Sand rail build (Page 1/4)
OKflyboy APR 09, 11:13 PM
So... I bought a sand rail tonight.

Best picture I have ATM (this was from a few days ago when I looked at it, its too late to take a better one tonight)


The plan is to use this to teach the kids (and my wife - she said she wants to learn too!) how to work on cars since all the major components (engine, suspension, etc) that would be hidden or otherwise hard to see on a regular car are exposed on a sand rail.

Much like the Volvo wagon was this is going to be junkyard tech, with as little money as possible being spent to get it running and street legal. Once that is accomplished I may do a engine swap, probably a turbo Volvo redblock or perhaps a 2.2 ecotec.

More pics and info to follow tomorrow when I get it home.

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Read my Earthship thread in Totally O/T
si vis pacem, para bellum

"The said constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms." - Samuel Adams

What part of "SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED" is so hard to understand?!

[This message has been edited by OKflyboy (edited 04-10-2014).]

Tstang429 APR 10, 03:22 PM
if you decide to pull its motor get me some specs on its current motor. May be worth a trip. I have been building mine for oh 10 years now with life it just kinda got put on back burner.
bomluuk APR 10, 04:51 PM
There are not enough sandrails in this world. I grew up 10 min away from Pismo Beach and we had an old 1835cc VW that was a trooper. I have very fond memories with that thing.
carnut122 APR 10, 06:40 PM
Wasn't that you who was going to trade a Volvo for a sand-rail? If so, did you trade it?
OKflyboy APR 10, 07:17 PM
Thanks guys! Yeah that was me, I started cleaning the Volvo up to trade and decided I couldn't do it, I loved it too much to trade it away. So late Sunday morning I am lamenting to my neighbor that I really wanted a sand rail (have wanted one since my teens) but I just couldn't trade my Volvo away and she says "You know Tom (our other neighbor) has a sand rail sitting in his back yard. You should go talk to him." So I did and the rest is history.

[This message has been edited by OKflyboy (edited 04-10-2014).]

Monkeyman APR 10, 10:29 PM
Get rid of the swing axle. Looks like it's been lifted (not uncommon in a rail) which isn't good for handling with the swing axle suspension.
OKflyboy APR 10, 11:05 PM
Here's a better picture with my Monkey (my youngest) and I playing around for the camera:



The plan:

I've wanted an Ariel Atom since before they were even available in America but I know I'll likely never get one so this is going to be the next best thing, for me at least. The end-game will be a fast, well handling machine. However in the short term I just want to be able to teach my wife and kids about cars so we will be building in stages.

Stage 1: Clean it up and make all the mechanisms work properly. This includes rebuilding the brakes, making sure all cables and linkage functions correctly, a new wiring harness and, since it doesn't have them, headlights and tail lights etc etc.

Stage 2: Make it run and make it street legal. This includes rebuilding or replacing the engine plus jumping through whatever hoops the state of Arizona requires to make it legal, likely a windshield at the very least.

Stage 3: Handling. At this stage it will get 4-wheel disc brakes and all the VW handling mods I can throw at it.

Stage 4: Motor, motor, motor. Had originally wanted to swap in a turbo Volvo redblock but the more I read about ecotec swaps the more I'm leaning in that direction.

[This message has been edited by OKflyboy (edited 04-10-2014).]

OKflyboy APR 11, 02:59 PM
An ecotec swap into a buggy very similar to mine:
OKflyboy APR 11, 03:06 PM
And, even though the guys at Turbobricks assure me its been done before, I can't find pics or vids or threads of a Redblock powered sand rail, so here's a video of a 2.0/2.3 Ford sand rail, which is very similar to a redblock:
carnut122 APR 11, 09:15 PM

quote
Originally posted by OKflyboy:

Here's a better picture with my Monkey (my youngest) and I playing around for the camera:



The plan:

I've wanted an Ariel Atom since before they were even available in America but I know I'll likely never get one so this is going to be the next best thing, for me at least. The end-game will be a fast, well handling machine. However in the short term I just want to be able to teach my wife and kids about cars so we will be building in stages.

Stage 1: Clean it up and make all the mechanisms work properly. This includes rebuilding the brakes, making sure all cables and linkage functions correctly, a new wiring harness and, since it doesn't have them, headlights and tail lights etc etc.

Stage 2: Make it run and make it street legal. This includes rebuilding or replacing the engine plus jumping through whatever hoops the state of Arizona requires to make it legal, likely a windshield at the very least.

Stage 3: Handling. At this stage it will get 4-wheel disc brakes and all the VW handling mods I can throw at it.

Stage 4: Motor, motor, motor. Had originally wanted to swap in a turbo Volvo redblock but the more I read about ecotec swaps the more I'm leaning in that direction.




That looks a lot better with somebody behind the wheel. I liked the video below. Too bad I'm maxed out on vehicles and not money right now or I'd be tempted to get one of those.