Jared's rail buggy page

Jared's rail buggy page Buggy building in western P.A.

This site is about what went into the build up of my rail buggy. I started this project during my senior year of high school. I had always wanted a rail buggy and it seemed like a great project for my shop class. I had 18 weeks of class and I thought it would be completed by then.
The first thing I did was to buy a "73" Beetle minus a engine for 25$. It was in rough shape with raccoons living inside. I then started to cut the car into pieces with a torch. (The headliner and engine compartment matting really do stink when they burn) I carefully cut out the torsion assembly and all other important parts of the car.

I began to sand blast and wire wheel all the parts of the car I planed to reuse for the buggy.
Also during this time I made several trips to JIM'S CUSTOM VW where I decided on a Berrien 295 frame (Two seat 95" wheel base.) While I was waiting for the frame to arrive I reinforced the front beam by welding plates to the shock towers. I also boxed in the rear trailing arms. These were not made from a kit, there made of 3/8" plate steel.

We picked up the frame from JIM'S on 3/1/97. We then took it to our shop so that the suspension and wheels could be mounted. We had a difficult time mounting the front shocks because of the 1/4" plates I welded to the top of the towers for strength. While at school we put on the steering wheel and shaft with the accordion column. Pedal, master cylinder and seat belt brackets. I also added a shock tower brace and drop mounts for the seats.
    The first engine we bought was supposed to run, when I took the cylinder tin off I saw that the wrist pin had broken and the connecting rod had beaten a slot into the case making the case worthless. needles to say I returned the engine.
    The end of my senior year came and I took the buggy back to my shop. That's where it sat until mid october when we finally got a engine. we bought it from a local wrecking yard. It was a real mess but it was a start. It was then taken to JIM'S where the case was align bored, drilled for full flow oil filtration, bored for 94mm cylinders and a Engle VZ 15 cam was installed along with various other goodies. While waiting for the short block to be finished I bought a Webber 44 IDF off the internet
    I spent most of my semester break from college working on my buggy, On the frame I added tree bars, cross braces for the front, welded the seams on the shock towers, added a foot rest and a grab bar on the passenger side, welded in a dash panel. I also welded shock mounts on the frame and trailing arms, put a three piece floor pan/skid plate on made of 3/16 and 1/4 diamond plate aluminum. I put in a anti crush bar into the roll cage, mounts for the gas tank, oil cooler, tool boxes, brake lights and head lights. I also welded in tubes for the throttle and clutch cables.
    When I was finished with the frame, it was painted with cans of rustolem dark purple. You may be wondering why we used cans. The reason is it made the most sense, the frame is going to take a lot of abuse and will need touched up frequently. Cans are easier than a spray gun. After the paint dried the buggy was assembled. It was started on saturday, january 17, 1998 (once i switched the fuel lines to the correct way, oops!) The first test drive was the next day. everything went well except when shifting between gears. The problem was when the engine was revved to 3 or 4 thousand RPM then quickly dropped to 1 or 2 grand, then flooring it the engine cut out. I asked a few people for their opinion and got answers ranging from the timing to the venturies. I replaced the 36 mm venturies with 32 mm for increased air speed, and played with the timing but that didn't help the problem. Then I started thinking about the accelerator pump so I asked a friend he agreed. I adjusted the pump for more fuel and the problem was gone.
    Well that's it for now. I'll be updating this page as I get things done on the buggy.

since January 27 1998 My guest book! View it! | Sign it!

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This page last modified 10/06/00