VWTrends magazine is a Volkswagen enthusiast magazine that the hosts recommend. It’s aimed at VW fans and includes articles about the community and cars.
Icon pistons are upgraded engine parts that replace the stock pistons inside the engine. People choose aftermarket pistons when they’re building an engine for more power or better strength.
Type E Motorsports is a shop that sells performance parts for VW builds. Here, they’re mentioned as a place to buy Icon pistons.
Term
wristband heights
This phrase is about piston dimensions—basically how the piston is shaped where the pin mounts. The exact measurements matter so the piston fits correctly and works with the rest of the engine.
A poker run is a fun driving event where you stop at several places to get playing cards. At the end, people compare hands and there’s usually a prize.
Drag racing is a straight-line motorsport where cars accelerate over a short distance (typically a quarter-mile) to determine a winner. The segment uses it to describe how difficult it is to make a Type 4 engine survive and perform under high, sustained load.
Concept
ascot park
Ascot Park refers to a specific racing venue used for motorsport events. In the segment, it’s mentioned as the place where “modified bugs” ran specific racing, providing context for Rick’s broader VW racing background beyond drag racing.
A drag strip is a dedicated track for drag racing, with marked lanes and a timing setup to measure acceleration runs. The segment frames it as the “hard road” for building a Type 4 that can handle drag-racing demands.
Volkswagen is the automotive brand whose air-cooled platforms and engine families (including Type 4) are central to this episode’s subject. The hosts describe Rick as a key figure in the Volkswagen world and in the community around these cars.
Company
Impi
Impi sounds like another company that works with Volkswagen parts. The host is saying Rick has experience across multiple VW-related businesses.
Company
Bug Pack
Bug Pack is a company in the Volkswagen aftermarket world. The host is listing it as one of the places Rick worked.
Company
Johnny speed and chrome
This appears to be a shop or company name in the Volkswagen world. The host is listing it among other places Rick has worked.
“cc” tells you how big the engine is. When people say “2600 cc” or “2800 cc,” they mean the engine’s internal volume is larger than something like “2180 cc.”
Displacement is basically how big the engine is inside—how much space the cylinders have. The idea here is that a bigger engine often makes more power.
A transaxle is the drivetrain “box” that handles both shifting gears and sending power to the wheels. It’s especially important on VW layouts where the gearbox and rear drive are packaged together.
Methanol is a special racing fuel. “100 methanol” usually means the car is running pure methanol, not a gasoline mix, and that changes how the engine has to be tuned.
Type 4 heads are the top part of the engine where the air/fuel enters and exhaust leaves. In racing, people upgrade these because better airflow helps the engine make more power.
Term
stocker cranks
A stroker crank is an engine part that makes the piston travel farther. That increases displacement, which usually helps the engine make more torque—especially in a racing build.
Euro Race European Racing is the name of a company that sold racing parts for VW Type 4 builds. The host is mentioning them as the source for stroker-crank-related kits.
The camshaft controls when the engine’s valves open and close. Changing the cam design can shift where the engine makes power, which matters a lot for racing.
Term
stoddard number seven
“Stoddard number seven” sounds like a named camshaft profile. It’s basically a specific valve-timing “recipe” that’s meant to make power in a certain way for a particular engine build.
Term
angle fk87
“Angle FK87” is likely another specific camshaft design. The point here is that it’s being compared to the Stoddard cam, meaning they’re meant to produce similar valve-timing behavior.
Aftermarket parts are replacement or performance parts made by companies other than the car maker. The point here is that, back then, there weren’t many ready-made upgrades for these engines.
The crankshaft is the engine’s main rotating shaft. A forged, counterweighted crank is a stronger, smoother version that helps the engine survive harder driving.
They’re talking about using a crankshaft from a Porsche 914 as a starting point. That crankshaft can be used to help build a VW engine with a different stroke and displacement.
“Stroking” an engine means increasing the crankshaft stroke length, which increases engine displacement (more swept volume). In racing builds, it’s often used to make more torque and to tailor the engine’s powerband, though it can also increase mechanical stress.
A crankshaft spins inside the engine. Adding extra counterweights helps it stay balanced, which reduces shaking and helps the engine survive harder use.
“Stroke” is measured in millimeters, and the number indicates how far the piston travels up and down once per crankshaft revolution. Moving from a stock stroke to a larger millimeter stroke is a common way to increase displacement in engine builds.
The engine has a “housing” that holds the crankshaft. Using aluminum instead of another metal changes how the engine feels and handles heat and stress.
“Type 4” is a specific Volkswagen engine family. People build these engines for racing because they can be made strong, especially with the right internal parts.
Some engines use a lighter metal for the main housing. Magnesium is lighter than aluminum, but it can behave differently when the engine is pushed hard.
Connecting rods are the parts that link the pistons to the crankshaft, converting piston motion into crank rotation. Heavier or stronger connecting rods are often used in racing builds to handle increased loads from stroking and higher RPM.
Crankshaft journals are the machined bearing surfaces where the crankshaft rides on bearings. When the crankshaft is modified (like stroking or adding mass), the journal geometry and loading become critical for durability.
“Ascot racing” refers to racing at Ascot Park in Gardenia (Gardena), California, which the speaker connects to the motorsports history being discussed. It’s a location marker for the Type 4 racing story rather than a technical automotive concept.
A figure-eight track is a race course shaped like the number 8. Because it crosses over itself, drivers constantly change direction and it’s harder on tires and brakes than a simple oval.
Hairpin turns are extremely tight corners where you basically have to turn back on yourself. They’re slow and tricky because the car needs good grip while you brake and steer.
A jump is a bump or ramp on the track that makes the car leave the ground for a moment. It matters because the suspension has to absorb the landing and keep the tires gripping afterward.
Asphalt is paved and usually grips well, while dirt is loose and can get slippery. That changes how you brake and turn, and it can make the car feel very different from lap to lap.
Grooming a dirt track means they prepare the surface so it’s smoother and more predictable. Doing it every day helps keep the dirt from getting too rutted or uneven.
A single-seat means only the driver sits in the car. It’s common in race builds to save weight and make room for safety gear.
Term
buggy steering shaft
This is a steering part that’s been changed to fit the custom race layout. A longer steering setup can help the driver reach and control the wheel properly.
