Smart Hayabusa conversion....

[GiantKiller]

Originally Posted by yoshi

lol, this should be cake compared to what I do for a living...

What do you do for a living? and Where in OK are you. I have 2 brothers and a sister that live in and around OKC.Maybe after you get it done I could come down and visit the family and check it out. Another ? 450 or 451?

[xviper]

Would love to see all the pictures.

[yoshi]

Originally Posted by GiantKiller

What do you do for a living? and Where in OK are you. I have 2 brothers and a sister that live in and around OKC.Maybe after you get it done I could come down and visit the family and check it out. Another ? 450 or 451?

I live in Broken Arrow, just East of Tulsa and about and hour up from OKC. It's one of the older models. Feel free to stop by anytime, I work 7 days a week.

I own Sinister Sand Sports. I've manufactured hayabusa power sandrails for over 4 years. Before I converted my shop over to building rails, I did custom paint/body/airbrush work on boats, bikes, cars, show cars etc., which included a lot of imports doing custom fab for wide body kits, molding on side skirts/bumpers, etc. for over 8 years. I'm pretty good with fiberglass, and will more than likely design a 1 piece rear kit that has the rear flares/bumper, then a set of flares for the front with a wide body side skirt kit, and have thought about designing my own front bumper for the smart car.

I built show cars for many years and i'm very anal about stuff, I can't tell you how many body kits I had to cut and make bigger, shorter, or mold up to the contours of the cars....

Below is what I build for a living. Motors are anywhere from stock (187 hp) to built/turbo (450hp+). I have a bolt on alternator kit that runs off the crank, and run electric power steering for those that want it, both items that will be on the smart car i'm doing now. I designed and built the molds for the fiberglass storage box under the hood in the pics. I have a local fiberglass shop shoot my mold with a chopper gun, then I clean up the edges and have it spray lined. I love doing this stuff and had a customer request a smart car conversion so i'm gonna build this for him, build molds and fixtures as I go, and more than likely i'll make this an addition to my current business. I have customers making my current rails street legal, so it's not that big of a jump to do another vehicle that is designed specifically for the street. I'm a manufacturer, and my frames get MSO titles/vin numbers, so building a complete tube smart car with my own full fiberglass body, and offering it as a kit car is also a possibility in the future. It really depends on the response I get from people after I get this first one done, and determine whether not not I wanna start doing them, for now it's just a fun little project......


Sinister Sand Sports - Sand Rails and Buggy's HOME

[Wdhitch]

Those look like a blast to drive!!!

[yoshi]

Yeah, it's not to bad, lol. I've jumped over 120 foot with 10 foot of air, and blow through rather rough whoops at over 80 mph. My wife doesn't like riding in them as much as I like driving them though, she tends to drive her quad instead. I need to build her a single seater, I don't hate anyone enough to put them in the passenger seat with her behind the wheel....

Originally Posted by Wdhitch

Those look like a blast to drive!!!

[jetfuel]

very nice work dude...and I mean that...I too hand make my own stuff for my cars...
welcome to the site...keep us posted of your progress and if you need any help please let us know...I know there are many brainiacs here that will love to get their hands on one of those cars....
I did get my technicians license in Tulsa.. BTW...love the place

jetfuel

[yoshi]

Yeah, I like it here, no shortage of cows. Thanks for the welcome, looking forward to being assimilated into the community...

Originally Posted by jetfuel

very nice work dude...and I mean that...I too hand make my own stuff for my cars...
welcome to the site...keep us posted of your progress and if you need any help please let us know...I know there are many brainiacs here that will love to get their hands on one of those cars....
I did get my technicians license in Tulsa.. BTW...love the place

jetfuel

[Boeschbuilt]

Yoshi, Have you given any thought to what Transmission you are going to use? I am getting ready to start building one of these conversions for a customer in January. It seems like the trans is going to be the expensive part. We really want reverse and no big sprocket hanging underneath.

[yoshi]

Originally Posted by Boeschbuilt

Yoshi, Have you given any thought to what Transmission you are going to use? I am getting ready to start building one of these conversions for a customer in January. It seems like the trans is going to be the expensive part. We really want reverse and no big sprocket hanging underneath.

I'm assuming you mean reverse, not transmission since the transmission is already in the motor....

The cheapest way is an electric reverse. On the first rail I built, I ran a starter on a flywheel with a push button for the reverse. It had a big flywheel, but that could be made smaller by running a jackshaft design. The starter motor never failed and I was pushing a 1000 pound rail with it in the sand, there was a lot more rolling resistance with the paddle tires, and I had no diff. I can push this smart car car with my pinky, it took some work to push the rail so I think the starter will work fine. Worse case senerio I will build my own reverse box with a planetary, I have been working on some designs for one for my rail anyway, so I would just design it to work here too..

On my rails, I run a reverse diff, but the unit is too big for the smart car...


here is the starter/flywheel setup I did 4 years ago..





You can see the reverse diff I use now in the pics I posted a few post up..

The cool thing about the starter is it has a lifetime warranty, so if it ever did mess up, 2 bolts and 2 wires has it replaced for free, although I never needed it.

I'm also seriously considering moving the rear wheels back 3 or 4". if I do a 1 piece rear flare/bumper setup, I can conform it around the new wheelbase.....

[burtandnancy]

Yoshi, are any of your cars out west, like at Dumont or Glamis? I spend a lot of time there, I'll keep my eye out if so. Like your look. Love the Hayabusa powered sand cars, they are usually light and quick, a little off in torque for the big hills, but a neat sound...