. If the engine can’t use all that extra air, the system can’t make the boost you’d expect.

Term

displacement

Displacement is how big the engine is internally. A bigger engine can usually use more air and fuel, so it can work better with a more aggressive supercharger setup.

Term

1914

“1914” is a way builders refer to engine size—about 1.9 liters. They’re saying their supercharger testing topped out around that size before performance stopped improving.

Concept

bucket with a syringe analogy (engine airflow limit vs boost output)

It’s like trying to pour a lot of water into a bucket that’s too small. If the engine can only “take in” so much air, the supercharger can’t magically make more power than the engine can use.

Car

Buick Century

The Buick Century is an older American car that was built as a comfortable midsize vehicle. In the podcast, they’re describing a modified engine setup and how the cooling system was handled with electric fans. Electric fans can help keep the engine cool, especially after changes to the engine.

Term

side alternator

A side alternator means the alternator is mounted off to the side to make room for the supercharger setup. It’s usually done so belts and brackets fit correctly.

Term

2180

“2180” is shorthand for an engine displacement of about 2180cc, a common VW air-cooled build size. They’re stating the MK supercharger kit is being tested for engines at roughly 2180cc and up, which helps listeners understand intended application range.

Term

cooling fan runs off the belt

They’re saying the cooling fan is powered by the belts. If you change the belt system for the supercharger, the fan speed can change too, which can affect how well the engine stays cool.

Term

serpentine setup

A serpentine setup is when one belt runs a bunch of accessories using different pulleys. It can be cleaner than using several separate belts, but it has to be aligned perfectly so it doesn’t slip or wear out fast.

Term

two belts

Instead of one long belt, a two-belt setup uses two belts to run different accessories. That can work well, but you have to get both belts aligned and tensioned correctly.

Car

Dodge Charger

The Dodge Charger is a car made for strong acceleration and performance. The podcast mentions a supercharger setup, which is an add-on that helps the engine make more power. They also talk about using the right belt length so the supercharger can run correctly.

Term

micro V six belt

They mention a “micro V six” belt, which is a specific belt type/profile used in modern multi-rib belt systems. In supercharger conversions, belt profile and size matter because the belt must transmit power reliably without slipping while also fitting the pulley system.

Term

alternator belt

The alternator belt is the belt that drives the alternator to charge the battery and power electrical systems. In a supercharger conversion, the alternator belt may be part of the original belt routing or replaced/retensioned to work with the new pulley and charger setup.

Term

turbo setup

A turbo setup uses exhaust gas energy to spin a turbine that compresses intake air. The hosts describe turbo operation as exhaust-pressure driven and contrast it with their crank-driven supercharger approach, including how that changes stress on cooling and belt systems.

Term

dyno testing

A dyno is a machine that measures how much power and torque an engine makes. It’s useful because you can test the same car repeatedly under controlled conditions.

Term

intake boot

An intake boot is the flexible ducting that connects intake components (like the carb/intake manifold to the supercharger). In this segment, they discuss modeling the intake boot as part of the system development, which matters for airflow sealing and fitment.

Term

blow-through setup

A blow-through setup means the supercharger pressurizes the air first, and then fuel is added afterward. They mention it mainly to clarify that their system is not that style.

Term

carburetor

A carburetor meters fuel and mixes it with incoming air before it enters the engine. The hosts tie the carburetor location to whether the system is draw-through or blow-through, which affects how the supercharger handles the mixture and temperatures.

Concept

draw-through setup

A draw-through setup places the carburetor upstream of the supercharger, so the engine “draws” the fuel/air mixture through the blower. The hosts note it can help with cooling because the fuel/air mixture can cool the supercharger, and they contrast it with blow-through layouts.

Term

pulley size

On a belt-driven supercharger, pulley sizes control how fast the supercharger spins. Faster spin usually means more boost; slower spin means less.

Concept

effective compression ratio

When you add boost, the air entering the engine is already more compressed. That makes the engine behave like it has a higher compression ratio, which can require careful tuning to prevent knocking.

Term

ignition retarding

Ignition timing controls when the spark happens. If you retard (delay) it, the engine is less likely to knock when boost and cylinder pressures are high.

Company

Snow Performance

Snow Performance makes aftermarket injection kits that spray cooling fluid into the intake. People use them to help prevent knocking when their engine is making more boost.

Term

methanol injection

Methanol injection sprays a cooling fluid into the intake. It helps keep temperatures down and reduces the chance of the engine knocking when you’re running boost.

Term

foot-pounds of torque

Torque is the engine’s twisting force. Higher torque usually means the car feels stronger when you’re driving or accelerating, especially from lower speeds.

Term

stump pullers

“Stump pullers” just means the engine has strong grunt—good pulling power. It’s usually about torque you can feel at lower RPM.

Term

custom ground cam

The camshaft controls when the engine’s valves open and close. A custom cam is made to help the engine make power where you want it, instead of using a generic profile.

Term

supercharged motors

A supercharged motor is an engine that’s been modified to make more power using a supercharger. The hosts are saying they’ve done a lot of these builds, so they’ve learned what works.

Concept

turnkey kit

A turnkey kit means you don’t have to hunt down a bunch of separate parts. It’s basically a mostly-complete package that’s meant to be installed as one project.

Concept

re-manufactured or rebuilt supercharger vs cheap china ones

The hosts contrast quality-controlled rebuilt/re-manufactured superchargers with low-cost “cheap china” units that may not hold up under boost. This matters because superchargers operate under high stress; poor materials or tolerances can lead to rapid failure (“chew itself up”).

Term

snout

The “snout” is the part that sticks out to connect the supercharger to the belt/pulley drive. A shorter or eliminated snout can make the whole setup easier to fit and align.

Term

direct drive

“Direct drive” here refers to a supercharger drive arrangement where the blower is mounted so the drive components don’t require a long snout. The goal is to reduce pressure/drive issues associated with extended drive geometry and keep the setup compact for clearance.

Term

pulley alignment

Pulley alignment means the belt has to track straight between the crank pulley and the supercharger pulley. If it’s off, the belt can wear out faster and the system won’t run as smoothly.

Term

custom pulleys

Custom pulleys are belt wheels made to the exact size and shape needed for the supercharger setup. They’re used to get the right belt routing and power transfer without clearance problems.

Part

6v pulley

The “6v pulley” is referenced as an off-the-shelf pulley component used in the supercharger drive system. The segment contrasts it with other custom/machined parts, implying it’s a commonly available piece that still needs to work with the kit’s overall geometry.

Company

ampie

They’re getting a crank pulley from a supplier, then doing additional machining so it fits the exact supercharger setup. That’s common when off-the-shelf parts aren’t perfect for a specific engine bay.

Term

billet steel crank pulley

A crank pulley is the belt wheel on the engine crankshaft. Using a billet steel version means it’s made from solid steel and can be machined precisely for a strong, reliable belt drive.

Term

merged header

A merged header is an exhaust setup where the pipes join together to help exhaust gases move out more efficiently. It can affect how the engine breathes and can change power.

Part

collector

The collector is where the exhaust pipes come together into one section. Welding the muffler directly to the collector can help the exhaust flow better and avoid leaks or bottlenecks.

Part

pistons and rings

Pistons and rings are parts that seal the combustion pressure and help the engine run correctly. On boosted engines, they need to be built to handle extra stress, not just stock or cheap parts.

Term

conditioning

Here, “conditioning” means setting up the engine parts so they can survive boost. It’s basically making sure the internals are strong enough and the sealing parts are right for the extra pressure.

Part

Total Seal rings

Total Seal rings are special piston rings meant to seal better inside the engine. Better sealing can help a boosted engine stay reliable under higher pressure.

Term

224 ring spacing

Ring spacing is how the piston’s rings are positioned on the piston. The exact spacing can matter for sealing and durability when the engine is under boost.

Part

forged crank

A forged crankshaft is made from forged steel, which typically provides higher strength and durability than cheaper cast alternatives. The transcript calls out a forged crank as a minimum requirement to keep the engine together in a high-power forced-induction build.

Part

H-beam rods

H-beam rods are stronger connecting rods used in performance engines. They help the engine survive the extra forces from boosting.

Term

cylinder head temperature

Cylinder head temperature is basically how hot the engine’s top part gets during combustion. With boosted engines, it can climb, so monitoring it helps you avoid damage.

Concept

forced induction heat management (intercooler packaging limits)

Boosted engines heat up the air as it gets compressed. If there isn’t room to add an intercooler, you can’t cool that air as much, so you have to manage the heat another way (like watching temperatures).

Concept

dyno runs

A dyno is like a treadmill for an engine. Instead of driving on the road, they load the engine in a controlled way so they can measure how much power it makes and how it behaves.

Concept

Cajon pass

Cajon Pass is a steep hill climb. People use it to see if a car gets too hot when it has to work hard for a long time.

Term

static compression ratio

Static compression ratio is the engine’s geometric compression based on cylinder volume, before accounting for cam timing and dynamic effects. For boosted engines, builders often target a relatively lower static ratio to reduce knock risk and keep cylinder pressures under control.

Company

brother's machine

This sounds like the machine shop that makes or prepares the cylinder heads. Good cylinder heads matter because they help the engine breathe and can handle boost better.

Company

Rallyo

Rallyo is mentioned as the place the builder contacts to request cylinder heads. If this is a parts sourcing or machining service, it highlights how specific head options are obtained quickly for custom kit builds.

Car

Alfa Romeo GTV

The Alfa Romeo GTV is a sporty two-door car. The podcast is talking about engine parts—specifically cylinder heads—and whether different heads can be used together. Choosing the correct compatible parts matters so the engine can be assembled and run properly.

Term

cylinder head castings

Cylinder head castings are the metal “starting blocks” for the top of the engine. Using stronger, thicker castings can help the head survive higher heat and pressure from boost.

Term

501s or the 502 castings

Those numbers are different versions of the cylinder head metal. The builder says the 501/502 versions are tougher and have more material where it counts.

Term

140 or the 100

They’re talking about choosing between two supercharger sizes. Bigger generally means more boost potential, but it also needs the rest of the engine to be built to handle it.

Part

cool shroud

A shroud is like a cover/duct that helps air move where it needs to go for cooling. This one is shaped to make room for the supercharger without changing the cooling setup as much.

Part

doghouse

On some air-cooled Volkswagens, the fan shroud has a “doghouse” shape that helps cool the oil cooler better. If your kit doesn’t use that style, the airflow path and fitment are different.

Concept

supercharger packaging/fitment

When you add a supercharger, you can’t just bolt it on—you have to make it fit around existing parts. The shroud shape and component placement are what prevent clearance problems.

Part

distributor

The distributor helps control ignition timing by distributing spark to the cylinders. When you install a supercharger, you have to ensure the new parts don’t interfere with it.

Term

self-oiling unit

“Self-oiling” means the supercharger lubricates itself internally. You still need to follow the service schedule, because the oil eventually wears out.

Term

side draft

“Side draft” describes how the carburetor is mounted so air comes in from the side. It’s often chosen to fit better and to make tuning easier in tight engine compartments.

Car

Volkswagen Type 3

The Volkswagen Type 3 is a classic VW with a tighter engine compartment. They’re saying it’s hard to fit a supercharger there because there’s not much room and it’s difficult to route the belt.

Part

fuel sender

The fuel sender is the unit that measures fuel level and sends that information to the gauge. Access to it matters when owners cut or modify panels to reach the sender without removing major components.

Concept

cut that rear section out

This describes a common service-modification on air-cooled VW buses: removing or cutting the rear body section to create an access opening. The goal is easier top-side work compared to reaching in from the face of the engine bay.

Term

low prof low profiles

“Low profile” refers to keeping the supercharger’s height and packaging compact so it fits under limited clearance in the engine bay. This is especially relevant on air-cooled VW setups where space above the engine is tight.

Company

whipplet

The transcript says the supercharger is “from directly from whipplet,” which appears to be the supercharger manufacturer. The key point is that the supercharger comes with its own factory warranty, which can be important for long-term ownership.

Term

eight week wait

They say if you order the kit, you might wait around eight weeks to get the supercharger. That’s useful to know if you’re planning a build timeline.

Term

Whipple charger

A Whipple charger is a supercharger brand. It forces more air into the engine so you can make more power, and it uses a screw-style design that tends to be efficient.