Coilovers are suspension parts that let you control how the car rides and how it reacts in turns. Bilstein is a brand of shock absorber, and using them helps the car stay more stable when cornering.
A shock absorber controls how the suspension moves over bumps and during cornering. Bilstein makes performance shocks, and the way they’re used can change how the car feels in turns.
A 103 mm piston is about how wide the cylinder is inside the engine. Changing piston size is one way builders increase engine displacement and tailor the engine for racing.
Part
steel barrel
The “barrel” is the inside wall of the cylinder. Using steel instead of aluminum can help it handle the harder use of racing.
Fuel starvation means the engine isn’t getting enough fuel. In racing, the car’s movement can make the fuel supply act up, so the engine can briefly run short.
Exhaust is the system that carries hot gases out of the engine. After a race, it can stay extremely hot, and you can sometimes see how hot it is near the engine.
“Pits” refers to the pit lane area where teams service the car during a race. The timing of when the car is in the pits matters for observing heat soak and exhaust temperatures after a stint.
The cylinder head is the top part of the engine where combustion happens. It’s also where heat is generated, so it’s a good place to judge how hot things get.
In racing, a sanctioning body is the group that “runs the rules” for a series. They decide what events count and how the races are organized.
Concept
morph into
They’re saying the racing series gradually changed into something different. When the rules and car types change, the whole vibe of the racing changes too.
“Mini stock” is a type of racing class for smaller, more basic cars. The idea is to race cars that are closer to what people could buy, usually on oval tracks.
“Type 1” is Volkswagen’s well-known classic engine family used in many Beetles. In this story, the car originally had a Type 1 engine, and that’s what they ran for racing.
They’re saying the car was hard to control and didn’t behave consistently when racing. That can happen when the tires, suspension, or setup don’t keep the car planted.
They’re talking about drilling holes in parts (usually wheels) to make them lighter. Lighter parts can help the car accelerate and handle better, but drilling can also weaken things.
A turnbuckle is an adjustable connector that lets you tighten cables. Using cables/turnbuckles on the front end is a way to brace it so it doesn’t wobble or flex as much.
They’re talking about a 1978 VW bus that originally came set up to use a Type 4 engine. Later, they used it as their daily car and started modifying it for more power.
Company
rent-free motors
They mention a dealership called Rent-free Motors in Orange, California. The bus was connected to their job there, which is how they got access to the vehicle.
Compression is how tightly the engine squeezes the fuel/air mixture before it ignites. More compression can make more power, but it can also require better (higher-octane) gas to keep the engine from pinging.
Pump gas just means the normal gasoline you can buy at a regular gas station. Some engines need special high-octane fuel, so saying it runs on pump gas tells you it’s not built only for track fuel.
Nitrous is a system that injects a special gas to make the engine produce more power. It’s usually used in bursts, and you have to set it up correctly so you don’t damage the engine.
A turbocharger is a forced-induction device that uses exhaust gas to spin a turbine, compressing incoming air. More compressed air allows more fuel to be burned, increasing power—especially when paired with the right engine tuning and fuel.
Turbocharged engines use a turbo to cram more air into the engine. More air can mean more power, but it has to be managed carefully.
LIVE
Happy Friday guys and welcome to another episode of let's talk dubs. I'm your host bill T. Well, it's Friday
And we've got another podcast coming out for you guys. This one's a good one
I know you'll enjoy it because I did and it's a little bit of type 4 history with one of the
old-school
Big dogs in the VWC will get to that just a minute don't forget to support those of support
Let's talk dubs VWTrends magazine a magazine for the people by the people go check it out today
Latest issue just came out and it's got a pretty cool
article on
Jack Wink who was at one crazy weekend and kind of fell ill and
Passed away a little bit later and he had black gold. So cool article about jack
and
you know
Lot lots of cool stuff in this month's issue of VWTrends to go check it out today subscribe at VWTrends magazine.com
Also ross wolf high quality aftermarket parts built for enthusiasts by enthusiasts go check them out today at rosswolf.com
And don't forget to get yourself a set of icon pistons matter of fact
Head on over to our friends over at type E motorsports and pick a set of icon pistons
They're one of the distributors for icon pistons many in the vwc
And you can get yourself a set of icon pistons to make them in 85 fives 92s and 94s with three wristband heights
So go check them out high quality pistons for the ultimate experience. So go get them today
Check them out. You can go right on over to type E motorsports
So head on over there today and don't forget if you guys are going to get anything from ross wolf use the discount code
LTD 10 for 10 off your order. That's LTD 10
Use that discount code at ross wolf and get yourself 10 off. So anyway guys appreciate those that support
Let's talk dubs if you want to support the podcast go to let'stalkdubs.com pick up some merch and you can buy a t-shirt
Buy a sticker pack whatever you want hook it up and support your favorite podcast
And one crazy weekend registration is open. It's about half sold out right now
So there's 400 limited to 400 spaces now. Some of you guys just flying out hanging out
Make sure you book your room through the hotel at the website at let'stalkdubs.com. There's discounts specifically for the let's talk
Dubs group so make sure you book your room through that
also
You can set up for registration. You can sign up for the poker run
You can you can sign up and let me know that you're interested for the poker tournament
Lots of cool stuff. Go to let'stalkdubs.com now
It's october 1st through the 4th at the Orleans hotel. It's you know here in Las Vegas, Nevada
Greatest weekend you'll ever have at a vw event for sure now this week's podcast my good friend rick sadler one of my buddies
He's one of the og dudes in the vw scene has been around forever. He's like the forest gump of the vw scene
We were talking one day and he says well, you know, I was drag racing a type 4
I was one of the only guys drag racing type 4 for a long time and I was like
Really, I didn't I never knew that you were drag racing type 4 and he says, oh, yeah, I didn't just drag race type 4
He says I had a couple drag cars in addition to
um an ascot car which was they had some specific racing in ascot park with some
Modified bugs that they would run through there. And so he ran a type 4 motor and that
He actually rebuilt the type 4 motor in the schley's dragster
So super cool story because as a kid he saw the schley brothers at the drag strip and then, you know
Come full circle of years later. He was able to rebuild
The motor in that particular dragster for them. So it's a great story and it's cool just to listen to him
You know stick to
The hard road of trying to build a type 4 and make it work on the drag strip
So it's a great story rick sadler's a good dude. He's been everywhere in the vw scene johnny speed and chrome bug pack
ampy
You name it. He's been there. So
He's kind of the guy behind the scene. So great podcast. Good dude and a great story. So
Let's get into it today the solid days of type 4 racing with rick sadler on let's talk dubs
So
Okay, everybody so on today's show what we've got is
A friend of the podcast has been on before rick sadler
You guys know a member of dkp on the cover of vw trends hot vw's all that good stuff
And he's the forest gump of the volkswagen world, but he's you know worked at
all kind of places from bug pack to impi to
Johnny speed and chrome and everything in between you hit we had a podcast on before and when he and i were chatting
He was telling me about uh, he was one of the few guys that was
drag racing type 4s back in the day
And so I wanted to get him back on the podcast and talk about his whole type 4 racing experience. So on today's show
I'm gonna welcome rick sadler rick. Welcome to the podcast
Hey bill, how you doing today?
