Say I want to build a mid-engined tube chassis car

VW Caddy with a Porsche Boxter engine/gearbox in the bed? could be fun...

I'm itching to build a mid-engine hot rod from an old (air cooled) VW Beetle with an Audi 2.7L twin turbo V6 hooked to a B5 Passat FWD 5spd gearbox...

Rorty-design sells the plans for the pictured chassis. Why not a Honda S2000 engine, mid-mounted in a Karmann Ghia?

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: ...say it because, I do. I love the idea of taking a good FWD powertrain and and building a car in front of it. At this point it is a bench racing exercise but I need the discussion to weed out all the crazy thinking that is going on in my head. My plan is to take a cool looking body from a cheap car - saw out all the insides... and make a racing car tube chassis... set cool body on top. I want to employ as much junkyard as possible to keep this from stalling due to lack of funds. There are a few lines of discussion I need to pursue: - What cool looking body is begging to be a mid-engined race car. I am no body man - making my own skin is out of the question. Vintage iron appeals to me but it has to be light. This is going to be a track-only car - What FWD 4 cyl powertrain came with a sweet, rev happy NA motor, strong gearbox and LSD that is also plentiful enough to find in a junkyard. I have already ruled out anything with boost - I have never met a reliable puffer track car. Hold your testimony on that subject... NA only. I'll make it lighter so it needs less power before I'll do that. GO!

What is your version of a cheap car? I am about to undertake my next mid engined car with a pontiac g6 coupe as the body supplier. Look at it, it seems like it was designed around a mid engine layout. Another choice is the sunfire/cavalier, it also looks like it would mold itself to mid engined config. very well. On the other hand if supercar looks and layout are not in the plan use a aztec mini van, they are after all the worst design ever and have dragged general motors to the basemnent with the styling cues they left behind.

I always wanted to do a MR Chevy Beretta with a supercharged 3.8 V6.

Do the Chev version of the SHOgun and do it with a metro/aveo body?

The first car that came to mind for me?

Starion/Conquest

mndsm wrote: Do the Chev version of the SHOgun and do it with a metro/aveo body?

That's what I was thinking.

Metro with a Eco motor. You could probably do it for challenge money.

I'll just add that MR2s of all generations used fwd drivetrains with transmissions that had forward facing shift linkage, or can easily be modified to do so. Maybe not the most original thing in the world, but there's tons of choices and it's kinda an "easy" button. They seem a bit cheaper than the Honda engines as well (on average).

Engines include 4AGE, 4AGZE (supercharged), 20V 4AGE, 3SGE (200hp NA sister engine to 2nd gen turbo), 1ZZFE (MRS), 2ZZGE (last Celica GTS).

I'm planning one out now as next year's Challenge car. Have the body I want to use already and some needed driveline bits.p

egoman wrote: What is your version of a cheap car? I am about to undertake my next mid engined car with a pontiac g6 coupe as the body supplier. Look at it, it seems like it was designed around a mid engine layout. Another choice is the sunfire/cavalier, it also looks like it would mold itself to mid engined config. very well. On the other hand if supercar looks and layout are not in the plan use a aztec mini van, they are after all the worst design ever and have dragged general motors to the basemnent with the styling cues they left behind.

Cheap... well... since I'm throwing away almost everything except the body - cheap is under $500 unless it is also the drivetrain donor or has some other parts that can be cobbled together and used elsewhere.

Since it is intended as a track-only machine it needs to be a car. I admire the Porsche powered VW van at SPA videos as much as the next guy but I don't want to drive it more than once.

Most modern cars (this century) are going to have to be wrecked to be affordable so I'm looking for vintage coolness.

So far I'm warm and fuzzy on

• MGB GT
• 510 wagon
• Conquest / Starion
• A Morris mini
• An E36 318Ti

Another good 'un: a Pinto hatchback. Quite some time back, I saw one with a 455 Olds and a Toronado transaxle in the back. With the big glass, the engine and its 2x4bbl tunnel ram were very visible. Pretty dang cool.

