scott

Rail is getting delivered tomorrow morning... I don't think I will be able to sleep tonight...

Ohh yea!! I think what will kill me more is cleaning my garage tomorrow to make room for it... I am scrambeling to get some off road wheels and tire for it today so I can run it around the block Sunday when it gets delivered... :redhat:

As soon as it gets here, I will be posting! She's a comin!!!

I am supposed to get it Sunday.... Funny thing is that I don't even own it yet and I had the current owner send it to a fabricator that Dave McDowell suggested to have a tranny pump mounted up. Dave Mcdowell just built a brand new S4 with a Weddle R&P for it and both went in today. Tomorrow the engine goes back in and either Saturday or Sunday, the car is supposed to be delivered.... Now I have to clean the garage..

Here is a link to an feature that was done on the car back in 1999 from April Car Audio and Security magazine. The stereo shop that did the install basicly copied the text and included some pictures from the magazine feature. http://www.sounds-good-stereo.com/ca_68camaro.html Here are some engine shots.. Details on the Camaro are: This was a full frame off that I built over the course of about 5 years.. Small block 400 bored 30 over with 350 polished long rods for stroke. AFR heads, Big Cam, Accel/DFI TPI. Built 700R4 4 speed automatic tranny. Car has a 12 bolt Posi rear end, chromed end to end. Chromed Drive shaft, Chrome A-Arms, Chrome core support. 4 Wheel disk brakes, all powder coated, Custom polished Ron Davis radiator, Dakota Digital guage cluster, Custom leather Recarro seats with mathcing bolstered back seats and matching door panels. Power windows and door locks.. Billet tilt steering column, billet steering wheel, 17" Billet specialties wheels.. Anything that was not chromed was powdercoated.. Except the body of course. HUGE stereo and much much more..

She likes it. Her only stipulation was that she got a new car first... She got that yesterday... I was planning on selling a 68 Camaro which I have had for about 15 years and did a full custom frame off on. I figure the car to be worth around 100K and anything close would pay off a lot of things... She told me yesterday not to sell it as I would probably regret doing so... I guess she is really on board with it. I figure she will love it............. Until I scare the hell out of her on the first ride.. :shocked2: Then the front seat will be open to my friends...

Thanks guys! I cant wait to get it home... Now I may have to make a Pismo run just to wet my wistle!

Well..... After looking and looking and more looking.. I have found a rail that I should be taking delivery of in the next week or so... It's an 2005 Sand Cars Unlimited 5 seater.. Fox Bypass's all the way around. 934CV, Brand New Mendeola S4 built by Dave McDowell with the a Weddle (spelling??) Ring and Pinion.. A fresh Turn Key Twin Turbo 630HP LS6 that runs on pump gas, XM Radio and a nice sound system to go with it... Here are some pics... I have come to the conclusion that I need my head examined... Big Time!!! My $35K budget went to hell in a handbag! Now I cant wait for it to cool down so I can get back out to Dumont to hang with you guys! So what do you guys think?? Should I be institutionalized?

Not sure yet.. I am looking at building a new rail now.. My budget went to hell in a handbag and if I build a rail, I am going to do it right from the start. That way if I really want to build up a motor, the drivetrain can handle it.

Thats me...

I think one of the ones I saw was the Albins.... I hear they are like $17K?? Are they that much better/stronger that the S4? Also, How are sandco performance cars?

I was at the extreme off road show this weekend and saw some other transaxles that were not Mendeola's and were said to be "Bullet Proof".. What are some other alternatives to Mendeola that would be suitable for a V8 car and possibly stronger than the S4 tranny? I am thinking about building a new rail and if I do, I may want to eventually go bannana's with the motor so the drive train will be key.. What would you guys suggest?

Here are some more pics of the sandwinder.. Decisions, decisions.. I could have the sandwinder as early as tomorrow..

I am glad you said that.. That is what I was thinking..

If it were between the 2 which way would you go? How fast would the sand car be with that subaru? Would it wheelie easily?

Is the Northstar a bad choice of a motor? I figured that since it was a GM motor, it would similar, but then again, I heard it uses a belt or somthing to drive the cams if I am not mistaken.. I love Joe's car but by the time I get done buying a trailer to put it on, I am way over budget.. His car is several thousand more.. Although, at the rate I am going, the budget seems to be going to hell in a hand bag.

Another one that may be on the market.. for about 37K.. Its a Sand car v3 with a mendiola 4S.. Nice detail work but again it's a turbo Subaru and again as it has been mention, I may not be happy with the power. Here is the description from Sandcars.net site: John is running a 300+ Subaru with a Mendeola Trans. Graphics by Brinks He has the RaceCraft Elite Series Seats, Douglas Beadlocks and Xtreme Tires.

