Lancia Beta Forum

What am I doing and why.
I’ve always thought the standard 2.0l oil pump was a compromise and could be improved.
Lancia/Lampredi would surely have thought so because they put a better pump in the Montecarlo.
Why is the Montecarlo pump better? Because it’s got longer gears to supply more flow.
Why didn’t they put a bigger pump in the Beta coupe/HPE/berlina variant? I think it was because of the close proximity of he subframe which isn’t an issue in a Monte.
What’s the big difference? 5mm. Yes that’s all but every little helps.
The pump gears are the same diameter but 45mm long instead of 40mm. This gives better flow.
Now all of this is just my opinion and I stand to be wrong, but anyway I set out to put a Monte pump in my Beta.
Years ago I done this by literally chucking a Monte pump in my VX with a modified pick up arm and enlarged the sump to accommodate. Then it hits the subframe so I had to cut a pocket into the subframe.
A lot of work but I got it in and it’s been working nicely for some time.
Fast forward 20 years and I’ve chosen a different approach.

This time I chose to put the Monte gears in the beta housing.
Obviously they don’t go in so I hand made a 5mm plate to get them in. Now a real pro would’ve got this templated and cnc’d, but I don’t have that kind of budget for experiments.
You can see the gears poking out of the beta housing with my plate ready to go.

And the completed hybrid installed. The sump only needed minor panel beating to accommodate the slightly deeper pump but the good news is that it clears the subframe with ease.

It’s currently in and running and with good oil pressure, albeit only as far as a standard gauge demonstrates.
But I think it’s a mod with potential for high performance engines.
If it’s good for a Monte then it’s good for a 2.0l beta right?

Nice work Ian.
I didn't know that the Monte pump is so improved.

Something to put in the job jar for much later.

Regards
Nigel

Interesting Innovation where us mere mortals have only used the VX Pump an accusump, baffled sump and a 2mm pressure relief valve shim to help the oil cooler as suggested by GC. I have very accurate pressure / temp gauges in my set up with data logging possible so eventually I could track how Oil pressure performs and see if I need to copy your bright idea.   

Eric
Thank you for sharing 

Although i dont have accurate pressure guages installed its very obvious that there is more pressure at idle and up to 2.5k. This is where i think the real every day advantage is for engine longevity. Especially as this is where most cars spend a majority of their working life.
I only placed a 1mm shim in for slightly more top end pressure as this motor will not spend time buzzing max revs on a track day, so flow capacity is priority over pressure.
It will always be difficult to quantify the long term benefits of more oil flow but it must be all positive. The testing would be exhaustive but I imagine Lampredi/Fiat already done this on the Monte.

I'd be interested to get my hands on some other twin cam oil pumps to inspect their internals and designs as possible donors for beta pump upgrades.
The 2 that spring to mind are 131 and 124.

Great work and a really interesting result. As to the 131 version maybe Theo has or knows of someone with a spare one for you to inspect?

Peter

Hi Ian

I think the 131 top half is the same as the Monte I would have to look at GCs books to jog my memory on the 124.

Eric