The year Y2K- 2002

I will pick up this portion of my bio about the time that I decided to really push the Type IV engine conversion. The internet was expanding everyday and it was a huge tool in those all over the world to share their experiences with other engines. The Type IV really benefited from this and I soon saw just how much of a void there was that could be filled with my experience with these types of engines since we had been playing with them for years. The Type IV was an alien to some, and some simply hated it, but those who understood it would really care nothing for the conventional engines available for the VW.

As things got faster and faster here we built a website, then added to it, then added to it and now as of this writing have completely renovated it two more times. I have put literally thousands of hours into this site and hope to add to it every week in some way.

Since the year 2000 we have added many additions here, and I have hired and fired many employees that don’t meet my standards. Some of those have lasted as little as one day, to as much as six years. Time and time again it has always been just Brent and I here working all the time and perhaps that’s what I took note of when I thought about expanding my engines sales. Instead of expanding the sales I have chosen to actually cut down on sales and concentrate on newer developments and employing these developments into the absolute best engines available. At the same time I have brainstormed ideas to get the Type IV engine more known about, more understood and widely used in all types of vehicles from the 356 Porsche to all VW aircooled applications regardless of year and type. These efforts were very evident in February of 2005 when we took things to the next level and added a retail parts source to our company. This parts store is the only one of it's kind in the industry specializing ONLY in parts and engine kits for the VW/ Porsche Type IV engine. The incorporation of "The Type 4 Store" has made things much better on my engine shop as we are now 100% self sufficient, not dependant upon other companies our sometimes our competitors for engine parts.

 Since 2000 we have expanded our emphasis on the Porsche 356 and 912 engines as well and with the passing of the Maestro in 2003 the desire for intricate assembly for these engines greatly increased. We are currently working on the development of the 356 base engine into a more reliable, more modern power plant with the outfit of Performance coatings, Engine management systems and even some new engine displacements made possible by LN Engineering and their “Nickies” line of cylinders. 

Also since the year 2000 I have purchased the rights to the DTM cooling system after its originator Joe Locicero passed away. By gaining both a great Type IV conversion system as well as a Type I system that we perfected with 8 months of added research these systems have given me the ability to create complete Type IV conversions right inside our doors as well as offer the Type I systems that Joe never got the chance to absolutely perfect.

2002

In the past two years with the cooling systems as part of our product line I was forced to do some serious R&D work and gained a thorough understanding of the VW aircooled engine. Perhaps of all the R&D work that I have completed the cooling system testing was the most difficult to comprehend as well as to complete accurately. The test work had to be done on the dyno, timed, all variables measured and even the load and RPM of the engine had to stay the same. Then, after the dyno work was completed the engine was then installed into the test car and driven with a few of the best and worst systems to see if the dyno traits also found themselves into the vehicle. This was done with thousands of dollars in instrumentation and hundreds of gallons of fuel. The testing was inspirational and in many ways was fun. To say the least it was a true learning experience that will forever help me with these engines and their set up.

Also since 2002 I have been able to gain more and more magazine publications attention with our efforts and have had our engines featured in every VW and Porsche related magazine in the world(at least all that I know of). This includes those from Japan, France, Germany, and England and of course the good ole USA. In late 2002 I was asked to write an entire article for VW Trends magazine with an emphasis on the Type IV engine. To my surprise it was printed without even being edited! While I do not consider getting things printed to be a huge accomplishment I do take pride in knowing that many people all over the world see our efforts and they are writing to magazines everyday wondering about the Type IV engine and even though we do not advertise with these magazines they still want our information enough to ask us for it!

Speaking of advertising; I don’t think many companies with our success can say that they have never placed a single ad in any major publication that cost them to do so! I have been able to gain customers, and repeat customers for the entire time we have been in business without a single ad in any of the US based VW or Porsche magazines. Some of those who are in our business spend all their capital on getting new customers that they refer to as “Fresh meat” while we spend those extra funds on development of new products and procedures that will benefit our customer.

2003

In 2003 I was able to say that we had at least one engine in every state in the US, and also one on every continent except Antarctica! This was a huge feat considering just a few years prior I was eating peanut butter sandwiches getting the shop started. Having these engines in such a drastically different setting has been a great way to prove that my ability to set engines up for climate has worked pretty well. We have engines from Singapore, to the deserts of Nevada, and even one in Saudi Arabia. On the other end of the spectrum I have an engine in Nova Scotia, one in Denmark, and one that is almost done destined to Greenland for a very rare 356.

