This R866SC supercharged Duramax crate engine is built around a simple idea: don’t chase power blindly. On a diesel, airflow, compressor efficiency, intercooler performance, water flow, oil temperature, and every other thermal limit have to be understood before you lean harder on the engine. That’s how we’ve pushed a basically stock L5P-based combination with our blower cam, valve springs, and pushrods to 1,004 horsepower without resorting to the usual panic hardware changes. The point of the supercharger isn’t novelty for its own sake. It’s a different way to make air, and if the compressor is efficient and the system is instrumented correctly, it becomes a real path to big diesel power. That’s why we focus on monitoring calculated values in real time instead of staring at a few basic gauges and hoping for the best. Hot rodding still matters, but the smart version is data-driven.
The video opens at the Banks display, where Gale Banks is asked about a highly unusual diesel project built in the spirit of hot rodding rather than convention. He explains that the engine is a stock L5P Duramax short-block. Internally, it remains stock, but it uses a Banks blower cam along with upgraded valve springs and pushrods. In that configuration, the team has already reached 1,004 horsepower using a single large turbocharger on a similar setup.
Banks emphasizes that this power level was achieved without the usual reinforcement many builders assume is mandatory. The engine does not use special head gaskets, O-ringing, head studs, or main studs. That point frames the rest of the discussion: the project is not about recklessly forcing power into the engine, but about understanding the system well enough to make reliable gains while learning where the true limits are.
When asked why a diesel would use a supercharger instead of relying solely on turbocharging, Banks gives a straightforward answer: because trying something different is central to hot rodding. He rejects the idea that diesel performance must follow a fixed formula and says the blower's compressor efficiency is competitive with turbocharging.
He also ties the choice to diesel combustion behavior. Boost pressure matters greatly in a diesel because of the swirl-based combustion process. If airflow can increase swirl RPM, that can be beneficial to combustion quality and power production. His stated goal for the project is 1,000 horsepower, but he makes clear that the effort is not stopping there. Since the team has already seen 1,004 horsepower with a stock-block-style configuration, the next step is to keep pushing while discovering where the crankshaft, rods, pistons, wrist pins, and related components actually reach their limits.
A major theme of the conversation is that Banks is not interested in finding the limit by simply turning everything up until parts fail. Instead, the project is being instrumented heavily so the team can see what the engine and air system are doing in real time. If the combination needs more water cooling, they add it. If it needs more pump flow rate, they address that as well. The goal is optimization rather than guesswork.
Banks says that monitoring goes beyond basic readings such as oil pressure and coolant temperature. Compressor efficiency and intercooler efficiency are especially important. The truck uses a liquid-coupled intercooler, so water flow rate becomes a measurable engineering variable rather than an afterthought. By looking at heat rejection from the intercooler core into the water circuit, the team can determine whether flow is adequate or whether it needs to be increased.
He also references the company's SuperGauge and DataMonster approach to data logging. The important information is not just the elemental sensor values, but the calculated values derived from them while the vehicle is being driven in real conditions. That distinction reflects Banks' broader philosophy: meaningful performance development comes from understanding the relationships between temperatures, pressures, flow, and efficiency, not just from chasing a boost number.
The discussion briefly shifts from the diesel build to Banks' personal vehicles. Asked what he drives every day, he says he owns a Cadillac Blackwing, one of roughly 800 built. He notes that his daughter has one as well and says he enjoys the car very much. He describes it as a 4.2-liter, dual-overhead-cam, aluminum V8 with two turbos, two charge-air coolers, and a 10-speed transmission that he considers especially impressive.
Before that, he had been driving a Mercury Marauder. He mentions road-racing its suspension with some help from QA1 and also refers to a screw blower setup on that platform. Even in this short aside, the pattern is clear: Banks gravitates toward technically interesting combinations, especially those that depart from the obvious path.
When asked what he likes most about the truck aside from the engine, Banks points to the brakes and the overall wheel-tire-brake package. The interviewer notes that the wheels were reportedly machined from a solid block of aluminum, underscoring the level of craftsmanship throughout the build.
That answer is significant because it shows the project is not being treated as an engine-only exercise. The supporting systems matter just as much. In a vehicle intended to make extreme power, braking capability, wheel design, and tire selection are part of the engineering package, not cosmetic extras.
The second half of the video moves to another booth, where the interviewer presents a radically different project: a Tesla Model S converted from electric power to V8 propulsion. The builder describes it as a deliberate inversion of expectations. Teslas may be effective, but in his view they are also emotionally flat, so the goal was to create something that restored sound, mechanical feel, and driver involvement.
The car uses an LS3 V8 from a Camaro. Because the Tesla platform has a flat floor, the team had to fabricate a transmission tunnel to accommodate the drivetrain. The builder presents the swap as a serious engineering challenge rather than a novelty. The point was not merely to fit an engine into the car, but to make the result feel cohesive and intentional.
Banks immediately understands the logic behind the project. He frames it as pure hot rodding: if someone does not understand why such a build exists, then they do not understand the spirit of building unusual machines simply because they should exist.
The Tesla conversion retains a Tremec TR-6060 six-speed manual transmission, but it is operated through a sequential shifter mounted in the center console. The builder says the mechanism feels like a Pro Stock shifter, yet it is integrated into an otherwise luxury-oriented interior. One of the project's goals was to keep the cabin looking as stock as possible, and the Tesla screens still function.
The exterior and hardware choices continue the muscle-car theme. The car wears lightweight Weld wheels with beadlocks, echoing the look of drag-oriented Camaros. At the rear, the original Tesla charge-port location has been repurposed as the fuel filler using a marine-style cap. Fuel is stored in a rear-mounted fuel cell fed by three fuel pumps.
On the opposite side of the car, a hidden panel conceals the battery master cutoff switch. The builder says the intention was for casual observers to walk up to the car without immediately realizing how extensively it had been changed. Only on closer inspection do the details reveal themselves: one side opens for gasoline, the other for electrical isolation.
The builder explains that his shop is based in New Hampshire and normally works on electric vehicles. Despite that day-to-day business, the team members are core enthusiasts who love V8s, turbochargers, and unconventional builds. This Tesla project came from that enthusiast mindset rather than from their normal commercial work.
For fabrication, the team relied on a lead fabricator with NASCAR experience. The exhaust system uses four-inch oval tubing from Vibrant, running from the headers all the way to the rear. The oval shape was chosen for packaging and ground clearance, since conventional round tubing would have been much harder to route under the car without compromising ride height or underbody space. The exhaust exits on both sides at the rear, and even the tip design intentionally references NASCAR styling.
Banks responds positively to the execution, especially because the details are subtle rather than exaggerated. The project is clearly meant to be strange, but it is not careless. The fabrication choices show that the team wanted the car to look resolved and functional, not merely shocking.
The conversation closes with a discussion about future projects. The builder says the next idea may involve a diesel-powered swap into another vehicle that did not originally come with a diesel engine. He mentions having a built Duramax and says he would want Banks hardware, including an intercooler, involved in a future build.
He then asks Banks for advice on a smaller diesel engine that could fit into a more compact engine bay while still making reasonable power. Banks recommends the 3.0-liter VM Motori V6. He describes it as shorter and more compact than a Duramax, estimating that it is about a cylinder and a half shorter, with a smaller bore. He notes that the engine is currently found in Ram 1500 applications and also in Jeeps.
Banks adds that his team can help with that platform and says they already have engine management support for it. The exchange ends with both sides expressing interest in collaborating on a future diesel conversion, potentially returning with a new project built around a Banks-supported engine package.