Purple Frogs mid engine 63 ragtop

[Purple Frog]

We started this project years ago. But i have a pet peeve with forums. So many folks start a thread about their build, then it just peters out about the time they get the car disassembled. I decided on the opposite approach. Wait til i was done then start posting.
So last weekend was the first time Rusty came out of the race shop. We decided to reveal it at the local little car show.
It is a 63 ragtop, at least that is what it looks like.
We built it as a complete sleeper. Hauls butt, corners great, sneaks up on V-8s at traffic lights. You get the idea.

Custom Langbein one off chome moly tube chassis.
Raby 2300 mounted midengine. dyno = 191hp on 112 octane
All independent suspension.
Porsche 915 5 speed trany
Penske shocks.
Vented disc brakes all around.
Racing fuel cells (2)
And... street legal

[Purple Frog]

I wanted folks to see what could be accomplished in a shop smaller than 800 square feet. The build was started by Eric Langbein many years ago. His race engineering business boomed, he had kids, new homes, bigger staff, etc., etc. so it got put on the back burner,
He handed it off to me in 2015. See bare chassis pix.
Eric is a artist with a TIG.
I took over and in spits and spurts got it finished this week.
There is obviously hundreds of hours in the build.
Car is titled, and I know the past 3 owners when it was stock.
It has never been painted since it left Wolfsburg.
At a traffic light we wanted it to look like an old rusty bug.
"Respect the Rust"
It was originally designed for a 911-6. That motor became too valuable for the project (thank you Mangus Walker).
So we used a Raby 2300. We thought it had to be air-cooled to be old skool kool. So we didn't plug in a Suby.
Every effort was made to hid its true personality, down to running the racing exhaust out through the stock rear dimples.
Lots of aluminum work on the interior to control air flow.

[Purple Frog]

Carrying out the "sleeper" theme was a bit of work.
Look under the front bonnet and everything looks very stock.

Lift up the fake fuel tank and its a whole new world.

Here is a picture of the pedal assembly uncovered.

It most definetly is a flat bottom girl. Aluminum pan is glued and riveted in place. 100s of steel post rivets. Flat bottom girls make the rockin' world go round.

[Purple Frog]

We needed airhorns to get folks to move out of the left lane...

Here is a picture of what the front suspension looks like.
Obviously we have plans for track days.
Biggest limit is the stock body. Front starts lifting around 110. We don't want to put aero devices on the outside to spoil the "sleeper" look.

Every exotic mid-engine car has a lexan engine cover, right? Under our lexan we have some air cooled whopass.

[Purple Frog]

We got kind of busy and haven't caught up with the videos.

This is the first video early on...

Video #1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO0lh3D6PXY

This was about late 2016.

Video #2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DOV_FQlDJY&feature=youtu.be

[Purple Frog]

Below 2000 rpm the car is fairly quiet outside.
Inside it is surprisingly quiet. The engine compartment is insulated inside.
But at 6000 rpm even with the flowmaster, it is obviously not a 40 horse.

For track days, out comes spare tire, off come the bumpers, and on goes the noisemaker.

[JPro62]

I love it. Have you raced bugs before, road course or autocross? How does the mid engine feel balance wise? If you had to build a sleeper again do you think the mid engine was worth it? Been thinking about doing something like that with my '62.
_________________
1962 Beetle
1974 Super Beetle (Sold)

[Purple Frog]

I raced bugs and then Karman Ghias in the early 70s. Did all kinds of gyrations trying to make swing axles work. Then in 74 built a mid engine formula car based on VW parts... think FV on steroids. Won "Fastest Time of Day" at about 50 autocrosses. Life injected itself about 1977 and i gave it away to do other things.

In 1998 I returned to racing in a SCCA Formula Continental. Have been racing formula cars ever since.

This current bug car is more a Sunday driver, time trial play car. For serious racing I'll always get into a true purpose built race car.

The advantages to being mid engine are hugh. Just walk through any top teir racing paddock. Even Porsche in IMSA is now mid-engine. Also. glance at the worlds super cars. There is a reason they are mid-engine.

As always.... YMMV

Pictures of my life in the 1970s:

[TDCTDI]

[Purple Frog]

Thanks TDCTDI !!!!

I have a wee bit of a legacy with air cooled VWs...

At one point in the 70s we had 14 in the family.

My daily driver then:

The tow vehicle for my race cars in the mid 70s:

My work truck:

And of couse we welded up a lot of these for play.