How about a Nissan SR20DE from a Sentra/200SX SEs and SERs or Infiniti G20s. In theory these engines should be found on 94-02 cars. Some had factory LSDs although I don't know how many LSDs survive high mileage. Sweet motor. Earlier transmissions have issues, later are better.

I have been thinking about this very thing for like the last twelve years...my pics

Toyota echo.effing light and some what cheap. corrola s with a 5 spd. [URL=http://img169.imageshack.us/i/2000toyotaechocoupe.jpg/][/URL]

Uploaded with [URL=http://imageshack.us]ImageShack.us[/URL]

then a hyundai accent coupe,with a tiburon motor and 5 spd lsd

[URL=http://img256.imageshack.us/i/33606840005large.jpg/][/URL]

Uploaded with [URL=http://imageshack.us]ImageShack.us[/URL]

my two cents

Slyp_Dawg wrote: VW Caddy with a Porsche Boxter engine/gearbox in the bed? could be fun...

Yeah, and nobody would know what you'd done, as nobody has ever actually seen a Boxster engine. I love this.

I have, for a long time, had a wish to put something absolutely bonkers in the back of a Hyundai Excel. They're far less plentiful than they used to be, but they're well established as being slow. I love sleepers. Anyone have a wrecked Pantera?

There's several ways to go:

1. Find an unfinished kit car that uses a shell you really like, then either finish it or put the shell on something else you really like.

2. Find a cheap FWD hatchback commuter car you like, cut a big hole in the back, and drop in a kick-ass FWD assembly behind the seats. I was going to do that with a Datsun B210, putting a turbo rotary and transaxle back there - would look dead stock, too.

3. Other crazy ideas. Take a van or minivan and put a V8 and transaxle behind the seat. My buddy wanted to do an off-road version, then take three friends and enter the Baja 1000... Imagine that, four race seats - with cup holders. Here's a loosely related sort of craziness 1963 VW van with Porsche race engine and matching chassis

4. And my slightly-biased suggestion, build a Midlana and after it's basically done, glue big blocks of foam all over it and start carving the body of your dreams.

Regardless which way you go, just know that working with composite is very messy, smelly, and not healthy, AND after it's done, it'll look very so-so. To make it look really nice takes 100s and 100s of hours of detail work - seriously.

In reply to kb58:

No plans to do composite anything. I am using a donor body of undetermined origin at this time.

I'd build a Midlana with a wheelbase modded for the body but someone needs to finish the instructions ;)

I have always wanted to do an american mini. Only thing is america never had a mini so what would I use?

What can I say... I'm a chevy guy at heart.

http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/1970002823.html

dsycks wrote: I have always wanted to do an american mini. Only thing is america never had a mini so what would I use? What can I say... I'm a chevy guy at heart. http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/1970002823.html

holy E36 M3. Perfect. I bet I can get a free one too.

LOL, first hit on google for mid-engined chevette.

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/crazy-mid-engine-hatchback-ideas/7972/page1/

In reply to dsycks:

I like it. Large rear glass to show off your engine.

Wanna build a matching set? ;)

Never googled mid engined chevette before but thats an interesting idea... use a fiero rear and drop an LS1 in?! Dayum.

I think I like the idea of using the Passat manual more as you can mount the motor north south... plus I have an old 5sp passat sitting too.

Went out to the garage and did a bit of measuring after \i posted the MGB GT suggestion.

Besides the GT bodies being cheap, the 3.4 V6 from GM is like almost free from a lot of donoer sources; the Montana mini van seems the most common.

Balance would be maintained by the rad still beeing in front, the batteries moved from the stupid under seat position, and the fuel going forward.

Since we have already deternined that box flares make everyting more awsomer, this sounds like a win situation. Just for fun, I would steal a Miata front suspension to seal the deal.

Saturn SC-1 would be my first choice for the body. With the plastic body bits on the outside you could cut away a lot of the inside and it would still look good.

oldopelguy wrote: Saturn SC-1 would be my first choice for the body. With the plastic body bits on the outside you could cut away a lot of the inside and it would still look good.

You are presuming it looked good to begin with ;)

So far... I'm liking chevette and mgb gt with the lbc in the lead based on hotness alone