Lancia Beta HPE 2.0 IE Track Car Blog

[MattNoVAT]

Yes, mine was exactly like the one in the picture below.  IIRC this rear diagonal cross brace piece on my Safety Devices cage was not welded, it was bolted in place, the top and bottom corner had a welded flange, similar to the way detachable door bars are fitted and the cross brace slotted into place and then had o3 x M10 bolts at each end.

   

[lanciamad]

Cheers for shedding some light on it Matt. I was considering welding it in, and was still contemplating where to weld it to, make another plate and weld to arch, weld directly to one of the other tubes. But think i'll go along with the bolt in option, the door bar type fitments are a lot easier to weld in.
I've been on it, on and off all week, so slowly getting there. B pillar to rear turrets are in...

A pillar cross piece brackets welded in...

Door bar brackets welded in...

Door bar...

Painting begins...

The to do list for the cage:

• Cut diagonal tube to length and weld connections either end
• Weld connection brackets on b pillar tube and nearside rear turret tube
• Weld plates on rear turrets
• Cut and weld tube between rear turrets
• Paint cage
• Triangulate at A pillar mountings

[lanciamad]

Bit slow on the progress, but diagonal is now in place, typically I ran out of welding wire with half of one of the brackets to weld but there you go...



Although it flew through the MOT, i'm going to sort out some corrosion on the rear turret while i've got the welder out, and then weld a couple of spreader plates for a solid tube in between both rear strut towers; corrosion to be dealt with...

[lanciamad]

Finally getting there with the cage, other than some optional triangulation on the A pillar foot plates and a few touches of paint to complete the painting, jobs almost done, and now looks like this...

This is the replacement for the strut brace in the rear, some solid tube in between the two towers...

My view out of the rear window mirror...

I'm taking the opportunity while i'm at it to smarten up the inside, so it'll be getting a good hoover, then an undersealing where required and the whole floor sprayed in some 620 alluminio met, haven't decided whether to take the carpet out of the boot area but I think more than likely it'll be coming out with the door cards soon to be on the cards to shed some more weight as well. As well as this i've managed to purchase a matching seat to my drivers side bucket seat, so that'll smarten it up no end, already swapped over subframes so just a matter of fitting once i've finished painting.
And last of all i've got a sunstrip made advertising our wonderful club (forum/website), but instead of the blue that got sent with it, i'm going to be using my usual black fading to clear sunstrip with writing over the top which will suit the car more...

[lanciamad]

Some various treatment and painting pics...







Matching passenger seat now in, with a similar 4 point Luke harness as the drivers side, replacing the 3 point previously...

Cars not far off from being useable now, just needs a good clear out of the inside, have a go at fitting the sunstrip, check all levels and pressures and see if it'll turn a wheel after being sat for 2 months All going well I hope to get it moving down to the petrol station by end of play tomorrow and get a few miles done evenings next week, hopefully to be happy with it for the Lancia Motor Club AGM next weekend and the all important Beta Meeta '11 the week after.

[lanciamad]

Wow, over 10,000 views 
Well i'm delighted with the car so far, fired up first time, has been faultless since being on the road and have enjoyed every mile of the 300 odd i've done over the last couple of weekends.
First was the Lancia Motor Club AGM at Cheltenham pictured here...

As I don't listen to the Colonel i've crossed my harnesses...

I then got to work on some odd jobs that always get forgotten about, such as the lose wiring to the fusebox...

Which is now a bit tidier...

Some black cable tidy for the wiring down the offside inner wing...

I was lucky enough to buy a new omp steering wheel still in the packaging on ebay. I like the old one I had but was starting to wear and get tatty so I thought I would try this one. It is dished perhaps too much, but from saying i'd go back to the old one it's starting to grow on me, and I suppose it's what you get use to. Opinions on looks? ...
Old...

New...

I got bored of looking at a rusty water rail and bland colours, so a few things got a bit of painting while I finished painting the cage and latest addition, some 8.5mm Red Magnecor Ignition Leads...
Before...

After...

