The site needed some new material and I recently rebuilt a Sand Rail so I decided to include the details here.

Background: I recently moved to the Albuquerque NM area from the Gulf Coast after a Katrina relocation.  I wanted to live in an area with no natural disasters and aside from a volcano about 20 million years ago, New Mexico fit the bill.  First thing I noticed when I got out here was all the wide open areas, New Mexico must have thousands of miles of dirt roads, you see them going everywhere. 

Being a VW nut, I thought, hey, this is perfect for a Dune buggy or Sand Rail and set out to locate one.  I scoured the Samba for a likely candidate and found a non-running rail in Oklahoma.  Everyone thought I was crazy to drive 550 miles to look at a sand rail that didn't even run and I probably was.  A nice rail with a good engine will cost in the neighborhood of $4500 to $7K, since I planned on building the motor myself, this looked like what I needed and the price was right. I checked it out and realized right away that my work was cut out.  The front bearings were on their last legs, the ball joints and tie rods were history and the PO had some chevy rims on the back with adapters.  If I bought it, I had to pull this thing 550 miles back to NM.  I decided to go for it and made the deal.  First thing on the agenda was off to the auto parts store to buy lug nuts for the missing ones on the back wheels.  After fixing that and repacking the front wheel bearings I set out.  First thing I noticed was at anything over 58 mph the back end of the buggy would bounce really bad.  I traced it down to a poorly indexed wheel adapter on one wheel.  Since I didn't have a VW rim available I had to drive home at 58mph.  That ruled out the interstate so I settled in for a long drive.  I did get to see the eastern half of NM and Northern Texas and let me tell you, there isn't much out there.  The highlight of the trip home was going through Ft. Stockton NM where Billy the Kid was killed.

As you can see it's fairly complete and had a recent paint job.  What I wanted to know was where was the Generator or Alternator that could run all those lights!  The real problem with the rail was that it had been Bubbafied.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Bubbafication, it involves the use of wire nuts to connect lights, stripping in an american bolt when you've lost the correct metric one and other various shade tree methods of repair.  I purchased it with a locked up engine, the PO told me they had recently pulled it to check if the problem was the the flywheel.  As you will see later, it wasn't.  They must have though the frame tubes under the engine was a cradle because every push rod tube was smashed flat and the push rods were bent.  Nice huh?  That's the reason I planned on building a completely new engine, it's too dangerous out in the desert to have some type of bubbafication come up and bite you on the ass.

I tore into it and when # 4 cylinder came part way off and the rod came with it I knew what happened.  Quote: "It was just knocking a little, I thought the flywheel came loose." Yeah right!

First thing I attacked was the front end, as I mentioned, the ball joints and tie rods were shot.  I disassembled the torsion arms and took the arms to the local VW shop to have the new ball joints pressed in.  Ideally, this should have a link pin front end, they are better suited for off road use.  Unfortunately, the torsion housings on a link pin front end are about 1" closer together than on the ball joint, unless I wanted to rework the frame, this would be a ball joint buggy.

Front end assembly is straightforward, I replaced the wheel brgs, seals and locking nuts while it was apart.  One issue I had was the front rims are steel spindle mounts that aren't made anymore, the PO had misplaced the bearing caps and unless I wanted to pay the machinist big $$, I had to make something work.  It was off to Home Depot again, after a couple of tries, I found some rubber caps that I secured with a large tiewrap.  I know I'm bordering on Bubbfication here but the prev bubbas didn't even use the caps so I figured I was safe.  After greasing up the steering box, I installed a quick steering kit (mistake).  It was the first thing I took off following the initial test run.  Steering is easily quick enough without adding the twitch of a quick steering unit.  Anyone need one, I'll sell it cheap.

I'm a novice at building buggies and didn't really know the first thing about converting a VW suspension to off-road.  On a VW, the front end is surprisingly sturdy and well suited for non professional off road use, the rear end is a different story.  The IRS VW uses a set of arms coming out from the center of the torsion housing.  These work well on the road but when it comes to  off road use, they are prone to having the shock mounts break, they placed the shocks low in relation to the rest of the car where they can hang up on a rock.  In my typical more is better thinking, I installed coil over shocks thinking the extra springs would help the buggy out in the rough stuff. On the rear I used 15x8" white steel wheels in the 4 lug VW pattern.  The tires are 31x10.50 junkyard specials.  They lasted long enough for me to realize I needed good tires if i was wandering far out into the desert.

After driving the buggy, the shocks were the second thing I removed, there isn't a need for additional spring rate on a fun buggy, what it needs are better shocks and more travel.  Upgrading the rear end with the 3x2 arms (3" longer x 2" wider), CV joints, shocks and axles will easily run in excess of $1000. I chose to match up a set of standard shocks with slightly more travel to compensate for the increased length from cranking up the torsion bars. It works as intended but it definitely limits the off road speeds in the rough stuff.  For the front I used KYB GRII shocks which seem to work well for my use.  

