Project Car. Sand Viper Mk III, Mid Travel, Two Seat, 2.0L FI Jetta. Car is in process of being built
SAND CAR PROJECT 2005-2007 (On Going Love Affair)
We live in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, in the state of Washington on the Olympic Peninsula, Kitsap County, in the town of Poulsbo. We are about 15-miles west, across the Puget Sound from Seattle, Washington. This is a rural area with small towns, farms and lots of evergreen forests. We intend to run the rail off-road in the sand dunes of the central Oregon Coast, Moses Lake Washington and any other place we have the time and money to get to. All of the driving will be done off-road (meaning un-improved dirt/gravel roads and sand) Oh, and lots of mud when we can find it. We (my brother and I) are not car designers, builders or racers. We do have some experience in auto repair (shade tree mechanic) and metal fabrication. We are both over 50-years old and have worked in the trades all our lives. My brother is a Heating Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC) Tech & I work as a Mechanical Engineering Tech in a local Shipyard. We have had our share of cars, trucks and motorized toys over the years that have needed various amounts of repair and modification to keep them going. We have decided on the "buy parts and build" verses the "turn-key" method for our project car. That is to say we will be buying the major components and assembling them with what ever modification we feel is necessary. We felt that building a new car would be much easer than picking up a used one and getting all of its problems. Buying a brand new turn-key car was completely out of the question due to the cost. Once we get it on the road/sand if it breaks down we will be fixing it, so from our way of looking at it would be best to know exactly how it is put together.
October 2007 we made it to the coast. What a blast. We ran the car for 2-hours about 64-miles by GPS, and then I lunched the transaxle. When I got it home it wasn`t as bad as it could have been. Some shift fork alingments and it will be back on the dunes in the summer of 2008.
Fall 2008. I got a Turbo for my car. It`s taken this long to get everything tuned up & working 100%. My lovely wife and I will be heading for Winchester Bay, Oregon the end of September. More to follow.....
In March 2007 the car was returned to the Fabtec shop to have the rear cage installed. This was delayed up until now to make sure the cage fit the engine installation. The frame is now complete. All we have to do in get the engine running.
The car is about 90% complete at this point. Some wiring, lights, minor frame modifications and coilover springs and we will be ready to have the Engine Control Unit (ECU) installed. Then its out to the back 40 for a test drive.
Getting the car home after the rear cage installation.