And finally, a brilliant day out at this years Beta Meeta

[lanciamad]

Latest little action for the car was Prescott Hill Climb for the Retro Rides Gathering. Really worth a day out if your into the classic/retro/modified/rat/wolf in sheeps clothing kind of thing! First two runs went fine, but once back to the paddock turned it off to save fuel and let it cool down. To find it struggling to turn over and as a result not fire up. After failing to bump start it, and checking all the wiring I found that the connector for the ignition barrel didn't look right, pulled it apart, back together and fired up first time. Decided to do another run and then park up for the rest of the event, I could have got another run or two in but no point risking it too much with a long-ish drive home. Not sure if it was the pure heat that it was producing while running in the paddock or not but it was very hesitant from idle upto 2k rpm for the 3rd run, it made me think the timings out, but was perfect for all the journey home.
Considering I ran it in full road setup, i.e. road tyres (2 hard plasticy fronts) with all shocks set to fully soft I think it did me proud. Not as much understeer as I was expecting, although quite a bit of tyre squeal it held its own through the corners but it might have been lacking in the power department against some 400 bhp machinery, some with sequential boxes, I can dream

[lanciamad]

Well it's been a while but i'll update you on what's happened since the last post, which hasn't been a lot up until a couple of weeks ago. I last used the car back in september for Rallyday 2011 at Castle Combe where I took part in the Lancia session on track. The car did well considering I didn't set it up for the track, running standard tyres and suspension on a very slippery damp track. Luckily we narrowly missed a downpour just as we left the track and i've just found some footage featuring my car, pleased I kept in front of that integrale for so long!
Club LanciaSport at Rally Day 2011 - Castle Combe
This is when issues started to take place, first off erratic idle and pick up from low revs, then overheating and to top it off driving back home it suddenly cut out a couple of miles from home. After fumbling with the ignition barrel connector luckily it fired up again, and I got home where it's stayed on the drive looking sorry for itself.
With time being spent on the HF turbo and the new arrival of a joint-owned 206 gti which i've used a couple of times at track days i've just not had the time or enthusiasm for the HPE, but with the 40th anniversary this year it's time I put some time and effort into making it to as many Beta related events I can this year.
In a quest to sort my first problem, overheating. I took the decision to go through the whole coolant system replacing as needed. Starting off with draining what little coolant there was in it, I removed the hoses and got the radiator out to check over and smarten up. I gave this a quick spray over to tidy it up having not found any issues with it and fitted a new fan switch while I was at it...

While inspecting the old fan switch i'd found one of the wires had rubbed through the insulation and may have been shorting/earthing out not telling the fan to cut in which may have caused the overheating, as well as finding some of the other wiring from fan to switch bare to the elements. I then decided to go the whole hog and replace the water pump while I was at it, not having done so since having the car and not knowing when it was last replaced. Apart from a slightly troublesome removal of the pulley I soon had that changed, still amusing it didn't come with a rubber o ring for the water pump to bottom water rail...

After doing that I then took the decision to replace all of the hoses I hadn't already got from Mark W, with new silicone hoses, these included the two that go to the heater matrix, two that go to the induction manifold and header tank to bottom water rail. I haven't taken pics of these yet but will do once i've solved all leaks. Having checked and replaced, radiator, water pump, all hoses, I thought I was winning until I went to top up the coolant no leaks whatsoever until the dreaded small drip inside (lucky I don't have carpets!)
With no leaks coming from where the pipes connect or the heater valve, and the drip coming from the base of the middle console I can only presume the heater matrix is at fault. Having removed it and found it to be a little rusty, where the heater valve connects to it, was completely blocked with what looked to be some kind of sealant type substance which makes me think how much water actually flowed through it, if any...

I've got a heater matrix coming from Mark W (Thanks for the speedy help) which I hope to fit tomorrow all going well, which will just leave the heater valve the only object to be checked as I did notice a bit of water seepage when a little pressure was put on it at the centre join while removing from the matrix and removing the hose that connects to it. I've put a parts wanted request for this just in case I find that this now leaks once I connect it all up again, but would like to keep a spare anyway, so please get in touch if you have one...

I then by accident came across perhaps why I was down on power when I did the rolling road but spot on with the torque figure!?

Having removed the dizzy cap to get better access to hoses and the gear linkage, I checked the rotor arm and found excessive movement which i'd imagine would give quite vague ignition timing. Looking at the arm itself it doesn't appear to have excessive wear...

but with no movement in the shaft the rotor arm is at fault. I've got a new item coming to try but if there's no difference I may have to try various arms to find the correct item.
Another job i've had down for a long time was replacing the ancient gear linkage bushes with some of Marks. I bought them probably a year if not more ago, but knowing they were time consuming and awkward kept putting it off until last week. While half the engine bay is missing and the car is up in the air due to flat tyres, I decided the time had come; and just in time too. While removing the linkage connected to the gearbox end, the other end connected to the pivot just fell off. After some fun with the vice and the pressure of a hydraulic jack with the help of some wood and metal tubes the new bushes are in place and linkage fitted to the car; I don't think that'll be coming off in a hurry!....

