The frame was bought from Berrien Buggy. This is the Warrior frame bought as a knock-down kit, which means that the tubes were all bent and cut but they had to be welded together. I had to find a classic Volkswagen Beetle, literally cut it in half, and harvest the front and rear suspension, engine, transmission and other various parts. When I picked up the frame, the whole thing fit in a couple cardboard boxes.
Paint! Silver under-body paint for durability.
State-of-the-Art Paint Booth (swing-set frame)
Assembly! You can see the VW transaxle, painted black, in the rear. All black paint was also under-body paint for durability.
Aluminum diamond plate was used for the floor. The floor under the seats needed to be much beefier, so I went with 1/8 inch thick steel plate, which was added later.
Four off-road lights were used for maximum visibility. All the wiring was ran through the frame tubes, a very tedious and time consuming task, but well worth it.
The stock 1600cc engine was rebuilt by myself with some assistance by my dad. Maroon was chosen as the color for the engine tins, which accents the silver and black very well.
31 inch tires in the rear mounted on rims that were for some other vehicle, which I welded in the bolt pattern and re-drilled to fit the correct bolt pattern.
A center console was fabricated out of aluminum diamond plate. It houses the fuse panel for the electrical system. Also, an aftermarket turn signal switch was used which gave the sand rail fully functioning lights in order to make it street legal.
Poly bucket seats were used with five point racing harnesses. The driver-side seat was mounted on a racing quality seat slider for adjustability.
Finished! The goal of this project was to build a solid and strong running sand rail while keeping the cost as low as possible. I did this by doing all the work myself, from fabrication to engine rebuild, and rebuilding as many parts from the donor vehicle as possible. Total cost of the project was about $2500.