While waiting for engine parts I set about completely rewiring the chassis.  My goal here was to include the standard indicator lights (oil & gen) a key and a waterproof housing for the majority of electrical components.  To accomplish this I picked up a waterproof box from home depot and a key operated battery cutoff switch.  I mounted the unit behind the driver's seat used grommets at the penetrations.

By using this setup, I had the room to include individually fused circuits for each system.

As everyone knows, oil is the life blood of a VW, and a rail is no exception.  I've heard some say it isn't needed on a buggy due to the open engine area receiving plenty of air.  I feel it's needed even more so, a buggy is frequently running at higher RPMs and at slower speeds than a sedan, an oil cooler is a simple mod and greatly improves engine temps.  With this buggy, space was getting scarce behind the seats, I considered mounting it high on the frame but that would involve welding of new mounts and this thing was recently painted.  I opted to fit it in between the battery and the electrical box.  While I was at it, I added a spin on oil filter unit inline.  Ideally, this should have manufactured lines but that was outside my budget.  Instead, I made sure the routing of the lines didn't rub any obstructions and glued the hoses onto the fittings.

You can see the fan unit, it's an option when buying the coolers, this unit is a 72 plate mesa cooler.  The fan is run off a switch on the dash.  Voltage can be of two types, AC (Alternating Current) which is found in a wall socket and DC (Direct Current) which is found in portable electrical systems such as automobiles (this article will focus on DC).

For the engine I wanted torque, not RPMs so I planned on something that was stroked but not so large I'd have to worry about it's reliability.  The engine I decided on was a 74mm stroke by 90.5 bore which works out to a 1904cc.  To keep with the torque plan, I went with a full weight flywheel and an Engle 110 cam.  A well built stroker is good for a decent hp increase by itself but anyone who knows VWs knows there's HP to be gotten out of the heads.  Since this was a mildly cammed engine and I wanted it to make it's HP in the low to midrange I opted for a mild port job, roughly a stage one.  That involves straightening out the intakes, opening them up, clearing any obstructions in the exhaust ports and smoothing everything out.  It's important to keep the exhaust relatively small to maintain the port velocity.  The heads I got were the new CD Performance "Bandidos" 40x35.5mm heads.  These are their low cost budget performance head.  I've always like CB Performance products but once I tore these heads down I saw why they are budget heads, although constructed well, the port castings extended well into the port area, further then I've ever seen before on other heads.  Out of the box, I'd be surprised if these heads out performed stock heads with the restrictions that were evident.  Once complete, I have no problems with them though, they have nicely swirled SS valves and the castings are beefy enough to smoothen the intakes nicely without worrying if you'll break through to the rocker arm area. I also match ported the dual port end castings as far up as my porting tools would reach.

The buggy, (in typical bubba fashion) came equipped with a single 48mm dellorto carb.  This seemed large for the 1600 engine that was on the buggy but being a novice to single carb setups I decided to do some research.  I referenced my trusty Dellorto Superperformance Handbook and knew I was in trouble.  1600 to 1800 can run a single 36mm Dell (40 Weber) and up to a 2 liter will run nicely on a 40mm Dell or 44 Weber.  Since I didn't have a carb to replace it with, I decided to go through it the carb and at least make sure it was setup correctly.  Aside from the 200 main jets, everything looked ok.

Jumping ahead a little here, when I went to run the engine the first time, it wouldn't hardly run below 2500 rpms with the 48mm.  It was as I suspected, that sized engine running that large of a single carb coupled with the long intake runners won't create the velocity required to run properly at low RPMs.  I had planned on using a dual 40mm Dell setup but the frame rails on the buggy wouldn't allow them to fit. I decided to try a 36mm Dell out till I could get a 40mm Dell from my Italian connection.  No, I don't deal with the Mafia.  There's a guy on E-bay that sells Dells at a reasonable prices.  They are all freshly rebuilt and he will configure them exactly to your specs.  A fresh dialed in 40mm ran me $175 plush $35 shipping.  Well worth it to me.

As for the exhaust, I always liked the look of the TriMill setup, I didn't realize it has no provision for preheat tubes.  You may be thinking, this is a buggy and it doesn't need them.  Actually, the single carb configuration benefits significantly from the addition of preheat.  The same issue I mentioned above, improper atomization of the fuel at low speeds is one of the side effects when there isn't enough carb heat.  If you're running a single setup w/o preheat, touch your manifold right below the carb when your engine is warmed up, the manifold will be cold, actually in cold weather, they frequently freeze up. The trimill looks nice but pay the extra coin for ceramic coating, the chrome is done poorly and discolors almost immediately.  I opted for the 1 1/2" pipe size to keep the power band a little lower.

