Sand Co Chassis

[DarkSide]

Seeing all the DD cars has kind of made me think about how many car builders have gone away over time.
Anyone here have a Sand Co car?

My first sand rail was an OG mid-engine beam car with a Car Craft built 2332 that ripped. (sorry no pictures)

Next car was a Sand Limo 4 seater beam car running a turbo 1835. Fun little car, but definitely little.

Then I got my Buggy Works car. Originally a 2180 VW that I built into a turbo 2332, then later changed out for a J35 Honda. Had a lot of good trips in this car.

Currently I have a Sand Co dual sport car. Not much information out there about this builder, but what little I've found seems to be positive. I was impressed with the chassis when I looked at the car to buy. Big change from the strictly sand car chassis I've owned. I'm going through the car and fixing the neglected items that I'm finding, dolling her up a little to make her mine, and building an engine. Not having much luck with the engine, but I know the builder will get it figured out.
Any feedback from the community on Sand Co? I have only found a few things on Race Dezert.

How I got it


First trip to the dunes with her didn't work out as planned


Pulled the engine and had it built by JMS in El Monte. Set it up for twin turbos


Had a buddy of mine paint the panels to change it up


Made good power on the chassis dyno but keep running into an issue with oil pressure. Engine is going back to JMS for evaluation so looks like I won't be making Veterans Weekend. Pretty bummed about that.

 

[madweazl]

Best I can remember, around '05 we went from about a dozen builders to 300 once the "free" money started flowing. Then every body that had a welder started making cars because the waiting lists at the predominant manufacturers were getting longer and longer. I don't recall anything about this company but there were literally hundreds that popped up seemingly over night. Outside of magazine articles, you probably wont find much. GD's tribal knowledge is extensive though.

 

[parker@gearone]

Sandco cars are great cars. I believe the original owner of sandco was Darren. A couple years ago somebody bought the sandco name and engineering let me see if I cant find his contact info...

 

[J Alper]

Last year someone dropped off a sand co, for me to tab was a great car, good looks, i will try to find some pics to post,

 

[Tonyd]

Seeing all the DD cars has kind of made me think about how many car builders have gone away over time.
Anyone here have a Sand Co car?

My first sand rail was an OG mid-engine beam car with a Car Craft built 2332 that ripped. (sorry no pictures)

Next car was a Sand Limo 4 seater beam car running a turbo 1835. Fun little car, but definitely little.
View attachment 127645
Then I got my Buggy Works car. Originally a 2180 VW that I built into a turbo 2332, then later changed out for a J35 Honda. Had a lot of good trips in this car.
View attachment 127646
Currently I have a Sand Co dual sport car. Not much information out there about this builder, but what little I've found seems to be positive. I was impressed with the chassis when I looked at the car to buy. Big change from the strictly sand car chassis I've owned. I'm going through the car and fixing the neglected items that I'm finding, dolling her up a little to make her mine, and building an engine. Not having much luck with the engine, but I know the builder will get it figured out.
Any feedback from the community on Sand Co? I have only found a few things on Race Dezert.

How I got it
View attachment 127648

First trip to the dunes with her didn't work out as planned
View attachment 127649

Pulled the engine and had it built by JMS in El Monte. Set it up for twin turbos
View attachment 127650

Had a buddy of mine paint the panels to change it up
View attachment 127651

Made good power on the chassis dyno but keep running into an issue with oil pressure. Engine is going back to JMS for evaluation so looks like I won't be making Veterans Weekend. Pretty bummed about that.
View attachment 127652

Darrin Southworth out of Ramona was the owner of Sandco.
I heard he still builds a car here and there...just not a fulltime builder.

 

[Big-Red]

I’ve had two Sandco cars. One was a dual sport just like yours and the other was a the HD chassis. The HD car was really really big and heavy. Both great cars. My dual sport had a few cracking issues but it was one of the first cars. Your car is a bit newer.