Need help with possible rail

[scott]

I am thinking about getting a rail and have been looking for a while. I did not want to spend more than $35K on a used one. I came across a rail on ebay and wanted some advice. They are asking $33K but it now. I have never owned a rail and really know nothing about them other than wanting one..

The description is as follows and the auction # is: 4637627189

Frantzco motorsports chasis, 20" travel, king coil overs with bypass, high performance 5.0 Cobra 400horse, MSD ign. oversized throttle body, BBK cold air intake, stainless steel valves, forged pistons, Mendeola 2D built by Kevin McMullen Racing ( same as what they run in their race cars) 930's with race cage four wheel disk brakes, Kartek forged beadlocks, CNC pedals and turning brakes, PRP 2" wider with driver slider, 50" Bench, crow seat belts with pads, hella lights, full sheet metal body with custom dash and console, auto meter gauges, custom paint and graphics, less than 20 hours since built. can get title from builder for $400 works excelent in desert or sand.

Personally, I prefer chevy engines but I guess the Cobra is OK and if I really get a wild hair, I could always swap it out. Here is a picture of it.

There is also a Sand Limo auction ID: 4637415711 that looks real nice. It has a turbo Subaru motor but the tranny is a Bus Tranny and not the 2D. No idea what they want for it yet. Here is the description:

Used Sand Rail Buggy 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,

Any advice would be great!

Thanks!

Scott

Edited May 8, 2006 by scott

[JoeDuner]

I believe it is a Sandcars.net sandcar. Jim builds a great rail for the money.

[scott]

I believe it is a Sandcars.net sandcar. Jim builds a great rail for the money.

The second one is listed on Sandcars site... Thanks for the info! Looks like he wants 42K for it. It is listed on their home page.

I am looking to spend 35-40K... Do you know of anybody with a nice car for sale in that range?

Edited May 8, 2006 by scott

[scott]

There is a nice Subaru powered one on the sandcars site and I just spoke with sand cars. The asking price is 36K. Check it out and let me know what you think. They said the high powered Subarus need race gas. Is that usually the case? I don't think I want to carry race fuel as they creates a whole new set of issues like hauling it..

The price seems ok on the one pictured above for $33K.. I am just not sure if I should bite the bullet. I think he might take $30K for it. It is listed on the sand cars site for $43K. I am just not sure about the cobra motor or the looks..

I really feel like I am going into this blindly as I have never gone down the rail path before.

Edited May 8, 2006 by scott

[EY3BA11]

Frantzco is sandcars.net hence the owners name jim frantz.. Like joe said good car for the money..

if you turbo a subaru w/ anything 5-6lbs of boost you will be needing race gas or at least a 50/50 mix depending on the tuning... if its a n/a motor or a stock setup w/ turbo you should be able to get away w/ pump gas but its always recommended to check w/ the motor builder and get his suggestions..

[ynot]

My question to you is Why are you in a hurry? This is the best time to spend looking into the possibilities that are out there. There is a off road show in Costa mesa next weekend. Go to it look at cars talk to builders and listen to other's conversations around you. The best time to buy is during the next few months as people decide they want new cars or want to build a new one and are looking to sell te existing one. I shopped around until I felt I knew what I wanted and I rode in a couple of cars and made the decision when I found the right car. I would say that attending the sand sports super show in Sept. was about the most helpful.

[scott]

I guess I can be kind of spontanious! I think I may have to go check out that show. I saw an ad for it... Do people sell used rails there?

Would you believe that I have never been in a rail before! I am not sure what has gotten in to me. Whats worse is that, short of a pismo trip, I probably would not get to drive it until September and from what I have heard, Pismo is the last place I would want to take a nice rail due to the salt. I think I need my head examined!

I do appreciate the help and suggestions. I guess I just need to find the right deal. Now if I only knew what I was looking for. I am sure that every dealer will tell you that his or her rail is the best thing since sliced bread. That is probably why I posted here.

