Old School rails? Anyone use them anymore?

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Realbadlarry

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My Brother in law has an old school rail, 1835, swing axle, johnny's frame....are they worth anything anymore?
 
More of a novelty it seems. Might be best to see what the Oklahoma dune riders can offer for $$
 
There are people that use them and the new stuff isn't really any faster. But, it rides a whole lot rougher than the new stuff.

When I see a group running the dunes and there is a VW in it....the VW just putts along and has no problem keeping up. Yes, V-6s and V-8s are blindingly fast, but sane people can only dune so fast.

What sort of terrain do you run?

The main thing, that I see, wrong w/it is that it has a V-Dub motor in it. There are lots of good/better motors that would fit. Personally, I like older motors that run a conventional distributor and a carburetor. If somebody was building a rail today, they aren't spending $10k-$50k, or more, and putting a motor descended from the 30s in it.

But, to answer your question....it has great worth as a useable machine. You could put $1,000 into it a year, and it would still be way cheaper than a $20K machine.....much less what today's machines cost. If you want to sell it, it is worth $1k-$5K.....assuming that it runs. If it doesn't run, $500-$1,000, and it might be hard to sell.
 
Stinky said:
There are people that use them and the new stuff isn't really any faster. But, it rides a whole lot rougher than the new stuff.

When I see a group running the dunes and there is a VW in it....the VW just putts along and has no problem keeping up. Yes, V-6s and V-8s are blindingly fast, but sane people can only dune so fast.

What sort of terrain do you run?

The main thing, that I see, wrong w/it is that it has a V-Dub motor in it. There are lots of good/better motors that would fit. Personally, I like older motors that run a conventional distributor and a carburetor. If somebody was building a rail today, they aren't spending $10k-$50k, or more, and putting a motor descended from the 30s in it.

But, to answer your question....it has great worth as a useable machine. You could put $1,000 into it a year, and it would still be way cheaper than a $20K machine.....much less what today's machines cost. If you want to sell it, it is worth $1k-$5K.....assuming that it runs. If it doesn't run, $500-$1,000, and it might be hard to sell.
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Think the probem is with a vw yes simple easy and can be built reliable but parts are damn expensive to build a good one.My 2275 got good parts and thos alone were almost 4k 15 years ago im talking complete sump to air filters.I ended up doing j 35 swap for about 2800 1500 for engine ecu and harness.Needed to buy radiator,fuel system and headers and had an engine that had more power and just needs oil changes blow it up get another for a 4-7 hundred
 
Realbadlarry said:
My Brother in law has an old school rail, 1835, swing axle, johnny's frame....are they worth anything anymore?
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Hit up Conrad Nelson on his FB page. He's an old school aficionado and will be able to answer all your questions.

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77charger said:
Think the probem is with a vw yes simple easy and can be built reliable but parts are damn expensive to build a good one.My 2275 got good parts and thos alone were almost 4k 15 years ago im talking complete sump to air filters.I ended up doing j 35 swap for about 2800 1500 for engine ecu and harness.Needed to buy radiator,fuel system and headers and had an engine that had more power and just needs oil changes blow it up get another for a 4-7 hundred
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I've helped many guys swap from VW to Honda. Many of them actually ended up with money in their pocket after selling the VW.
 
I love the Old School Cars. Every Teen that grows up in Glamis should start there, wish I did.

Now I'm too old, fat and lazy. Worst part is the dunes are soo rough now, you'd have to camp in the sticks to enjoy driving one around the dunes.
 
Old school buggy requires some thinking. When you adapt a VW
running gear the a buggy, think of the weight you just removed.
Early builders would "Cut" the torsion bars to ease the bounce.
I chose another way. I cut the tubes and rotated them "Opposite"
to cause the front to ride smooth over the bumps. Hitting the bump
pushed the wheels up, and the "Cut Tube" pushed back. Resulting
in a smoother ride than just a weak front end.
(That's your trivia for today)
 
His rail had the torsions removed and had air shocks in the back. Marvin Shaw??? Probably work with some coilovers today....
 
Kraut_n_Rice said:
I've helped many guys swap from VW to Honda. Many of them actually ended up with money in their pocket after selling the VW.
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I broke out even with selling mine. End up selling at the low points and buying high lol.

But this time I got the Honda for cheaper than planned so it worked out. But now I’m ahead.
 
77charger said:
I broke out even with selling mine. End up selling at the low points and buying high lol.

But this time I got the Honda for cheaper than planned so it worked out. But now I’m ahead.
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Yeah. Good ACVW shit is getting rare, prices are up.
 
I grew up in a beam car with an 1835..

I couldn’t even imagine driving across the chop in our camp circle in that thing.. my back hurts just thinking about it. lol

Granted ours was a dirt car and was not a sand car.
 
The first Saturday in March will be the Old School Roundup in Glamis. While there aren't as many regularly in the dunes, this event itself has brought more interest into restoration and builds of some of the older cars and helping keep that knowledge alive. Even if you don't have an old school rail, if you are in G that Saturday it's worth checking out the show and shine and some really cool builds.
 
JDMeister said:
Old school buggy requires some thinking. When you adapt a VW
running gear the a buggy, think of the weight you just removed.
Early builders would "Cut" the torsion bars to ease the bounce.
I chose another way. I cut the tubes and rotated them "Opposite"
to cause the front to ride smooth over the bumps. Hitting the bump
pushed the wheels up, and the "Cut Tube" pushed back. Resulting
in a smoother ride than just a weak front end.
(That's your trivia for today)
Click to expand...
Meah, I just let a little air out of the tires…
 
RiverDave said:
I grew up in a beam car with an 1835..

I couldn’t even imagine driving across the chop in our camp circle in that thing.. my back hurts just thinking about it. lol

Granted ours was a dirt car and was not a sand car.
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Chop actually isn’t an issue. Long sections of big whoops at speed are where the beam/trailing arm just runs out of travel. Everything is great and smooth… Until it very suddenly isn’t. I just don’t bother if there’s a long section. It’s like 0.2% of our dune miles, so doesn’t matter much.

Only other issue is if it’s been raining a lot and the cross tracks get huge, but that’s an issue for everyone.
 
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