Good good. So we've been chatting back and forth and we always have these long phone conversation
And I think to myself
Why am I not recording these every time we get on the phone?
And then I said I gotta I gotta sit you down and talk about racing your type 4 because
I think I don't remember if you mentioned some last podcast
But there's the slay museum has a drag car with a type 4 motor in it
And you are actually the guy that rebuilt that motor when they rebuilt that car. Is that right? That's correct
So it was it was actually kind of like a full circle moment for me
because I I ran across that dragster
at ocir
Many years before when they when they first began campaigning that car
And I noticed that even though I wasn't old enough at the time to even have a driver's license, right?
I I knew that this was a different engine and then
So I was able to ask the questions to them when they were freed up
So what size engine is that they told me? It's like, well, how do you get that because everything was 2180 was big
so so having a
2600 2800 cc engine was
wait, how do you do that and
And so that was my first run in with that and to me it was honestly it planted a seed for
One day i'm going to build something like this because there's no
As I say, there's no replacement for displacement, right? Sure. That's that's that's a big v8 saying that the guys have, you know, so
Yeah, yeah, so so you first saw that type 4 and you thought wow these guys got it figured out
They'll just start with a giant displacement to begin with and then make that lighter faster spin better all that good stuff
so
And you did lots of racing and one of the racing that a lot of people haven't really talked about that some people have said
but with
With ascot racing you said it was the first racing that you did but
Tell me so I mean you see this good this car before you can drive you see the drag car at the type 4 and then you decide you're going to get
Into racing and so how do you enter into the world of racing? Well, so so the
One of the guys that
That used to be sponsored by bug pack a long time ago. His name was gordon jones
and
he had
raced out at ascot and
The car that I eventually bought from him
and
And he did really well of it. So he sold me the car
Minus engine. He sold it. He sold me a roller with the transmission
Don strong's dirt transaxle shop back in the day
and so it was to me it was kind of cool because
I saw the car all the time
Right across the street at bug pack because bug pack sponsored the car
So I I would see it on on gordon's trailer
Every now and then one of the guys
One of the owners of bug pack actually was racing out at ascot. So, you know, they they had their little camaraderie thing and
I'm gonna buy that thing without an engine. I'm gonna build an engine and
and so
Well, what I want to build though is I want to build one of those like monster type force these these things
This was like one of the early days of closed course
off-road type racing
Uh before the mickey thompson
Uh, they you know started started to take and mature in the 80s and so forth. This was early closed course off-road
And they they raced at ascot park in gardena
Which had a multitude of different races that actually took place at at that raceway
You know, I mean they had figure eight racing. They had demolition ferries
They had tt motorcycle track and they actually ran
the
Uh, the two classes the baha bug class, which is what I ran in
And then they also had the buggy class which was mostly like newman drigger kit cars
Uh, those are the two classes that they ran and everything was well, most everything was vw power
And and most everything also ran on methanol 100 methanol
So
It's I'm gonna I'm gonna get some displacement out of this thing. Uh, I want to there there there was no
um
Displacement limitations you could put whatever you could build and put in there
You that's that's how that's how big of an engine you could put in. Yeah, there was no there was no limit on so
Uh, so that was that was like my first go around was taking in
And building a methanol
I first started racing that I was 19 years old
and
the uh
So I was already good friends with wanny reed. Yeah
And so wanny did the first set of type four heads for me
uh, wanny was
Incredibly good friends with ray stoddard who had european racing and those guys were they
Were the uh, were the company that was selling all of the
Forged big four kits for type fours stroker cranks. Uh, what company?
This one, uh, it was called euro race european racing
So they were they were they were stationed out in san bernadino. Yeah
So ray was a huntington beach guy
Uh, wanny was a huntington beach support beach guy
They were they were good close friends ray had some really creative ideas on on, uh,
Like camshaft designs and so far if he came up with his own
Cam grinds at the time like a stoddard number seven would be what would be equal to like an angle fk87
right and uh, and so
ray ray
you know
Because wanny put me in contact with ray ray was able to to really
Guide me along the lines of of some certain certain things that I that I should think about doing
This is what you can do cam wise
This is what you could do with the rocker arms
You know because you still because nobody made any racial rocker arms for for type four
But here here's some things that you can take in and do
And uh, and so I use
uh
Ray's knowledge lani's knowledge in in building the first like performance for me
um type four engine
and
You know and I was also able to pick the brain of
Like greg erenson because fat was doing some stuff too for with the type for some type four
yep
You know in the off-road market mostly I think at the time it was all desert stuff
Yeah, and and at that time what in what year is this you're saying this is 1978 around
78 79. Yeah, and then there's not really a lot of aftermarket stuff for these motors
Not really. I mean, um
There were there were guys that at that time
I don't I don't recall there being any
Like forged one piece counterweighted cranks. Uh, everything was a
Uh, was a started life typically as like a two-liter
VW or a two-liter Porsche
914 crankshaft that that had counterweights welded on and that and that they stroked it, you know
To a larger stroke the stock stroke on those things were like 71
And uh, they weren't getting you know, 74 to 78 millimeter stroke. I mean I some were bigger, but
Clearly
In your in your philosophy with it was like I've got this huge displacement now
I just got to lighten it up and make it spin faster. Was that kind of your philosophy with everything?
