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Fri Mar 19, 2010 8:03 am

Well... I sold the Jet boat... and took my toy fund and bought this...

It has been quite the adventure so far... It is supposed to have a 1835cc It has a holley bug spray on it... and you can see the rest...

It came out of a field and the guy that sold it to me kept saying "well who ever built it the first time did a hell of a job"

HEHE...

Yes he did... Through a miracle of some kind.... I have found the original owner and I am in the process of tracking down a title as I currently beleive there is one out there...... But who knows... I am not 100% sure it was ever titled yet... (wish me luck on that)

But anyway.. here are some pictures of the Buggy now... and pictures of a buggy taken in 1977-1979 that was another one of three built identically by these three friends at the same time... I have been told they started with a bugpack kit chassis and well.. went from there...

Fri Mar 19, 2010 8:25 am

Nice :D Are those the SAME FRONT TIRES :shock: :shock:

Fri Mar 19, 2010 8:43 am

Very Cool! Love the original green and the Sandblasters. A question for those who have a better memory or search method than I have... is that the same chassis that got bent so bad in a roll over a few months back? I think it was suggested X bracing the roof or something. Anyway, would be easy and a ton safer, that thing looks to be built for hooliganism.

Fri Mar 19, 2010 9:06 am

Nice rail!

Love the old pictures, reminds me of fun days of past times.

Fri Mar 19, 2010 9:14 am

I like that style of sandrail. Looks alot like the one I had about 25yrs ago but mine was yellow.

Looks like it's going to be a fun resurrection project.

Keep us posted.

Fri Mar 19, 2010 9:47 am

twomonkeysayoyo wrote: Very Cool! Love the original green and the Sandblasters. A question for those who have a better memory or search method than I have... is that the same chassis that got bent so bad in a roll over a few months back? I think it was suggested X bracing the roof or something. Anyway, would be easy and a ton safer, that thing looks to be built for hooliganism.

I don't know if you guys are familiar with Dick Easterwood... But I will know later today for sure... but I am 95% sure he is the one that assembled the kit and did the upgrades... All of the hot rodders in KC know who he is... He built hot rod chassis for years and was/is very well respected and fairly well known in that discipline.

This one I believe was damaged at a dirt track near my house, Lakeside Speedway, more than a couple years ago.. If you look close you will notice the front of the rail where it meets up with the axle tubes is slightly different than the pictures.... and has been clearly repaired at one point.. Doubling checking that repair is top on the list...

I have already had it out on my place and did some mudding and jumping.... :D

As soon as I figure out the situation on getting it street legal it is headed to the powder coater...

Sun Mar 21, 2010 6:36 pm

Well crapp.....

It isn't as much fun when you find out the cold hard truth... :? :D

Ok... so I knew the front drivers side torsion arms were done.. but it just isn't fun to see it like this... oh well ... the tubes are straight.. and no more than 5 thousands out of round.. so good to go there...

But... uuhhh that 1835cc engine.. uuuhhhhh most of the cylinders are 85.5mm but... one of them is 83mm nice.... :roll:

And uuuhh yeah... orange RTV as a "headgasket" that is cute....

Also... upon pulling the head.. there was a decent amount of oil at the bottom of each cylinder... is this from being overfilled?? or???

So I dunno... this thing may get a turbo dodge.. or Subi powerplant... (that omni you see in the background of my first pix is GLHS #174... and I have a BAD turbo dodge habit..)

Sun Mar 21, 2010 8:12 pm

the rings are gone for sure. as for the rtv, it could have been worse, could have been some clear silicone that never dried!

Sun Mar 21, 2010 8:50 pm

'yeah... it could have been worse...

The last time I tried a rail... about ten years ago.. the 1500cc bug I drove home.... had a slight tick.... so upon tearing it down, all was well until I split the case and the frign crank came out in two pieces...

Given the solid mounts... and ... all else... I would have guessed one odd size cylinder would have created a bigger problem... and heck.. it ran halfway strong.. it felt like it needed a tune up... :roll: but it pulled the wheels no problem.... and chit.. we had plenty of fun over last week/weekend.....

Damn... so my "toy" budget was my money from the jet boat... and well that is starting to run pretty thin.. the Mokan swap meet is this weekend... so I will hit that up for parts.. maybe cobble together a 1600 and use this other 1600 case I have as a starting point for something a little better as I save my allowance... :P

I dunno... I really wanted to keep VW power... but I have a couple very decent (250-300hp) 2.5 turbo dodge engines.. and I am very familiar with that stuff... not to mention a 2.5L dodge makes stump pulling torque... and would last forever in that buggy.... So.... who knows... I may have make myself an adapter..... that is a lot of weight though...

Oh and I have confirmed that my buggy is the Green one from the pictures.. somebody had done a decent complete strip and paint of the frame.... They just missed a couple things here and there... and well... sometime next week I will have pictures of the original black buggy to show some very minor differences... This confirmed by the original owner/builder(s) I have also talked with the first three owners of this car... and have not yet found the guy that repainted it....and or jacked up the front end...