Term

screw blower

A screw blower is a type of supercharger. Instead of using two spinning lobes to shove air around, it compresses the air as it moves through the blower, which can make boost feel more responsive.

Term

roots blower

A roots blower is a supercharger that uses spinning rotors to push air into the engine. It doesn’t compress the air inside the blower the same way a screw-type supercharger does.

Term

B&M 90 blower

They mention the B&M 90 as an example of a roots-style supercharger. The point is to compare that older rotor-push design to the newer screw-type design.

Term

0.75 cubic inch blower

That “cubic inch” number is basically how big the supercharger is. A bigger blower can move more air, which can mean more power, but it can also change how the car feels.

Term

corkscrew

They’re using “corkscrew” to describe the screw-style supercharger design. It’s basically talking about the helical shape that helps compress air as it moves through.

Term

blow-through system

A blow-through setup means the carburetor sits in the boosted airflow path. Because pressure is higher than normal, the fuel system has to be set up so the carb still gets the right fuel.

Part

fuel pump

A fuel pump is what delivers fuel to the engine. When you add boost, the engine needs more fuel, so the pump has to be strong enough and properly regulated.

Term

boost pressure (pounds)

Boost pressure is how hard the supercharger is pushing air into the engine. More boost usually means more power, but it also requires the right fuel and tuning.

Part

fuel pressure regulator

A fuel pressure regulator is a valve that keeps fuel pressure steady. That helps the carburetor get the right amount of fuel so the engine runs correctly under boost.

Term

91 pump gas

“91 pump gas” is a common U.S. gasoline octane rating used for streetable performance builds. The point here is that their supercharged setup can make power on regular pump fuel without requiring race gas, which affects tuning and detonation risk.

Term

RPM

RPM tells you how fast the engine is spinning. When people talk about what happens at certain RPMs, they’re talking about when the engine starts making power and torque.

Concept

torque curve

A torque curve is basically a chart of how much pulling power the engine makes at different engine speeds. If the torque shows up early, the car feels stronger and more responsive without needing to rev as high.

Term

beefy tranny

“Tranny” is slang for the transmission. They’re warning that making high torque (especially with a supercharger) can stress stock transmission components, so a stronger transmission build is often needed to handle the load.

Part

billet mainshaft

The mainshaft is a key rotating part inside the transmission. A billet mainshaft is made from a stronger, more carefully machined piece of metal, which helps it survive higher torque.

Term

bolt on

“Bolt-on” means the parts are made to install with basic tools and existing mounting points, rather than requiring major custom work. It’s a selling point for how straightforward the upgrade is.

Term

lower compression

Compression is how tightly the engine squeezes the air-fuel mixture. Lower compression can make it safer to add boost, because it reduces the chance of the engine knocking.

Term

carbureted

Carbureted means the engine mixes fuel and air using a carburetor. When you add a supercharger, the fuel/air setup often needs to be matched so the engine runs correctly.

Term

detonation/knock (implied by 'ragged edge of things')

“Ragged edge” means the engine is being pushed so hard that it can start running into trouble. With boost, that trouble is often knocking, which can damage the engine if it’s not controlled.

Term

low compression engine

Compression ratio is how tightly the engine squeezes the fuel-air mix. Lower compression can be safer when you add boost (like a supercharger) because it helps prevent the engine from knocking.

Term

8.5 to 1

“8.5 to 1” is the engine’s compression ratio. It’s a measure of how much the engine squeezes the fuel-air mix, and it affects how safely the engine can handle boost.

Term

heads

Heads are the top part of the engine where the valves live. Changing heads can change how easily air and fuel get in and how well exhaust gets out, which affects power.

Term

mid-deport

A “mid-deport” is a way of shaping the intake port inside the cylinder head. That shape can help the engine breathe better at certain engine speeds, which can improve power.

Term

force and duct

This is about the plumbing/ducting that carries the boosted air from the supercharger to the engine. Good ducting helps the engine get the pressure the supercharger is making.

Term

2.5 liter

“2.5 liter” refers to engine displacement, which affects airflow demand and potential power. The speaker notes they were building a 2.5L for another application, then added a supercharger and learned what head/port sizing was actually needed.

Term

horsepower

Horsepower is how much “overall power” the engine can make. Torque is the twist/pull you feel early, while horsepower is more about how hard it keeps going as speed builds.

Concept

flywheel (stock vs lighter)

A flywheel stores rotational energy and helps smooth engine speed changes. The hosts discuss whether running a stock flywheel versus a lighter one makes more sense for maintaining torque feel and drivability, since lighter setups can change how quickly the engine speed rises and falls.

Term

clutch system

The clutch system connects and disconnects engine power from the transmission, and it’s critical when you’re making high torque. The segment references a specific clutch setup (by name) and implies it affects how the car loads the drivetrain and how quickly it can move through gears.

Term

gears

Gear changes determine how the engine’s torque and power are kept in the right RPM range. The hosts mention “banging through the gears,” which ties into how torque delivery and drivability can feel when the engine and drivetrain are tuned for quick response.

Term

underdrive

Underdrive means you set things up so the supercharger spins a bit slower. That usually lowers boost, so the car makes less peak power, but it can feel more controllable for street driving. They’re using it to tailor when the car feels strong.

Term

power band

The power band is the engine speed range where the car makes its strongest usable power and feels most responsive. Forced-induction setups can shift where boost and torque arrive, changing how wide or narrow that “sweet spot” feels. Here, they discuss how pulley changes affect the boost window and therefore the power band.

Term

turbo engine

A turbo uses the engine’s exhaust to spin a compressor that forces more air into the engine. That extra air helps make more power, but the boost can arrive later as the engine speeds up. They’re comparing how quickly you feel boost when you press the throttle.

Term

10 pounds of boost

“10 pounds of boost” is a measure of how much extra pressure the supercharger is adding to the engine. More boost generally means more potential power, as long as the engine can handle it. They’re saying you can feel that boost right as you rev.

Term

2276

2276 is a common Volkswagen air-cooled engine displacement build (often a stroker-style combination) used in performance circles. It indicates a larger-than-stock displacement, which increases torque and changes how the engine feels under boost.

Term

2332

2332 is another shorthand for a larger VW engine build. It generally makes more torque than smaller displacement builds, which can make the car feel punchier.

Term

progressive

Progressive means the power comes on smoothly. Instead of a sudden hit, it builds gradually as you press the gas and the engine speed rises.

Term

oil cooler

An oil cooler is an auxiliary heat exchanger that lowers engine oil temperatures. In boosted air-cooled VW setups, oil cooling is often a key reliability factor because oil gets hotter when the engine is under sustained load.

Term

cylinder head temps

Cylinder head temperature (CHT) is a measure of how hot the engine’s cylinder heads get, which is critical on air-cooled engines. Higher CHT can indicate insufficient cooling or too much heat from boost/tuning, and it’s often monitored to protect the engine.

Term

oil temps

Oil temperature is how hot the engine oil gets during operation. Monitoring oil temps helps assess whether the lubrication system is coping with heat from boost and sustained driving, which affects wear and long-term durability.

Term

oil cooling

When people say “oil cooling,” they mean the engine oil is doing more than just lubricating. It also carries heat away, so the engine stays cooler and lasts longer—especially when you’re pushing it hard.

Concept

dyno in the car

A “dyno in the car” setup typically refers to measuring performance while the vehicle is running on a chassis or test setup that simulates real driving conditions. It’s used to see how power and temperatures behave under load, not just on a bare engine dyno.

Term

fan up under that was on the dyno

A cooling fan during dyno testing simulates airflow the car would normally get while driving. This helps control temperatures (especially oil and intake temps), which can otherwise skew results or accelerate heat-related issues during testing.

Term

72 plate

In the UK, cars have registration plates that indicate when they were registered. “72 plate” is basically a shorthand for the car’s age.

Concept

long-term driveability

Long-term driveability is how well a performance-built engine works over time in normal use, not just short dyno pulls. It depends on heat management, oil control, and how durable the internal components are under repeated stress.

Concept

induction side

The induction side is how the engine gets air (and fuel) before it burns. If that system is built well, the engine can breathe better at higher RPMs.

Term

rings and pistons

Piston rings help seal combustion pressure and control oil consumption, while pistons transfer force to the crankshaft. For high-power builds, ring and piston quality (and correct setup) is critical to durability and maintaining compression over time.

Term

camshaft

The camshaft is like the engine’s timing controller for the valves. If you change it, the engine can make more power at different engine speeds.

Term

tcs 30 angle cam

They tried a different cam design to see how it changed the engine’s behavior. Different cam grinds can make the engine feel stronger at different RPMs.

Term

duration

Duration is how long the valves stay open. It affects whether the engine makes power higher up or pulls more strongly at lower speeds.

Term

lift

Lift is how much the cam opens the valves. More lift can help the engine breathe better, but it has to work with the rest of the engine parts.

Term

slope separation angle

This is a detail in the cam’s shape that affects how smoothly and quickly the valves open and close. It’s one of the knobs cam grinders use to fine-tune engine behavior.

Company

web

They worked with Web to have the cam made to their specs. Think of Web as the company that turns their cam ideas into an actual part.

Concept

supercharger cam

A camshaft controls when the engine’s valves open and close. With a supercharger, the engine gets more air (and pressure), so the cam often needs different timing to help the engine breathe and clear exhaust better. That’s why they’re talking about using a cam designed for boost instead of a generic one.

Company

A1 performance exhaust

They mention an exhaust company because exhaust pipe sizing can change how well the engine breathes. If the exhaust is too small, it can restrict flow. If it’s sized right, it helps the engine push exhaust out more easily.

Concept

exhaust scavenging

Exhaust scavenging is how the engine uses the exhaust flow to help clear out old gases. If the exhaust system and cam timing are matched well, the engine can empty better and make more power. If they’re mismatched, exhaust can linger and hurt performance.

Part

glass pack

Glass packs are a type of muffler that use packing material to dampen sound while still allowing exhaust flow. The host references a vintage glass pack design and notes that it produced a noticeable driving difference, implying it affected exhaust restriction and back pressure.

Concept

back pressure

Back pressure is like exhaust “pushing against a traffic jam.” If the exhaust can’t get out easily, the engine can lose power because it can’t breathe as well.

Concept

scavenging effect

Scavenging is basically “helping the engine clear out exhaust.” When one cylinder blows exhaust out, the exhaust system design can create a suction effect that helps the next cylinder empty better.

Concept

intake valve and exhaust valve overlap

Valve overlap is when the engine briefly opens both the intake and exhaust valves at the same time. That timing can help the engine pull in fresh air more effectively, especially with the right exhaust setup.

Concept

intake closing point

The intake closing point is the crank-angle timing when the intake valve shuts during the engine cycle. The host suggests that beyond lift, duration, and lobe separation, intake closing timing is important for how well the engine traps and draws in air—especially when tuned with exhaust and cam timing.

Term

intake closes

The intake valve has to close at the right moment so the engine can trap the air/fuel mixture in the cylinder. If it closes too early or too late, the engine won’t make the power you expect.

Term

bottom dead center

Bottom dead center is the point in the engine cycle where the piston is at the very bottom. Timing events measured around BDC help explain when the valves open/close relative to piston movement.

Term

top dead center

Top dead center is when the piston reaches the highest point in the cylinder. Where the valves are in relation to TDC can change how well the engine fills and makes power.

Term

custom grind cam

A camshaft controls when the valves open and close. A custom grind cam means the timing is tailored so the engine makes power where you want it, like at lower RPM for torque.

Term

peak torque

Peak torque is the strongest “pull” the engine makes. If you tune for peak torque at a lower RPM, the car feels more responsive when you accelerate.

Concept

forced induction packaging constraints

When you add a big power-adder like a supercharger, it can physically not fit where the stock parts were. That can mean trimming body panels or rerouting components to make everything clear. It’s not just about power—it’s also about space under the hood.

Company

Holley's

Holley is a brand that makes performance carburetors. In this context, they’re talking about trying different carburetor brands/styles to see if the kit can still fit properly.

Term

turbo kit

A turbo kit is a performance upgrade that uses exhaust gases to spin a turbine and make boost. Because it relies on the exhaust, the kit usually includes the parts that connect to the exhaust system.

Concept

naturally aspirated motors

Naturally aspirated means the engine doesn’t use a turbo or supercharger. To make big power, you usually have to build and tune the engine carefully, because you can’t just “add boost.”

