Beta Coupe GCRE upgrade

[Neil-yaj396]

Looks superb. What next after it's fitted?

[betabuoy]

Well, I got it fitted today.
Lining up the gearbox is always a faff but once together the rest went pretty well.  In the past, I've always extracted the Beta engine from the top; but having removed the subframe for powder coating, it was relatively simple to assemble on the trolly then wheel in from beneath.

[betabuoy]

Hi Neil

Its going away to have an exhaust system made later this month then it'll be back to my local performance specialist for finishing (oil cooler, radiator etc).  Once that's done, I'll take it back to GCRE for first start procedures then dyno set-up and test at Northampton Motorsport.  Plenty still to do!  Hope to see you at the Betameet?

Chris

[squiglyzigly]

Front gearbox mount looks interesting. What’s the application from?

[betabuoy]

Front gearbox mount looks interesting. What’s the application from?

Not sure, been using it for years though!

[Neil-yaj396]

Hi Neil

Its going away to have an exhaust system made later this month then it'll be back to my local performance specialist for finishing (oil cooler, radiator etc).  Once that's done, I'll take it back to GCRE for first start procedures then dyno set-up and test at Northampton Motorsport.  Plenty still to do!  Hope to see you at the Betameet?

Chris

Yes Chris, I'll be there in the ie. Long time no see!

[betabuoy]

Well it’s been a while so I thought it was time for an update:

The exhaust was completed recently by Kevin Hoare and his team at Zero Exhaust in Ashford.  They did a very nice job building a bespoke 4-2-1 system with primary and secondary specs to GCRE recommendations; this should be below the 96dB limit for later track use too.

Since then, I’ve been waiting for a space with a preparer for finishing ; I recently delivered a box of bits from GCRE ranging from engine info gauges through to a complete oil system (remote filter, cooler and acusump) and they are assessing the situation.

They’ve considered my proposed Ford Focus ST170 radiator but don’t like the fit so are looking at an alternative which we’ll discuss next week.  The oil system should be straight forward but finding a place for the acusump is tricky; most likely, it will reside along the front subframe cross-member.  Then there’s the headache of the electrics…. Ouch!  What started as an idea to move the battery into the boot (engine bay space) and replace the old fuse box with a modern version located somewhere cooler is likely to turn into quite a bit of re-wiring.  A combination of age, heat and poor-quality connectors is not a recipe for future reliability.

In other news, I was very pleased to see that my mighty Panda 'featured' in the latest Viva Lancia!  Good to meet/see many of you again at Betameeta 19 and I sincerely hope to be in something Ascot Green next year [driving that is... not wearing]. 

Chris

[betabuoy]

Progress had been slow since I last wrote in September but it’s all moving now. 

New wiring looms were made for the front and rear compartments which are all connected with new blocks and into a modern fuse box which is now located inside, on a sliding tray, and accessed from below the glove compartment. 

The battery is in the boot which helped make space for the oil catch tank and the huge acusump, both now fitted to the LHS inner wing on a bespoke bracket.  Earlier ideas of fitting the acusump below the front crossmember were scrapped in fear of it getting damaged so whilst it’s a big piece of kit I’m happy with the chosen location.

I went for a bespoke radiator and Spal fan in the end, both of which are set at a slight forward angle to maximise space for the carb air box (yet to be fabricated) and the oil cooler now fits neatly low down and to one side.

The starter motor has been reconditioned and the alternator has been replaced by a high power Wosp unit from the Betaboyz shop.  The distributor is standard, and was reconditioned recently, so although I had a think about modern programmable ignition systems I’m not following that path yet.
 
New Racetech gauges were supplied to GCRE for Oil P, Oil T and Water T; to match these, and to give a useful rpm display, I’m adding a Racetech Tacho plus new Speedo and Fuel to complete what will now be a custom dash.  The capillary fed gauges will probably be on a panel where the radio was (for simplicity) while the others will be arranged with an appropriate lighting/caution panel where the original instrument panel was.

