Fourplay - You'd think Jim McFarland would've built this sharp looking buggy just to promote his turbo and motorsports business, but he actually did it.

As seen in Hot Vw's Magazine
By Michael Sommer

Living in Escondido, California, where he also owns and operates an automotive performance specialty business called MechTech Motorsports, Jim McFarland's name may not be extremely familiar with most die-hard Dune Buggy and Hot VWs enthusiasts, but he has actually been active in and around the VW scene for quite a few years. In Jim's case, it all started back in the early 70's when he began modifying VWs for the street, in addition to building high performance and turbo racing engines for 1/4-mile competition at Orange County International Raceway. In fact, many people will remember his popular hard running turbocharged Karmann Ghia, "Ghiatine," which competed on a regular basis at many of the Bug-Ins and Hot VWs Drag Day events during the late '70s and early '80s. And speaking of fast Karmann Ghias, Jim recently built a 1969 turboed streeter that ran 9.90-130mph in full race trim, at Carlsbad Raceway, in Carlsbad, California.

Aside from the Ghias, Jim also enjoys modifying production cars, such as his most recent commission, a twin turboed 300ZX Nissan. In this case Jim was able to extract over 500hp from the Nissan four cam engine in street legal form with all the federally required emission components intact. This type of car may be an exciting means of daily transportation for some automotive performance street enthusiasts, but Jim has taken the concept of utilizing this type of power in a whole different kind of play car altogether. You see, Jim has always had a fondness for sand cars and decided to start a new trend in the dunes using the cutting edge turbo technology he works with on a daily basis at MechTech Motorsports, but in this case applying it in a sandrail. On a different level, Jim's experience with creating a growing interest with the many sand buggy owners was evidenced by his 2275cc dual carbureted, intercooled and blow-through turbocharged mid engined four seat buggy that appeared in our October 1988 Sand Special. Looking back in retrospect, this was considered new technology at the time, and was agreeably one of the first sand buggies to run a setup like this, in a four-seater much less. This all occurred at a time when turbos were first beginning to gain popularity with the everyday buggy owner, and the mid-engine two seat chassis design was on the rise. You've got to remember that few people were building four-seaters then, and the four-seater was not really considered the ideal chassis for a performance car. But Jim put all these ideas together, and ended up with a slick family car.

That was then, this is now! And the car you see pictured on these pages may be similar to the buggy just described, from the standpoint that this is also a turboed midengined four seater, but that's where the likeness ends and the creativity soars This time around, Jim commissioned Don Sliwinski at Sand Cars Unlimited to construct the all 4130 seamless chrome moly chassis, that's not only designed to accommodate seating for four, but also incorporates the mid-engine motor placement. A standard feature on all Sand Cars Unlimited chassis produced these days, Jim's buggy is outfitted with the custom streamline double A-arms up front, and fitted,with custom built spindles that mount the 150.5-in. Douglas wheels shod with ST.U. smoothie tires. Steering is conducted with a LeCarra leather wrapped wheel in addition to a Stiletto rack and pinion unit. The ride is cushioned by a set of Marvin Shaw Arizona Air Ride shock absorbers all the way around. A unique feature on Jim's buggy is the presence of a late model 091 based Type 2 gear box, which is located in the car with a pair of custom designed and built chrome moly IRS 5-link suspension components. This IRS closely resembles the stadium Class off road race cars running the closed course events these days. The chrome moly suspension uprights accommodate super heavy duty Porsche 930 CV joints, which connect the stout Sway-A-Way axles with the 930 stub axles and drive flanges. Take a closer look at this in the photos.

Looking at the interior, Jim's buggy is outfitted with the latest in creative upholstery ideas, starting with the Sand Cars Unlimited fiberglass bench seats, front and rear, which use VW headrests, that have all been covered with a custom wool mohair material by Whittier's Custom Upholstery of Fullerton, CA. The belts and harnesses are from Deist, and AutoMeter guages monitor engine performance. Gauges are the white face "Phantom" style, and monitor engine rpm, boost pressure, fuel pressure, and water temperature. Emil Miller's Sand Buggy Fabrication, in Riverside, CA, fashioned the aluminum side panels, center and rear consoles, both fuel tanks, the water tank for the intercooler and the floorboards. Checking out the console you will notice the strategic placement of tile gauges, in addition to sanitary placement of necessary sand sealed switches, boost pressure memory switch and the Lonzo carbon fiber shifter. Other performance controls include the electronic boost controller, positioned next to the driver's seat, that's designed to determine the boost settings, which in this case are at 15 lb., 22 lb., and 30 lb. increments.