Term

cam profiles

Cam profile refers to the shape/timing of the camshaft that controls valve opening and closing. Different cam profiles change where the engine makes power (idle, midrange, or top-end), which is especially important for naturally aspirated builds that need to maximize breathing.

Term

cam ramp angle

The cam has a “ramp” that controls how quickly it lifts the valve. A sharper ramp can make the engine respond quicker, but it can also beat up the valve train if it’s too aggressive.

Term

valve float

At high RPM, the engine can’t “control” the valve movement as well as it should. The valve can start bouncing or not following the cam properly, which is bad for performance and can be hard on the engine.

Term

rocker ratio

Rocker arms multiply the cam’s movement to get more valve lift. Changing the rocker ratio can make the engine breathe better, but it needs to be set up correctly.

Term

40 by 39

That “40 by 39” is valve sizing—how big the intake and exhaust valves are. Changing valve sizes can affect how easily the engine breathes and can influence heat.

Concept

power-on-demand

“Power-on-demand” describes a setup that delivers boost and torque quickly when you ask for throttle, rather than waiting for RPM. Forced induction (like a supercharger) often helps achieve this kind of immediate response.

Term

cold startups

Cold startups are how the engine behaves when it’s been sitting and the temperature is low. Some setups need a little extra help, like gentle throttle pumping, to start smoothly.

Term

choke

A choke adds extra fuel when the engine is cold so it starts easier. Without it, you usually rely on other cold-start features to get the mixture right.

Term

cold enrichment

Cold enrichment means the engine gets a richer fuel mixture when it’s cold. That helps it start and run until everything warms up.

Term

IDFs

IDFs refers to Weber IDF carburetors, commonly used on Volkswagen engines. They often include cold-start/enrichment circuits, and the transcript compares the supercharger setup’s cold behavior to IDF behavior.

Term

chassis dyno

A chassis dyno is a test where the car’s wheels are loaded and the power is measured. It helps you see how changes to the engine and tuning affect real-world wheel power.

Term

cam swaps

A cam swap means changing the camshaft profile to alter valve timing and lift characteristics. In performance builds, cam changes can significantly affect powerband, idle quality, and how well the engine responds under boost or at low RPM.

Concept

bigger exhaust valve than intake valve

Engines have valves that let air in (intake) and push exhaust out (exhaust). Changing valve sizes is like changing the “doorway” for each job. Making the exhaust valve bigger can help the engine get rid of burned gases more easily, especially when you rev higher.

Concept

40 by 40 cylinder

That “40 by 40” sounds like a valve-size idea—basically making the intake and exhaust valves the same size (around 40 mm). The goal is to see if equal valve sizes make the engine breathe more evenly. Whether it works depends on the rest of the head and cam setup too.

Concept

lobe separation angle

Lobe separation angle is a cam-timing setting that affects how much the intake and exhaust valves are open at the same time. More overlap can help at higher RPM, but too much can hurt low-speed running. Changing LSA is one way cam designers shape the engine’s power curve.

Concept

get it in, get it out

“Get it in, get it out” is a performance philosophy focused on improving airflow through the engine—filling the cylinders with fresh charge and efficiently evacuating exhaust. The transcript connects this to faster RPMs and quicker response time by reducing restrictions and bottlenecks. It’s a useful framing for why head flow, valve sizing, and cam timing matter together.

Concept

air-cooled engine

Some engines cool themselves with liquid coolant and a radiator. An air-cooled engine uses air blowing over the engine to carry heat away instead.

Term

push rods

Pushrods are parts that transfer movement from the camshaft to the valves. They’re common in older engine designs and help open the valves indirectly.

Term

overhead cams

An overhead cam is a design where the camshaft sits on top of the engine to control the valves. That can make the engine respond more precisely and helps with performance tuning.

Concept

drag car

A drag car is a car set up to go as fast as possible in a straight line. It’s built for quick acceleration, not everyday driving.

Concept

drag race motor setup

Drag racing builds the engine to make big power quickly for a short run. It’s usually set up differently than a normal street car because the goal is acceleration, not long-distance comfort.

Term

10 seconds

In drag racing, “10 seconds” usually means the car can cover a standard race distance in about ten seconds. It’s a quick way to say the setup is very fast.

Company

JEGS

JEGS is a company that sells performance parts for cars and racing. The host is basically saying today it’s easier to buy lots of aftermarket stuff.

Company

Summit

Summit Racing sells a lot of aftermarket performance parts. The host is using it as an example of how today’s builders have more access to parts and tools.

Concept

R&D

R&D means engineers spend time testing and improving a product before it’s sold. For performance parts, that’s what helps make sure the parts work well and last under stress.

Term

14 to 1

“14 to 1” is a ratio that changes how the drivetrain multiplies effort. They’re saying that with that kind of ratio, it’s harder to do the kind of hard-launch driving they’re talking about.

Concept

dragon drive

“Dragon drive” appears to be a slang term in the episode for a specific kind of aggressive driving/launch behavior associated with drag-style setups. The speaker links it to gearing and drivetrain behavior, implying that forced induction alone isn’t enough—you need the right combination of components to make it work.

Concept

pro turbo class

“Pro Turbo” is a category in drag racing for cars with turbo setups. Different classes have different rules, so the cars can be very different even though they’re all racing.

Concept

nitro methane

Nitromethane is a special racing fuel. It helps make more power, but it also means the engine has to be set up and tuned differently than for regular pump gas.

Concept

quarter mile vs eighth mile

Quarter-mile and eighth-mile are two common drag racing distances. Because the track is shorter, the car’s launch and early acceleration matter more in the eighth-mile.

Concept

putting it in a bus

“Putting it in a bus” refers to installing the performance kit into a Volkswagen bus platform (commonly a classic VW Microbus/Transporter). This is a popular swap because the bus is a heavy, air-cooled-era icon that benefits greatly from forced induction to improve drivability and acceleration.

Term

supercharges

A supercharger is a device that forces extra air into the engine. More air usually means more power, but the car often needs the right supporting parts and tuning to run safely.

Term

speedo

“Speedo” means the speedometer. When you restore an older VW, getting the right speedometer helps the car look correct and ensures the gauges work properly.

Term

CAD drawings

CAD drawings are computer files that let you design a part accurately. Instead of sketching only by hand, you can model it on a computer and make sure the dimensions are right.

Part

intake manifold

The intake manifold is like a distribution box for air. It takes air from the intake and sends it to each cylinder. Here, they’re talking about 3D-printing one so it’s easier to make and still strong.

Concept

3d printed

3D printing makes parts by building them up layer by layer. For engine parts, the big question is whether the printed material can handle heat and being tightened down without breaking.

Term

3d printer

A 3D printer is the machine that physically makes the part from the computer design. Scanning helps them copy the shape so the new part fits correctly.

Concept

material that does not break down

Not all 3D-print materials survive engine conditions. They tried different materials until they found one that stays strong and doesn’t weaken or crack over time.

Term

90 millimeter cylinders

“90 millimeter cylinders” is basically how wide the cylinders are inside the engine. That width affects how much fuel/air the engine can move and how big the engine’s displacement is.

Term

supercharged car

A supercharged car has a device that helps the engine breathe harder by pushing in extra air. That usually makes the car feel stronger, especially when you accelerate.

Topic

one crazy weekend

“One Crazy Weekend” sounds like a car event weekend with different activities—like a car show and cruises—where people bring their cars and hang out.

Topic

poker run

A poker run is like a road trip with stops along the way. At each stop you get a card, and whoever ends up with the best hand wins the prize.

Topic

Vegas Valley

They’re driving around the Las Vegas area. It’s basically the route the event uses for the cruise.

Topic

VW people

They mean the Volkswagen community—people who are into VW cars. It’s more than just a car drive; it’s a meet-up.

Topic

pool party

They’re also doing a pool party as part of the weekend. It’s the social part of the event, not just driving.

LIVE

Happy Monday guys and welcome to another episode of let's talk dubs. I'm your host bill T

Well, it's Monday and not Friday. I'm getting this podcast out to you guys late

Kind of got tied up on Friday with the rag top installation that George and I did on the 70 square back

Pookie's dream that I have and so didn't get a chance to get this podcast edited and put out

But I wanted to and so this week

Good podcast for you. But before that, let's get let's make sure you support those that support

Let's talk dubs by the way one crazy weekend registration is open

It's filling up quite quickly. So you might want to make sure that you reserve your space spaces or 60 bucks for a

Three-day pass to park in the lot. You have your own designated space for the whole weekend

So once you're in you're in and you can get in and out as much as you want until the car show starts when the car

Show starts nobody moves in or out for those six hours and then after that

it's again

You can pull in and out with with the parking pass. So other than that lots going on. Don't forget to support those that support

Let's talk dubs

That would be vw trends magazine a magazine for the people by the people go get a subscription today for issues annually

at vwtrends

Magazine comm also Ross Wolf high quality aftermarket parts built for enthusiasts by enthusiasts

They just came out if you're watching them on their Instagram or following their Facebook

They just came out with the rear wheel seal set

They've gone through and matched up the original factory wheel seals versus just a replacement seal

And these are the ones that are supposed to not leak at all. So they've got that they've got the viton seals

They've they've got a lot of different

Parts and pieces to help make owning your Volkswagen enjoyable experience on top of lots of jewelry for your motor

So go check them out today at Ross Wolf calm

Icon pistons the highest quality aftermarket piston you can pick up here Volkswagen

They're available in 94 millimeter 92 and 85 5 the 92 and 85 is available in a and b

Wrist pin height and also the 94 is available in a b and c for different strokes and compression ratios on your motor

So go check them out today

One of one of our favorite people we like to go to for the icon pistons is type you motorsports

So click the link in the description below order yourself a set of icon pistons today

This week's podcast is with the boys from wrapping back performance father and son duo Kevin and Ron Trujella

They're out of the high desert area and they have been developing a new supercharger kit if you're out at the DK

DKP meet last year in Orange County. You would have seen the bug with the supercharger kit on it

It is a Whipple supercharger and it's super super rad. I mean the whole setup. They've custom built

And it's it's definitely something that's pretty awesome to give you a little sneak peek

they've got a 2276 with 210 horsepower and

Substantial amount of torque. There's you know, it's it's just crazy how much horsepower torque

This is 2332 they have has 240 horsepower and 288 pound-feet of torque at 3,000 RPM

So if you want a motor that's going to move a move your bus

That's the motor to get but yeah lots of details about their development how they came up with the kit some of the stuff

They were doing the past what they're doing now. And so they've got plenty of kits available. They've got six kits ready to go right now

The superchargers are brand new nothing's rebuilt

It's all legit top-of-line stuff and it's built to fit with

Declared standoffs so that you know, it'll fit in the engine compartment

But you're gonna need some standoffs and a bottom standoff as well

But listen for 280 horsepower man. That's what you got to do

But we go in all the details this podcast that's good stuff

So always want to bring you guys the latest and greatest stuff that's happening on the market

So this is what's going on now, and they've got some miles behind a few prototype motor setups that they've got out there

So check them out today. It's great podcast. Let's get into it this week

rabbit-back performance

The superchar the big supercharger for your Volkswagen on let's talk dubs

Okay everybody so on today's show

We're always trying to read you guys the latest and greatest stuff that's out there

if you saw I did an Instagram live back in June from the

The DKP meet that they had in Southern California

And if you were there you guys saw this wild bug that had this super sick supercharger set up on it

It was like twin screw set up and we talked about it

And it was it was built by the guys from rabba rabba back performance out of Apple Valley

And they've been working on this for quite a while and we talked about when we finally get some things hammered down

We're gonna have in the studio. Well today we have them in the studio

So if you've been looking at that supercharger set up and you want to know all about it

This is the place we're gonna hear everything. That's anything about the supercharger set up. So on today's podcast

I've got Ron and Kevin Truyla

Out of from out from rabba back performance guys. Welcome to the show. Thank you for having a beer

Hey, I'm glad you guys came out. I know we talked about before

about us

Kind of having a sit down once you guys had this motor setup with a supercharger and so

You guys had you guys originally started doing when we first had you in the podcast

We had to the podcast a couple years ago and you guys were building the amr 500 supercharger. Is that right?