I’ll take and post some more photos in the next few days.

[mangocrazy]

Excellent stuff! I was idly wondering what progress had been made the other day, so the answer is plenty... Is the wiring loom in the engine bay 'modular' - i.e. can you disconnect it at a single point and then fabricate a copy/replacement? This is something that really needs doing on my Spider.

[betaveloce]

Nice work!

Question: is de Wosp alternator a direct fit? Or are there things that have to be adapted (pulley, wiring,...) or taken into account?

thanks  

[peteracs]

Is the wiring loom in the engine bay 'modular' - i.e. can you disconnect it at a single point and then fabricate a copy/replacement? This is something that really needs doing on my Spider.

I have to say having a disconnect-able wiring loom on my Spyder would have been one of my wish list items if I was rewiring.

Peter

[WestonE]

Hi Chaps

I re-built my loom in thin wall modern wiring using the original as a pattern. I have replaced connectors in weather hit areas with sealed connectors and removed things like wiring for rear marker lights my UK car does not have. I have also built in additional fuse boxes to support the missing factory relays for things like full speed wipers, protecting the ignition switch and headlight switches. I had a brand new OE fuse box so decided I would keep that. It took a FULL week to make and longer to design. I will still have to wire in the Link ECU (64 wires) but at least I will be giving it clean stable power.

Along the way I sorted out things like earth connections to the rear lights that used to run the full length of the car through multiple blocks.

Most people can copy the engine bay looms with modern thin wall cable and they are already modular by un-plugging at the fuse box square connectors. Also the power transfer front to rear looms are really simple to re-make.

As ever corroded contacts and poor earth are the normal issues. Most earth wires are now corroded along their length which you see as you try to re-terminate them and they stay blackened on the copper.


It is not possible for me to share a design schema sorry.

Eric     

[betabuoy]

is de Wosp alternator a direct fit? Or are there things that have to be adapted (pulley, wiring,...) or taken into account?

It's still in the box but it came from the Betaboyz shop so I hope it should be fairly straightforward. I will let you know very soon when I fit it.

Chris

[betabuoy]

I re-built my loom in thin wall modern wiring using the original as a pattern. I have replaced connectors in weather hit areas with sealed connectors and removed things like wiring for rear marker lights my UK car does not have. I have also built in additional fuse boxes to support the missing factory relays for things like full speed wipers, protecting the ignition switch and headlight switches.
    

And this is exactly what I have done; it seemed the only way to solve one of the achilles heels of these cars.  However, in my view, since the quality of much of the original electrical eqpt was so poor, with the fuse box at it's heart it had to be changed too.  Front and rear looms, plus a mass of electric string behind the dash and around the ignition, have been in a terrible state.

Picture below shows the new 'box which is fitted in a bespoke aluminium tray to soon be secured behind/under the glove box.  

[betabuoy]

Engine bay is taking shape.  Ignore the red cable... that'll be connected shortly too.

[WestonE]

I love the quality work and wish mine was that close to finished. It is at the bodyshop to April now.

[mangocrazy]

Betabuoy, where did you get the fusebox from? I presume that caters for all the circuits you need and has flexibility for any future requirements? I intend to do something very similar to my Spider in the fullness of time. Pics when it's fully installed would be very welcome, as well.

[squiglyzigly]

Nice work, coming along nicely.
What plans have you got for opening/closing the accusump valve?

[WestonE]

Hi Graham

Those are modular MTA units some with micro relays. You can see the Durite part number but you can can get them from Pole Volt, Vehicle Wiring Products and others. Designing the scheme is harder than wiring them. But no body yet chose wiring as a party event.

Cheers

Eric     

[betabuoy]

What plans have you got for opening/closing the accusump valve?

Ian

I'll probably leave it shut while I'm bedding in the new engine; apart from the benefit of a bit of pressure lubrication as electrical power comes on, it shouldn't be required... I do plan to take everything steady for a while!  Once I've got a few miles on the engine, it'll be time to get the acusump operating before I start throwing the car around a bit.

Chris