Thanks for the help. If anybody has more suggestions, I would love to hear them! I dont like to do anything half a$$ed. I just assume do it right the first time, but not go broke doing it.

[ynot]

Scott, I would say that you have a fair chance of overpaying for something that you really don't need or want. You have to ask yourself these questions to decide what kind of rail your going to want.

Do you need more than 2 seats?

Are you looking for a duner or whoops or wheelie car or something that does one better than the other?

What engine trans are you wanting? If I had to do it over again I might not go with the twin turbo's and given up some performance for durability.

each car has it's own + and -. Funco is a great car but some people don't like the air bag susp. etc. I would say get some opinions of people that own the different makes and get some seat time before you buy. I found out afterwards that riding in the car makes my wife feel like puking.If I had known that ahead of time I might not have bought one. ROFLMA like that would have happened!! :shocked2:

[scott]

Terry,

Is your car Speed Racer?

I probably would want to go with a 4 or 5 seater so I can scare the wife and kids! It would be nice to be able to do wheelies without breaking it but I also want to be able to dune and have it handle and turn well which I understand is generally compromised (in a wheelie machine) due to the weight or weight distribution. It is going to get jumped as well! I like air whether it is under the front wheels or both.

I want it to be fast and handle well, but also reliable and well built. Chances are whatever I get will not be enough and the motor is likely the one thing I can see myself really digging into (eventually). Hopefully whatever I end up with will give me some room to grow but be a real nice start.

Personally, I am a chevy man and really like the vette motors, but I am not really opposed to smaller blocks or turbo motors. I know the Chevy engines pretty well as I built a custom TPI, bored and stroked Small Block 400 for a 68 camaro that I have owned for about 18 years and I pretty much did everything myself on that.

Like most of us, I am an excessive compulsive and this venture could/would bring out the worst in me.

Edited May 8, 2006 by scott

[JoeDuner]

:shocked2: Mines for sale. It has the Supercharged Honda in it, but I need alittle more than $40K for it. Check out the video at the bottom of the post. Over a little knoll i can stand it up. I never use the clutch to wheelie, bad things will happen.

Sandcar_wheelie.MPG

Edited May 8, 2006 by JoeDuner

[SandBox_Kid]

Small Block 400

That's a fantastic motor. Lot's of torque. I have two of them myself. However, you probably should run a large radiator as one of mine, bored 60 over, runs hot if you sit in traffic here in Vegas. Good luck....and be safe.

[Don29palms]

I saw an ad for it... Do people sell used rails there?

There is usually a few used cars for sale but not alot. The show will atleast give you an idea what's out there and how much you can expect to get for your money. Do your research before you buy and ask alot of questions from alot of people. I would stick with an established builder or you could end up with ALOT OF BIG PROBLEMS( which means expensive ). With a STOCK 2.0 turbo Subaru you can run pump gas but any other Subaru 2.2 or 2.5 with a turbo needs race fuel. I like my Acura motor but I can't do wheelies. My car jumps okay for a heavy car.

P.S. Ynot doesn't have the Speed Racer car. :shocked2:

[scott]

That's a fantastic motor. Lot's of torque. I have two of them myself. However, you probably should run a large radiator as one of mine, bored 60 over, runs hot if you sit in traffic here in Vegas. Good luck....and be safe.

Ron Davis built the radiator custom for me.. I traded him a computer and in turn, he made it per my drawing. I never noticed it running hot. I know the blocks are seimese which was a big concern to me in the first place... Car does has a ton of tourqe and it just keeps pulling!!! It is .60 over with polished 350 rods which give it more stroke. Topped off with AFR heads, a happy cam and a DFI Super Ram TPI. I used a built 700R4 trans (probably my biggest mistake). I have destroyed several trannies as it is hard to keep the foot of the peddle. She screams.. Best thing is that at 100MB, you can mash the peddle and it will happily downshift. I never really drive it though. I finished the car 7 years ago and it only has about 700 miles on it, most of which are to and from car shows. I was actually thinking about trading it for a rail but I don't think I could bring myself to part with it.. It would cost close to 100K if not more to duplicate the car.