So if I can get the sandwinder with the 375HP Northstar, 930 CV's, a Mendeola 2D with rear king bypass shocks at $35-36K would that be worthy? I would probably add the B piller and match the powder coat with paint for the short term and if and when I want to make changes, re-powdercoat at a later time. One thing I like about the chevy is that it is easy to add a supercharger or other engine mods and get quick reasonably inexpensive power additions.. As forthe Alumacraft, I think I can get it for around 33K BUT it needs front wheels and tires, a cracked weld or 2 fixed in the front upper horizontal support that goes between the front shock towers.. Then it will need the powder coat matched with paint. I also found out that it needs a front spindle as one is cracked. This came from the folks at Alumicraft after I called them today and questioned them about the frame. Apparently the car was in there a couple monthes ago for a service and a CV repair and they noticed it upon inspection and pointed it out to the current owner who declined to fix it... Probably because he did not want to spend the $$ on a car he was planning on selling. Needless to say, they did think it was a very nice car and mentioned that the repairs are no big deal. They also indicated that there is a fix for the cracked frame.. This led me to believe that this was a common place for cracks with this frame design and I think their fix is to add additional support in the section of the frame. It looks to me that the front suspension or particularly the front shocks, put a lot of stress on that section of the frame. I think the car was either jumped and landed hard on the front wheels or wheelied and landed hard one too many times.. I figure between front wheels/tires, spindle, weld and paint match about $2500. That would put me at about $35,500 for a 2000 alumicraft with some nice finish work and an apparently very fast turbo'd acura. Which way would you guys go or would you pass on both of the above?

How did you do that? Looking at the wing, it looks like you looped it!

Ouch... I was thinking about the lack of B pillers and was concerned about that.. Good point. On a side note, I did speak to the original owner of Wasabi who seemed like a really nice guy. He apparently is not very fond of the V8 cars due to that fact that most of them don't handle well.. I still like this car but I also have my concerns. I wish I knew more about these rails! The more I look, the more I realize that it may be very difficult to get somthing that I am going to be happy with for $35K.

I found another one which I am waiting for some more info from the owner.. This one is a 2003, SANDWINDER LTX PRO 5 SEATER, Redline North star 385 hp, chrome pkg, Ron Davis radiator, mendeola 2d trans, gear 1 rack & penion steering, 4wheel bead locks, CNC pedals, cutting brakes, king 2.5 triple bypass shocks, $38,000.. The car looks clean but I have only seen this one picture.. Are Sandwider's any good?

I think I tracked him down and Glamisdunes.com... He goes by the name Mikey. From my search, it looks like he sold it to his friend who is now selling it. I also read that he was not able to keep the tranny together for more than a season in the car... I would assume that may be his driving style, but from what I read in a post by him, he seemed discouraged. I PM'd him and asked to get in touch so hopefully I can and hopefully I can get an unbiased opinion from him since his buddy does not seem to know a thing about the car.

Your killing me!! You really think it is worth the $$? He said he would take $35K but it definately needs a new set of front wheels and tires and the beedlocks put on the rear. My only real concern was the stress cracks on the cross bar that goes between the left and right front shock towers. One of the cracks looked like it was the weld and judging from the front rims, it looks like it may have been caused by hard landings. The crack was not huge but I did notice it upon close inspection. It may not even be a big deal but it worried me. Other than that, the car was very nice. The only other thing I could see being an issue is the seat position. If I move the seat forward more so I can reach the peddles, the steering column may need to be shortened. I am going to post on Glamis dunes and try to find this guy to get more info..

I just spoke with Sand Limo and he said almost the same thing.. The motor in the purple car is only 280HP as it sits with max boost and I think 220 with minimum boost. If I wanted to upgrade it, the tranny, suspension and more would have do be redone. He mentioned bypass shocks which this car does not have.. I don't think I will be happy with this car. I definately want to jump and I definately want to wheelie.. Back to square 1.... How much power does your have? Tell me more about it because I am becoming more interested as it looks like I will end up spending more than I planned and I really like your car. I really do like the V8's though since I know what makes them tick and feel comfortable wrenching on them. Why dont people run carburated motors anymore? I spoke with one of my buddies who is the manager at one of the PAW's and he wanted to build me a blown donovan small block with a blower shop 200 roots Blower, Dart or Edlebrock heads with a holly 950 off road carb and a ton of other stuff for around 12K which led to to wonder if there was a good reason besides the off the shelf reliability of an LT1 or other Fuel Injected V8..

What about this one? I can get it with the trailer for $30K delivered from AZ to so cal.. .. 2005 Sand Limo Excel. Condition,Great Paint Of Dragon ,Tires Padla trak II,Shocks King Off Road,Engine Subaru 4 cam 16 Valve Turbo Engine Very Fast and Reliable,CNC Controls,Geneburg Shifter,Brekes 4 Way Disc, Gear One,Crow Enterprizes Belt,Wheel Bead Locks,Transmission 091 Bus With All Chromemoley Gears and Super Diff. This Sand Rail Buggy Has The Best Of Every Thing Very Nice Paint Sand Dragon ,Complet With Trailer. It is on ebay right now.. The auction id is: 4637415711 There are many more pics on ebay.