So tell me a little bit how this evolved from there to where we got today and and how this all came together

Well, we did the did the interview with you and yeah, it was I think it was November 22 or something like that

episode 60 to be exact

So episode 60

So it kind of followed through to that and we talked about the evolution of supercharging

That's gone to the Volkswagen is all the way from my judge send up to the up to the dickland

He and on and so on and so on into the smaller supercharger type of situations

Well, we just took it another level and yeah, well, you know, if you're looking on like if you look online

Look at the guys in Brazil

They seem to have like the snail style superchargers and all kinds of stuff going on and you see like for whatever reason and

Maybe it's because I hear Volkswagen's, you know, like you can have a sand car

You can do this you can do that and over there they just have street cars

And so maybe they pushed the envelope a little bit over there

But you know, no one's ever been doing stuff like this that you guys are doing and originally the amr 500

I have a set up on one of my cars the amr 500 I got from the guys that

In the UK I got a set up from those guys and it was on a low compression 1800

It makes it super snappy real quick. And then I think you were you guys were also working on

Some setups with like a 370 with the 371 blowers. Yes, that's correct

We we went into that dabbled into that a little bit, which was completely insane

Yeah, that thing was just a monster, right?

But it had some logistical issues or cooling issues and we're running electric fans and things like that and it made it

Difficult for practicality. Now, how did that work with that setup with the electric fan?

Do you have a running functioning prototype that was working like that? We did. Yeah, but we've done

Either sold them off or tore them apart right now

And those were mostly for like sand car guys and stuff like that or what? Yeah, that would be the better application

It would have been more like yeah sand car guys or more to the racing world if that's what they wanted to use at the time

So, yeah, and then you know

So you start with the 371 because that's kind of the smallest blower that they make pretty much like a B&M, right?

In the root style. Yeah, there was a dyer's blower. Yeah, and then with a root style the

The thing with the root style, they're a little more snappy than than the other style blowers. Yeah, the women that are all blower

The and the other blowers are a little bit snappier or the the smaller ones, right?

So the way that works the blower right is like compressor size and all that type of stuff with volume of all that stuff

So if you can for kind of our listeners kind of break down a little bit of where you were with the amr 500

How far you could get with that and then how it evolves into the next yeah

I mean when we started with the amr 500 we realized that

We were limited to displacement and really there was a lot of

Up and down about how big displacement gone, but really we tested them up to 1914

The engine then you're done, right? So

There's and would they drop off in boost or they just wouldn't be able to produce enough

It's like trying to fill a bucket with a with a syringe, right?

If the the engine can only take so much air, but the supercharger is only a half a liter, right?

So it doesn't produce enough pressure or enough air to fill the bucket got it and so

The so you guys started going back to drawing board like we're gonna we're gonna figure out

Walk me through the challenges because obviously the first one where we saw the 371 it was kind of central century centrally mounted and then you had

Electric fans and then like a side alternator right to try to get kind of a kind of a setup put together on it

How did you guys start with developing the new kit that you have what's the name of the new kid you guys have the new

Kit that we have the current one is called the MK supercharger MK supercharger

And somebody's wanting to buy this supercharger

They're available to pick it up on your guys website or through Facebook

We don't have a website, but they contact at any time and we have about eight kits available at right now and more come

And what's the what's the kit called again the MK supercharger kit and it's

Designed for what displacement motors? You know, we're testing right now right now

We're setting them right around a 2180 on up

But I think we are want to go into testing for maybe a 1914 to see if you can put it on a smaller motor

Yes, now what did it take to get this whole setup to work now?

So when you when you were done with the with the the supercharger the 300 371

What was your next thought? Well, the next thought was

How do we put this?

How do we make a kit that will fit in a bug or fit in most applications and still retain

Somewhat of your cooling so that was challenges

I mean, that's the biggest thing with the Volkswagen is you've got the cooling fan runs off the belt and then

Anytime you're gonna start now you're putting all that stuff hanging off the front end of the pulley and you've got to try to figure out

Okay, how am I aligning all this up because that's like a car with multiple belts where you can or a big serpentine setup

So did you guys try serpentine setup at first or were you doing two belts?

Because on the seven on the six seven when you're doing two or the three seven when you're doing two belts, right?

The 371 had an alternator belt and it had the cog tooth lower belt right on those was actually a two-inch white belt

On the air or on the the AMR runs the the MST serpentine system, right?

We just get a longer belt for it

In the new whipple charger of the setup that we have now

We're running was it a five. I think it's six six K. That's a six K. It's a serpentine belt or a micro V

So so the six K is it's a it's a belt that's able to

I'm trying to look at some images of this on your on your site

And so you're so it's two pulleys still on the car two

Grooved pulleys like six six band pulleys or was that they call them? Yeah, I'm micro V six

So micro V six so you've got basically two of those running on the motor or is the first one original V belt

Yeah, the original is just a standard alternator belt. Okay on a standard

Seven-inch bottom pulley. Okay, and then with that obviously super charging makes the motor rev faster, right?

Yes, and with you guys testing this stuff. Have you had it to where it starts speeding up the?

likes the alternator can't keep up or

No, because it doesn't it doesn't speed up your engine to a point where it affects any of the cooling or your alternator

It's still running through your power band

What you're doing is is you're running off the crank to run your supercharger rather than a turbo setup

Which is exhaust pressure driven so you're not getting any

More stress on the the cooling system or the fan belt system. So

How how long is it taking you guys to develop this setup that you have here?

I mean what go over over a year so over a year you've been working on it and then you've got the

The one motor that was in the boat that was that is that your car was in that's a customer's car that we were testing with

We were doing an engine for him again, and we were testing in between

So we we wanted to do some street testing and we want to do some dyno testing

So the initial testing that we did was inside that car

Just we put the we built a 2076 we put the blower on it

And then we were testing it in the street and we were gathering a lot of data and changing a lot of a few things in it

That we had to change and then with this current setup you have you kind of had to go through the process of modeling the

The intake the intake boot some stuff like that because this again is after the carburetor, right?

So it's it's a it's not a blow-through setup. It's a draw-through setup correct and which even with turbos

Those have a tendency to be a little snappier, right a little bit kind of sometimes easier to start and some things like that

And it's kind of a cooling thing because if you're mixing the air and fuel prior to the supercharger it naturally cools the supercharger

Sure, so it's good. Yeah, no, that may re-vaporation. Yeah. Yeah, and this particular setup that you guys have

Is on what what size motor what's what's the whole specs on it carburetor?

The whole set a current one right now a current one or the one we just

Won't we just dino the one we just dino'd yeah, because you guys dinoed it with

Joe more you took it to Joe Joe more is a ran on the dino which is always

Dino pulls are always tense. Well, yeah, we've had both of them on the dino

We had the 2276 and the latest one

Oh, so the smaller we're compared apples to oranges on that one

And now with this with this setup

Are you just changing pulley size to get different pressure as part of it?

So because with it with a smaller motor you would go with a smaller pulley so you wouldn't kind of over

Yeah, we won't won't spin it faster. We'll spin it slower. Yeah, so because of the sheer volume of it

Yeah, what we what we discovered when we did the 2276 on the on the dino

We are running a five and three-quarter inch bottom pulley and a

Three and three-quarter inch top pulley and we're producing right around 12 to 13 pounds of boost five around 12 ish

A lot of boost I mean once you run that through the calculation, right?

What's the effective compression ratio about 13.5 or so so 13 so you got it? You should be running the good guess the stuff

Do you have?

Do you do you have any type of is is the ignition retarding or is it doing any or you think about doing any kind of?

Aftermarket like snow performance any that kind of stuff injection stuff on it or well, okay

Yeah, we we've been messing around with the snow performance

Injection and when we actually did the in-car testing that car was set up with the methanol injection

So the methanol injection acts to cool and that's put in at the manifolds

So it's like yeah below the supercharger. Yeah, so it's shot in and it cools the charge to keep it and kind of keeps it from

Detonating and stuff like keeps your cylinder head temperature, you know under reasonably control and now with this motor in the 23 in the

So 2498 cc is the one that's in that was in the customer's car and display. No, that was a 2276

Okay, so this this 2498 is is a new motor. Yes brand new motor. It's Christmas. That's a monster and this motor put out

What what did it put out on the dyno this one here?

So this one put out 240 horsepower at 55 max and then we were pulling 285 foot-pounds of torque at 3000

rpms 285

That's a transmission snapper. It is. They call them the stump pullers

Yeah, and it's consistent with the 2276 because when we did the 2276 we were running to 10 horsepower at 5 to 55

And 250 foot-pounds of torque at 3000 and might I add that's all can that's all cam when we designed the cam to do it that way

Right, and so you guys have a custom ground cam in in the motor specifically for yeah

We've had a couple different grinds that we've used now. How many supercharged motors have you guys built for customers?

Previous to this like just supercharged in general well for like all the way back from amr's and everything

Oh, probably a couple dozen

So you got a couple dozen motors under your belt customers

You're giving you a lot of feedback. So you're kind of knowing what the effects over all these little changes that you're doing

Now with this setup here

When someone buys this kit because you now have this kit ready to go

It's a turnkey kit ready to install the whole nine yards

We just have to order the supercharger because they're that's the biggest pricey part of it

But like the carburetor and all the all the mounting material and all that stuff

We have that in stock

You just have to order the supercharger and that comes from Whipple which is up in northern california

So it's a brand new supercharger because the amr setup like they're rebuilt

Those are all rebuilt because they come from they're like a jdm market type thing in the 1900s

If you got the quality ones you would have got the re-manufactured or rebuilt ones not the cheap china ones that we're failing

Yeah, right right because you can because people go on on teaming and buying for like 80 bucks or something crazy like that

But yeah, it'll it'll just chew itself up. Yeah, good. Good luck with that, right? So

So this setup you guys get with Whipple and now you guys obviously

Through this process have made some inroads with Whipple and trying to figure out this kid

Have they ever thought about doing anything like this on the Volkswagen before no when I initially well

Initially before I even really talked to him

I did call him because I was we were looking for

A supercharger that would fit and and I really wanted a quality supercharger that wouldn't fail

I get my customer something good. So I wanted a good brand name one

So after doing a lot of research found out that Whipple made the w100 in its size

And they made a w140 up a bigger than that but the w100 was was really the the right size for the application

So I went ahead and when we talked to him and I got all that I needed from them

And so I just ordered it ahead of time. Yeah, we initially told them

Our max length from end to end is going to be x amount of time or like 16 inches

I think it was that we had to work with they know, yeah, we can use this one

So they came up with that one

So what they've done is what they're called direct drive. It doesn't have the snout on it, right?

So it's just the bully is right on the main rotor

So that that alleviates any pressure points of having a long snout to kind of add too much pressure

And then it keeps it compact to fit underneath underneath the deck because we had to watch the firewall versus the pulley alignment

And yeah, it took a little bit to figure out the math on it

I mean, it's quite it's quite an ordeal and and then you guys

I was through this process

You have to have custom pulleys made on probably everything in the beginning as you're doing the r&d on this thing

Yeah, there was a lot of custom stuff, but the pulleys themselves are basically

Over the over the counter. Oh really the the 6v pulley. Yeah, you buy that and then what we do is we'll get the

Actually, we get it from ampie, but it's the it's the billet steel

Crank pulley and then you'll machine and then we machine that to fit the

The sixth group will you guys do the machining in-house?

All that stuff and is this kind of is this your background?

Yes, I'm a machinist by trade. So that's what you so you're the guy that has the patience of job

I have zero I could I could be a machinist for 10 minutes. I just oh, yeah

There's a level of stuff that we do in-house, but a lot of the bracket tree is made out out sourced

To a guy local actually to us. Yeah once we got all the prototypes made up and made sure everything fit

And I mean you're talking putting the motor together and taking it apart 100 times

Right. Oh, and I got a whole box full of parts in the back in the back garage right now that didn't work

Yeah, right. So

So it worked that way once we

Got all the logistics figured out and how we were going to do it got the brackets made that worked

Then we sent it out for for manufacturing

And it's it's a pretty I mean I've seen the kit you guys had on display here at one crazy week

And I'm sure you guys will be back at one crazy week in this year

And and you guys did a few test runs at that motor and I mean that thing just sounds

It just sounds nasty

Yeah, and I was even having an issue with it too. I was having some kind of a carburetor problem with it

Manifested itself, but I managed to fix it. But yeah, I mean it is it is

It means standing next to the motor it's putting out that you're feeling

A lot of a lot of pressure is putting out now with doing this

Have you guys tested different exhaust systems just to see if it makes it flow better or that kind of stuff?