So so the the thing with with the type four engines is when you when you got one of those things apart
Uh, first of all, it's it's an it's an all-aluminum case instead of a magnesium case
uh, the
The cheeks on in between the journals on the crankshaft is much heavier much beaver
Everything if you look at anything the connecting rods, they were heavier, which of course that also kind of works against you too
But but they were heavier
uh, so
It's like this is this is a
It's not an industrial engine, but for lack of a better word. This is like this is like an engine on steroids
It's this this this thing they've really beefed this thing up so that it could take in it and it could
Uh, rightfully move these heavy vw buses
Right
So so that was it, you know and not and not be frying the engines and so forth. So that that was uh
And looking at the thing it was just like these these things are just so big so beefy
they
They they they must hold together really well and I was right. They really did hold together really well
And when you're so this ascot ascot was the name of the park, right? The the motorsports park, but they called it
Ascot racing and that was
I mean, what was this jc agogenians ask ascot park in gardenina california
And what what what was the I don't know where the where the ascot name actually
Where where it came from if it derived out of some sort of form of racing
We called it, you know, like an ascot car because that's the only place
It ran in the cars was that ascot. Yeah, and then with these uh with this
Type of racing it's done on an oval track a figure eight track is on the dirt on the asphalt like what's the yeah, so
It was done on at ascot. It was done on what was termed as the tt motorcycle track
So, you know, it had a big long straight away
Uh a big sweeping left turn it had a couple of hairpin turns in there and had a jump also
Uh, that was kind of like in the middle of the track, you know, so it was it was
Like I said, it was it was and the these cars were not you know, like flying through the air
Or or anything. I mean they would get a couple feet off the ground
But they're but but not like by today's standards with all the all the super wazoo suspension and stuff where
You know, they they get these cars and trucks just like flying, you know
10 12 feet off the ground. This is this was a much more
calmer sense, but it was it was the
early stages of closed course
off-road racing
And then this was
Um, this was the first type of racing you do and you're doing yes, and and it's
It's all all asphalt or I'll comment on asphalt and dirt
No, no, it's 100 dirt. So it's all it's an all dirt track that they kind of groom up every day
And then how many cars do you have in the field when you're running?
Uh, so they they would take in and they would run, uh, like like the main event
Would uh, would typically have between like 16 and 20 cars
And they'd all be out there at the same time
You know, uh, they would also have some heat races, you know, where
Uh, depending on on when you were out there
They would do a qualifying run
And so if you finished in the top four then that means you qualified for like their trophy dash
And those are basically the four fastest cars and and of course, you know, they're
They're really mixing it up because they you know, they're
They're faster than everybody else, but they're so close in time to each other
That it made for a really close race versus, you know, the when they have a main race with 60 to 20 cars out there
You know, there's some there's some guys that were also runs that may have started at the back of the pack and
And they would be lapped by the time
That uh, that the race ended, you know, it's typically like a 20 lap race. Yeah
That's wild and then you so you had this car now this this this car was a beetle. It was a beetle chassis
slightly lifted with fiberglass like Baja fiberglass fenders or
So so actually it was it was a beetle body
on on a vw pan
The uh, the seat was put
It was a single seat
the
The steering shaft had had like a really long like a buggy steering shaft and the the back seat was in the middle
over the tunnel
So it so you you you were actually sitting more towards the back of the
Of the vehicle and and it was a full cage on the inside
Okay
Yeah, i'm looking at a picture look at a picture of the green machine here
Yeah, yeah, they weren't they weren't lifted as a matter of fact. They were actually
somewhat lowered
you know because it's
Again, these things were not flying off of jumps
You know the the way that the things were were set up
They they used they typically had them set up so that the nose would come down into the corners
Mm-hmm
and
You know and that that would happen like through
Various different ways where they would they would put like double coil over bilsteins on one side and the other side
Just had has like just
A regular bilstein shock so that that way it would take and it would be pushing down on the nose
Oh, yeah, I got you
And then so you campaigned this car for about uh about what two years
Yeah, almost two years. I was about a year and a half and then what's the displacement motor you end up making this thing
Uh, that one was was 2,700 ccs
2,700 so what what kind of pistons did you use in it?
I mean what size of those pistons are full aftermarket 100 for market piston, right?
Yeah, 103 millimeter j e-piston
Were these the aluminum rib barrels or steel barrels?
No, there's a steel barrel
And then car what are you running for carburetion and cooling?
uh 48 ideas that uh that were
The ones that I had on there
Were dry summed by lawni reed lawni built me a set of dry sum 48 ideas because
Running on methanol you use about three times the amount of fuel
and
and so in order so the
The floats were pulled out of them and a dam was built up on the inside
And and so as soon as the thing as soon as the the fuel
Hit the dam point and and float over there was a pump that took them out of out of the bottom of
Of the the part that didn't have the dam built into it
so that way
That way you had constant constant fuel pressure going in all the time
Without the typical, you know standard like
Needle and seat with a float type deal. There were no floats
Especially with all the jumping around all the stuff it keeps it kind of it keeps kind of uh from starving for fuel
I mean, it was really more for just delivering as much fuel as it needed
I mean, it was it was lying lying once again thinking outside the box
Yeah, and since it was running on methanol, did you have to run a cooling system or did you just not have a cooling system on it?
No, I ran no cooling system at all and it never it doesn't get super hot running methanol
No, I know as a matter of fact it runs kind of cool on the methanol the
You know most most of the things were most of the races were friday and saturday evenings
And you could you would get like a frost build up on the manifold. However, the exhaust
By the time I think you ran a 20 lap
Main race you you could see
Immediately as as soon as you stop you as you're pulling into the pits
You'd probably have like a good two inches of like red hot exhaust
That's that's closest to to the cylinder head
So were you running an exhaust remover? You're running a stock type for a cooling system
So it's still a pancake mud with 48s on it. No, no, no, there was no
No, uh
Oh, no no 10 no 10 or anything no pulleys nothing
Oh, yeah, I mean it had a pulley but only only for timing
Got it
So you you can't be in this car for about two years. Does the series just kind of die out or you just switch gears and go into something else
Well, so so the the thing was I I kind of got into it at the tail end of things the
The sanctioning body was called skidda s c i d a southern california independent drivers association
and
They were having problems like trying to find other tracks. We we did do a couple races. There was a there was a
semi
Ascot type track
100 on dirt out at corona raceway and we we we ran out there a couple times
Uh, but then then it started to morph into
Uh, running with like the mini stock guys and that was not only Volkswagen's it was other
Like small cars and they they were starting to race those on an oval
And they were they weren't really dirt owls even even though they did have some
But most of them were like on on an asphalt oval and they were small ovals
So I that had no appeal to me whatsoever
So when when they started to morph into that and start doing races up
I've been like porterville california and bakersfield california when they started to take and do that
Uh, I lost interest. I actually sold sold the car to
Uh, one of the guys that used to work for Lonnie and uh, and then
When I went after after selling that then I bought my first drag car
I used the money from that bought my first drag car
And then what was the first drag car? So did you sell the car with the motor and everything?