[JPro62]

Do blue prints exist for the chassis that could be purchased? Is there a list of parts used?

Have you had it corner weighed?
_________________
1962 Beetle
1974 Super Beetle (Sold)

[joey1320]

Such a cool build
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1971 Super - Sold
1984 Puma GTC - Sold
1971 Campmobile

[Purple Frog]

There are no blueprints for this build.

You sort of build as you go.
First lift the body off the pan and get rid of pan, engine , gearbox, torsion bar front end, etc.
Trim the heater channels out of the bottom of the body on both side.
We have the 2" tube side rails the underside of the door threshold metal.
It's as low as we could get the body and still have structural integrity.
You don't want to cut that threshold unless you weld in cross braces all inside the body so that it will maintain its stock dimensions when off the pan.
Then the bottom rails of the new chassis was laid out to fit up inside the bottom of the body. (the running boards actually bolt into the new chassis rails.)
The bottom of the chassis establishes your lower pickup points for all the A-arms.
At that point you design the suspension. Yes, complex. A-arm length to get correct track, what uprights to use, etc. That will sort of force the design for the top rail and all the upper A-arm pickup points.
Once you have the suspension correct... then you cut into the inner fender wells of the bug body so that it will drop over the chassis.
At this point you are hundreds of hours into the project. Then the dummy engine and gearbox have to be placed to get the best C/V joint angle.
At that point you might be able to order the custom axles.
Fab engine mounts and calculate how much clearance is needed to remove engine. That defines fuel cell location and seating.
The length of the front of the chassis is determined by the location of the rack and pinion for the best ackerman.
That allows you to build back into the footwell area.
OK... its crazy. But, if you don't panic, and have a lot of time...

Simple answer. No plans. Everything is custom one off parts.
Of course the A-arms are matched side to side.

I can get it to scale within 5 lbs across the front without driver weight.
But, since I have always raced formula cars where we sit in the middle, I am now studying up on how to set the corners to allow for a driver on the left.

Its always a bit of a compromise. If its correct for a single driver, it won't be perfect if a passenger is on board.

Note: this was a custom build from the ground up. You can't just order parts from some supplier (e.g. Summit, Pelican, Jegs, etc.) Everything gets welded up in the shop. I can't imagine a price if someone wanted to pay to have one built. There are a lot of hours. Even at minimum wage it would be super expensive.

i spent a lot of time researching other attempts at this sort of project. One guy in Germany has one running, but it has big scoops on the side that sort of give it away. And there are a few that look sort of like baja bugs, in that there is no interior and the body looks chopped up from the outside.

most of the Subaru installs have to port the body somewhere to get air into radiators. We were trying hard to have a car that looked stock on the exterior. No scoops, no holes in the body, etc.

There is a reason this took years.

[wheel607]

What is the total weight of the car without driver? Body installed ready to drive.

[Purple Frog]

About 1525#

With 5 times the hp of a stock '63 we decided not to go insane with the lightening because it would change "the look".

If not a street car, if just for the track, we could take a lot more weight out. (e.g. plastic windows, no radio, glass fenders, glass hood and bonnet, no bumpers, etc., etc.)

[autohaus]

So Kool
_________________
www.vintageautohaus.com
FRENCHVWMAFIA MEMBER
do not forget, only the mountains do not meet

[Purple Frog]

Now building a custom low-rider tilt bed trailer for the beast.
Pics to follow.
Just finished an engine refresh.
Ready for spring.

[Purple Frog]

I decided for local events I needed a trailer that was easy to load.
No reason to use the enclosed trailer for short trips on nice days.
I saw nothing on the market that was affordable.
Looking at the Interweb I saw that in Europe where gas prices are high and they tow with small sedans... they build light weight open trailers.
So.. I built one this weekend.
I had a goal of $1,200.
I'm in $1,400 with LED lights, paint, spare tire, etc.
I could have probably saved some if I shopped more careful.
I was in a "get er done" hurry, so i just went retail on the purchases.
Ready for paint.

4" drop axle
It is a 15' tilt bed. No pesky ramps to fool with.
Electric brakes.
Took 2 and a half days of puttering around with the MIG.
Plan to add a front windscreen.

[Purple Frog]

[Buggeee]

So... where do I send the check?

I'll take plans if you're sold out of built units.

Very cool. Enjoy the shows this summer!
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Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)