bugify a sand rail

[dirtGocart]

I have a tube frame sandrail. its a recent purchase. Its street legal and plated as a bug, it has beam front and rear suspension and just enough of the bug pan to mount the rear beams and have a vin number. Otherwise it's all tube frame. It does have lights, turn signals etc.

I haven't driven it much but I was pulled over recently (got a warning for speeding) and I was also given a warning that "to be registered as a bug it should be recognizable as a bug". He said he personally thought it was cool but that I should make it a special construction or put a bug body on it and until then there was a risk of having it impounded. I don't think he realized that fundamentally it's much more of a tube frame sand car than it is a bug. He did also say that he wouldn't have pulled me over if I had mud flaps (was like 8 mph over speed limit).

All that said, special construction sounds like a real hassle especially since it doesn't have a VW motor, although I know it can be done. I have a friend with a 2012 built san rail with a suburu motor that is plated as a 1960 special construction and even has the sticker for a BAR engine swap without having any smog controls other than a PCV valve.

All that said I am looking for ideas.

I have always liked convertible baja bugs. What I was thinking about is fabricating a fiberglass convertible body that can be attached to a tube subframe that I can drop down over the actual structural tube frame. To do this I was thinking I can use a one piece front end with modified fiberglass door skins, fenders and fiberglass engine cowl. I am not sure where to get fiberglass rear quarter panels though.

Here are a couple of photos:

[Hnoroian]

Welcome to the form!
Where do up you live? Want to trade?

Jk?

[cbeck]

Saw this fiberglass bug a couple of years ago.

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My cut in half and rebuild thread
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[oprn]

Or wait until he is transferred/promoted to another job and is no longer prowling your area...

It sounds to me like just a personal opinion. I would think that once it is inspected and declared legal to drive on the street you should be good to go. That's a lot of effort to go to to satisfy him, then what if the next cop wants something different?
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We had the stone age, the bronze age, the industrial age and now we are in the age of mass deception and mind control for corporate profit. (The mass media age)

[Dale M.]

So you are in Cali.... The officers statement that it should look like a bug to be registered as a bug is right out of state DMV rule book....

https://www.semasan.com/semaga/TagTitleToolbox_CA.pdf

You have to play the game by their rules, or you will lose ever time....

ITs probably going to be "Special Construction" (SPCN) like it or not....

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/?s=Special+construction


Dale
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“Fear The Government That Wants To Take Your Guns" - Thomas Jefferson.

"Kellison Sand Piper Roadster" For Street & Show.
"Joe Pody Sandrover" Buggy with 2180 for Autocross (Sold)
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All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ...

[Dale M.]

[dirtGocart]

I am willing to go the special construction route. The problems with that route is that allot of steps are involved and ultimately it needs to be recognizable as a car, so it has to have a body including fenders that mostly cover the tires (open wheel is not legal). Secondly there are lots of steps involved with that (multiple inspections etc).

It would meet most of the CHP safety requirements already in that it has a dual piston brake master, has DOT lights, brake lines etc. That part is easy. Also to avoid a trip to the BAR I would need to install a VW engine at least temporarily to get through the CHP inspection, thats also not all that hard, I can borrow an engine from someone.

The hard part is that it needs a body with fenders that cover the wheels and can't in general resemble an off road open wheel vehicle. I know lots of people have gone the special construction route with classic and new manx style bodies but at least for the inspection they need to be setup so that the fender covers the wheel.

So I have to do that anyways why not just make it look more like a classic beetle which I like more and then it can keep the registration and title as is.

That said, there are many one and 3 piece front ends that could be modified to work.
Anyone know of a source for fiberglass rear quarter panels or even better a one piece rear end with quarter panels, fenders and engine cowl?

[BFB]

sooooo this gave me an idea...
one of the guys that worked for me several years back had an Arkansas address ( im in Missouri ) and he drove his Arkansas tagged truck with expired tags for a couple years. thing is, Missouri had no jurisdiction to ticket him for Arkansas registration.
when i lived in md. they had height limit laws for lifted trucks, west Virginia did not so ppl titled their lifted trucks in West Virginia and md couldn't do a damn thing about it.
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Build it your way not the way someone else does it. Their way might not work for you." - clonebug
An interesting thing happens in forums where everyone starts parroting the same thing and "common knowledge" takes over.
“ The monkey see monkey do mentality seems to run deep in VW people. "Gene Berg said it was so 30 years ago so thats the way it is" “ - bdkw1

[dustymojave]

Contact Rick at Crumco about fiberglass Baja side panels. Off road race 5 "Unlimited" Baja Bugs can have completely fiberglass bodies now and Rick has the panels. Maybe not in stock. But if you want to buy them, he can have them made for you. Be sure to tell Rick that it has to LOOK like a VW Bug, not a race car, because he likes the side panels with the molded-in number plates on the top rear.

If you need to shorten the body, that's not hard to do. And you can deal with the "kick-out" side rails too. Then if it LOOKS like a VW Baja Bug and is registered as one, then you should be good.

I DO like it the way it is.

You could use a separate Baja Bug front hood and separate Baja fenders to slope the hood more like the buggy hood. You can match the side panel tops to the windshield, and trim the bottom edges to fit. Maybe even cut down the tops of the doors kinda like that short yellow Bug.
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Richard
Offroading VW based cars since 1965
Tech Inspection 1963 - 2012 SCCA/SCORE/HDRA/MORE/MDR +
Retired from building Bajas, Fiberglass Buggies and Rails in the Mojave Desert. Also Sprints & Midgets, Dry Lakes, Road Race cars. All types New and Vintage
SoCalBajas Member
Kicked Cancer's A$$...1st and 2nd round...Fight ain't over yet.

[dirtGocart]

Thanks I'll be in touch with him. A one piece race rear end would be perfect. I doubt I would need to shorten it, this car has a wheelbase that is slightly longer than a stock bug as its setup about 99" but i things its probably close enough.

I was able to get a one piece wide baja style nose on Craigslist really cheap. Its one of the light weight style so it might be a bit on the flimsy side for of roading but I have some decent fiberglass experience from a boat project so I know what to do to reinforce it without adding much weight.