No sold it without the motor. I kept the type 4 motor. I did not put the type 4 motor in that first drag car though
That that I kept that motor and it went into a later drag car. Oh really?
Yeah, and so
What's the next car that you race with the type 4? So so when you start so on your next drag car
You said you put that type 4 in it right away or later
So like the very next drag car that I own
We're in nothing but type 1 power
Okay, I mean that that car was was it was it was originally the
The mousetrap car. Okay. Yeah, Dean Lowry drove for Howard views
and
And when Howard sold the car he sold it to a guy named Larry Shaw
Who's famous for for doing that?
That like 24 karat gold
black beetle
you know in the in the 70s and
Larry Larry had painted the yellow mousetrap car
This tannish color and he he redeemed and creamed the screen
I bought that car from Larry without it without an engine and I had a type 1 engine and I ended up putting a type 1 engine in that car
Right, so that car only had a type 1 engine and how long do you have the mousetrap for?
Uh, I think about two years
And you you actively campaign the car out of the track
Well, I tried to
I didn't I didn't do I didn't do super well with it
Now that car you were telling me last when we talked you said that car was like crazy unstable
That car it's I mean, I've seen the car
It's you know, it lives over in europe now and I I see it every once a while
I I believe that it has the same tires on it that it did in 1980
Which are probably the same tires on it that were in the mid 70s
Uh, has the same wheels. I mean it looked
Identical ahead it had all the stuff on it. So they were in
If you talk to the slays everybody was was into
Everybody was into what?
Now you're there you're breaking up a little bit
You
Holes in them they were drilled through so you broke you broke up a little bit you said everybody was doing what?
Everybody was lightning the cars to get to get them as low in weight as they possibly could
Yeah, I mean that was that was that was the thing so
they
he took in and uh
That car was just it was all over the place
but I but I owned that car when I was 19 years old and 1920 years old and
You know what when you're a 19 20 year old stupid kid
You don't really think about danger at that time right today
knowing
Knowing everything I know about that car. I wouldn't want to drive that car down the down the track with a 36 horsepower
Intimate yeah, I heard that the front end was crossed cross
Connected together with like cables and turnbuckles
Yeah, so so there was that that was what helped give it some sort of rigidity
Uh up front was it is it's that's exactly what it had had cables and turnbuckles
So now you have that car for a short while then you get rid of it and you get you go on your next car. Yeah
Uh, yeah, I think so this so I probably didn't get
A next car for probably four or five years went through a divorce all that all that fun stuff
That that sucks money away from you. Yeah
And so uh, that was really the reason that that car got sold
you know
You know more than anything else not saying that I witnessed all that for a different reason
But that was that was the immediate reason and that's and that was even a logical reason even when you're 20 years old
and uh, so
um, so yeah, so
The next type four based engine
car was started life as a type four engine car, which was
What which is it's it's because it was a 1978 bw bus. Yeah, that's uh, that was my my daily
transportation
Yeah, that bus that bus started out its life as
rent-free motors, which was a bw
dealership in orange california
I started out as as their parts were under car and
One of the guys that I that I was working for at the time
He had bought it. He knew that I needed a car. I bought the car the car had you know, the typical punched in the nose front damage
so forth and
Maybe a smoky deal on it and then of course
I obviously want to get some more power out of it and knowing that has a type four. I immediately
You know begin to take it and do that. So that's uh, so that one is going with
larger displacement engine that that's thing is was still going to be
Uh
Very streetable
So it didn't have crazy horse a crazy amount of horsepower. Maybe crazy for that, but uh, no crazy compression to it
run on pump gas still
48 and
48 idea is it of course every everything has 48 and this is still 36 horses
And it's even 36 horses have 48. Yeah, I know you got one of those too
And so and so this car has this is just the one I see the pictures of the wheels up at the drag strip
Yeah, so so that one
Uh, as I got the front fixed on it. It was time to also get it painted and when it so when it got painted
it's uh, we did like a red white blue thing and
Uh, I've been it's like, uh, you know what?
I've put more and more into this engine and
It's I'm getting some horsepower out of it. And so I get a I'm gonna name this thing
So I I call the transporter room for because it's a transporter and it's like this is
A little play on words like star trekking type thing, right?
The transporter room. Okay, so so that's that's how that thing kind of came about and
Uh, that one started out as
I'm a much larger into that that thing was 2900 cc. Oh, wow
and
and
You know once again just trying to take a you know to the next level and you know, eventually the next level for that car
uh went from
Just plain carburetion to carburetion with nitrous on it and then taking the nitrous off and
Putting a turbocharger on on this type for inside this bus
On yeah, the bus actually had a turbocharged engine. It had the first turbocharged engine
Really? What year and what year is this your turbo charge in this bay window?
uh
I would say that that's got to be
in the
Late 80s early 90s
Wow
And so this thing this thing I'm seeing a picture of you launching at the track. What did this thing run in the quarter?
The fastest time ever when it was turbocharged it ran
1114 at 124 miles an hour get out of here
That is and that that's with a turbo that that's crazy. Yeah, and I'm assuming you had to make the whole turbo set up yourself custom
Well, I mean I didn't I didn't build the turbo system myself
I mean it was and I I can't even say that I designed it. It's it's you know having help from from outside sources
Uh like at that time k-wales helped out
uh with that thing and
You know, it was it was trying to try I was trying to have like the world's fastest bus
So to speak. Yeah, and uh, and of course cable had their bus that was turbocharged that
Sam Shackleford that owns
Uh rancho performance bw ended up he was he he was driving that car that car that car ran into the nines
And he drove it for them
Yeah, yeah that that that car was a chassis car with you know with with basically early model
uh
Bus skins on it. So it wasn't a true bus unibody construction bus
Yeah, I mean it was yeah, I mean it wasn't it wasn't a like a real
I don't know. I might it might have been street legal, but
But it wasn't on a bus chassis like a like a correct with a heavy bus front beam. I mean yours was all bus, right?
