What track kit to include on restoration?
Discussion
As the day draws closer where I can just hand my beta hpe volumex over to someone and say 'make it good', ive been considering what stuff would give me a bit more peace of mind for if i chose to take it on a track day, although its primary purpose would be as a road car. Im hoping you experienced people can tell me what else I would need to make it eligable for as wide a range of events as possible (short of putting in a roll cage)
Current ideas...
Stainless steel brake caliper pistons
Steel braided brake hoses
Baffled sump
Recaro seats from a coupe (a world more supportive and comfortable)
Shortened gear lever and improved linkage
Remote engine stop - something subtle but easily accessible (obviously a big sticker or something would point it out on the day!)
fire extinguisher
uprated engine mounts (a bit of a weak point on these cars )
The other stuff I have planned is pretty much your usual restoration fare - repaint, lots of rustproofing, powder coating of front subframe, new clutch, uprated fuel pump and a 40dcnf carb.
Of course, this will end up costing a lot more than the cars worth, but hey. Its a car i want, which i managed to forget until recently
Current ideas...
Stainless steel brake caliper pistons
Steel braided brake hoses
Baffled sump
Recaro seats from a coupe (a world more supportive and comfortable)
Shortened gear lever and improved linkage
Remote engine stop - something subtle but easily accessible (obviously a big sticker or something would point it out on the day!)
fire extinguisher
uprated engine mounts (a bit of a weak point on these cars )
The other stuff I have planned is pretty much your usual restoration fare - repaint, lots of rustproofing, powder coating of front subframe, new clutch, uprated fuel pump and a 40dcnf carb.
Of course, this will end up costing a lot more than the cars worth, but hey. Its a car i want, which i managed to forget until recently
I know less about Lancias than the surface of the moon....however on top of what you mention most cars used on track will also have some of the following-
-Additional oil cooler
-Catch tank for crankcase oil breather
-Firmer springs
-Ajustable shocks (firm up for track/soften for road)
-Firmer bushes for the steering rack, wishbones rear beam (or what ever type of rear set up it has) ARBs etc
-Lighter wheels
-Extra cooling for the front brakes
-Use a more track biased pad/perhaps discs, larger than stock if posible on the budget.
-Aftermarket radiatior fan, switchable on dash
-Front strut tower brace, same for rear, under chassis brace
-Thicker ARBs
-Harnesses
-Loose weight not needed on track- rear seats spare wheel etc etc
-Lighter weight panels i.e. bonnet, boot lid, doors etc
Well, the stock oil cooler should be sufficient, the suspension setup can wait till i learn to drive properly on a track
Catch can - surely this is only necessary if youre running a car with a knackered engine?
Brakes - pad compound is a given that will be changed for track usage.
Switchable rad fan - hmm. maybe maybe maybe that would be a good idea
Strut braces - this i might consider as betas rear suspension mounts are not terribly strong, the front already has more than adequate bracing from the factory.
Harnesses - yup I suppose so, along with a helmet
Optional weight loss - its another given that the spare wheel etc. will be left in the paddock when on track. Lightweight panels are a bit of a no no as they dont exist for the beta
and I dont want to go that far. >> Edited by lanciachris on Monday 25th October 10:20
Did the same thing with Saabine (1985 Saab 900 Turbo). Like yours mainly road use plus the occasional track day. There's some fairly elaborate engine work included which strictly speaking isn't what you need to start out with, but as you are planning a full resto I'll mention it anyways.
The list (in short):
Engine
Full bottom end incl forged pistons, piston oil cooling jets, 2 mm overbore, shot peened crank and rods, fully weighted/balanced; lightened flywheel
Late model (9-5) cylinder head converted to fit classic 900 block, gas flowed w/bigger valves; custom intake manifold
Uprated turbo; custom liquid/air IC system
Custom exhaust downpipe; Simons 1/2 exh system from there
Fully mappable coil-on-plug ignition (Saab DI)
Reprogrammed fuel management w/bigger inj's
APC boost management system replaced with Blitz SBC i-DIII boost controller
Air filter (cone) relocated to inner fender
82 degrees thermostat and rad fan switch (normally 89 degrees C)
Drivetrain
AP Racing 4 puck copper clutch disk
Late c900 spec gearbox; 'short' (N/A and lpt 900) primary gearing
Suspension
Merwede racing springs; Koni shocks w/poly bushings
900 Convertible body braces between rad support and inner fenders; custom rear brace bar
Alignment w/ more aggressive castor/camber settings
9000 Aero wheels w/ 205/50/16 Toyo Trampio R1R semi-race tyres
T16S anti-sway bar on rear axle only (this really transforms the handling balance)
Brakes
Conversion to later (rear handbrake) brake system with late model 9000 calipers up front
Ferodo DS3000 front pads; OE rear pads
Goodridge s/s braided hose; Castrol SRF DOT 5.1 fluid
Interior
OE Seats partially re-upholsted with extra side bolstering
Window lifters converted back to manual (-9.5 kg)
Cruise control removed
Undercarpet soundproofing material removed (-8 kg); partially replaced with Dynamat Dynaliner (0.39 kg)
Carpeted part of center console removed
Parcel shelf delete (-4 kg)
