VW Turbo EFI sandrail

[sha_ba_do_bang]

I have been building this VW sandrail for about two years, here is it after i "finished" it last summer



Then i decied that wasn't good enough, so i tore it apart and my plans are to turbo charge it, rebuild the rear suspension, fuel inject it, convert all drums to disc as well as many other little things
Here's the old rear suspension


Here's after


Here's some of the turbo exhaust and intake work


Here are some pics of the disc brake conversion brackets, i am using huge 280z calipers
on the front and rear, i will have cutting brakes and a CNC master cylinder with hydraulic clutch and throttle



Brendan

 

[alfadan]

well that looks like a hellava lot of fun! Very nice work. Did you weld it all up yourself? I wonder, how often do you have to do brake jobs on sand rails getting exposed to sand all the time? that hyrdaulic clutch should make a world of difference.

 

[hrm2k]

single word...................OVERKILL..........are you Tim Allen? Very hip !!

 

[sha_ba_do_bang]

Thanks guys, yes i did weld and fabricate everything myself.

I don't know about brake jobs because i never really drive it that much, i finished it and drove it around town for about 2 weeks and then tore it apart again to do all this again

I used the same calipers front and rear so brake jobs are easy, but i'm going to need a big proportioning valve because i have front 280z calipers on the rear as well!

Brendan

 

[Kelly]

nice !!! !!!

 

[RickP330]

Sweet,
I'm sure you live close to the desert or beach?
Rick

 

[Woogeroo]

nice fab work.

-W

 

[TNToy]

Somebody buy this man a tubing bender!

Other than that, pretty nice work.

Make sure you gusset the joint where the 1/4" plate meets the bushing for the rear control arms. That's not a lot of surface area, and I've seen similar suspensions fail there before. A couple of triangular 1/4" plate gussets go a long way.

 

[comp]

you design the rear trailing arms ????

 

[Uncle Buck]

Does your rig have the independent rear brakes like a farm tractor that those things are known for?

 

[oneshot]

excellent disc brake set up. does anybody know what year(s) calipers he installed? Are those VW rotors? if so, what year and what type? I am doing a similar build for my rail.

 

[66 Shorty]

I don't know for sure what year brakes he used, but, I believe both the rotors & calipers are from a 280ZHere's a site I saw doing the conversion. http://www.blindchickenracing.com/ It looks liek he did the "turn thr drums down & stud them" trick too.

I've got a buddies rail in my backyard that's been sitting there for some time. I'd like to drive it, but, it's been stripped out!

As far as the trailing arms go, if he doesn't gusset them they WILL fail!

Uncle Buck, I believe he does have the brakes you are talking about, they are called cutting brakes by some people, & he did say he was adding cutting brakes.

 

[curtrnev]

That ain't overkill, if it had a Fortin and a blown LS motor it would be closer but still not overkill it would just need a cutting brake to steer with!!!!!

 

[Wanna Ride]

You guys realize the op last posted on this thread over three years ago, and it looks like his last post anywhere on here was over two years ago?

I'm just sayin'.

 

[Boost Creep]

excellent disc brake set up. does anybody know what year(s) calipers he installed? Are those VW rotors? if so, what year and what type? I am doing a similar build for my rail.

appletree sells a pretty decent priced disk brake conversion with everything you need. might be easier than piecing everything together

heres my rail. its lots of fun. needs more power

 

[Wanna Ride]

Boost Creep, that's a sweet set-up. Got some more pics to share? What do you run for an engine?

 

[Boost Creep]

thanks. its just a sp 1600 right now. haven't decided if i wanna build it up bigger or not. i have a baja bug project waiting to get started so i dunno if i wanna start that or keep going with the rail.

heres a build thread for it
http://thegoodvolks.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=projects&action=display&thread=2244

 

[blue dog]

Boost creep, you need some shocks on that thing before you up the motor.
you would be amazed what a good set of shocks will do for the over all ride quality. And at that point, it will let you go faster while soaking up the bumps way better, saves the car and your back.

 

[66 Shorty]

You guys realize the op last posted on this thread over three years ago, and it looks like his last post anywhere on here was over two years ago?

I'm just sayin'.

Yss, I knew it was an old post, but, someone asked recently about a brake set-up consiting of 280Z parts... Sorry I added some insight...

Boost Creep, Nice looking Rail you got there!

 

[Wanna Ride]

Yss, I knew it was an old post, but, someone asked recently about a brake set-up consiting of 280Z parts... Sorry I added some insight...

Boost Creep, Nice looking Rail you got there!

I hear ya' loud and clear.
It just seemed like somebody didn't realize the op prol'y wasn't coming back. Too bad too, the rest of his project looked pretty interesting.