Bugzilla - Mid Engine Madness

[Bugzilla]

Thanks Andrew! The difference between our cars is that you can DD yours. Mine, there is just no way. If I could, I would be keeping it. But at the same time, who is going to want to buy it? Both our cars being unique does not mean a quick and easy sale. More like the opposite. And you know that if it doesnt sell for a certain $ amount, it's just not worth it to sell. We will see what happens.

[Ghiaguy]

Congrats on the new additions to the family -- My baby is now 27 -- so enjoy them now, because as they get older they aren't around as much LOL

[ryeguy2006a]

You have to at least tell us what you were going to do with that LS7 manifold? I've been curious about it since you posted the teaser.

[Bugzilla]

Congrats on the new additions to the family -- My baby is now 27 -- so enjoy them now, because as they get older they aren't around as much LOL

Thanks! Time is flying already. Kid is almost 3 months old now!

You have to at least tell us what you were going to do with that LS7 manifold? I've been curious about it since you posted the teaser.

The intake base was used for a big nasty turbo build. I think it ended up making around 2500hp. Pretty much the lower half is from a Whipple 4.0L, with the heat exchanger inside and then a custom billet top half that allows you to use something like a 4150 style throttle body. Think of it more as a fancy air to water setup. End result is like so....

[JayinMI]

That would have been wild in the Bug. lol

[Bugzilla]

I think that would be just a bit too much power for the Bug.... Maybe on the next build.

[Bugzilla]

Well, still no update for the Bug. Its just sitting and collecting dust. Need some time away from the kid to be able to work on it. Maybe that will happen in the next 10 years or so?

But anyways, my dad forwarded me over an article the Bug landed in. I had no idea. Was a pretty cool little article. Check it out!

https://www.hotcars.com/25-amazing-h...und-the-world/

[Boosted Falcon]

A nice pat on the back for your build.

[Bugzilla]

A nice pat on the back for your build.

Thanks man!

[Bugzilla]

Still no Bug update. Well, I take that back. I topped off the battery. Planning on pulling it out of the garage tomorrow, put 5 gal of fresh 91 in it and wash it. Then right back in the garage to sit.

But in other news, I took the Evo out to Streets of Willow in the rain. It was fun. Got fastest lap out of my run group too! So far I am loving this car. Not nearly as fast as the Bug but the awd is awesome. I just put an AEM Infinty ecu in it so e85 and more power are coming soon.

[Bugzilla]

Bug came out of the garage for a wash finally! Glad to see its white again. I have a few more little things to do and I am pretty sure I am going to put it up for sale.

[Project Bike Truck]

Bug came out of the garage for a wash finally! Glad to see its white again. I have a few more little things to do and I am pretty sure I am going to put it up for sale.

I vote no, but I can understand.

[Bugzilla]

Sadly, I would rather sell it and put more money in my Evo. Once you go AWD, its hard to go back. Who knows though, maybe there will be an AWD Bug in my future. That would be fun.

[Bugzilla]

Another update!!! I drove the Bug, out of the garage and back in haha. It now resides on the right side of the garage instead of the left. Evo gets the left side now (easier to get to the beer fridge). And since the Bug does nothing but collect dust, I took the Evo out to auto-x. Got 2nd fastest lap of the day overall. It was pretty fun I must say. Evo is now on E85 and making around 400 whp. Its also fully flex fuel compatible.

[Bugzilla]

Body roll pictures!

[Bugzilla]

Ok so I have a real Bug update. Not sure if its good or bad but I have been doing some thinking. Thats normally a bad thing though.

- First off, the blower is coming off for a couple reasons.
1- doesnt make enough power and the blower is maxed out
2- I really want to see how it runs NA
3- still not sure if I am going to keep the Bug but I really dont think the blower will add much value to the car
4- the blower will bolt on to my Saturn if I want to get crazy

If I end up keeping the Bug, NA would be nice so I can run it on big tracks and not have to worry about intake temps. Its fine for auto-x but the temps will get up there on big tracks. That I am sure of since I am spinning the blower a lot faster then what I should.

If I cant stand the drop in power, a turbo will be going back on. This will help keep the IATs down compared to a blower. It will make more power than the blower. And what I like most is that it will actually quiet the exhaust down. Maybe to the point where I wont need ear plugs to drive it! I love the blowers whine but I think a turbo would sound better. Am I going to miss all the bottom end power and instant boost? Very possibly. But we will see. Its not like I actually drive it anyways.

[Bugzilla]

Another Bug update! Well, the whole selling the blower plan has changed. Instead, it looks like I sold the whole engine. The buyer wants dyno numbers (I kind of want to know what it actually puts down too) so I am going to throw it on the dyno next week and then yank it all out, through the door, yet again. After all that fun happens, I am going to put back in a 2.4L Ecotec. One of the newer direct injected versions. The ones we have dynoed put down about 230 to the wheels so it should be fun still. The next few weeks are going to be interesting considering I dont know how I am going to find time to do all this.

[Bugzilla]

A Bug update with pictures! Since the engine should be leaving soon, it gave me some motivation to finish up all the little stuff. First off is finally completely boxing in the radiator outlet.

First, the very rough template.



After that, making it even more rough but filling in the gaps.





Then I moved on to making much nicer individual pieces and test fitted them.



From there, I trimmed them to fit perfect and transferred those over to sheet metal.



After that, tack the pieces in place and test fit.



All looks good. Just have to get my foam seals, paint and this this small project is done. Hoping this helps keep some heat from coming in.

[andrewb70]

That should work very well!

Andrew

[Bugzilla]

Thanks Andrew! I hope it does. Might help make me want to keep it if I can make it more practical to drive. Now that I have my Evo where I want it, I am going to be back to working on the Bug. You know its kinda of sad actually. I got the Bug where I wanted it and then it sits. I get the Evo where I want it and now its just sitting. I drive it maybe once or twice a week. What is my problem!?