Then with the future in mind, i've decided to change the wheels for a couple of reasons. Firstly I can widen the track of the car, fit wider tyres, it will allow future upgrade of front brake calipers and also I think there going to look pretty good too...




Having briefly trial fitted the wheel, there shouldn't be too many issues on the front but remembering that some spacing would be needed on the rears I also managed to buy some wheel spacers off the rear of a 16v integrale to try...

Which seems to give just enough clearance between tyre and rear strut body. I've checked with it raised and on the ground and it's tight but seems to be clear, I will need to finally check once the suspension is settled to make sure...

I'm looking to get all the wheels refurbed pretty soon if I can, and once I manage to source the relevant wheels bolts to fit them I shouldn't be far off.

[lanciamad]

Unfortunately I couldn't make it to Goodwood; just too many jobs to complete on the car and I keep finding issues and other things I might as well do why i'm there. The cooling system saga goes on, having changed everything but the rad, in true fashion it sprung a leak, you can just about see the leak from the middle of the pic going to the right...

I'm hoping to get this in sometime this week to be re-cored by a local company and will then fit a new slim fit fan to match the secondary one already fitted to free up a bit more space in the engine bay.
Having got it running again pre leak, I also found that my exhaust manifold is blowing and being wrapped in heat wrap I don't know how badly it's corroded until I get it off. After a quick rummage through the shed I found the original which will have to go back on for the time being. I've got some new exhaust gaskets coming for it and it still looks to be in pretty good condition so hoping that will be straight forward enough...

On a positive i've got the integrale wheels back from being refurbished. Having the rim as it does, that needed to be diamond cut with three of the wheels needing straightening out so they could be cut. This is the finished product...

I've got the tyres ready to go on and the relevant wheel bolts needed for the rear wheels, so once i've sorted all the coolant and running issues i'll be down to the local tyre fitters to finally be back on the road with it.

[WestonE]

Marcus

It is looking good and you were missed at Goodwood! For the wheel bolts Demon Tweeks can supply on a next day basis (proper 10.9 grade not Chinese chocolate items) you just need to tell them the thread and length.

Cheers

Eric

[andybeta]

Yes looking good.

[Badnews]

Very good work!!! I am impressed!!! 

Loving the new steering wheel and rims too.

Dan

[LanciaNut69]

Those rims look fantastic!  Where did you get them refurbed?  I have the same rims, but nowhere near the same condition.  I have some some nice toyos to replace the worn rubber, and maybe I should get the rims done at the same time to get the car looking pristine again.

Cheers

Darren

[thecolonel]

Car is looks better every time we get an update.

[lanciamad]

Thanks for the comments guys
I got the radiator re-cored by a local company, and thought I might as well free up slightly more room while i'm at it, so have fitted a slim fit fan in replace of the original...

I'm pleased with the rims, they are actually so good it highlights the bodywork issues even more now! Because of the way the wheels are, the wheel is refurbed, powder coated anthracite or whatever colour you want, and then has the rim diamond cut. Unfortunately that means it gets expensive. I got these done by lepsons in Swindon, but they also have a place at Gilllingham. I contacted a few local places to me but they all said go to lepsons, as having the diamond cut facility seems to be quite specialist.



I managed to get some cheap and cheerful tyres at a good price so have gone with those, as i've decided to give the HPE a rest from track action this year, (well track days anyway) so road going track tyres aren't a must. Yet. I've gone with 10mm spacers on the rear for the tyre to clear the strut and 15mm on the fronts for lock to lock, and no doubt will aid with big brake upgrades for the future.
I seemed to be having resistance/earthing issues with the battery in the back so have now refitted in the front for the time being until I can sort it. Even then, having re-attached the original earth, gearbox to battery, that wasn't good enough, so have run a wire from battery to chassis and all is well again. While having teething problems, I did manage to test drive everything covering 70 miles over the day without major issue getting everything warmed up, no coolant loss, brakes freed, so not bad for not moving since September.
It was suppose to be MOT'd monday but having battery issues, I couldn't get it in until today and should see where I am with it tomorrow. Hopefully not a long list of things to do as Norfolk is still the aim!