Undoubtedly the most impressive attribute of Jim's candy magenta colored buggy is the 1985 Nissan V6 3 liter engine. The early model twin cam motor has been updated with the latest in performance goodies, such as a Crower cams, Electromotive engine management system which features a crank triggered direct fire ignition and sequential fuel injection system. The fuel system uses Bosch 550cc injectors, regulated by a MechTech billet fuel pressure regulator. MechTech also built the 6061 billet aluminum intake manifold that's now fitted with twin 55mm throttle bodies, a custom fabbed air-towater twin pass intercooler, and routes the compressed air/fuel mixture to the engine via a pair of air Research T-04 turhochargers. Other high tech tricks include the Turbonetics Delta Gate wastegates, HKS compressor bypass valves and a variable boost control system.

As you scope over the photos You'll get a better idea of how everything laid out and, the attention to details applied by Jim during the construction phase. We think Jim did a super fine job putting this buggy together, and this is definetIy one that runs as good as it looks. Thanks to his chasis dyno at MechTech Motorsports, he was able to test out this particular engine and it reportedly makes 600 horsepower at 6,000 rpm burning 117 octane VP C- 16 fuel at 30 lbs. of boost pressure. And he has a reserve of power on top of this at the touch of a finger in the form of a multi-port NOS Pro Fogger nitrous systems. This is truly one of those sand-cars you have to see in person to appreciate the countless hours of engineering and quality of craftsmanship. So, the next time you're out in the dunes, if you happen to see this buggy, introduce yourself to the owner and take a closer look at this hot sand car that was built strictly "Fourplay".

• ENGINE - 1985 Nissan 3.OL V-6 DISPLACEMENT - 2997cc (182.9 cu. in.)
• BUILDER - MechTech Motorsports, Escondido, CA
• CRANK - 85.9mm Nissan
• RODS - Nissan, balanced and blueprinted
• PISTONS - 85.9mm Nissan, balanced
• RINGS - Nissan
• CAM - Crower custom grind, .515-in. lift, 275' duration
• HEADS - Nissan, ported and polished for turbo application
• VALVE SIZE & MAKE - Nissan, 47.5mm intakes, 40.5mm exhausts
• COMPRESSION RATIO - 7.8:11
• IGNITION - Electromotive crank trigger direct fire system
• SPARK PLUGS - NGK 138EV
• CARBURETION - INDUCTION - Electro motive sequential fuel injection with ignition, Bosch 550cc injectors, MechTech billet fuel PSI regulator
• INTAKE MANIFOLD - MechTech custom intake system with 55mm throttle bodies, air-to-water twin pass intercooler
• EXHAUST SYSTEM - MechTech custom 1-5 - 8 inch, 14 guage, 3-intol system
• FLYWHEEL - KEP chrome moly, 14 lb., 9-inch
• CLUTCH - KEP 9-inch 3200 1b. diaphragm pressure plate
• OIL - Redline 20 - 50W synthetic
• OIL COOLER - Nissan
• SPECIAL MODIFICATIONS - MechTech custom twin turbo system using two custom built T-04, S-3 watercooled Air Research turbos, dual Turbonetics Delta Gate wastegates, and two HKS compressor bypass valves, and an NOS ProFogger multi-port nitrous system. Engine runs 30 lbs. boost to a max of 8,000 rpm on VP C-16 117 octane fuel. Engine produces 600hp at 6,000 rpm with 650 ft. lbs. torque.

• TRANSAXLE - 1976 Type 2 IRS
• BUILDER - Jim McFarland, MechTech Motorsports, Escondido, CA
• RING & PINION - Richmond 4.57:1
• GEAR RATIOS - 3.78:1-lst, 2.21:1-2nd, 1.65:1-3rd, 1.31:1-4th
• SPECIAL MODIFICATIONS - FTC gears, heavy duty 091 trans case, 091 super diff, 091 bearings, nose cone and bell housing for 225mm (9-inch) clutch.

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