Any rail owners out here? I know of at least one (jeffnrivercity). Anyone else, details?

I am going to be building one and just looking for peoples suggestions.

Thanks
Bat

 

i don't "own" one, but i might as well. my friend's dad bought a used buggy for him, and his 3 boys. i've done as much work on the thing as ne of them and i'm always over there helpin out. lol. i've learned a lot, and the guy that bought it can work wonders with metal and engines. if u need ne help jus private message me and i'll ask him and find out for ya.

 

I built one once, a rail job with VW bus tranny and Pinto engine, I can tell you about my mistakes and successes.

 

IM about 65% on mine, been working on it for 9 months. biggest thing for me is money.

Suspension Unlimited W/Turbo subarue. I know once it is done, it will be worth it.

Good luck.

 

damn, sounds like u got a nice engine. the one i'm helpin to build was a VW with the VW bus tranny. it was built in the late 70's-early 80's. the guy that we got it from did a total hack job on everything. we got it sometime in early june and it will be ready to go in a week. we've re-built everything, from the roll cage, to the shocks. luckily, the guy who owns it builds movie sets, so he gets all the metal for free and has all the equipment to make everything. most people would buy a fuse box, or dashboard. we r makin ours. other than theprice of the buggy (about 3 grand) he's put about $200 into it.

 

I have a rail. It was built by my Dad and I 14 years ago. It was a Manx. We ditched the pan but kept the body and put in a full cage, double a arm front end, rack and pinion, went mid engine and used marvin shaw shocks.
Its got a 2020 dual port with dual Delortos.

Will be at Dumont Halloween

 

My parents each have a rail, 2276 that flies and a 1835 that's more fun to drive, go figure. Myself I've learned to hate the damn things, ALWAYS breaking down. They are alot of fun with passengers, running the face of comp hill with a passenger and seeing there face and hearing the screams is priceless.

 

Now there's a guy who's been around sand rails.
[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

I know rails break down, that is why I will keep the quads, or at least some of them.

I am looking at a long travel rail, and a 5 seater, probably a v8 engine, or maybe a turbo subaru. I am looking heavily at the sandcars.net cars. I really like the funco's, but they are a bit out of my price range I think.

I am looking at all options, but some builders such as Jim at sandcars.net are very nice and easy to talk to and others could care less.

If I could find some plans or even detailed drawings I would probably just build my own from scratch.

Thanks for the input guys
Bat

 

Hey Bat, I have never owned a rail but I did have a couple Manx style dune buggies. I also worked for a VW dealer for a few years as a mechanic. A few months ago I thought about a rail and did some research. If I were to build one (on a budget also) I would look at "beam" cars. Cars that use the factory beam style suspension on front, you can get about 14" of travel with choice pieces and save a ton on the chassis. Take a look at the new Chenowth Explorer chassis, the rear torsion is 6" wider than a stock VW housing leaving plenty of room for rear full size seats. It also has enough room for a V8 or less. I feel as though 200hp would push it with big smiles. There are some others out there but Chenowth has a great history in making excellent quality rails. To start with if you went woth VW power you can save $10K up front and if you want more later it's an easy swap.. just dollars. They are making VW based engines up to 2.5L making 250+hp, you could buy a turn key engine for around $5K versus the $15K for a V8 and the support stuff it will need. Good luck bud..

Chenowth