New to SAMBA. New to Rail buggies.

[brianshorn]

Hi all.
I've always wanted a rail buggy - I saw this one on FBMP for cheap so I picked it up.
It needs A TON of work...but this.
I had to share this.

Got shocks?

Why?

Anyway my name is Brian - ill be lurking around asking newb questions

[earthquake]

Welcome aboard, nice looking buggy. I have never seen a aluminum front beam that took Ball Joint arms, what size engine does it have? I just looked a little closer, what does that front shock do?

eQ
_________________
74 CLASS 11 LOOK-A-LIKE
69 DUNE BUGGY
79 INTERNATIONAL SCOUT II
05 SCION XB SERIES RELEASE 2[#437]
95 Chevy C3500 dually
98 Ford E150
Link to Kelly J. Nolte 3/20/53 - 11/6/08
https://time-zonelabs.blogspot.com/p/about-kelly.html
DEATH TO CHINGERS!
[From a military recruitment poster in the novel "The Stainless Steel Rat" By Harry Harrison]

[brianshorn]

Ha ha - I guess that's what im asking...those shocks do nothing.

The JAMAR beam seems to be completely indexed down to have no torsion.
There are torsion bars in the tubes but?
I guess they wanted a zero travel low rider?

I'm still investigating...

The title / plate says its a 74 and the motor is a B6 so I guess that jives.
I got it running great with a quick carb "rebuild".
I haven't driven it yet as the rear axles / JAMAR hubs were shot - currently awaiting parts.

Anyone recognize the chassis?

[Q-Dog]

It looks like they used 2 sets of upper torsion arms instead of upper and lower?
_________________
Brian

'69 Dune Buggy
'69 Beetle Convertible
'70 Beetle

[brianshorn]

Oh so THATS what is so odd about this front end setup.
X4 uppers.
Good eye Brian - thank you.

So…
What should I do with this to “fix” it?

I’d ultimately like a little bit of travel and some alignment / adjustability.

Also - I don’t think front brakes would really benefit this rig as it’s so light, they would need to be proportioned down to nothing correct?

[Q-Dog]

If the goal is to drive it on the street I would consider installing a complete pre-65 front end. It should bolt on without much effort.
_________________
Brian

'69 Dune Buggy
'69 Beetle Convertible
'70 Beetle

[FPGT72]

I have a feeling I am the guy that knows the least about VW's on here. I think I can win the dumb noob comment contest

Your rail buggy looks a bit like mine. Mine is a street car, and that is all I will ever use it for. I have to have front brakes, and yes they are set down to almost nothing. It may not be the correct way to do it, but I just did it by "feel". I can "hot rod" around my back pasture just fine now that the cows are long gone, and I adjusted it down to where the fronts would lockup on the grass, then went to the "paved" road, chip n' seal, and added in a little more till I got to where it "felt" right. In the gravel I will still lockup the fronts, or in the grass goofing around in the field and jumping terraces, but on the street it feels right.

I did not see your planned use for it. It will depend on your state on what you need to do for them to be happy. In MO it was a real pain when I did mine about 10-12 years ago.

No idea on the shock, does not compute....looks pretty however.

[BFB]

[brianshorn]

I picked this up today.
Should be a good start for a strong front end with a least a little travel...
Plus now I have drum brake hardware if I ever decide I need fronts.
I haven't decided if I'm even going to bother swapping it all over to the JAMAR aluminum beam I have on the car now or just clean it up paint it and go.

Stripped.

_________________
Brian
33563


74 VW Rail Project
95 Club Car 500amp Monster Cart

[BFB]

What are the rear tires? I think ive seen some like that for agricultural stuff, I think the ones i saw were speed rated pretty low, like 25 mph though.
Look really good on your rail.
_________________
Forced induction can overcome a lot of obsticles that gets in it's way
"You are the Engineer and the Mechanic.  
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

[brianshorn]

Ha - yes you are correct - its a turf tire - speed rating B - 30mph max.
31x15.5x15
I agree - the big fat tires look good but will definitely be replaced with something similar in size more suitable for street / trail (thornbirds?)

This rig was obviously built back in the day to be a low speed, street cruise, no travel, "show" car .

_________________
Brian
33563


74 VW Rail Project
95 Club Car 500amp Monster Cart

[DesertSasquatchXploration]

That's a Link pin beam with ball joint arms that's hilarious. Don't trust that anything is correct if the previous owner did that that's pretty bad plus lawn mower tires yikes. Once you go over everything its going to be sweet! Nice project.

[oprn]

That's what you want! put it on complete, hook up the bakes, find some proper front rims and you are golden!
_________________
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)

[BFB]

Ive seen a lot of people running implement tires on buggys and run them on the roads too, i mean how many times have you seen three ribs on the front of a rail? A fuck ton. Not like it’s something to freak out about and think the whole rail is janky. I would run something with a higher speed rating but then again my main rail is 90% road driven and sees 75 / 80 mph regularly.
Far as the beam thing, depends on what you plan to do but id keep the aluminum beam and use the linkpin arms and spindles. Theres a huge weight difference between that and the factory one.
_________________
Forced induction can overcome a lot of obsticles that gets in it's way
"You are the Engineer and the Mechanic.  
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

[FPGT72]

The light weight of a rail will help with the "wrong" tires, but it is still nothing I would play with.

I did not notice the date codes on the tire.....truth be told I never bothered to look at an "off road" farm type tire to see if they even have date codes. Just fill them with sealer and keep going if they leak. Big deal. Only becomes an issue when the rims start to rust. Had to replace two rims on my 8N last year.

anyhoo......

This is not something I personally would trust even for "test drives" around the block. Worst case find some rims used somewhere with some form of serviceable rubber if need be. If a tire lets go at 30, it is still going to do something to your car. Do you really want to take that gamble and have yet another thing to fix.

Just get some "road" tires.

[oprn]

My opinion is to use tires suited to the driving you do. If you drive it on the street, use street tires. If you drive it off road only then off road tires are fine.

I have been running 5 rib implement tires on the front of my sand rail for 10 years now. They work just fine for the trail riding I do but they are impossible to get a good balance on. The guy that did the balance said that if I took them over 30 mph they would explode in my face. Well that is a bunch of BS! I flat towed the rail 6 hours to an event and back at 60 mph and they are just fine.

When these tires wear out I will try and find something suitable with a higher speed rating for sure. Last time I looked anything like that had to be special ordered out here and was pretty pricy. This is a farming community so implement tires are cheap and abundant and they are designed to be driven across fields, up back roads and trails.

I also run ATV tires on the rear.
_________________
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)

[racecougar]

[DesertSasquatchXploration]

Getting slapped in the face by a 12inch wide rubber whip traveling 250mph sounds like a bad day. That wide of a tire will balloon up at speed pull itself off the bead and slap you silly like a drunk step dad.

[brianshorn]

Link Pin Installed!
Its got front travel now!
I have new tie rods coming and still have to work out the shock bolts / bushings. Oh..and connect the steering shaft.
I'm going to run the hub-less / brakeless wheels I have for now - waiting for the proper SEALED bearings for the link pin spindles.
I mean..I have to keep it under 30mph at first anyways.....stoopid lawn mower tires LOL.

I guess ill just cut this off the frame (old fake shock mount).

_________________
Brian
33563


74 VW Rail Project
95 Club Car 500amp Monster Cart

[BFB]