The Story

I purchased this rail about 8 months ago for $4250.00.   The Previous Owner (PO) told me that it had a 2110cc engine with about 5 seasons on it, but that it still ran great.  He even told me that they could do wheelies up and down dunes, all day long.  According to the previous owner, the rail also had the following engine modifications:

• 2100 lb pressure plate
• Counterweighted crank
• Big valve heads
• Weber 44 IDF Carburetors

The "Real" Story

As you may have imagined by now, the story I got from the previous owner wasn't even close to accurate.  After developing a healthy oil leak by the flywheel, luckily it was at the end of the season, I decided to tear into the engine to see what was the problem.  I had no intentions of tearing the engine completely apart, since it ran pretty good.  I took the engine to a reputable VW repair shop, and had him remove the flywheel and do a quick inspection for cracks, bad rear main seal, etc.  From the description of the oil leak, the technician sounded reasonably sure that the case wasn't cracked.  To make a long story short, the case was cracked from top to bottom across cylinder #3, looks like I'll have to replace the case and tear the whole engine down.  Oh well, I figured, it probalby needed new bearings, re-seal, etc.

After tearing the case apart, I realized the sad truth about my predicament, not only was the engine not a 2110cc, it was an 1835cc with stock crank, rods, and heads.  The engine had a small cam and that was it, man was I furious.   So, after getting over my anger, I decided to build the monster engine and tranny setup for our rail.  I also found out that the pressure plate was a stock 200mm pressure plate, with a 4 puck disc.  This would explain why the last two trips at the dunes, the clutch slipped horribly going up the bowls.

Here are the specifications for the new engine and transmission: (so far I have about $3000.00 into the engine and transmission, and with only another $300.00 or so, we should be good to go by May for this years sandrail season)