So we've had two or three different systems that we've used

And we noticed that when we were doing the dyno on the 2276 we had a stattered merged header

Right. Well, it was an inch and an inch and five eighths merged header

No, it was it was a one and three quarter one and three quarter

Anyway, that were the muffler connects to it. It would shrink down to

You know like way small bottle next to it. I think it was like literally cut

Yeah, we cut the collector right off and it welded the muffler straight on to the collector

And and that helped that was a pretty yeah, because when you're putting that much pressure on the top side

It's got to get out on the back side or it starts to absolutely in the supercharger application

Get the exhaust out at any way you can and with respect to building building this setup

So you're making setups people can bolt onto their motors now

What type of motors are they needing to have like with respect to should they have special ring setup?

Do they got to have breather setups like obviously with force induction like this?

You've got to be set to

Kind of look for some extra extra stuff you need to do on your on your absolute things

You can't have just like a cheap set of pistons and rings. Oh, no, we call it conditioning

Yeah, we have a word for it like we got a condition to motor for it, which is

True force pistons like we use in the yscope pistons. We like to use the 224 ring ring spacing with total seal rings

We like the h-beam rods and of course your your cranks are all forged

But a good quality forged crank at least these are your minimums that you really need to keep your engine together

And then this motor, I mean this is just a monster with respect to power man. I don't know who's I mean

There's nobody obviously this is forced induction, but it's a little different than a turbo setup because

With with testing on this if you guys run cylinder head temp test and stuff like that to see where where that stuff's at

Where's this thing? So your cylinder head temperature is you know by nature higher

Even with a turbo your cylinders perhaps always get a run hotter, right? Right?

When you compress air it gets hot. There's just no other way around it. Sure

And there's not enough room

On the outlet side of the supercharger to go through an intercooler and come back

So you just have to live with cylinder head temperature

Uh, does that mean it's going to destroy them? No, you just have to kind of

Be aware that or monitor your cylinder head temperature if it gets above a certain point then

Stop and do whatever you got to do, but we haven't had that problem. We've had the

With the way it's set up the cylinder head temperature is pretty stable. Really? Yes. And so

What kind of paces have you guys put the motor through that you have?

I mean, obviously the dyno runs and stuff like that, but you guys have it in a working driving vehicle

We did. Yeah, not anymore. But yeah, when we did the working driving vehicle, I did stages that we were cruising

How are we doing just running downtown? Did you guys ever take it up Cajon pass? I did not take it up Cajon pass

Yeah, that's probably gonna get a little hot. Yeah

I'm curious with Cajon pass like what it's running only because right because that's that's a nice heavy grade for you

Yeah to test some stuff out. Yeah, it's a bottom. It's a 4500 foot climb. It's it's pretty good to climb

And what's your what on a motor like this? What's your what's your suggested static compression ratio when you're starting on a motor like this?

We like to keep it about 8 to 8.2 8 to 8.2

Yeah, relatively low any particular heads that you would suggest to use this motor

we primarily we have a

Well, not a thing but we we get our heads from brother's machine. Okay, right?

I just call rallyo up and I say hey, I want this and you make some for me

Okay, and usually within a day or two. They're sitting on my porch

But does that mean that other heads won't work? No, you can run the amp e gtv two heads if you wish

So is this are you running stock cylinder head castings on these on this motor right now?

No, the castings that that brothers uses are basically a one castings

So they're either the 501s or the 502 castings which that's more like a heavier duty cast

It is there's a lot more alloy in it a lot more silicone in it

Okay, and they're thicker where they need to be so you don't have to weld them up and valve size like somebody's gonna buy one of these kits

I mean, obviously you would you would you would sell the kit and size the supercharger up the 140 or the 100

for their setup

And it

How far is a deck like it won't fit with a typical deck with standoffs

So the the way I designed it I I tried to do the bed or we tried to do the best to fit in there's all we could

But you don't have to have standoffs on top and to stand off on the bottom we can still get your deck laid on

and it's got

with

I was just thinking about the

The I'm in my head. I just sat here and thought and I thought what about this and that now I'm trying to think of what I was

Oh 36 horsepower shroud to get around with this. So it's a 36 horse style shroud

Yeah, so it's a with unfortunately

Do the designing process?

We had to go with I don't know what they call that it's called the cool shroud the cool shroud

So it does not have a doghouse on it. It's like that one. Yeah, it's like that one right there

So and and that was to put the supercharger in a more central location to it

So it's an it's like an aftermarket style shroud that's got the slanted sides like an early offset

The cool shroud. Yeah, which is part of the kit right the alternator and all that

It's it's not a center tin like some of you've seen right the alternator sits in its natural position

It's just it's cut down on the side

And that made a perfect spot to just start because that makes sense right because you're you're tight there

You've got the distributor. You get everything right there

Yeah, it's close and then you guys set you set the distributor which distributor you guys using it

So let's just start with what's in the kit. What do you get when you buy the kits you get the supercharger?

So you get the the w100 whipple supercharger

You get all the pulleys the bottom pulleys that you need to get all the belts that the belt that you need

You'll have probably have to put an alternator belt in there, but you should have all that stuff already

You get all the hardware that's involved you get

instructions

So I'm we spent a lot of time making instructions to put together to help out how you align and how you put together

You got the intake system the carburetor, which is a 45 Weber dcoe

style carburetor you get the air filter system

And I think I think that's everything and then all the mounting bracketry

So it doesn't come with a distributor. So you're running your own distributor with it. Yeah, and then

As far as now the the supercharger itself is a self-oiling unit

Yes, so I've contained oil and you change it oil every so often or whatever the case is

Yeah, whatever whatever whipple recommends. They say like so many hours

Was that the same on the amr's pretty much and you guys still doing some amr kits too

Like if someone wants an amr kit you guys still offer the amr

So yeah, if you remember the the 56 that we had at your show last year

We now have an amr in that one. Oh really that'll be that'll be up there in October with what on what it's an 1835

Okay, nice. Yeah, this one we designed which is a prototype at this point

So we're still doing the other things with the amr's but it's a prototype to where we did a side draft

Set up with a new intake system and put it on there

Really? Yeah, so usually we did the holly 350 or 500s on top of them

Now have you guys

Have you guys

At all messed around with type 3 setups try to figure out how to get a type 3 supercharger to work

We gave it some thought but we haven't haven't ventured into that road yet. Yeah, yeah, because you know, you're so

They're so compact and tight for space. There's almost none and then how do you get the belt?

To turn you know what I mean? Well, we're thinking about going into the buses. We can do the bus

Right, there's enough room between the deck and the and the bottom deck, you know, the below the back window

Right, right. The only problem is you're going to have to make an access panel that sits right over top of the carburetor

Because the carburetor is going to be like an inch away, right? So the two so you can't you can't change the jets and all that stuff

So you'd have to put an access panel in there and they have them

Like I know one guy that has a bus

And he has a kit. I forget where he got it from. Yes for to get to the fuel the fuel sender

Yeah, some of the guys actually they'll use the

They'll go to a late model a late bay and they'll cut that rear section out so they can access

I mean, it's super handy when you're used to working on your motor to come in from the top versus the face

Um, I've got a couple buddies that have done that conversion on their car

You'll get all the stuff and what's the price? What's the price on the kit right now? That's 6,500

so $6,500 for the kit which

I mean all things considered if you've got if you've got a good strong bottom end on that motor

I mean, there's no reason why

You know, this this couldn't be something that would be super stout

With respect to like adding a ton of power and you don't have to put extra. There's no extra oil lines. There's no

You don't add a ton of heat in the engine compartment, right? Like with turbo, you know, everything's burned off the exhaust

So if you've got kind of an upright in the engine compartment, it's going to push a lot of heat in there

So with this having everything compacted in that area and this this setup would fit in a probably the karmic gear pretty decent

You know, I we hadn't even tried it yet. So I imagine it would it should fit right relatively

Just like a type one would inside of gear. Yeah

No, it's looking like it. It's looking like it's it's got a pretty

I mean it says low prof low profiles you're going to get for this supercharger

Yeah, we're compact as much as you're going to get it and then obviously with the supercharger since it's from directly from whipplet

Comes to the factory warranty on the supercharger. Yeah, they all have the warranties and stuff

But uh, right now if you order the kit from us, we order the superchargers as the kits are ordered

So there's about up to an eight week wait for the supercharger

But I think in about four because they're built to order at this pretty much. Yes. They don't just have them sitting there

Yeah, they build they build supercharger for just about anything and the whipple charger's been around forever

Right, and it's not a roots blower. It's a screw blower. So

What

Explain the difference to some of the listeners that if you look at a roots blower if you look at the two rotors

There's like three veins

Right and they basically make a gradual twist from front to back right right where a screw is like an arcamedi screw

Yeah, where there's several winds and they and they blend together as they go around

And those are and it pushes the air instead of pushing the air down

It pushes the air back

So the outlet or the inlet of the supercharger is on the end not on the top

Oh, really?

So it comes in from the backside of it and then compresses and then forces down through the center coming out

And so is there so root style would be more like the

Would be like the the dicklandy or the um, yeah the b&m the b&m

90 that they used on those was basically as I think it was a 0.75 cubic inch

Blower that they used as a b&m blower and the difference between that blower and and this style blower like between

What's the two names? We've got a root style blower. Yeah a corkscrew and you have a screw type

So the screw type blower is going to probably spin is is build pressure faster

Would it build pressure faster because of the because the design have less drag on it? Uh, yeah, it will it's it's

The concept is basically the same it's just how you're doing it

So it basically could make more air pressure at a lower rate and the screw type is probably a little more compressed

Condensed in size. Yes, condensed as far as that's why they do it that way

Where the amr is a roots blower in itself, but the rotors are only six inches long

Right and the the amr is like it's still pretty good size for I mean it's it's small enough to almost work

You know to work to literally work perfectly in an 18. I remember to the amr is only a 0.5 liter

Supercharger as a whipple charger is a 1.6 liter

Yeah, and it's so

Just to put it in and retrospect here the whipple supercharger is

Capable of 18 000 rpms consistent and up to 20 000 rpms momentarily

With the 2.5 liter that we're spinning at right now

We're spinning that whipple supercharger about just under 12 000 rpms

And when we did the 2276 we're spinning and this is that 5500 rpms my dad you're spinning at about

9 000 rpms

So you're under driving the supercharger by a long show so the superchargers last forever on this thing

Yeah, we're only running it in that but just maybe slightly over halfway there

And you guys have the car ball set up for the supercharger so that it's given plenty of fuel

Now what kind of fuel system do you need for something like this?

Well this one, um, you know unlike some of the turbos they need a return and depends if you have a blow-through system

This one just just a regular fuel system a high good quality fuel pump that produces

You know eight to ten pounds and then a good regulator to regulate the carburetor and it will work

We did all our dyno testing on just that setup

And so it's it's eight to ten pound pump with a regulator dropping it down like three and a half pounds or

Yeah, I think we're running you're running on the dyno and we're between four to five

Pounds, yeah, I think Joel said it at about four and a half pounds is when we made our final pulls on it and no

Uh, so far results have been pretty pretty good long term as far as all the dyno pulls

It's yeah, we ran we ran the 2276

On 91 pump gas really that it was no special feels on that we ran that thing on 91 pump gas and hold on in the 2276

That ran at the two what numbers was that one at? Oh that ran 210 horsepower at 250 foot-pounds of torque

Max so that's it and that's a 5,500 rpm

5,500 rpm was a 210 and then 3,000 was a 250 now

Let's talk about the torque curve on this thing right so you hit 3,000

This is just Mesa from there and go straight or does it taper off a little bit? It does taper off naturally

We'll taper off a little bit the power curve comes up

I mean it the instant you crack the throttle your your your torque is on its way

And really for driving right like if you're driving the car, you know that

You guys know what big type 4 guy like type 4 is because they have torque. Yes torque is what you feel

RPM is where your teeth start to rattle and you feel like I hope nothing grenades, right?

That's exactly but there's more fun driving something that's got

A strong torque curve versus big horsepower, you know what I mean?