Edited May 8, 2006 by scott

[ynot]

Terry,

Is your car Speed Racer?

I probably would want to go with a 4 or 5 seater so I can scare the wife and kids! It would be nice to be able to do wheelies without breaking it but I also want to be able to dune and have it handle and turn well which I understand is generally compromised (in a wheelie machine) due to the weight or weight distribution. It is going to get jumped as well! I like air whether it is under the front wheels or both.

I want it to be fast and handle well, but also reliable and well built. Chances are whatever I get will not be enough and the motor is likely the one thing I can see myself really digging into (eventually). Hopefully whatever I end up with will give me some room to grow but be a real nice start.

Personally, I am a chevy man and really like the vette motors, but I am not really opposed to smaller blocks or turbo motors. I know the Chevy engines pretty well as I built a custom TPI, bored and stroked Small Block 400 for a 68 camaro that I have owned for about 18 years and I pretty much did everything myself on that.

Like most of us, I am an excessive compulsive and this venture could/would bring out the worst in me.

This is my car Scott, I got lucky early on in my search and fell in love with just what I was looking for. It is a nimble powerful car that was well kept and maintained.

[SandBox_Kid]

This is my car Scott, I got lucky early on in my search and fell in love with just what I was looking for. It is a nimble powerful car that was well kept and maintained.

Terry......who is the maker of the frame?

Edited May 8, 2006 by cmyfirepole

[ynot]

It is an Alumicraft frame with a Northstar and a mendi 4S

[scott]

Terry,

You car is sick!! I love the look of the twin turbos! Twin turbo Northstar??? That is the caddy v8 right?

Edited May 8, 2006 by scott

[ynot]

Terry,

You car is sick!! I love the look of the twin turbos! Twin turbo Northstar??? That is the caddy v8 right?

Yes it is the caddy v8, and thank you

[SandBox_Kid]

It is an Alumicraft frame with a Northstar and a mendi 4S

I hear it's a long waiting list and most customers keep coming back because of quality!! NICE! :shocked2:

[scott]

Yes it is the caddy v8, and thank you

That's my dream motor!!! A twin turbo V8! I have wanted one since Vector debuted the Vector W2 back in the 80's! For those of you that have not heard of the Vector, see:

[url=http://www.vectorsupercars.com/index1.html]http://www.vectorsupercars.com/

One of my thoughts was to buy a block and start building. Get the car when the motor is done or close.. Twin turbo V8 was particularly in mind.

How much HP does it have? Why would you not do the turbos or at least twins again? Reliability or cost I would assume?? How much time do you have on your motor?

Edited May 9, 2006 by scott

[wingnut]

:headbang: Mines for sale. It has the Supercharged Honda in it, but I need alittle more than $40K for it. Check out the video at the bottom of the post. Over a little knoll i can stand it up. I never use the clutch to wheelie, bad things will happen.

Man thats one sweet car on this very sweet site!!!!! :shocked2:

[ynot]

That's my dream motor!!! A twin turbo V8! I have wanted one since Vector debuted the Vector W2 back in the 80's! For those of you that have not heard of the Vector, see:

[url=http://www.vectorsupercars.com/index1.html]http://www.vectorsupercars.com/

One of my thoughts was to buy a block and start building. Get the car when the motor is done or close.. Twin turbo V8 was particularly in mind.

How much HP does it have? Why would you not do the turbos or at least twins again? Reliability or cost I would assume?? How much time do you have on your motor?

As with all horsepower increases the duribality of the engine suffers. I just bought the car in Sept. 05 and during the season I had to replace both head gaskets. Was it because of me or the guy I bought it from? Who knows? The car reportedly has 600 hp and about 420 to the rear wheels. It runs like a scalded ape and I don't know now if I could give up the turbos. The feeling when they come on is unbeliveable! Other than that I wouldn't trade the car for anything cept maybe a little more leg room. And probably not even then!