Also in 2003 we made monumental ground on our own cylinder heads for the Type IV engine, these heads are still in the works as we speak and will provide a completely new level of performance from our Type IV engines. During 2003 our Road racing engine program also went through an expansion and we were able to attain 3 more sponsored vehicles for various classes of SCCA road racing in the Porsche 914. These race engines give us the opportunity to really show our talents and development and just like Porsche has done with their racing program for 40+ years we apply these changes to our street engines for daily drivers. The debut of our “upright conversion video” that was produced in conjunction with Bug Me Video also occurred in 2003 and after several hundred copies of it were sold we received rave reviews from it from thos all over the country.

In May of 2003 I was able to successfully complete the assembly of a 1600cc TI engine while 100% blindfolded in front of the crowd at Circle yer Wagens 17 in Sevierville Tennessee. That same engine was then ran at wide open throttle for 5 solid minutes before it snapped the camshaft in half- That was a true accomplishment!

On a negative and sad side 2003 was the year that my best friend on Earth would lose his life in a car accident. This event heavily impacted me because as teenagers he and I raced cars, dirt bikes, and anything else that had wheels and an engine. He was a very reckless type of person just like me and when reality hit I decided to slow down a little bit and not take so many chances. Since he passed away I have made it a point to slow down while driving my Porsche, and not try to do so many wheelies on my dirt bike. It seemed so odd that a person who had wrecked a Mercedes at 135 MPH with no seatbelt only to walk away from it could hydroplane on his way home from work and be killed.

2004

Now we are up to the present and all I can say is that I am wide open! I have had the biggest year ever and since I now only work with R&D engines have been able to cover tremendous ground with developments. This year I was able to build a lifter testing machine from scratch to help overcome lifter issues with a Type IV, and we are still working on that program right now. The Type IV DTM has been in production for a solid year now here and the Type I after 8 months of evolution finally proved it’s self to be better than a stock system and that of a Porsche 911 too!

The debut of our MassIVe cylinder heads will is getting closer and closer and the 3.0 test engine that will use these heads is destined to see a trip to California for a 2250+ mile trip one way while running our air-conditioning system on a 250 BHP engine. Look for this car at some major event in California in 2005. My plan for the next stage of the business is going well and we have already torn down one of our oldest buildings the expand with a new building that will house a brand new assembly area, as well as another complete side of the Type IV conversion. When this building is finished, and the final piece of my puzzle is in place I will consider my efforts to be a success and at that point I plan on slowing down and living life outside the shop a bit more and work more like a business owner should. After a life of working 18 hour days, staying awake till 4 am working on and designing things and not getting much time off at all this will be both a welcomed change as well as a needed break.                             Jake and Beth at a VW Show in Ontario Canada in 2004

Earlier this year in I was lucky enough to meet the person I have been looking for all my life. She is a person that I had only dreamed about ever meeting, she is without a doubt the Love of my life. In every way she is perfect and she compliments me in so many ways that it is almost surreal. She and I have the same outlooks on many things and she understands me and Loves me for who I am. She doesn’t care if I have dirt under my finger nails, or hands that are beat up from busting knuckles working on engines. She is an accountant and has been a huge help in getting my book keeping organization together and has been a tremendous help in assisting me make more educated business decisions. As of this writing she doesn’t own a VW yet, and honestly she has a hard time driving a stick shift. Something tells me that she has a soft spot in her heart for the old VW and it won’t be long before she will find herself in a beetle herself, or maybe even a Porsche! She gets on to me for driving too fast, staying up all night working and not eating right. In one word she would be best described as “perfect”. Her name is Beth and I want to spend the rest of my life with her.

2005

2005 Was a great year! Among other notable moments has been our appearance in Excellence magazine as well as a feature of our work in The Porsche Post magazine from the UK. In 2005 our work got more notoriety than any other year and more and more unique customers and projects came our way. In 2005 we added two more Porsche 914 racers to our line up as well as a class 10 Off Road racer. We did more exhaust system research than ever, tested 5 different EFI systems back to back and still managed to get 37 engines through their paces in the engine shop, despite all the R&D work!

