Added bonus for those who might want to buy it when Im done, the suspension is adjustable so you could raise it up a little put some off road tires on it and use it for rally cross as well as autocross. Makes me wish we had rally crosses in this area.
Bring all the googles.
Looks great.
I love it! All it needs are big wings, a sucker setup and tire warmers. Maybe for skidpad challenge II?
This is most excellent!!! I should buy one of those... Oh wait.. Never mind...
Daaaaaaayummmmm! That looks berkleying amazing. Many giggle were ensued.
my brain can barely comprehend all this awesome 
JThw8 wrote:
You need that on a T-shirt.
RossD wrote:JThw8 wrote:You need that on a T-shirt.
If I had more time I'd get the guy who did my Wartburg shirts to do this one up in the same ratfink style, with a lizard driving of course.
You managed to fit 10 pounds of badass in a 5 pound bag.
Does this thing have a title? I want that as a DD.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ wrote: Does this thing have a title? I want that as a DD.
Nope, no title. There is a process to get one but its very time consuming in NJ and requires receipts for everything as well as NDI inspections for any fabricated components.
Yeah, I'd like to drive it on the street too. I'm tempted to register it to my house in FL, they used to have less restrictive rules on these things but I'd probably still need to take it down there for a visual.
Looks killer, wish I was going to see it in person. Next year for sure.
I should stop checking this thread. At the first autocross I visited, there was a guy competing with his rail buggy. It looked absurd but it got me thinking that you could "race" anything. VW engines are cheap and easy to work on, rails come up for sale all the time. Seeing it completed is giving me all kinds of ideas. I look forward to your results. In the meantime, I'll be looking at CL. 
chrispy wrote: I should stop checking this thread. At the first autocross I visited, there was a guy competing with his rail buggy. It looked absurd but it got me thinking that you could "race" anything. VW engines are cheap and easy to work on, rails come up for sale all the time. Seeing it completed is giving me all kinds of ideas. I look forward to your results. In the meantime, I'll be looking at CL.
You can probably find a rail buggy frame free or very very cheap. Incomplete ones are given away often. now that being said it's not entirely cheap. I haven't added up the receipts but I'm approaching if not exceeding $4000 on this build. You can do it cheaper if you have time to parts scrounge and leave off some things like keeping the stock torsion setup instead of going to coil overs and using a simpler T1 motor rather than something like the T4 Im using (the carbs alone were a huge chunk of money) But VW engines in general are not that cheap anymore. If I hadn't had the T4 to start with I'd have gone straight to the 2.2 subaru. $500 for an adapter and you can get 2.2s in junkyards for $200 or less. Once you have the wiring and plumbing worked out (which is really easy in a buggy) they are pretty much bulletproof.
If I keep this thing around I'll end up borrowing the subaru setup from the Wartburg while that is being rebuilt just to see what it will do :)
This makes me giggle a lot. I love it.
What's the ride height right now and can you get it lower for the skidpad challenge?
Those tires MAKE IT. I'm very curious to see how this thing handles. What a hoot!
fanfoy wrote: This makes me giggle a lot. I love it. What's the ride height right now and can you get it lower for the skidpad challenge?
I can drop the rear until the engine drags on the ground but the front is maxed out on downward adjustment :( I'm sorely tempted to cut and turn the adjuster to get more out of it but if I screw up with such little time left it would be bad. Of course shorter tires in the front would probably help.
JThw8 wrote:chrispy wrote: I should stop checking this thread. At the first autocross I visited, there was a guy competing with his rail buggy. It looked absurd but it got me thinking that you could "race" anything. VW engines are cheap and easy to work on, rails come up for sale all the time. Seeing it completed is giving me all kinds of ideas. I look forward to your results. In the meantime, I'll be looking at CL.You can probably find a rail buggy frame free or very very cheap. Incomplete ones are given away often. now that being said it's not entirely cheap. I haven't added up the receipts but I'm approaching if not exceeding $4000 on this build. You can do it cheaper if you have time to parts scrounge and leave off some things like keeping the stock torsion setup instead of going to coil overs and using a simpler T1 motor rather than something like the T4 Im using (the carbs alone were a huge chunk of money) But VW engines in general are not that cheap anymore. If I hadn't had the T4 to start with I'd have gone straight to the 2.2 subaru. $500 for an adapter and you can get 2.2s in junkyards for $200 or less. Once you have the wiring and plumbing worked out (which is really easy in a buggy) they are pretty much bulletproof. If I keep this thing around I'll end up borrowing the subaru setup from the Wartburg while that is being rebuilt just to see what it will do :)
tell me more... is it only the 2.2. that can be used?