Yeah, yeah, I had a heavy I mean as a matter of fact that that car because I I did put a roll cage in it
And uh and with all the other
Racing and so forth that took place that thing actually weighed
Uh weight quite a bit it weights significantly more than what a stock 78 bus weight
Oh, really?
Yeah, and that thing I need did you ever dino this motor?
Uh that motor never got dinoed in that configuration. Interesting. It was 2,900 cc
Yeah
That's wild. That was the that was the
carbureted
Nitrous motor was 2,900 it ended up coming back into
2700 cc's with the turbo and then uh and then I
And as as I went and raced different
Series and stuff like that the the final
Size was actually 2,400 cc's now. Why did you downsize the motor when you went to a turbo?
so
the
there was no
real reason
Other than just trying to get it to to react a little bit different in the bus
uh
When I when I went smaller as it as it morphed its way into a french chop top bug
Well, I wanted to race
The pra pro turbo, you know, which eventually one day became pro mod
But at the time it was called pro turbo and they had a 2,400 cc limit on
On displacement so the actual displacement of that engine was 2387
so
That was that but that was the whole reasoning behind
Behind making that one a little bit a little bit smaller was so I could race
Well, because the the
The chop top
Made it illegal to run in that class
In that in that in the pra class
There was you know, it was there was there there was
Regardless of the roof height
It you could not have a chop top even if even if
The the car still set the roof still set taller
Then somebody that didn't have a
A chop top but had their car like channels over over a chassis
It's still it didn't make any difference that those were the rules
And so I could I could run it but I could only run it in like the et brackets and so forth and
so
Which prompted me to take that engine out of that car and that's that's when I I bought a ron limous chassis
I had jimmy larson build me, you know, like
The full-on full-blown jcl car, which eventually became like the indecent exposure car that was on the cover of
hobby w's in 93
that that car was
Um
Had that same engine and as as the chop top did identical engine. Oh really?
Yeah, so it just that that engine just kind of kept traveling is all it did
But it was legal there because that was that was not a chop top car
So this so the indecent exposure car that was it was a pro turbo car and you ran a type 4 turbo charge motor in it
Yes, and then how many how many years do you campaign that car?
So I have that car for
Almost five years I I've raced it for three in in pra
Uh, I didn't do very well with it. It was it was a
Kind of a torque monster and but and would heat ring in opinions
usually two per race
um
And I do nothing about like clutch management. Yeah, what did it do? Did you ever dyno that motor?
Yeah, so that that that engine dyno doubt. I think right around 450 horsepower
Wow
That's pretty I mean
That's hugely impressive for you know, what was everybody else running power wise out there?
Uh, probably somewhere right around there. You think 450 on those turbo motors? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah
I mean when you look at at the guys like, you know, Dave Perkins, Dominic, Chris Babette, uh, you know, those guys those those guys ran
Consistent
9-os and then eventually broke into the eight second barrier
You know, I mean that
My car the best it ever ran was
946
946 and a type four
Yeah with a turbo and and so did you were did you ever switch to a bus box or were you always just using a type one box?
No, I I ran only a type one box in in uh in the pro turbo car
In hindsight with what everybody's doing today. Do you think a type four box would have saved you from just chewing up ringing opinions?
Uh, you know what there? I was kicking around a bunch of ideas. Uh, you know at the time when
While I still had that car I was I I had uh, just started working for bug pack and
uh, you know, there was
There was there was the kick around idea of maybe putting a
um
A fully automatic like a type three in there like what the the piso brothers did
It's not it's not like some revolutionary thing that I came up with somebody else that already made it work
And you said it was the piso piso brothers did that? Yeah, yeah
Piso or piso piz zero
They had a they had a type three fastback that had a fully automatic in it that ran pro turbo
Really and how did it was a competitive car?
It was a pretty good car. I don't know. I mean, you know, there were there was
At that time, basically, you know, it was it was dave dominick and chris were were they basically owned that class
yeah
And they were and that was the class where the limit on the motor displacement was 2400
yeah, they
limited displacement
you know
David dominick had figured out like, uh
clutch management and so forth so
uh
They were they were light years ahead
And so this motor setup was a 2400 cc on this one
and it was a turbo setup that was custom made and then
Uh, did you have where was it fifth stud head of uh, the head's fifth studded and stuff like that?
yeah, so so when I so when
that thing
It kind of morphed from being in the chop top car
To to taking and trying a few different things trying to get some more
A little more power out of it
so forth and and what started off as like a five studded, uh, which
Fat performance is the one that came up with the whole fifth stud idea because the the uh
The four stud per cylinder pattern on a type four is not equal to to one another. They're kind of uh offset
yeah
For lack of a better word we'll say that they're built like a tp almost and so
so they
For their off-road engines, they put a fifth stud
That helped seal the thing because there's such a small sealing surface and uh the
um
Under the combustion chamber
And where the deck surface is there's not a whole bunch of meat in between
In between there before you end up busting into like the exhaust right so try we tried some things like like putting the
exhaust instead of having it come out the bottom
We had we tried
Doing some tube exhaust that came out the side like like what would be more like a type one
Yeah, like like a fumeo fumeo sleeve insert in the head
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and and and even when as far as like six studding things
um, but with with the amount of boost that was getting pushed through on uh with the turbo and so forth
it was it was still lifting the heads and
It would it would take an eye I could make a single pass
You know down the drag strip with that thing come back
and
The the valve adjustment would be all over the place just because the head was moving that much
I mean it was basically warping that much
uh, so I ended up taking an uh
Guide in contact with with don potter potter machine and potter had just finished a few years earlier their
Uh
their their big block with their with their trick heads and so forth. Yeah, and
Uh, he said yeah, let's let's try doing one with a type 4 pattern
And so the first one done in the type 4 pattern was the one that eventually went on to indecent exposure
And it was a night and day difference. I mean it was
Now you can take it you could you could run down the track and come back and your valves would be set
Exactly the same as when you left. Oh, really?