And and now this car has both right this setup's got both like the best of both worlds

But that level of torque, I mean you got to have a pretty beefy tranny if you're doing if you're doing right

Absolutely gonna have to you know build yourself a good transmission like what a one-piece one-two mainshaft where the glues

Yeah, that's all

Yeah, the the billet mainshaft. Yeah, I mean this is uh, I mean these are incredibly impressive numbers

Especially for a kit you can bolt on it

So if you've got a pretty solid bottom end street driver

lower compression like a eight

eight to one compression big 2276

You can bolt on the supercharger for 6,500 bucks, which

All things considered, you know, if you've got

A good base motor to start with that's I mean you can probably take a motor if it's carbureted right now

You're probably pushing what I mean 2076 if you're

But if you're a hundred if you're running a hundred eight horsepower on the ragged edge of things

Yes, I mean right there. I believe a lot a lot of people have this tendency to think that

You know, oh, yeah 180 horsepower is easy like it's a 180 horsepower is a lot in a naturally aspirated engine. Oh, it is

you know and especially something that

I don't even know if you get that in a low compression engine like at eight and a half to one

Probably not 48. I think you'd be more around 150, you know, I mean 150 horse because my my type four

I think my type four is dyno'd at

One 155 horse 175 pound-feet of torque and here's I know you mentioned it earlier

You're talking about what heads you would put on it. I'll tell you we put a 42 by what 35

42 35 35 35 heads on that thing with just a

A mid-deport in that thing and that's what we were running really and get those numbers

So you don't with the with the blower or any force and duct

You don't have to have super big heads and we learned that during dyno because that 2.5 liter

I was building for something other application

But I was like I'm gonna I got to put this blower on it

So that thing has 46 by 37 valves big old and then build ports

But they don't you don't necessarily need all that that's more of a scavenging thing for normally aspirated

Right, right. That's pretty incredible

And so I mean I'm excited you guys so you guys have eight kits built ready to go like it

Shored the supercharger, which those are hand built when you call down to Whipple

Which is probably one of the best names in supercharger to get, you know

So I mean, I think I think you guys are on the right path here with picking these parts and pieces

To build a kit because you know, it requires a lot of a lot of time and dedication for guys

Like you to just sit here and commit to doing something like this because obviously you're not getting paid for this

Not like you like you guys are working for nasa doing that's right

All of us idiots in the Volkswagen world like we're just doing the best we can

Trying to take these little things that we got and make them have some power, you know

So I'm hugely impressed by these numbers

I would love to see

Or drive one of these cars and just to see what it feels like with you know

I mean people get in my bus and with 135 pound-feet of torque

They're like

Or 150 pound-feet of torque to like man, this thing's got some torque and I'm like, yeah, that's a lot of

That's a lot of torque in the Volkswagen world. You know, I mean, I think oh, that's it's it's astronomical. It's huge. Yeah

I mean 285 280 pound-feet of torque. I mean that's well traditionally in a Volkswagen motor

You're always

Kind of like even like small block Chevy if you want to go that out road

Yeah, your horsepower has always been greater than your torque, right? That's traditionally the way things are in this case

We're totally the other way around in the Volkswagen world

If you had 150 horsepower

You were down around 120 or 100 100 pounds of torque. Yeah, right because just the nature of the engine

There's not enough rotating mass in the engine to maintain that kind of torque value

now on these motors you run in stock flywheel or

I mean, I would almost think it might make more sense to go a little stock flywheel versus

It just depends on the application the 2.5 liters run on the Ron Lumis red two

clutch system or rev six excuse me that way

Huh, a lot more pretty heavy that one around that. I'll be a little well over 20 pounds. Yeah

So it's not a 13 pound. Oh, no

Situ situation because I would almost think part of the challenge with

Even with that little amr that I have on my car

Sometimes you almost feel like you're wrapping it out a little too quick. You're just banging through the gears

I've I've acquitted to people like

It feels like sport bike fast, you know, I'm like a like it just wraps through it

Is this thing still does this thing wrap through pretty quick or yes, does it? Yeah?

Yeah, it'll accelerate quite nicely. That's for that that

Up to 3000 rpms. You're pushing on 285 or in the 2096 250 you're feeling that that thing's moving

And that's where that like you said, that's what you're feeling in the torque factor

It's setting you in your seat more than the horsepower

And that's in my opinion in the street. That's fun

And if somebody said like I want to get one of these setups, but I want to put it in my bus

but I want it to live

and

With this setup when you're trying to get the biggest numbers possible

You could change the upper pulley size and

Reduce and underdrive it to where like hey, I want to have this for when I'm on now

Does the pulley size affect when the power band comes on? It really doesn't it just all depends on on

It basically does the same as far as your power goes

You're just going to have less of it right because your boost levels are going to start

Instead of starting it boost here and then tops out here

It you know, it's just going to be shorten the window a little bit. Yeah, you're just getting less boost. Okay, let's put it that way

So put just some perspective

With with a turbo engine you rub the throttle

You don't really see any boost with the supercharger system

You can just add idle and rub the throttle your 10 pounds of boost just on the rev

So that thing pulling really hard

Yeah, so it's

That's all kinetic. Yeah. I'm I I mean, I'm I'm pretty excited to hear, you know, the the numbers that you guys got of this thing and

I'd love to see some of these things on the street

Especially some of these cars that have that have the room for it gears buses stuff like that

That's almost a perfect thing for these things and I think with the right kind of cooling setup, you know

It should it, you know, it should be able to run

I would think you could be running the setup fairly reliable

If and really you just got to you just go the other way with your compression on your motor, right?

Like you just lower the compression on the motor so this way you could

Pull a little more boost in there and not feel it because the big thing with the vw setup, right?

Like when you're already going 2276 2332, you're already huge displacement and you have baseline torque

That's double what the factory is. Correct, right?

So you're already going to feel a lot of torque right off the throttle and then once this thing kicks in a boost

I mean, I think it's going to be, you know, I think I think from a drivability standpoint

I mean, I'd love to basically it's not it's not a launch, you know where it just comes on, right?

I mean, right like a turbo you you'd step on it as it starts spooling up

But you start feeling it as it starts climbing up through the rpm. This is not this is progressive from as soon as you crack

The throttle until you get off the throttle. Yeah, it's got to feel like a v8 the back of that thing pretty much

It's pretty pretty strong and then you know with this setup you'll have to run the next turn oil cooler, but

In all the testing we did in the car with it our temps weren't weren't very off from yeah

We did all our dynamic testing with no oil cooler. Yeah, so we did pretty well

Yeah, and anything when you're pushing like hard

Hard when you're pushing hard in the motor your cylinder or your cylinder head temps are going to come up

Sure a little bit

What what temps were you got? What kind of oil temps were you guys seeing with us?

We were trying to well, let's go back to the 2276 that actually had a doghouse oil cooler on it

Well, that one didn't never mind. I'm thinking of something else. Yeah

Anyway with no oil cooling we we monitor it and we were getting close to 200 we'd stop

Yeah, and we had a fan up under that was on the dyno but dyno in the in the car. We're looking

I think we were seeing like 210 at the most but that's getting on it pretty hard

But if you cruise you're in the 180 190 ring

It should be and that's what the with a 72 plate

You know with a fan on it, you know

No, I mean that's most of it

Anybody's got a big motor is going to be running cooling because that's that's your less your next

Chance to try to keep the motor from sure from doing it doing some damage on itself

You know so it's like people don't you know a lot of people don't get it is like the oil is not just lubrication

The oil is actually cooling right it's removing heat from your bearings and your interference areas

Yeah, no, I think it's uh, I think it's it's quite

it's quite the setup to

have

and

I mean I

I'm just blown away by this number this to this

I mean 2276 to have a 200 250 pound-feet of torque

And I mean I would just love to see I would love to see a long-term drive ability on this thing

Just to see kind of where it comes in

Over over time like how the cylinder because the now that now the next thing is that you've got the top end the induction side

Is so strong now it's up to good cylinders good rings and good pistons sure

It's all in how you build the motor and we told cuss without time I can sell you

I can say this kid all day long, but honestly tell you the truth if your engine's not built

Conditioned in the correct way then yeah your longevity will be lower

But if the engine is built correctly it should last a fairly long time

Yeah, and we're not asking for anything way outside the box. I mean just good quality built

Yeah, if you're gonna build if you're gonna build a 2332 street motor you're gonna you should be buying this stuff

Yeah, absolutely. You know and then the only differences on these we have

Two different custom ground cams that we've been working on so we've we've tailored the the torque curve

To come up a little bit later or a little bit earlier right so you can kind of go either way

That was a bit of an adventure I went through like four through or four cams before well that one didn't work

Yeah, we gotta give it up Jason there from webcam really. Yeah, he's a good friend of mine. Yeah, and he really helped us

Yeah, and he really helped on this

I got to give him a lot of credit on

Helping us design this cam with faith over there and really getting us something that really worked for the setup

Yeah, no, you know camshaft has just so much to do with

With the performance of this now. Is there any things you guys approach that were completely different like

unorthodox ways of thinking like hey, let's just try this and see if this we tried it

We tried even going down to uh, like a tcs 30 angle cam

you know we even play with that but

Uh, originally the cam that we were thinking of would be like custom ground

So we we didn't look at the cam for the numbers. We looked at the cam for the profile

We said we want this lift. We want this duration. We want this slope separation angle

We want all this kind of stuff and then we wrote it all down and we talked to the engineers down there at web

You know faith is pretty good about it too

Um, and we said, okay, let's try this so they made us a grind

And we brought it back and we did the first pull on the 2276

Uh, we were the peak torque came in at 4 000 instead of 3000

And so well, let's see what we can do better. So we changed the duration

We knocked the duration down a little bit

And then curse that there goes the engine out of the car

We're out of there pull the engine apart change the cam the motor. It's not like changing the cam in a small block

Well, yeah, we had to approach it. We're like, okay. Well, they don't make a supercharger cam in the Volkswagen world

But they make supercharger cams for your big v8s and stuff like that and all those worlds

So we had to really look into okay. What are they doing on their cam? Yeah, that was my next question

Like did you did you actually look at?

Supercharged engines and how they're running their camshaft designs because I think that would be

extensively because everything in the vw world is like just grab an fk87 throw it in there and you're just like, yeah

You know, it's like because I would assume if you look at that you would have not a steeper rank

Ramp angles I would think to be able to get exhaust gases out

You'd want a little more open time on that valve. I don't know my wrong number

No, you're right

But size of the valve matters too. But like I said, you're you're shoving the air in there

So it's just you just have to be able to get it out

And that's where we came into where we were along with the cam. We're having a mess with exhaust

It's like how we do it. So you're typical

Let's say a1 performance exhaust, right? It's a really good exhaust has a two and a half

Uh, two and a half not two inch collector, right that goes on. Yes. So you're choking it off

But for those applications, maybe if you're going to normally ask for to work great for scavenging, right?

But for us, we want to get it out

So we actually had one made by a1 that had a I think it was a two and a half inch collector to get that sucker out

not

With the Volkswagen motor because the firing motor it has like a pulsing and the exhaust to help

Scavenging and pull stuff out and one thing that I've noticed

With some of my other underpowered engines switching the exhaust makes a huge difference, right?

I did one of those vintage speed canister saw exhaust and that about murdered the power on the car

And then I and then I because I had it because I thought it was super cool

Look in the setup the stainless all that stuff and then I met my brother shop and I put the supercharger set up

And I pulled the dc and f's off and I'm like, you know what I'm going to do this

This glass pack design so it was a trimel glass pack from like way back and they just a collector four and a lot

And I mean it made it made such a noticeable driving difference

Just just changing the exhaust because some of that canister stuff

It just creates so much back pressure and there's not enough, you know

There's not a velocity moving that volkswagen to get it out of there. I think I mean

That was the deal a true header with a four and a one collector and all four pipes volkswagen, right?