Mad_Ratel wrote:JThw8 wrote:tell me more... is it only the 2.2. that can be used?chrispy wrote: I should stop checking this thread. At the first autocross I visited, there was a guy competing with his rail buggy. It looked absurd but it got me thinking that you could "race" anything. VW engines are cheap and easy to work on, rails come up for sale all the time. Seeing it completed is giving me all kinds of ideas. I look forward to your results. In the meantime, I'll be looking at CL.You can probably find a rail buggy frame free or very very cheap. Incomplete ones are given away often. now that being said it's not entirely cheap. I haven't added up the receipts but I'm approaching if not exceeding $4000 on this build. You can do it cheaper if you have time to parts scrounge and leave off some things like keeping the stock torsion setup instead of going to coil overs and using a simpler T1 motor rather than something like the T4 Im using (the carbs alone were a huge chunk of money) But VW engines in general are not that cheap anymore. If I hadn't had the T4 to start with I'd have gone straight to the 2.2 subaru. $500 for an adapter and you can get 2.2s in junkyards for $200 or less. Once you have the wiring and plumbing worked out (which is really easy in a buggy) they are pretty much bulletproof. If I keep this thing around I'll end up borrowing the subaru setup from the Wartburg while that is being rebuilt just to see what it will do :)
No, just my preference for cost and durability. KEP makes adapters for damn near anything. The same adapter works for all EJ series subaru motors so you could use a 2.0T, a 2.5, a 2.5T even the big flat sixes I think.
The subaru swap is so popular that it's the only one that KEP also includes a life size wiring diagram with. Its based on a 2.2 legacy but you can lay your harness out on it and it shows you where to cut (and what connections to make if you are wiring it back into a standard VW, none of that is needed for a rail buggy)
So that's motor and wiring then you need cooling. For the Wartburg we bought a cheap aluminum honda civic radiator. Added bonus (if you are starting with a whole donor subie) is the main fan from the Legacy fits the Civic radiator like it was meant to be there.
did you implement the secret weapon?
AngryCorvair wrote: did you implement the secret weapon?
Not yet but I still have a few days. Trying to take care of those pesky running/driving/safety items at the moment.
Got the shifter mostly worked out now. Got another maybe 1" of drop in the front, still not as much as I'd like but its what Im stuck with. I thought I had a way to get more but I was getting suspension binding when I tried. The only other option is a set of lowering spindles which would be good for another 2 inches but I don't think there's enough time. Actually if I had time I'd Z the front and raise the whole beam up.
I also installed a fire extinguisher because...safety.
Fixed a light on the tow dolly and modified my magnetic tow lights. I put a pigtail on the connector so I can plug the trailer lights into the magnetic lights and have them all working at once. I prefer magnetics with a tow dolly because the ass of the car hangs out so far past the spot where the trailer lights are, but I got pulled over once for inop lights on the dolly because they weren't on and the officer couldnt see the magentic lights because there was a car between us. He let me go once he realized what was going on but its a simple wiring task to make both work so why not.
Scrubbed the tires down to prepare them for a little magic juice, they are old slicks they need some lovin'
Drove it the whole way down the drive and out into the street, quick turnaround an back up the drive, power is good...very good. Steering is surprisingly easy even with the big ole tires. Shifter is still hit or miss but I'll mess with it a bit. Its better than it was, I can get all 4 gears, its just not always easy to find 1st
JThw8 wrote: I'm approaching if not exceeding $4000 on this build.
You better whoop me. I've got way less than half that in my car. 
SVreX wrote:JThw8 wrote: I'm approaching if not exceeding $4000 on this build.You better whoop me. I've got way less than half that in my car.
I'm sure your car is much better sorted. :) I'll be happy if this thing doesn't shake itself apart. I had really hoped to be done last weekend so I could have taken it to a local autocross to test and tune.
JThw8 wrote:SVreX wrote:I'm sure your car is much better sorted. :) I'll be happy if this thing doesn't shake itself apart. I had really hoped to be done last weekend so I could have taken it to a local autocross to test and tune.JThw8 wrote: I'm approaching if not exceeding $4000 on this build.You better whoop me. I've got way less than half that in my car.
Baaaahahaha.....................hahahahahahahaha................haha..........ha.......ha.........sorted....phew!
In reply to MrJoshua:
Did he say my car is sort of a car?
Troof.
FWIW, the car hasn't even been started since the Challenge, and we've changed the entire suspension (complete unknown quantity), wheel/ tire combo (downgrade), intercooler piping, exhaust, cooling system, the fuel rail is leaking, and we can't find the tune for the MS.
Actually, I have a bigger problem. Garage door is broke, and I can't get it out of the garage.
So, JThw8, you're right. It's sort of a car.
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