They they did it with adding material in all the right places to take and do that
Now there there's there's good and there's and there's there's things that you have to give up with that
Uh, because those heads probably weigh twice the weight because they have twice the material as what a regular type 4 head has
Uh, it took them longer to to get some heat in them so that they would get it operating temperature
Which also meant that at the end of the run when you came back to the pit
It also took that much longer to cool the thing down with fans because they were they were they had all this aluminum
Which was a huge heat sink so in order to get them ready for
for like the next round in the
Likely event that I might be able to go to the next round right
So you end up having this car for how many years and then you finally just
Sell this car or what so I
so I I took that car
and
I ended up getting an invite to go over to
To race it in the uk and so I shipped the car over there
Did the uk thing was thinking I was thinking about selling it before I actually shipped it over there and
My buddy Bob from bbt. He kept it at his shop and he was taking it to a number of different scattered shows
It actually got raced
Either once or twice by keyshoe
Over in the uk I because I trust to keep emphatically to to take and do that
So Keith drove it drove it a couple times
I think I think the first nine second pass that he ever made was actually in that car
and
In the uk so he took in
And he had it and then
the unlikely event of unlikely events
when
When they were they were towing it to a static show
the the trailer
came unhitched from the tow vehicle and the
The the trailer and the put the car on it ended up in the living room of somebody's home
Oh, no, you know as it as it went across their lawn
and
and so
Uh that kind of like spoiled my idea of hopefully being able to sell it over there. So
Ended up Bob ended up get put the car you know back on
Another container sent the thing back to
To the us
And when I got it back, I you know, I saw pictures of it
But it was the the pictures
Didn't show as much damage as as what I thought and
I ended up taking and I ended up selling that car and after selling that car
My then
Fiancé she sold her condo and we used the we used the money to buy the house that we live in today. Yeah
So blessing and disguise. That's it. Well, everything everything turns around. So where is that car now in decent exposure?
so, uh, so
Jeff peen who ended up building his own
Promod car. He's he's the one that actually bought the car
and all the spares with the exception of the engine
And he took it to you know, he was good friends with ron lumez
And so he took it to lumez, you know
They cut a couple of the bars on the chassis and as soon as they did, you know the thing sprung and
And and basically they could see that, you know, it's a mess and it basically needed a completely new chassis
uh, so he ended up he sold the body to
A guy named gave bendig and uh, and david, uh, who
I've known for quite some time
David is up. He asked me goes, do you care if I keep the ignition exposure? I go, that's I think that's fine
It doesn't bother me. So he campaigned the car as that. I don't know if it's still called that today
I haven't I mean I I've run across I I've run across david's path every once in a while
Uh, but I haven't seen the car in in a few years. So I don't know that uh, that that car is
is uh
Is still the body that he's using
But I do know that the engine that I that I ended up taking out of there
I I sold to uh to a gentleman over in the uk that
Ended up putting it into a dragster
And and so he so that the type 4 engine lived on as a as a turbocharged in a in a dragster
I don't I don't know what kind of times he ever ran. So there's that one offset it one offset of heads
That's out there somewhere, huh?
Uh, I don't know. You know, I I never really asked don if he if he ever made any any other type four heads
I would think that somebody
Else would be interested in them. I just I just know that I got the the first set
I don't know that I got the only set. Well, I mean, I think that's pretty rad
I mean there's there when you were racing that type 4 you're probably you're one of the only guys racing it anybody else
Racing a type 4 out there
There was there was one guy at ascot
Only uh during the ascot thing
There was a there was a guy that was that was racing a type 4 and that guy
Was was being sponsored by european racing who?
You know who who had the full?
The full help of race doctors at the time
Right and in that car that car ran ran really pretty good. It was it was also sponsored by auto house, too
That's a that's some awesome history. Um
About the type 4 and getting it racing all that stuff because you know, I you know a big type 4
And I love big displacement motors and you know, I think it's just the easiest way to do just about anything, right?
so I'm pretty impressed with uh
With with you sticking with the type 4 for so long
And um, you know, I think I think I think it's awesome. You know
I think it's awesome. Well, you know, there's
There's I'd like to say that I you know that I had like a big thing to do with it
But I really didn't it was already being done
You know by by the Schlays long before I could even have a driver's license
And I'd like this like to say I mean even though it was a full circle moment to build
The engine for for mark and paul for their dragster whenever they came to me and said, yeah, I understand that you know
Quite a bit about type 4 stuff. I thought well, I've dabbled in it some and and well
How about doing our engine? It's like are you kidding me? It's like I I almost cheered up because to me it was
It was a full circle moment because if you would have asked like the
13 or 14 year old rick sassar that was asking them questions about that that you know at someday you're going to build
The engine that goes in that same exact car
It's like, are you kidding me? Like, yeah, sure that'll happen
It's like it's like no way, you know and and you know the the strides that fat performance made, you know with
Uh with doing type 4s in the off-road market and so forth
You know those those guys were
They weren't drag racing them
They were but they were they were proving that they were they had some good longevity to them
And yeah, they knew how to build them and get and get a decent amount of horsepower
Uh decent displacement out of them and they could go out and run run a thousand miles at the vaha 1000
And uh and be able to finish the race
So it's you know, it's like those are the people then you come
you know
Even forward to present time where jake rapey that that has taken that and
you know, basically took it to
The stratosphere, you know with with some of the testing and I mean and I I've talked to jake over the years
And I don't I don't know that I've ever been able to
Help jake out or or anything. I mean jake is I mean you you know jake, so
Jake jake jake's his own man and uh and
But he you know, he's figured out a way to to take it get displacement and
And and power on pump gas and longevity. I mean he's he he's the guy that was able to go through
And really check all the boxes
Yeah, and so forth. Is he is he making the ridiculous?
