TheSamba.com :: View topic - 1974 Standard Beetle with original Rajay turbocharger kit

Sun Jul 25, 2021 8:34 pm

This could be considered "Vintage Speed"; though since that Forum ends with 40 hp engines, I'll include it in this Forum.

On my final walk through the VW car show at the Terryville, Connecticut Bug-a-Fair on June 20, 2021 in the early afternoon I spotted a very clean, beige '74 Beetle. It was in the custom area and the only modification I spotted as I came up to the driver's side was the 4-spoke BRM-style rims. I first thought this was a conservative car for the custom area...

Walking around to the rear, I was amazed and thrilled to see an original Rajay turbocharger kit! :D
The enthusiastic young man showing the car was named Mike from the eastern New York town of Hopewell Junction. Said his father bought it new at the Jim McGlone VW dealer in Croton-on-Hudson, NY. He was working there as a mechanic. When the car was delivered, he swapped the original brown seats with black ones from another new Beetle simply for visual preference. Before he even drove the Beetle off the lot, he and a friend stayed late and installed the Rajay kit, along with the kit's boost gauge under the dash.

The Beetle has only approx. 11,000 miles and is all original! Mike said his dad would wax the Rajay decal on the rear window to preserve it. Also would change the engine oil every 1,000 miles.
I asked if he knew from his father the proper pronunciation of the turbo name, being "rah-jay" or "ray-jay". The "ra" could even sound like Raphael. He did not know for certain; neither do I although I remember the ~ 1970 Hot VW's article when the Rajay kit was shown, installed on a '70 Beetle with single-port engine. "ray-jay" seems to be the most prevalent simply because it rhymes, but I don't know if the name is shortened from the founder such as Raymond James or possibly two founders such as Ray and Jay or Raleigh and Jason.

Mon Jul 26, 2021 6:38 am

Didn't know turbo kits were available back then for the vw's. 8)

Mon Jul 26, 2021 3:28 pm

Absolutely! They were one of the first to offer kits for VWs. They had kits for many other engines too including aircraft. I bought just the turbo from them in about '77 and chickened out putting it on my Beetle. I used it on my Rabbit instead and I still have it and the car.

What I always found attractive about the Rayjay Kit was that it all fit so neatly under the deck lid and made a real sleeper out of the car.

Mon Jul 26, 2021 6:03 pm

Very cool story! Anyone know roughly how much HP they add? Looks like there is one for sale in the classifieds now.

Mon Jul 26, 2021 6:07 pm

What's neat is that there's a 010 distributor and the #1 spark plug wire has the induction pickup for the computer diagnostic system.

Nice vintage detail.

Mon Jul 26, 2021 7:22 pm

bw65vw wrote: Very cool story! Anyone know roughly how much HP they add? Looks like there is one for sale in the classifieds now.

This kit is also available.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...p;start=20

Tue Jul 27, 2021 5:31 am

As I recall they produced about 8 psi and 110 to 120 HP on a stock 1600 cc engine.

That same turbo on my 1737 cc Rabbit would reach cross over at 2100 rpm and pin the 15 psi boost gauge by 4800 rpm. I had no way to measure it but I suspect it was around 140 to 150 HP.

I don't know why these kits were not more popular and there is a hole in the market in my view for a simple "bolt on to your stock engine" mild turbo kit. It seems these days guys want to spend Mega bucks building a huge raunchy N/A engine and then put a turbo on it. There is nothing wrong with adding 50 to 70% to your HP and torque curve on a driver and just enjoying it. Nearly all the Auto manufacturers today are doing just that, some of them since the mid 60's.

This Kit from Brazil shows promise, I wish the fellow would give us an update!

Tue Jul 27, 2021 8:51 am

Any idea how much these kits sold for back then?

Wed Jul 28, 2021 8:23 am

Am i seeing this right?

There's an S&S Super aftermarket HiPo carb for Harley Davidsons?

And it's got the 'SuperBowl' accelerator pump add-on conversion??

Now that's vintage performance for sure.. 8)

Wed Jul 28, 2021 2:46 pm

I am not 100% sure that was part of the kit. Seems to me that it used a "J" shaped adapter and the stock carb. Maybe someone has and old magazine with the ad still in it.

Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:35 am

That car is beautiful and the RayJay kit looks fantastic.

Thu Jul 29, 2021 3:54 pm

Rajay (just one y), fellas, per the manufacturer's decal-
Even without the period-original turbo kit, this immaculate "survivor" was a pleasure to view up close, and be able to study many small factory details that are usually compromised during a restoration.

Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:21 pm

Now when i look at it again,
The carb is a Bendix.
These were stock on Harleys in the 70s.
Not the best, but they worked better than the Tillotsons or Linkerts that came before.
Had an adjustable main jet in mine,
Removed the choke and plugged it’s holes,
Plus you could buy a ‘stub stack’ mini velocity stack for it.
Also trimmed away all of the backing plate of the ‘ham can’ air filter to open it up more,
As well as add a K&N.

Did a lot to mine before just moving up to an S&S when i finally got my stroker flywheels.. 8)

Fri Jul 30, 2021 8:35 am

I saw that car as well, awesome survivor!! And it was an excellent show all around

Fri Jul 30, 2021 10:27 am

as for why they weren't more popular - there was a guy on here a while back that worked for ray jay (or something like that) and said the failure rate was like 98% - giving them and turbos on a bug a bad name. I forgot what it was, lack of cool enough oil, carbon seal, or what. If you search, you may find

Fri Jul 30, 2021 9:23 pm

Mine ran daily on the street for 4 or 5 years year around with absolutely no turbo issues. I was pushing over 15 psi at times too.

Fri Jul 30, 2021 10:18 pm

Not to be a Debbie Downer but 11,000 miles in 47 years equals about 234 miles a year.....just about enough miles to drive it on and off a trailer at a car show.

It's a beautiful car but it is not a great example of an early turbo setup.......

Sat Jul 31, 2021 4:49 am

clonebug wrote: It's a beautiful car but it is not a great example of an early turbo setup.......
State of the art in it's day for a non factory bolt on kit. What is it you have a problem with?

Sat Jul 31, 2021 8:13 am

oprn wrote: clonebug wrote: It's a beautiful car but it is not a great example of an early turbo setup.......
State of the art in it's day for a non factory bolt on kit. What is it you have a problem with?

I don't have a problem with it at all. It's a beautiful car..... But it doesn't show that the turbo is a great example because it's basically a show car that has sat most of it's life.
Not my cup of tea but is is a preservation of times gone by if that's what floats your boat.

I'm curious as to how it actually performs. Looking at the turbo and exhaust it seems it hasn't even run.
I would hazard a guess it even gets pushed on and off the trailer.

Sat Jul 31, 2021 2:06 pm

clonebug, the "preservation" aspect of the entire car and also the engine was indeed what was my major interest. I think Rajay was the first company which made a truly "soup to nuts" complete bolt-on kit that a practiced mechanic could install in one session. Remember, the first article on the Rajay turbo in HotVWs came out in '70. I was reading that magazine as a boy when dad brought them home from the office. Before that, IMO turbos were an exotic way of increasing power, since the prevalence on VWs was dual-throat carburetors and usually larger displacement to get the same power increase. You had to be a skilled mechanic or hobbyist to put together a working turbo setup based on your own experimentation, and the lack of aftermarket turbocharger suppliers resulted in a high unit cost. And all that experimentation would take time. Rajay did all that development, parts design and manufacturing, etc. for inclusion in the kit so that it could be installed in a day. Just like what Mike's father did. Judson supercharger kits were also an easy way for power increase, though I don't think Judson made any kits beyond those for the 1200 cc 40 hp engines...

I don't remember if I asked Mike if he drove it to the show, which was likely because it was no more than 1.5 hours away and it was good weather. But I did ask/guess as to the power increase being in the 80-90 hp range (90 would be 50% increase on the pre-SAE rating of 60 hp on the dual port), which he thought was realistic. He said his dad knew the engine with the turbo needed extra care, which is why he was diligent to change the oil every 1000 miles due to the possible coking from high-temperature exposure and the lubrication lines from the turbo itself.