[scott]

As with all horsepower increases the duribality of the engine suffers. I just bought the car in Sept. 05 and during the season I had to replace both head gaskets. Was it because of me or the guy I bought it from? Who knows? The car reportedly has 600 hp and about 420 to the rear wheels. It runs like a scalded ape and I don't know now if I could give up the turbos. The feeling when they come on is unbeliveable! Other than that I wouldn't trade the car for anything cept maybe a little more leg room. And probably not even then!

Ohhhh, i'm jealous!! Need a new best friend or a 68 Camaro?? :shocked2:

[scott]

What about this rail? Asking price is $37,500

The car is a 4 seat Alumicraft, tig welded, 4130 chromoly, Acura 3.2 liter type 2(larger valves) V6, Carrillo rods, JE pistons w/chromoly rings, wrist pins and spiro locks, O-ring heads, chromoly studs and copper head gaskets. Balanced crankshaft, rods and pistons. T04E turbo, delta wastegates, RC injectors, Haltech E6S computer, MSD DIS 4 ignition, 228 mm clutch, MD4S 2D trans(8 ball update, newest upgrade) with 300M axles, 935 CV's, 300m rear stub axles and hubs, CNC brakes front/rear, heim shifter, Autometer oil filled gauges, Bilstein coilovers front/rear with Fox position sensitive in rear, Beard seats, custom floors and inside panels., Deist 3 inch padded belts. Everything polished, and powder coated. Has green sticker and Pink slip!

Some key points, chromoly, tig welded(all joints must fit tighter in order to be tig welded, which gives you a better built product, they charge like $2k extra for it too), built motor done by the best builder(I can give you phone numbers of people that will back this up!), 935cv's the biggest and the best, 300m drive train(also the best), heim shifter(once again), oil filled gauges, etc........ Horsepower? Never dynoed it motor makes 240 or 250hp stock(I dont remember) then 12psi of boost equals ? I have had many people suggest that it may be around 400-450hp. I know it hauls a$$ and will wheeling almost anytime you want.

Link with pictures:

http://www.glamisdunes.com/invision/index....showtopic=66699

[Don29palms]

What about this rail? Asking price is $37,500

The car is a 4 seat Alumicraft, tig welded, 4130 chromoly, Acura 3.2 liter type 2(larger valves) V6, Carrillo rods, JE pistons w/chromoly rings, wrist pins and spiro locks, O-ring heads, chromoly studs and copper head gaskets. Balanced crankshaft, rods and pistons. T04E turbo, delta wastegates, RC injectors, Haltech E6S computer, MSD DIS 4 ignition, 228 mm clutch, MD4S 2D trans(8 ball update, newest upgrade) with 300M axles, 935 CV's, 300m rear stub axles and hubs, CNC brakes front/rear, heim shifter, Autometer oil filled gauges, Bilstein coilovers front/rear with Fox position sensitive in rear, Beard seats, custom floors and inside panels., Deist 3 inch padded belts. Everything polished, and powder coated. Has green sticker and Pink slip!

Some key points, chromoly, tig welded(all joints must fit tighter in order to be tig welded, which gives you a better built product, they charge like $2k extra for it too), built motor done by the best builder(I can give you phone numbers of people that will back this up!), 935cv's the biggest and the best, 300m drive train(also the best), heim shifter(once again), oil filled gauges, etc........ Horsepower? Never dynoed it motor makes 240 or 250hp stock(I dont remember) then 12psi of boost equals ? I have had many people suggest that it may be around 400-450hp. I know it hauls a$$ and will wheeling almost anytime you want.

Link with pictures:

http://www.glamisdunes.com/invision/index....showtopic=66699

That seems to be a nice car and it's definitely a good price.