Are being equal length, right? That's the idea behind a header

Well, the collector and the header actually has a major function

It has a scavenging effect. So as one one cylinder is exhausting. It's creating vacuum on the other cylinder

So it's helping

The intake charge and that's where the intake valve and exhaust valve overlap comes into play

Because you can't take air air doesn't move instantaneous from point a to point b air has mass it has weight

It takes time for air to move from high pressure to low pressure

And it doesn't happen instantaneously

So you have to give it time to do that and that's what a header does

Well, the same thing with the cam

When people look at cam cards, they look at lift and duration and usually lobe separation

Right, but I don't even know if they look at lobe separation. There was just looking at lift and duration

That's basically all you see. But what they're not looking at is the intake closing point

That's probably the most critical to and that's that crossover from intake to intake to combust

Well, you're when your intake closes like say for instance, the piston is on its way up on the compression string

When the pistons at bottom dead center heading up to the top dead center, the valve isn't closed

The valve is still open for almost 40, you know, 40 to 60 degrees

After bottom dead center before that valve is actually closed

And that's creating because the air as the as the piston comes down is sucking air into the exhaust valve

Right that air takes time to move. So as the exhaust valve closes and the intake valve is open

Right, it just it can't compress at all because you're not getting it all

So that overlap or that 40 degrees after bottom dead center

Gives you that opportunity to fill the cylinder better and that way you get

So that that timing mark

So we're between 39 to 59 degrees makes a difference in how the motor runs

Yeah

And especially supercharged stuff and that's the stuff that you guys were looking into at the custom grind cam

Sure

So the cam that you're getting there's a lot of rnd behind this cam with building it and dyno testing and just seeing

The the most performance and and what was your goal your goal was peak torque at 3000 rpm

Uh, that wasn't initially the goal when we got in is we didn't really know where we're gonna be

We wanted to design a supercharger. Uh, we wanted to go out there

We had thoughts what horsepower what torque might be

But you know, you really have no clue because there's really no data out there in the Volkswagen world for the supercharged

You had the dick landies and all this and there's supercharged in the smaller one

But you really don't have anything in the bigger displacement

So if you want to get into it, you know, we're we're working with nothing and we're trying to figure out this whole process

You're starting from zero because even the dick landy thing it was still

The dick landy thing was just it wasn't realistic like they've

They become collectors items now. I don't know if anybody was drag racing and doing anything serious with them

You know, because they were just yeah, it was just a monster bohemia thing

I mean, there's a guy here in town. Tom karst used to run

The dick landy blower on there and it was just such a monster to look at that thing sticking out of the engine

It was just so big

But and and you didn't see like I mean it was it was a volume pusher

It was like the the alternate to the turbo, but you weren't really getting you weren't saving space

You weren't saving much. I mean it was it was just like I mean you were adding

50 60 pounds to the engine. I mean, I don't know how much that whole supercharger

It's pretty heavy. It's got some weight to it wasn't light and then

You got to cut the body of the car if you're using on a car like cut around the back window

It was it was a quite a deal

But yeah, just because of the carburetor setup and the weight was set up there

On the setup that you guys have

the 40 the

44 the 44 44 dc or 42 45 dc oe 45 dc oe

Geez you got have you guys tried the setup with any

downdraft carburetors any like

Holley's or any that kind of stuff not this one not on this application

We did on the amr's but we didn't do the only reason why is because when we went into this kit

The whole goal was to try to fit it in as tight as possible under the net

Unfortunately when you go with not that we can't do them in the future

But it just unfortunately just we don't think that it had the the spacing we needed

Yeah, because that's a pretty slim carburetor setup and just kind of keeping everything. Yeah, we've got it tucked down

I mean it's almost sitting right on top of the alternator. I mean it's that close. Yeah, that's quite a

I mean

It's it's pretty compact situation for what for everything you have there because the supercharger is pretty girthy

Man, that's it. That's a that's a good size supercharger. That's 16 inches long and 9 inches wide

That's a that's a that's a monster

Well, so now with so the kit does not come with exhaust

No, dude, you have to run your own find whatever exhaust you want and run with it

Unfortunately, and that could affect performance

So it could kind of give a list of like these are things you should do when someone's yeah

Like a turbo kit comes with the exhaust because the turbo hooks to the exhaust right well in our case

The header doesn't have anything to do with the application

So the better the header if you can go at least an inch and five eights good header or inch and three quarter

You know make it a nice setup. It'll just better performance. That's yeah

No, that's uh, I mean I'm I'm excited to see more of these things on the street man because they're they're

I mean it's it's kind of I think they're super slick just because it's kind of a bolt on thing

And I think there's maybe some guys out there because if you're looking to finish the top end of your motor

You're too grand two grand of 2,500 bucks on a good set of carburetors

For sure

So you're almost halfway there to supercharger setup and and it's more of a turnkey setup to where it's a little a little more

Hassle-free and and with you know when I look at like the drag and drive cars and stuff like that

They're all forced induction. It's forced induction is going to get you to where you have

Some livable power on demand type stuff, you know what I mean?

Because with the naturally aspirated motors you got to build them right to the edge where you're just

Pushing the limiter you're hammering on pretty hard your compression ratios are high your cam profiles

And that's the thing

Well, like we were running the vz series cams. They weren't fantastic

Right, but they're they're hard on the valve train because of their their ramp ramp angle. Yeah

That means that that opens the valve like instantaneously. I mean, it's open quick

Yeah, it's it's like a straight up ramp on that pretty much just looks like looks like a pyramid

Which also where the cam out and calls the valve float to exactly we're trying to do something like this

So you guys got much gradual much more gradual ramp angles on the on the cam shafts and yeah

And we're all with our cams. We're only running 1.25. We had design where you're running 1.25 ratio rocker

So you're not running like a one point you we we can set them up that way, but it's not yeah

We're only running an overall of about 570 lift. I'm wondering what a difference like a running a 40 by 39

I mean 39 exhaust like a big just go punch out big exhaust

It probably do fairly well because I I wonder if it would run cooler head temperatures

It would and that's what we're talking about solar head temperature and this thing you have to imagine

The supercharger of how much air that thing is pushing. Yeah, so the air coming in the air going out

Right, it doesn't create that as much heat as you think it does. Yeah

I would think um

I would think that uh

With a setup like this. I mean, I would just think if you if you set it up right and you put it in the right car

I mean, it's it's a good power-on-demand thing that would be pretty reliable

How are they on cold startups with that didn't take that a fold not bad. Yeah, it's actually pretty actually fires up pretty quick

I wouldn't don't mash on the throttle, but you know, you can pump throttle just a little bit and it fires right up usually

A little bit cold-blooded basically. I mean just like any other Volkswagen. There's no choke

Even though the DCL recoveryer comes with a with a

cold enrichment

Which everybody takes off puts a little cover plate on them anyway, right right just like the IDFs

Yeah, right, but you know, you can use that we had a customer in in albuquerque

That still had that on there and he had a a wire hook to it so he could

Then you pull on it just give a little

I the setup that I have in mind it uses that and it comes with the choke cable for it and it's been

I don't know if it's just not set up by something

But you know, my brother's back through just turns a choke and it'll fire up a lot easier than normally what it does

Because it has to go through that whole amr setup, which sometimes it takes a little bit of it does

You're trying to take your mixing air and fuel at a low rate, you know, because you're cranking cranking rpms low

Um, and it takes a while to get it from carburetor to cylinder heads

Yeah, so just bear in mind that it's not going to start at an instant key key hit, right?

Yeah, once they're warmed up, they fire it pretty much. They do but just because now everybody's

Yeah, the suspension of the fuel and air that's mixed in there. Everything's good

So will you guys have a setup like this in one of the cars at one crazy weekend? You think

We're shooting for it. I don't know if I do or not your card

I do I do have a car that same car is coming back to me

We're actually going to be doing a look like we might be doing a 356

A kit car for this customer. So that car is coming back down here

And then we're going to be building another car here coming up

But maybe there might be an opportunity to put that engine in that car again

Yeah, because we had the super we had the 2276 in there with the with the whipple charger on

And we did some chassis dinos and that's when we first started

And those numbers were a little bit disappointing

But we went back to the drawing lord and made things better and from from that point that's where you started doing some cam swaps

And some stuff exactly we're like no that ain't going to get it and that's when we started figuring out

Okay, this is where we're at because we didn't know I would love to see

I would love to see the difference

I think it'd be so interesting to see the difference of going completely unorthodox and doing bigger exhaust valve than intake valve

And it's almost to see how it would run, you know, or equal equal valve sizes. Yeah

That would be interesting to see how like a 40 by 40 you could do a 40 by 40 cylinder

And then you can even increase you could even go to say a 114 lobe separation angle

Yeah, right and run a smaller duration where you don't have so much valve overlap

I mean, there's a lot of things you can do you said the story doesn't end here

Well, yeah, because that's that's the conversation that I don't know if he has heard a little while back

There was the guys from ross wall for war on the podcast when we talked kind of back and forth and and jared's kind of position on it

Was like, you know, you look at all the camshafts that have been designed

All those designs come from the 70s

Right pretty much and there really hasn't been any

Head design since the 70s has changed dramatically like cylinder heads

Performance flow and all that. Oh, it's incredible. But everybody

Everybody's stuck like like we're talking right now like man, it'd be crazy if did 40 by 40 heads

People like that's stupid

But if you if you go back to the thought process of like well get it in get it out

And if I can get in and get it out I have I'm turning

Faster rpms on the motor

Quicker response time on the motor in addition to cooling the cylinder head better because it's

There's there's nothing bottlenecking right, you know, I mean, I don't know

It would be interesting to see what the difference would be with respect to dyno and something like that

Just just to go different because then you could then push the envelope with lobe separation some things like that

changing some of those numbers because now you have heads that no one's built before

And I'm sure someone some somewhere built to set it because you know the vw world everybody's done everything right to try to get some power out of it

But I think that would be interesting to see how that would work because

Again, all of us go back to the drawing board and starting with the 1930s

technology right this air cooled engine with you know

With a center with with a center camshaft and push rods and all this stuff versus like, you know by

By 1965 I think poor should come out with the Carrera motor, you know the overhead overhead cams and stuff like that. So

It's it's a bit antiquated technology, but we all just keep trying because it's something cool

And it's like all that to avoid a radiator, right?

Well, that's what we tried to do. I mean if you if you look at it chronologically and you're right

The evolution of the Volkswagen has taken its taken its roads as they've gone through the years from say 1950 until now

He had innovators like gene burg in those companies

And you know that came up with a lot of neat ideas because the technology

To make these things faster to make them better wasn't there. So he had to invent them

Right. So his ideas manifested into

more production more

More I don't know ideas into the performance world. So now we don't need dpr crank shafts anymore

Now we have solid forge crank shafts and so on and so on. So that's where it is. And that's why we took it

We just opened up another door

to another route

Super chargers and volks wagons again, you know to reiterate or that is it's not a new concept. No, we just

Took it took it out and we've took it out and spanked it before you guys leave

I'm going to show you a supercharger motor that I have that's an old vintage super. I'd like to see that pretty cool

So it was uh, I actually bought it from lee leighton sun

So and they had a supercharger

On an old drag car now. I've had some people tell me back and forth. Oh, that's not the same motor

But I bought it from the guy's son and he said this is the motor

This is the setup that we had and obviously like most drag cars things change stuff at the all time

But it's interesting

It was it was a drag race motor setup that I ended up picking up more more for

A nostalgic purpose just to have it. Yeah

You know, you know, it's something that they started doing it in

And when I asked because I called joe wharfath because joe wharfath was involved in it because it was part of rev master

Up in your area like they're down. They're down in covina now. Yeah. Oh, are they they're they're not by uh, they're not by uh

The hispary airport anymore. So did did Doug take it over from I think so from yeah

Yeah, he doesn't do any more. We're still we're still buying cylinders from them. Okay. Yeah, but uh,

You know, I mean you're talking those guys put a supercharger and I asked him I said I had asked joe wharfath

I said so joe, where did you guys get the supercharger like what car did it come from?