I started in on the block, buildup was straight forward, especially when everything is new.  I opted for a 30mm Melling oil pump, I would be pushing the oil a long way and didn't want to leave anything to chance.  The rods were taken care of with a set of CB performance Unilites and tool steel wrist pins.  With the stroked crank, the pistons had .003" deck.  The heads measured out to 55ccs and I used a .040" cylinder spacer.  This all works out to around 8.6:1 compression, ideal for my use. A stock sachs clutch, pressure plate and throw out brg rounded out the tranny end and I used a press in Sand Seal type pulley setup for the other.  I purposely didn't have the case full flowed, I knew I'd be running the alum non-doghouse shroud and I planned on pulling the oil from the stock cooler location.  Since the mount for the cooler is designed around a rubber mounted cooler, I decided to cut a gasket and used the small black rubber bushing type seals, not the stock units. I definitely wanted this piece solidly mounted and by using a gasket in addition to the different seals, I was able to get a tight seal.  VW probably would have used this type setup if vibration wasn't an issue with the stock coolers.

You can see the electric fuel pump and filter, on a performance engine, I like to go with an electric rotary pump, the stock pump is very inconsistent and prone to giving out.  This is a Carter pump sold by CB Performance and has worked well in other vehicles I've had.  It maintains 3.5 PSI which means you don't need a fuel pressure regulator with it.

I completed the installation of the accessories and the mounting of the carb.  This allowed me to finalize the cable setups. Ideally, a set of morse cables and a hydraulic clutch setup are the way to go but they can get pricey.  I purchased some bulk lengths of large diameter brake line from the AP store and bent the tubing to accommodate the clutch and throttle.  I works smoothly and for the cost, was a good investment.  Here's a picture just prior to setting up the push rod geometry and cutting the push rods to length.

I went with a set of 1.25 VW rocker arms, HD shafts and swivel feet adjusters. That setup make for a decent valve train that's reliable and provides a little HP. 

Once I fired this engine up I noticed two things, an external oiling cooling system can and will leak where ever possible, that was remedied with a snugging of all the fittings.  As I mentioned before, the carb was way too big, bo much so that I wouldn't risk trying to break in the cam on it.  Also the generator wasn't working, despite a new set of brushes I recently installed.  I'm not a big generator guy although it is good for off road proposes. I ordered an alternator and swapped it out. I took a 36mm Dell off my '59 and upped the mains to 160s and tried it on the engine.  Started right up and settled down to a lopeing idle.  That's the single carb, they tend to let you know they are cammed.  I used SLR treated lifters and noticed right away, the valve train was quied compared to other engines I've put together. Of course adjusting the valves to a loose zero with the chrommoly push rods helps.

It was time to take this thing out, I've always had a tough time keeping my foot out of a new engine, I guess it's curiosity or the the how fast is it mentality.  This engine was no exception, I did manage to keep it under 3500.  It performed nicely, it was lacking a little off idle but that can be attributed to the carb and lack of carb heat.  The oil system holds 5 qts with the cooler and I noticed right away, it takes awhile to get the oil hot, the cooler works well.  On the trail, the ride was rough, the rear was way too stiff and the steering was way too quick.

Since the initial break in, I switched the buggy over to a 40mm Dell with 30mm vents, 1.70 air jets, 160 mains and 60 pilots. It does much better off idle and pulls hard to 6K.  The removal of the quick steer resulted in better control, it still gets squirrly when you're spinning the tire through second gear which can reach 45mph.  It's the tall tires, with a 31x10.50 the top end is off the scale, I hardly ever hit forth, third is enough to scare you pretty good.  With the addition of normal shocks on the back, the ride is better and almost acceptable.  It would definitely benefit from an complete upgrade of the rear suspension and a stronger bus tranny that was geared lower.  First is enough to climb all hills I've come across but 3rd is a little tall and I;m sure 4th would easily hit a hundred with no problem.  The junkyard tires didn't hold up too well, the bead got tore up when the guy mounted it and sliding it into a sandbank was enough to drive sand in there causing it to go flat.  Some new BFG all terrain TAs solved that issue and they have a special bead that is sealed up much better than a standard tire.

Now on to the riding in this area, it seems like the trails go on forever it.  We have steep jeep trails, 5 story sand dunes and dry riverbeds that you can hit 70mph on.  Definitely an offroaders dream.  Most of the land with the exception of the indian reservations is wide open, off road permits are not required.  Luckily for me, much of this is about 10 min by trail from the house.  Four wheelers are the ride of choice because they are so reliable and will go almost anywhere.  The folks I've met off road have been great, always ready to share a tool or lend a hand.  I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Chris R.