Words: Tommy Parry
There are odd builds and then there are mid-engined Beetles. Car shows were not part of the vision Sean had when coming up with a list of ingredients to add to this Bug. He wanted a streetable track toy that could hold its own against modern machinery. Hence the relocation of the motor, the fiberglass widebody fenders, independent suspension at all four corners, Miata spindles front and rear, double adjustable coilovers, a full square tube frame, a Getrag F23 transmission mated to a supercharged Chevy Ecotec powerplant and sticky tires to help put that power down to the ground.
Once he’d torn the Bug down and tacked on a set of Wilwood six-pistons up front and a set of four-pistons at the rear, the framed machine was beginning to look like a prototype racing car — and an attractive one at that. The car had little rust and only a little bit of Bondo was in order.
Then came a strip of carbon across the dash and a set of tasteful Livorni gauges. Simple but fairly sporty, and with green paint accenting the interior, Sean now had a pleasant cabin to race in.
After adding a front-mounted fan and a set of teeth on the grille for something both playful and menacing, Sean started on the engine. Fortunately, the factory flat four — broad as it is — offered plenty of room for the blown Ecotec, so installation wasn’t challenging. However, a series of issues with tuning hindered progress momentarily, but once Sean had found the right tune, he had a motor which did not stop pulling all the way until 7,500 rpm.
Though he’d heard tuned Ecotecs before, this motor possessed a raucous, dry, raspy exhaust note that didn’t sound much like the others. That unique note comes from a 1.75" primary equal length header with a 3" collector and 2 round style Magnaflow mufflers in line. The 113-db shriek at full throttle needs to be heard:
One largely successful trip to the autocross turned heads and won him an award, but also left him with a set of bent a-arms. Undaunted, he crafted a new pair out of chromoly. Unfortunately, he also discovered a bent valve and decided to rebuild the motor for more power and reliability. This time he’d be in charge of the rebuild, and Sean is very experienced with Ecotecs.
A new 2.4-liter block and a 2.2-liter crank, plus inconel exhaust valves and nitrite intake valves, new pistons, a Spec 4 clutch, an Exedy chromoly flywheel and a new air filter rounded out the list of upgrades. With a bump in displacement and compression, he was playing with an additional thirty horsepower now.
Though Sean has checked all the main boxes, he isn’t quite done with this build. At this point, he’s started making a front air splitter and revising the overall aerodynamic balance. As it currently stands, the front end starts to get light with speed.
With more aerodynamic grip and better chassis tuning, he’ll be adding an Accusump system; he doesn’t want to take any chances with oil starvation in the corners. If he’s able to finish his short list of modifications before the end of the year, he plans on doing the full Hotchkis/NMCA Autocross series as well as the Optima Ultimate Street car race when it comes to the Auto Club Speedway next year. Without question, his car will make a splash and set some lap times that will frustrate autocrossers in much pricier machines.