Sun Mar 21, 2010 9:06 pm

Keep in mind that a stock VW trans isn't going to hold up to 250 HP, and full built bus box will most likely run in the 2-3k range if you're lucky.

Mon Mar 22, 2010 6:47 am

Yeah I thought about that.... and I have been doing the math... and digesting as much info as possible... Also there is a Avenger GT-12 kit up the street from me that has been there for some time... I don't know what tranny it has... but I do know it has/had a running Porsche 6 in it... and that guy is in need of money.... and even my wife would part with some of her play money for that one....

I have not split the case yet to see what I might find in there.... but... given a fairly tight budget for the project... and a resourceful guy like myself... who is only expecting (now) to have a ultra low budget engine running to power the toy for the summer...

Should I just try and score a 85.5 jug and piston.. (also replacing an others that may be out of spec) break the glaze.... slap some rings in it... do what needs to be done to get the crank in acceptable shape.. and go for it..

Or if I do end up spending more... I go 1776... without issues... or if I am going to go big bore... just go straight for the 94's????

I am not really excited about that holley in the first place.. let alone on a "small" engine... but yeah.. whatever...

The plan all along had been to sooner or later fit the engine with one of these smallish Mitsubishi turbos that I don't ever use on my 2.5 TD stuff... It would be perfect on a 1900cc ish engine.. but maybe a bit large for a 1600cc......

But for now... I don't want it just sitting dead in my shop... and I have $$$ for good and cheap... but i think not much room for fast...

any opinions??? or cheap stuff in the KC area... :wink:

Mon Mar 22, 2010 8:06 am

If the engine sounded good, no knocking in the bottom end, then I would just pick up a good set of 85.5's and slap it back together. Once you get into splitting the case you get into the " well, I have it apart" phase. Personally, if i'm splitting a case, it's getting a Balanced crank at the minimum and a good cam. But for a $100 more you can get a stroker crank and make some real power. It goes on and on. Next you need a bigger carb and good heads. Like I said, if you are on a budget and just want to go play, i'd pick up some new jugs and slugs and put it back together and go have some fun. I definately wouldn't rering what you have, especially if one cylinder is different sized. And it's probable that your others are out of round.

Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:19 am

ronholm wrote:
Should I just try and score a 85.5 jug and piston.. (also replacing an others that may be out of spec) break the glaze.... slap some rings in it... do what needs to be done to get the crank in acceptable shape.. and go for it..

Or if I do end up spending more... I go 1776... without issues... or if I am going to go big bore... just go straight for the 94's????

any opinions??? or cheap stuff in the KC area... :wink:

I am up by Des Moines. I have plenty of used 85.5 pistons and cylinders.
Run up here in an evening, and you could dig around for what you need.

Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:26 am

That sounds like a plan to me... I was kinda thinking along the same lines.. because you are right.. ya sound like you have known me my whole life... :D yeah the stroker crank is only this much more... and while I am in there... and then my daughter is complaining we can't drive the thing because I was fighting for what exactly???

A running less than I want engine sure beats pushing it around...

So for whatever reason if I don't find some good used jugs this weekend... or before it comes back from the powder coater...

Given the cost of new jugs... do I go a bit bigger just because I can? 1776 it... Or....

Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:30 am

Russ Wolfe wrote: ronholm wrote:
Should I just try and score a 85.5 jug and piston.. (also replacing an others that may be out of spec) break the glaze.... slap some rings in it... do what needs to be done to get the crank in acceptable shape.. and go for it..

Or if I do end up spending more... I go 1776... without issues... or if I am going to go big bore... just go straight for the 94's????

any opinions??? or cheap stuff in the KC area... :wink:

I am up by Des Moines. I have plenty of used 85.5 pistons and cylinders.
Run up here in an evening, and you could dig around for what you need.

:D

Shipping and giving you something for the parts would be less than fuel to get there and back...

Got a couple spare stock kingpin torsion arms? just to get this thing back on its feet...

I figure my money is going into the harder stuff to fix later.. and the easy stuff can wait.. besides.. pending a couple sales of other toys.. my budget could change..

Mon Mar 22, 2010 9:58 am

Either way, 90.5 or 94's you have to split the case and have it opened for the larger jugs, and the pistons cost the same, I'd go with the 94's.

Thu Apr 01, 2010 6:58 am

Well.. Not a whole lot actually done yet... Last weekend It hit a swap meet put on by the MOKAN VW club and did really good and meet plenty of great folks...

Picked up all the stuff I need to put that engine back together.. and the suspension parts.. and lot of the nickel and dime stuff that adds up...

I had been thinking about the front end of the buggy.. I couldn't think of a reason why the top rails on the front shouldn't be able to just run straight into the beam... until it occured to me.. duhh... the frign tie rods...

They cleared the way it was.. but should anybody ever want to go bigger.. I did this..