A select few vehicles stand out in a sea of vehicles at the dunes. We were out at the Southern California Sand Drag Association’s Summer Showdown event in Lake Elsinore when one vehicle caught our eyes, and we had to check it out.
Jordan Quintal’s green 1992 custom-built sandrail stood out to us for several things, and it wasn’t something we could pass up. From the custom suspension with all titanium hardware to the custom-built chassis by Charlie Starns, this sand rail looks good, and the attention to detail can be seen everywhere.
“We build high hot rods for living,” Quintal said. “We have always been sand enthusiasts, whether in the dunes or the sand drag track. I started going to Glamis at a young age, riding three wheels to quads to sand rails.”
This vehicle was built for speed, and everything that has gone into the build shows that. Even the paint makes the sand rail look fast, sitting still.
“The car was a dual-purpose build for going to Glamis to hill shooting to your local sand drag track,” Quintal said. “The car was built by Charlie Starns, which was Power Plus Racing in 1992.”
“I acquired the vehicle through a friend, then changed a few things to put our twist on it. As we built, we rebuilt the whole car into a new, high-end show car. The process took about two years to overhaul. This was a famous car back in the day, Cubic Bucks.”
The most unique and intricate part of the entire build is the engine, which you will not find on any other vehicle in the dunes. Quintal’s favorite part of the build is the engine combo in Cubic Bucks.
“The engine is out of a Nissan GTP race car, which is made for endurance racing, by Electromotive Inc., which handled the engine program for Nissan,” Quintal said. “It started from a VG 30 base with a custom aluminum block which saved 60 pounds compared to the iron one.”
“A new main cap support with a new billet steel crank was added. The rods are Crower billet steel with Ross pistons. The cams have a custom GTP grind with 615 lift and 295 duration. The valves are Inconel to the intake and exhaust.”
“The Nissan heads are ported and polished by Electromotive Inc., which also added o-ringed groves to have an extra seal. The compression is 8.5:1, with the ignitions being handled by Motec with a coil per cylinder with a crank trigger.”
“The induction is supported by Motec M84, which tuned Kris Lauffer at Paradise Motorsports. The intake manifold is a custom Electromotive Inc. GTP design with Wiggin clamps to seal the boost.”
“The flywheel was custom-made by B&J Engineering out of billet steel. The clutch is Tilton 4 disc while the transaxle is a B&J Engineering two-speed quick change with a reverse 4.86:1 rear box built by Nate Wilcox in Arizona.”
With all that done to the engine, it comes to 3,000cc and 183 cubic-inch. Getting all that power to the ground is helped by Douglas 15x4 with Sand Tire Unlimited 4.50 tires and Douglas 15x15 with 2000s Sand Tire Unlimited comp cut in the rear. Keeping the sand rail down is a custom fold-down wheelie bar that pops out with two pins, allowing Quintal to drive in the dunes.
Quintal enjoys any sandbox, but Glamis is one of his favorites. With a sand rail like this, it’s all about the power-to-weight ratio, and as Quintal told us, there is nothing like it in Cubic Bucks.
Quintal could have done this build without the help of many people and companies. He would like to thank Super Rides by Jordan, Quirt Crawford for any GTP engine items, Kris at Paradise Motorsports for tuning and dynoing, and anyone else who has helped him with the build. If you ever see Quintal and Cubic bucks out in the dunes, be sure to see if you can check this one-of-a-kind sand rail out.
