Kermette, my 76 coupe

[lbcoupe76]

Gluton for punishment hey, all you need now is a 77-79 and you have a 1st,2nd and 3rd series matching set. What are your plans for this one race or road?. Do you have any issue's with the bonnet on your 75 having the 2lt in it?.

[75coupe]

Yep definitely a gluten for punishment! Had a series 2 HPE for a while but the roof gutter rotted away!

The series 3 will be a road only car possibly with IE or VX, of maybe VX&IE!

If using a 2 litre with the series 1 bonnet you may have issues with the air filter housing hitting the underside of it. I have twin 45DCOE Webers so no problem with clearance,

Bear in mind if you want to do the 2 litre conversion you will need longer exhaust manifold down pipes, engine stay rod, correct sump and driveshaft extension that runs behind the engine. The 1800 gearbox can be used.

[lbcoupe76]

Been a while, things have progressed slowly. I am now at the stage where i need a rotisserie for the shell. I can then send it off for blasting (hopefully that does not uncover any more hidden surprise's). Once it's blasted it's off to the panel shop for the Pas side a-piller repairs and any other areas uncovered by the blasting. I will be doing the mechanicals while the body is being done.
I would like to keep the 1800 engine for originality sake and because it will rev a bit higher (gotta love the sound of high revs Nat aspirated). I have a few plans for the suspension components, however i will have to wait till i can get the tape on them to see if it will work. I will put up some pics of where she is at shortly.

[lbcoupe76]

Hi Peoples, long time no post 

Can't believe i am going to totally contradict my last post but here it is.

I have been very busy with a new business and as such things totally stalled on my coupe. during that time however i have come into possession of a VX engine and a whole heap of parts plus a few more vehicles (see my sig line). As such the plans for this coupe have changed slightly. This will now be running the VX engine, however not just the standard VX. The engine will be a fuel injected, supercharged and turbocharged twin intercooler job(sort of like a mini S4), and the chassis will be running the Integrale 4wd system.

I am not interested in making a total Frankenbeta so would like to keep it as Lancia as possible. As luck would have it i have now most of the parts i need to do this sitting in the shed in numerous box's and across a few cars. The build will be a slow one, body wise there is a lot to do. but when finished it should look reasonably factory as all the parts used will be Lancia.

I will be needing to pick the brains of all the amazingly talented and knowledgeable people on this forum, asking for advice and wanting feedback(and yes that includes criticism).

This will not be a check book operation as i just do not have the funds for that, so i will be doing just about everything myself and learning along the way for example i can mig but suck at tig so that will just have to improve  .

When finished this will contain parts from Beta's, Thema's and Integrale's. I would love to have it going for next years Castlemaine rally however this is maybe a little optimistic as there are sure to be lot's of things that will need to be solved, and money spent on.

[Hawk]

good luck with that - I think you might need it

keep the build pics coming - I'm intrigued .....

[HFStuart]

Oddly enough I was daydreaming about a 4WD Beta with Integrale running gear the other day, but then I was also wondering if my Alfa V6 could fit into a grale.....

You might try to get in touch with Trevor Nicosia who converted a Y10 in a similar manner some years ago.

[WestonE]

We have already had several Montegrales and I know Darren Cooksey is re-commissioning one done by Barry Waterhouse back in the day. I think I will stick to my Fuel Injected tuned VX Beta Spyder which is progressing well as I think 220-240 BHP will be enough judging by my Volumetrico Injected Montecarlo that had 277BHP before the current round of changes going in now.

Eric

Even I am intimidated by the idea of a custom turbo and supercharger install. At least we now have brilliant ECUs to manage some of the design flaws and things like the cross over from blower to turbo.
PS you will be needing new front wishbones and new rear struts/springs if you want to be able to steer the car. 

[lbcoupe76]

Yes seems very daunting though should be interesting . The plan is for the turbo to feed the blower, both will be in operation and bypass will only be there for off throttle boost spikes. As in the Delta S4, the blow off valve will recirculate back to the turbo intake.

Eric, i am also toying with the idea of a new subframe to go along with different front control arms as the engine will more than likely end up dry sumped. This would be so i could mount the engine slightly lower in the frame. And yes there will be coil overs, and a Caltech ecu.

Think i have the inlet manifold already sorted, engine going on stand this weekend and the long haul begins.

[75coupe]

Wow, you will definitely need AWD with that setup!

My car collection seems to be growing too, just acquired a genuine NZ delivered Beta VX coupe with a blown engine, and to top it off a 1977 Montecarlo which I plan to have going in a couple of weeks to take to the Wintersun rally in QLD in July.

Good luck with the Betagrale build, will be watching with interest....

Ian

[ChosenByBetas]

Hi. This is my first post on the forum. Been a reader for a while.

Nice lot of photos from back in the day. Reminds me of my own youth! I am also in Oz, have a couple of HPEs and about 10 years ago I also had a 75 1800 coupe in the same green. I bought it as a project, did a bunch of stuff to it and stupidly sold it to a guy in Vic called Steve who was going to turn it into an historic racer. I don't know if he did. I'd love to have another one in that colour actually. Anyone know of one for sale? The plan is to get another series 1 coupe soon, preferably an 1800.

Really ambitious project by the way. It will be a weapon. Keep the updates coming please.

James

[lbcoupe76]

Oddly enough I was daydreaming about a 4WD Beta with Integrale running gear the other day, but then I was also wondering if my Alfa V6 could fit into a grale.....

You might try to get in touch with Trevor Nicosia who converted a Y10 in a similar manner some years ago.

That would be an awesome sounding combo. Love the sound of an Alfa V6 in particular the 2.5 front the older GTV

[HFStuart]

That'd be the Busso V6 then that was used up to about 2003/4 The later GM based V6 isn't nearly as soulful.

I was at a show today with my V6 GTV  - on the way out I passed the VW hoards and I was chuffed to hear one of them shout at me 'rev it up mate'. Always glad to oblige!

[lbcoupe76]

Defiantly the Busso, though i have always thought the 2.5lt sounded better than the 3.0lt for some reason. Very angry sounding engine with really nice torque.

[lbcoupe76]

Engine now on stand and starting to pull bits off. Still doing homework at the moment as to exactly how i'm going to set it up, i have a few ideas at the moment which i will draw up shortly (when i get a chance) and post up to get peoples thoughts as to workability.
Some pics.

[lbcoupe76]

Some more. VX lobes look ok, head needs a good clean.

[lbcoupe76]

Another.

[lbcoupe76]

To move the Blower slightly down and out i am thinking of using a different oil filter housing and making an adapter bracket. Either of these might do the trick.

[lbcoupe76]

I also have to get the shed organised and get the mezzanine floor sorted with some shelving. I came across some parts and currently taking up 3/4 of the floor space of the shed. Got some good bits in there, as well as some stuff that will go straight to the bin. One of the fiat engines is actually a new never run engine it's had some old ancillary bolted on but the engine is new. A lot of the stuff at first glance looks yuk but if you look at it just needs a clean and a bit of love. Here's a couple of pics of some of it.

[WestonE]

Hi I used a Beta 2000 IE Oil block as a perfect building platform for bolting custom steel brackets to and getting the alternator nice and low.

Cheers

Eric
Just back from being driven round the Top Gear test track by the Stig so plenty of adrenalin in my system!

[lbcoupe76]

Awesome that'd be a great day. Where a passenger in your own car .

The 1800 Air con one was my first pick, would hold it out and down and allow the alternator almost underneath. What does the I.E one look like?