87 GN engine in a sandrail

[skidman]

Has anyone done this besides me? Engine came from Boston area salvage yard. Car weighs 1780 lbs. I used an 84 Riv 325-4L trans with 200-4R clutches and band. Best 1/8 mile was a 7.88@98.8, with a poor 2.01 60ft.On the street it is a great deal of fun! The biggest drawback is very limited final drive ratios. The highest possible ratio is 3.36 and I can not seem to find one. Currently is 3.15. Skidman.

 

[charlief1]

There was a post in the tranny section about the 325-4L tranny a while ago. It was used in several different ratios so you might want to get hold of chris718 and see if he can find one for you. He is one of the main tranny guys on the board if you didn't know.

 

[notacarlo]

RJC has had one for sale for years, probably sold by now. There were pics up on his site for a while.

If I can find pictures I will puttem' up.

 

[chopped39]

I dont know where I got these from.

 

[jlat]

hello people; In my opinion sand and turbos don't mix. I guess it would be fun but be prepared for anything. Anything off road doubles the work to maintain. Have fun. Looks like good work.
IBBY

 

[notacarlo]

hello people; In my opinion sand and turbos don't mix. I guess it would be fun but be prepared for anything. Anything off road doubles the work to maintain. Have fun. Looks like good work.
IBBY

You're probably right, but they have been mixing for 25+ years now. Turbo-Rails are not new to the world.

 

[gnpoweredrail]

I dont know where I got these from.

My buddy Sean owned that car for a while.the engine was built by RJC.

 

[gnpoweredrail]

hello people; In my opinion sand and turbos don't mix. I guess it would be fun but be prepared for anything. Anything off road doubles the work to maintain. Have fun. Looks like good work.
IBBY

You're probably right, but they have been mixing for 25+ years now. Turbo-Rails are not new to the world.

My old car that I retired a couple of years ago always ran a hot air that ran(with different engines of course) for over 20 years.

 

[BEATAV8]

I dont know where I got these from.

That looks like fun for the whole family

 

[gnpoweredrail]

Here is my new car in the works.
I am down to finishing the fuel lines and wiring the thing.I hope to be in the sand in 5 weeks.
Its a 109 built by Hye Tech.Huge roller fully ported with 4340 crank,rods JE's and billet caps.all studded.Have a 70BB for it.Running a Duramax intercooler and radiator

Here is a couple shots of the intake and intercooler piping.

here is after powdercoating

 

[jlat]

hello people; That new toy looks more like a baja type of buggy than a sand rail. I watch some of the baja at times and I don't think there's a turbo out there. But I'am probably wrong. I think it was that race where a few fans all died just standing there recently.
IBBY

 

[gnpoweredrail]

only N/A is allowed in off road racing.

 

[charlief1]

I thought there was a turbo diesel class?

 

[mat231v6]

Here is my new car in the works.
I am down to finishing the fuel lines and wiring the thing.I hope to be in the sand in 5 weeks.
Its a 109 built by Hye Tech.Huge roller fully ported with 4340 crank,rods JE's and billet caps.all studded.Have a 70BB for it.Running a Duramax intercooler and radiator

Here is a couple shots of the intake and intercooler piping.

here is after powdercoating

that is wild cool.

 

[GNVenom]

I've done engine harnesses for four or five sand rails over the years. The biggest problems I am aware of are:

Oiling! climbing up a hill starves the oiling system which kills the turbo. That will be your biggest nightmare.

Light weight. The turbo engine likes LOAD and you don't have it with the lightweight chassis on a sand rail. It's hard to spool the turbo without a decent load weight.

Go real easy on the turbo size...bigger turbos and injectors will definitely not help the cause. Use stock injectors and stock turbo with remote oiling.

Don't bother intercooling the setup; sand will get into it along with all the plumbing. Keep it simple.

Rear ratios: Use a low number if you can find a reliable differential. Again, it's all about loading the engine/turbo.

Electrical system all needs to be sealed, especially the ECM and dash panel.

Manual transmission: You need to modify the chip for decel because there is no torque converter to keep the engine running. Pressing in the clutch effectively prevents the engine from decelerating normally.

 

[gnpoweredrail]

I was going to call you actually for a harness but decided just to cut and strip down the factory harness.It actually wasnt as bad as I thought it would be.

I dont understand why you say not to intercool it?? How will sand get in it?

So whats up with the manual transmisson thing??? Will Turbo Tweak know what I am talking about??

 

[GNVenom]

The sand somehow packs itself in to the intercooler as I understand it. Clogs the cores...probably because they put it in front. Maybe another location would suffice. Either way, you really don't need the HP to move that featherweight and lack of intercooler plumbing would make things simpler and cleaner. The effect of the intercooler would be minimal anyway.

Manual transmission: Spool, respool, spool, respool, spool, respool. The constant turbo loading and unloading tends to slow you down. See if you can find a Porsche automatic transaxle that would fit, IMO I think you'd be better off. The chip has to be considerably modified for manual transmission. Eric could fix you up there.

Don't forget about that oil. Dry sump would be the fix along with remote oiling.

 

[chopped39]

This would be a good aplication for a recirculation valve to keep the turbo spooling between shifts. Do some research on these.

 

[gnpoweredrail]

The sand somehow packs itself in to the intercooler as I understand it. Clogs the cores...probably because they put it in front. Maybe another location would suffice. Either way, you really don't need the HP to move that featherweight and lack of intercooler plumbing would make things simpler and cleaner. The effect of the intercooler would be minimal anyway.

Manual transmission: Spool, respool, spool, respool, spool, respool. The constant turbo loading and unloading tends to slow you down. See if you can find a Porsche automatic transaxle that would fit, IMO I think you'd be better off. The chip has to be considerably modified for manual transmission. Eric could fix you up there.

Don't forget about that oil. Dry sump would be the fix along with remote oiling.

Its no featherweight...it should be about 27-2800 lbs.
Here is a pic of the rear of the car with all the piping and the radiator and intercooler infront of it.

You cant get a automatic transaxle to hold any decent power.The trans I am using in this car is over 20k.Its a 5 speed H pattern and has a 11.5" R/P.It can hold roughly 1500HP.

I thought about dry sumping it but I have had good luck in the past with an extra quart of oil and not wheelieing too long.I always watch the oil pressure guage when in a wheelie...if it drops which it never did in my old car which had a hot air I would bring it down.

 

[GlockandRoll]

I dont have a use for a sand rail in Texas, but dang do I love this.
Great work, I mean REALLY great work!