He says well with that supercharger we we we had got it from an aerospace

Place that was using it to suck the air out of a room

Is what they were using it for and I was like, that's interesting. But you know, it's a little 1500 h case

I think it is with a funky

Custom wrench welded on the back for a support bracket and some stuff like that

But you know the supercharged motor that they had that they were running back in rev master back in the days

I mean that was the first car to run 10 seconds. It was a it was a drag rail, you know

but that was in

The late 60s. So but yeah, it's uh, you know, the supercharger's not it's not the latest greatest newest thing

but

People have only gone so far. Yeah, it's not like we have jegs and summit and and people that can dump

Tons and tons of money in the rnd to make something for or

Whipple is like seeing no value in it when whipple could say like whipple has the resource. I mean, I don't know

They do they will they make it for many many different applications

So you're thinking like if if they saw the size of the market in the Volkswagen world

I mean you look at what you guys are doing the amr 500s. I mean how many people are selling the amr 500 kits

Oh a lot, right? I mean you guys been doing it for years

But then it's like it's commonplace once someone kind of cracked the code like oh, yeah

You can get these old throw away superchargers from

Japan and put them on these Volkswagen's because it's compacted size and it fits

And you're looking at the one thing with the vw world is where the red headed step child of the performance world

Right, like no one makes anything and anything that's made by anybody is made by an enthusiast for other enthusiasts

There's no, you know, anything that's mass produced is mass produced by

somebody else, you know what I mean, so right it's kind of like

Everything that everything that goes into production by a big name company is kind of a carbon copy of a carbon copy

That's kind of like not as refined as it could have been like it's usually been reversed engineered from something else

You know, it's right. Yeah, when we when I when I approached when we got done

And we actually started testing these things and they were on running engines and stuff

I approached Whipple. I think the the manager there the head manager before underneath the owner and I said hey, man

You know check these out. Da-da-da and and I see them pictures and he goes

You know what dude? I get a lot of people like you guys coming in here

Wanting to get cuts on these super chargers and I see a lot of bad products out there

He goes, I'm gonna tell you what this is well put together

He goes so I talked to my owner about it the owner Whipple. He goes he was super excited about too

So here we'll give you the the cut on these things and yeah, and we'd like to see more of them

No, I think it's something that uh, you know that that's completely viable and and

The market's ready for it. The market is ready for something that

You know some of these guys want to because you put all this money a drag motor and then now the dragon drive thing starts to happen

You can't really dragon drive a 14 to 1. I mean you can

But you're again, you're back to

Everything's got its plus and minus but everything that's successful in the dragon drive world is not naturally aspirated. Yeah, right?

They're all forced induction. Well, you look at the class, you know pro turbo in its class

Yeah, I know as opposed to pro eliminator

Right, of course, then you got pro mod and all those other ones that these guys are running 15 to 1 compression on

Nitro methane or doing whatever

But as far as the pro turbo class used to be the most diversified

Yeah, now we believe that that's where this thing would fall into the category

Right, if yeah, if it would even work

But it'd be interesting to see with that kind of torque value so you're not going 10 000 rpm down the

Down the quarter mile to eighth mile you're doing 5 000 rpm

Do you just reel it him in rope rope? Yeah, it's like just through bottom in horse. I think I think it's awesome

And I I love uh, I love the direction this is going and I think

It has a huge opportunity to be really successful if

If people give it a shot

I think once you guys get a few of these things on the road and people get kind of surprised by them

I think if you get I think they're perfect for buses too

Yeah, I mean if you got a bus set up with the right cooling and you know how to drive

Well, I've got a customer right now that we've been talking back and forth and he's got a

I forget what it is. I think it's like a 1970 bay

And he wants to put it in that so I think he's pretty serious about it. So what he's doing

Is he actually bought one of our camshafts?

So but he's having the motor built by somebody else. So he's doing the bottom end motor

So he's going to do the supercharger eventually he had none and yet

But he bought one of our camshafts with that grind number

Anticipating that that's what he was going to do. Yeah, so that's going to be the next step putting it in a bus

Nice. Yeah, well, I'm excited man

I'm excited to see this thing go and if you guys are interested in getting one of these supercharges guys

Go make sure you go go to facebook and hit rabba back performance

That's r a b a k the r a b a b a k

underscore performance is our facebook and then I think it's rabba performance for our instagram

So we have a lot of following between the both of them. No, I like it. I'm I'm excited to see

I'm excited to see something come from this because we need to get more of these kits on the

I mean that thing just looks so rad

It looks so it looks so crazy on the back of the and you know that just look it looked really well built on that car

I mean

Well, it gains a lot of attention because we have a sitting on an engine stand sitting in our shop

Right next to the 54 that's originally

Eventually it's going to go into right right, which is was that the silver car it was with

What a car was it with at the oh no, that's a 62 that was a 62. Yeah

Yeah, so the 54 is still in pieces. We're still doing body work on it stuff like that. We got the panel

Is the 54 your guys car? Yes. Okay. That's the one you're need the one you're needing to speedo for

So we're putting it out there that

That kevin needs the 54 october speedo that's got the indicators on the top side of the speed. That is correct. Yes

Let's make sure we get somebody comes up with a helpful brother out. Come on guys. Let's let's appreciate it

Let's get it sent over there and hook these guys up

If you guys are interested in one of these kits check them out

Rababack performance on instagram and on facebook and get set up to get a get anything else for your wrap up guys

You think we need a touch basis on no man. We're super excited for it too

We just have to have to thank all the support that we've had in the whole thing. Yeah

Yeah through through christian when he did all the CAD drawings

We took all my hand drawings and he turned them all on the CAD drawings and he did all the machine work

Nice, he did a lot of the 3d printing. Yeah, which I again, there's another box full of parts that didn't work

Um, so he was very patient there. So hats off to him now the intake manifold real quick

Is that 3d printed?

So we were

No, no, but it's okay. The one in production is 3d printed. It is because we were trying to solve a problem

Called a problem or not called a problem, but uh, how do we make a good quality and we can make them quick without having

This whole thing to make these intakes because the one I initially made for the original

It was all welded together and it was like, man, it's a lot of work. You know, I mean to do that so

To get them made out of billet. It'd be so expensive. So, uh

christian was like

I can 3d print that I said, what?

Let's try it. So he brings this 3d printer over there. I mean, it's 3d

Scanner and all that and he's over there, you know scan this thing

He comes back and he he designs this whole thing takes all the measurements and design and and

Way cheaper and uh, we we went through uh, three different materials before we find the right material that does not break down

Yeah, because you can find material that once it's printed. It's pretty heavy-duty. It is almost to the grade of 60 61 aluminum

I mean, it's just that tough strong. Yeah, and it's the only thing that we do is from the

You know where you clamp them down. Yeah, we'll put an aluminum ring inside of it

So just so you're not gonna crack it when you when you crack it down other than that we do nothing else to them

They're just right out of the box. I love it. I love it. Well, that's

The most technology Volkswagen's have seen in a long time man. So let's let's let's let's keep it up

And listen, I want credit if you guys do some 40 by 40 heads and and it's and it's successful

I just wanted to be like, yeah, bill talked about this because I think it'd be so cool. Just again

Everybody follows this one path. Yeah, this is the last you had to step out of line

And I think if you do some stuff that nobody's thought about before and I'm sure people thought about it

But I think I don't think anyone's ever put a supercharger on that's pushed enough volume

That and I could be wrong. Someone could send me an email to say

Bill I did this this and this with cylinder heads or whatever back in the day

But uh, because there have been a lot of guys drag racing and trying everything

And you know these guys especially you get up there near apple valley. Some of those guys try just but anything, you know

Out there victorville area. You don't even know what's coming out of somebody's barn over there

There's definitely I've seen some lot of just one-offs people build supercharger for their race cars one down in mexico

I talked to a guy a gentleman down there and he did want he has one on his race car and stuff

But they're out there

But the what we wanted to do was offer something that everybody could have as a kid and that's where we went with it

Yeah, yeah, because the the only value in the kid is something that's usable because I I have that supercharged motor

But it's kind of like look at it on a shelf like what am I gonna do? I can't put it anything

I thought oh, maybe I'll build a little tribute race car something like I need that like a hole in the head

But it's just kind of cool

But it'd be it would be cool to take that motor put it in something and just see what it does

especially, you know 90 millimeter cylinders and stuff like that like

You know

Short stroke small bore higher p.m. Engines just to see what they would do

But right now that's great man

So guys you were looking for a supercharger for your setup if you're gonna be the dude

That's coming out to the show and you want what nobody else has this is the setup that you need. I've seen it in person

It's incredibly

Well-built and it's super cool and it it sounds monstrous man

Like when you guys are revving this thing it was just like it drew a crowd every time you fired it up

So if you guys go to one crazy weekend look at some of those videos one crazy weekend because that thing was

It apart your hair for sure. So well guys, I'm glad we got you guys on the podcast

I'm glad we got to do this and I'm excited to see the future of what what's going to happen with this whipple supercharger setup

We appreciate that. Thanks for you. It is great to be here. Thanks guys. Hey, well, well, I'm sure this won't be the last time

Oh, I'm sure it won't and we'll have you guys at one crazy weekend

So I'm sure you guys be there again this year and I'd love to see one of these running on the road

Who knows maybe somebody's gonna man up and pick one up before one crazy weekend and have their have their supercharged car on display

That'd be nice. Yep. So all right guys

Well, if you like that podcast and I hope you did make sure you subscribe to let's talk dubs podcasts

Listenable on anywhere your platforms are available. Also, make sure you guys check out one crazy weekend

Go to let's talk dubs.com reserve your space at one crazy weekend October 1st of the 4th

Happening at the Orleans Hotel Casino on the website click on one crazy weekend

And there's a spot on the first page when you open that up. It says book your hotel room here

So you can book your hotel room you can pay for your

Parking space slash show registration because every car is a reserve parking space

You can sign up for the bowling tournament and you can sign up for the poker tournament

There's all kinds of cool stuff to get into so it's a great weekend if you haven't been you'll definitely really enjoy it

It's a wonderful weekend had by all lots of fun non-stop action-packed adventure and also you can sign up for the poker

On so so if you're not familiar the weekend of events, here's what happens

Thursday meet and greet hang out and a poker tournament around 6 p.m

Friday

bowling tournament around noon

And then Friday evening strip cruise

Saturday car show eight to two o'clock

The car shows over awards get handed out Saturday night

The world famous poker run where everybody gets to drive all across the Vegas Valley and come back to the hotel

Get dealt your final card and see if you can win your share of that $3,000 in cash that we give away

So it's a great event bestest show gets a thousand-dollar cash prize in the heavy hitter zone

So only the top of the only the cream of the crop enter the that event plus there's also specialty builder awards

That are given out so make sure you guys

Come check it out if you haven't been if you can't bring your card

Just fly out book a room at the Orleans hotel casino through the link on the website

And enjoy yourself one crazy weekend weekend full of VW people and I forgot to mention sunday is the pool party

So all the guys from the uk all over the world that fly in from east coast and everything

They're hanging out sunday pool party. So

Make sure you go check it out. Let's talk dubs.com click on the link that says one crazy weekend 2026

Anyway guys, I hope you enjoyed it

And if you want to support the podcast go pick up some merch at let's talk dubs.com and until next week guys

later

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About this episode

Father-and-son builders Ron and Kevin Trujella of Rababak Performance break down their new Whipple-based MK supercharger kit for air-cooled Volkswagens. They trace the evolution from their earlier AMR 500 and 371 blower experiments to a compact, bolt-on setup that fits under a stock-style decklid with standoffs. The conversation digs into custom camshaft development, draw-through carburetion, pulley ratios, cooling, and dyno results, including a 2276 making 210 hp and 250 lb-ft, and a 2498 hitting 240 hp and 285 lb-ft at 3,000 rpm.

10 pounds of boost 10 seconds 1914 2180 2276 2332 2.5 liter 371 blowers 3D printed 3D printer

Alfa Romeo GTV Buick Century Dodge Charger Volkswagen Type 3

Original notes

Supercharging a classic Volkswagen isn't a new idea—it's been around since the 1960s—but today's technology is taking air-cooled performance to a whole new level. With the rise of modern kits like the AMR500, more VW enthusiasts are exploring forced induction as a serious upgrade for their street and performance builds.

In this episode of Let's Talk Dubs, we welcome back Ron and Kevin Trewhella from Rababak Performance to break down their latest innovation—the all-new MK supercharger kit. Designed specifically for larger displacement air-cooled VW engines like 2276cc, 2332cc, and 2.2L+ builds, this system is built for real, usable power. We're talking dyno-proven numbers pushing up to 240 horsepower and 288 lb-ft of torque at just 3000 RPM—the kind of low-end torque you can actually feel on the street.

We get into the development process behind the MK kit, what makes it different from smaller AMR500 setups, and what engine combinations work best to maximize performance and reliability. Whether you're building a street-driven Volkswagen, a weekend warrior, or just curious about bolt-on supercharger kits for air-cooled VWs, this episode is packed with insight straight from the source.

If you're into supercharged VW engines, air-cooled performance upgrades, Volkswagen engine builds, or forced induction setups for classic Beetles and buses, this is one you don't want to miss.

Lets Talk Dubs Classic The Classic VW podcast

Bill Tsagrinos

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