Most importantly in October of 2005 I proposed to my future Wife, Beth and she said yes, this of course was the highlight of the year!

2006

Early in 2006 we were sought out by Hot VWs magazine to design, assemble and test project "Type 4 Torquer". In this comprehensive build up article we assembled our newest 2270 Type 4 Engine kit based on our newest CNC cylinder head technology and got extreme results! watch current and  future issues of Hot VWs to see just how we build engines here at RAT. A big thanks goes to Hot VWs for finally giving the Type 4 engine the press it deserves and also for highlighting my efforts of promotion of the Type 4 engine. I have received accolades from VW magazines worldwide, as well as Porsche magazines from Excellence to The Porsche Post, but none of them have meant as much to me as being featured in the very first magazine that I picked up at age 8 to learn about old Volkswagens.

We have a lot planned for 2006 in the way of our new turbo research and development to come out with affordable, reliable turbo kits, along with new product arrivals from LN Engineering . These include R&R Pro Billet Steel connecting rods, a new and improved billet type 1 style cylinder head for the type 4 and a revised version of our 3.0 sporting these latest heads, which have been in development since late 2002!

The R&D that we are doing now demands all of my time here at the shop and I have moved the assembly of my "Super Hero" engines to my new lab in the basement of my house so I can work on them from the luxury of home, when I want to.

2007

The year was filed with intense R&D that found us approaching completion of the "Porkies" cylinder heads as well as roller camshafts. 2007 was our biggest R&D year ever and the projects we have ready for final testing were enough to keep us busy well into 2009. At the end of the year I spent a week at Rennwagen Motor Company where I worked with famed 4 Cam Carrera engine specialist, Bill Doyle while doing the research necessary for my new "X4CS" Carrera style cooling system scheduled for release in 2009.

Also in 2007 we were invited to be part of the Speed Channel production "Blow it up" which was an unforgettable experience. The show aired in July 2007 and featured a RAT built Porsche 550 Spyder making 245HP from 2.7 Liters on pump gas.

Here is "Muffler Mike" Sheldon at the controls of the beast at the filming of the show.

In 2007 I officially opened my development division, RDT Labs. This in house development division is equipped with a second Dyno lab and all sorts of gadgets to help us build engines better and develop new combinations faster and simpler. At the end of 2007 our engine kit program for the Type 4 engine making for a much better simpler process for our customers that want to build their own engine.

2008

The year 2008 finds our engine shop super busy and my efforts are focused on developing an instructional video series and o support this effort I have opened my own production division at www.rabyproductions.com

In 2008 we'll be finishing up on our previous developments from 2007, shooting video and creating a Type 1 engine kit with support video as well. I am excited!!!

Our expectations to see a pump gas 2270cc engine making 200 HP for the first time should be attained in 2008 and we look forward to that dyn session!

In closing:

I have more going on than ever before at the shop and we have our biggest backlog ever is sitting in front of me just waiting for assembly time. All my dreams have come true and most of my prayers have been answered. I have been blessed with loyal customers, open ears from my listeners, and co-operation from all those around me. I have been driven enough to fight the odds when I make claims that defy conventional wisdom and thorough enough to back up those claims. I have been fortunate enough to have a small number of competitors that concentrate on the same aspects that we do and lucky enough that they lack the drive and enthusiasm needed to parallel my efforts. My way of building these engines, designing these engines and even testing them is different than anyone else’s. Heck, I have even been told that our engines have a different tone than anyone else’s! This may be one reason why my most common 2270cc engine produces the same power as their much more modified 2600cc engine, runs cooler, and lasts longer- Ours is built from efficiency and everything follows efficiency!

Please don’t ever think that I know EVERYTHING about a VW, or a VW engine. Please do not think that I am an egotistical jerk just because I know engines. I am just a normal guy with an exceptional talent and drive for making things work. That’s all, and nothing more. 

Two of my favorite quotes come from Thomas Edison and I’ll leave you with them:

“Results, why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won’t work”

“When I have fully decided that a result is worth getting, I go ahead of it and make trial after trial until it comes”

I look forward to speaking with you either by phone, or in person concerning your dream engine. I am here to help you decided which track you should choose for your journey into the land of performance and modern aircooled engines. Please read this site top to bottom, after doing so there will be no doubt in the minds of the true hardcore enthusiasts that I am the owner of the shop that will build your next aircooled performance engine.