You know 400 horsepower. No, but but it's like that was I mean that's really, you know
Putting the screws to something. Yeah
But you know, but I've talked to guys and I think you you have one of his engines, don't you I do I have a 22 70
um in my uh in my bull run bus
Yeah, so so I mean he has he has vehicles out there
That that bought engines from him, you know
Over 10 years ago that get driven all the time that make plenty of horsepower and
And they're very tunable. They run cool. I mean he's managed to take like I said
He's managed to to bring it and and kind of tick all the boxes. So
I'm I'm glad to be it's like somewhere in there, you know in in the the time. I don't know that I've got
That I've had
as big of an impact as let's say race daughter did with the beginning of the type 4 the slays did running type 4
the fat running type 4s and off-road stuff and
and
Jake what he's doing today, but
There's a little small section of me that's in there somewhere
Yeah, no, it's everybody plays a part, right? So
Yeah, I think that's cool, man. I'm I'm glad we got to catch up and chat about it and uh
Well, I'm sure that we got we got more stuff to talk about a lot more stuff to talk about in a future episodes
So we're not going to blow it all right now
We always have stuff to talk about
Yeah, there's there's there's lots to discuss coming up. So
But yeah, no, I appreciate you. I appreciate you coming on and sharing that little bit of history that maybe not a lot of people know about
and
I think it's something good to
to be able to see
You know to just know that they were out there running in the running with the big dogs, right?
But I mean, I know that those three guys had the had it locked up
But still, you know, you were there doing something, you know
I mean at least try to hold your own with those other guys that were probably way ahead of everything out there
So those guys really had I mean, you know
Granted it's it's not necessarily an apples for apples type deal because you're trying to do something
That's a little bit out of the box. I mean Dominic and I
You know, Dominic came and worked for me eventually
one day and
And
And you know in Dominic's words were we were always afraid that you would get you would get the clutch figured out on that thing
Because if he did we thought we we might be in trouble
Yeah, and I go well, I was never close
It wasn't even it wasn't even a whisper in my ear kind of thought
That ever crossed my mind as to why I was
basically destroying
swing axle boxes
You know, it's like go to the race
With the box in the car and a spare box
Replace one at the track come back with two show up at sam's on on monday morning and go
Well, I broke two more trannies. Yeah, I get it
Well, that's cool, man
Well, I appreciate you for coming on and sharing the stories with us and we'll for sure have you back to do some other
to talk about some other stories and
Because there's tons of stuff and I you know, I need to get like
I need to do a round table with you and Lonnie and we just start talking about all the stuff from back in the day because
You know the way the two of you kind of jog each other's memory about all the stuff back there
It's it's pretty it's pretty cool some of the stuff that we just get talking about and we're just hanging out the car shows
chatting about stuff, which is
That's because Lonnie doesn't remember like all the
Insane we cool stuff that that he did, you know, I mean because him it was just like yeah
Yeah, you know, we tried that that we tried that that one day and and yeah, it worked out pretty good
And to him it's just like matter of factly versus for him was just why this was insane
Yeah, for Lonnie. It was just tuesday. Yeah. No, yeah
Exactly. So so yeah, there's there there's all those all those times being
Being 18 years old him and and watching and seeing like all the crazy stuff that
You know that he came up with as you know as he was campaigning other cars and so forth out there
Yeah, no, that's good stuff, man. Well for sure
All right, thanks again for coming on and uh, we'll I bill good talking to you
We'll do it. We'll do it again for sure
Well, if you like that podcast make sure you share it with all your friends that are into volkswagens
All the good stories if you got
Podcasts you'd like to hear or pp'd like me to interview go ahead and send me an email at bill at let'stalkdubs.com
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It's happening thursday through sunday
The itinerary for let's talk dubs is as follows
Thursday is a meet and greet and the poker tournament's going to happen around 6 p.m
So everybody kind of getting set up for the car show do that
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After that there's some downtime, but this year we're going to be highlighting baha's
And so we're going to be setting up a baha trail
That's going to be happening between that and sundown for
All the guys that bring out baha's to be featured this year
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You guys are getting recognized this year at one crazy weekend
So that's going to happen on uh friday then at friday evening
It's going to be the strip cruise
After the strip cruise is going to be back to the hotel set up for the car show the next day
Car show happens saturday morning
Car show takes place from 8 to 2 when the car shows take place the entire parking lot is locked down
No driving in or out know that now get in the parking lot if you're going to be showing up
You've got to be in the parking lot by 8 a.m. If not you could pay all you want 8 a.m. Or 9 o'clock it gets locked down
so
9 to 2 parking lots locked down and then
After that some downtime
Then it's saturday we kick off the poker run that happens from 5 30 to about 8
Everybody drives around vegas valley picking up poker cards to come back
I deal your final card and we pay out the three best hands then
Kick it at the hotel hang out chill make some more friends
Sunday is going to be the work stat rest work stat restoration and spikes of indigestion
Pool party on sunday during the day at the hotel. So
That'll be a good time for those of you that want to stay and just drive back on monday or you're going to stay through the weekend
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A new Volkswagen out that doesn't look like a Volkswagen
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About this episode
Rick Sadler traces a long Type 4 VW racing path that starts at Ascot Park, where methanol-fueled VW classes and local builders shaped his early learning. He describes building bigger, stronger Type 4 combinations with help from Ray, Lonnie, and Wanny Reed, then moving from dirt-track Beetles to drag cars, buses, and turbo projects. Along the way, class rules, broken parts, and constant experimentation pushed the engines from 2,700 cc builds to a 2,387 cc turbo car and a 9.46-second pass.
Rick Sadler is one of those names you may not always hear first—but if you've been around the vintage Volkswagen scene long enough, you've definitely seen him. A member of the legendary Der Kleiner Panzers (DKP), Rick is what you'd call the Forrest Gump of the VW world—always there, always involved, and somehow part of some of the most iconic moments in VW history.
In this episode, Rick takes us into his journey through the Type 4 performance scene—a path far less traveled when most builders were focused on Type 1 engines. From his early days racing at Ascot Park Speedway to pushing the limits in drag racing, Rick shares the evolution of his builds, including custom cylinder head development, experimental setups, and the relentless pursuit of horsepower.
One of the highlights of Rick's story is living out a dream that most VW enthusiasts only imagine—getting the opportunity to rebuild the engine for the legendary Schley Brothers' Type 4 dragster. It's a full-circle moment that perfectly captures the passion, persistence, and community that define the VW scene.
This episode is packed with history, innovation, and firsthand insight into what it really takes to go against the grain and develop serious performance from a Type 4 platform. If you're into vintage Volkswagen racing, engine development, or just love hearing stories from the guys who were there, this is one you don't want to miss.
