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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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”).
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“Self-oiling” means the supercharger lubricates itself internally. You still need to follow the service schedule, because the oil eventually wears out.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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Show starts nobody moves in or out for those six hours and then after that
it's again
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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
I
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
so
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
um
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
so
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
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
Um
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.
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.