[thecolonel]

Where did you obtain the cooling fans please ?

[LanciaNut69]

Thanks for the info - Swindon's not a million miles away - will give some thought.  Look forward to the next update!

Cheers

Darren

[lanciamad]

The fans were just an ebay purchase, there's plenty of them at various sizes to suit whatever application. A slimmer design with i'm sure a much more powerful motor than the originals have.
It's been a while now, but from memory I didn't have much to do for the MOT, a very strange one was movement in the rear offside suspension, which I was told seemed to be top mount failure, which I knew it wouldn't as i'd only fitted the poly top mounts to the rear recently. It turned out that the nut securing the spax shocks in the strut body had somehow loosened itself off and all the movement was just down this.
Due to new MOT guidelines at the time, although I think there gradually going back to the original rules after VOSA poked their nose in, I had to replace ball joints and track rod ends, purely down to worn gaiter/rubbers.
There was some welding needed to the rear turrets directly behind strut bodies, a bit by floor pan to sill on the offside and the car would cut out if the fusebox was touched! Turns out the connector had become loose from the wiring from the battery to right side of fusebox and depending on where the fusebox was moved would depend on what worked. A couple of minutes bodging the wiring to get home and all was well.
That was the thursday, I then got to work sorting out the wiring properly when I got home, loading some bits and bobs in the car and the next day we travelled towards norfolk
After approx 2 hours driving from wiltshire, we stopped at a service station for a break, to then continue the journey. But of all times, the ignition barrel decided that when the key was turned the starter would not engage, and the barrel had quite clearly failed, I presume the points inside are worn/broken. So after checking all wiring I could quickly check was ok, I found some spare wiring, made up the relevant connectors to join to the wire going to the starter, tapped it onto the battery + and it turned over and fired up first time. Panic over, the car drove faultless to norfolk, around the tour day and the journey back, I think it wasn't far off 500 miles in 2 and a bit days, and my back survived with the odd cushion here and there of course. So if anyone thought why I had the bonnet up all the time it was purely just to start the car.

All in all you couldn't fault the weekend, one, if not the best weekend we had of the year weather-wise, with a great selection of beta's on a well organised event  
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lanciamad/sets/72157629922862850/

I haven't really done anything with the car since, hence the lack of updating the blog, but what I did spend half an hour doing the other day was removing the offending ignition barrel...

I was pleasantly surprised to find that by punching the bolts, I could reasonably easily tap the bolts around until the barrel clamp fell into two...

I also found some remanufactured wheel centre caps i've had for a while to fit into the integrale wheels, don't worry it's only cobwebs that make the wheel look like it might have marks...

Of the four fitted, two of the Lancia emblems popped out on them which was a bit annoying, but nothing a bit of glue won't sort.
That's pretty much all I can think of at the moment, and I expect fitting the replacement barrel will be next on the agenda

[lanciamad]

Been quite a while since doing any work on the HPE, but as it tries to warm up I thought I better finish off the last job I had on the go. Suspecting that the ignition barrel had failed, with I presume failure of the contacts for the starter position, I managed to find a spare barrel with key, from first glance seems in good condition and most importantly works...

I know back in the day in seemed a popular modification to fit a relay between switch and start motor, to have the relay doing most of the work of the switching, so while I had the ignition barrel fitted I did the exact same thing, picked up a new relay and wired it up...

Disconnected the coil, turned the key and it turned over lovely, built some oil pressure up, connected the coil and fired up first time Needed to slightly adjust the idle once it warmed up as it was ticking over a little slowly but apart from that all seems well.

[VXdeMayo]

Dear Marcus,
Good to see you are progressing with the HPE. It seems that you have set a "mini trend" with your wheel choice, they look fabulous and suit the HPE really well. I found a set on Ebay recently in good condition that need refinishing,  and if possible I would like to get ours done in metallic anthrecite to match our silver HPE VX. Also "Dodgems" (Amanda and Steve) also have got a set that they are getting refinished down in Exeter!

However could you tell me how much the diamond cutting process actually removes in terms of material from the front face, as our Integrale wheels have curved front edges to all the webs and yours now have a definate "machined edge"? Or have i got a set of Delta 1600GT / HF Turbo wheels, (that were similar but finished in a single colour silver if I recall)?

Keep up the good work,
best,
Chas and Anne.