We’ve always dreamed about making those beautiful scale models we have on our shelves move and produce sounds like real vehicles. And we’ve always had a soft spot for V8 engines – be they naturally aspirated, twin-turbo, or supercharged. Today, our dreams might finally come true with a new amazing V8 scale engine.
What you see in the video at the top of this page is a tiny V8 mill by Toyan. The company sells scale engines that can be either delivered as DIY kits or completely pre-assembled for you to simply install in your project. One of their engines now gets a supercharger. And yes, it works as it should and even makes that familiar whining at load.
The nine-minute clip here starts with the installation of the supercharger. We don’t know whether this is an upgrade kit that comes straight from Toyan but it seems very professionally built, which makes us believe it’s not a DIY project by someone. Putting a tiny supercharger on a tine V8 engine may sound like an easy job but in fact, it requires some tweaks to fit. The new water pump cover, for example, needs to be modified otherwise the heads of the screws interfere with the belt.
Once the supercharger is installed with all supporting components, it’s time for the timing belt to be mounted. This isn’t as difficult as it is on an actual full-size supercharged V8 but it is still a tricky job given the number of rollers and shafts it needs to connect. Final checks on the marks and the engine is ready to be started for the first time after the installation of the supercharger.
The first few attempts at starting the engine are not quite successful as the start push button gets stuck and the starter burns. The engine finally starts working but there’s something wrong with the air-fuel mixture and the V8 bogs a little at full throttle. The engine runs stable when idling but further adjustments to fuel delivery in the upper half of the rev range and ignition timing are needed.