A/F gauge (not yet connected) and starter button on ally steering column panel à la TVR Cerbera - which means you don't have to reach down and pull the key back before re-starting should you stall the engine, could come in handy in the heat of the moment
Carbon dash with deletion of redundant switches
{i]Body
Battery (Optima Red Top) relocated from engine bay to under boot floor (this has HUGE effect on front/rear balance - twice the weight of the battery )
Spare wheel ('t was a 'space saver' wheel anyways) and jack replaced with foam can (-14.5 kg)
Soundproofing inside bonnet removed (-4ish kg)
Headlamp wash/wipe removed (-1 kg)
Redundant wiring removed (partially)
Bigger hole in front spoiler for oil cooler and air intake
To do
Replace plywood boot floor (~9 kg) with some sandwich material (already here; floorboards removed for now)
Lighten front bumper assembly without compromising structural integrity
Replace rear window with Lexan
>> Edited by 900T-R on Monday 25th October 09:20
The list (in short):
Engine
Full bottom end incl forged pistons, piston oil cooling jets, 2 mm overbore, shot peened crank and rods, fully weighted/balanced; lightened flywheel
Late model (9-5) cylinder head converted to fit classic 900 block, gas flowed w/bigger valves; custom intake manifold
Uprated turbo; custom liquid/air IC system
Custom exhaust downpipe; Simons 1/2 exh system from there
Fully mappable coil-on-plug ignition (Saab DI)
Reprogrammed fuel management w/bigger inj's
APC boost management system replaced with Blitz SBC i-DIII boost controller
Air filter (cone) relocated to inner fender
82 degrees thermostat and rad fan switch (normally 89 degrees C)
Drivetrain
AP Racing 4 puck copper clutch disk
Late c900 spec gearbox; 'short' (N/A and lpt 900) primary gearing
Suspension
Merwede racing springs; Koni shocks w/poly bushings
900 Convertible body braces between rad support and inner fenders; custom rear brace bar
Alignment w/ more aggressive castor/camber settings
9000 Aero wheels w/ 205/50/16 Toyo Trampio R1R semi-race tyres
T16S anti-sway bar on rear axle only (this really transforms the handling balance)
Brakes
Conversion to later (rear handbrake) brake system with late model 9000 calipers up front
Ferodo DS3000 front pads; OE rear pads
Goodridge s/s braided hose; Castrol SRF DOT 5.1 fluid
Interior
OE Seats partially re-upholsted with extra side bolstering
Window lifters converted back to manual (-9.5 kg)
Cruise control removed
Undercarpet soundproofing material removed (-8 kg); partially replaced with Dynamat Dynaliner (0.39 kg)
Carpeted part of center console removed
Parcel shelf delete (-4 kg)
A/F gauge (not yet connected) and starter button on ally steering column panel à la TVR Cerbera - which means you don't have to reach down and pull the key back before re-starting should you stall the engine, could come in handy in the heat of the moment
Carbon dash with deletion of redundant switches
{i]Body
Battery (Optima Red Top) relocated from engine bay to under boot floor (this has HUGE effect on front/rear balance - twice the weight of the battery
) Spare wheel ('t was a 'space saver' wheel anyways) and jack replaced with foam can (-14.5 kg)
Soundproofing inside bonnet removed (-4ish kg)
Headlamp wash/wipe removed (-1 kg)
Redundant wiring removed (partially)
Bigger hole in front spoiler for oil cooler and air intake
To do
Replace plywood boot floor (~9 kg) with some sandwich material (already here; floorboards removed for now)
Lighten front bumper assembly without compromising structural integrity
Replace rear window with Lexan
>> Edited by 900T-R on Monday 25th October 09:20
lanciachris said:
How much difference in reliability have you noticed with aftermarket / mappable ignition?
In my case, it was an adaptation of a later OE systen, and after everything's been sorted it's been very reliable. Troubleshooting should be much more straightforward now - if in doubt whether you have ignition troubles, just swap the DI coil pack (which includes the electronics - it's a capacitive discharge system) with a known good one from a 9000, 9-3 or 9-5...
The main reasons for converting to the DI system were (a) mappability (by a dyno engineer; it's not a user-programmable unit like aftermarket systems) and b) no mechanicals whatsoever to interfere with ignition timing - I did away with the knock-sensing APC boost control system because of its being very inconsistent, but this meant I had to rely on ignition timing to stay bang on, without variations caused by mechanical tolerances potentially getting the engine into detonation territory. An added bonus is the more powerful spark of the capacitive discharge coils, and nifty things like multi-sparking whenever cranking/idling rpm is under a certain value, and a burn-off function after shutting the engine off making the plugs much more resistant to fouling (meaning you can use a higher heat range plug).
Oh sorry - the point of the above...
Whilst a lot of it might not be applicable to your particular car, what I want to say (I guess) is that you might be able to upgrade or convert parts or systems in your car with later OE versions that give a distinct advantage, and probably aren't any more expensive than their original counterparts on your car.
The 'T7' cylinder head I'm using (from 9-5 and 2000-on 9-3 models) for instance flows about 35% better than the original 16 valve head on 900/early 9000 models as standard, and will outflow even the most elaborate re-workings of the latter. Converting it to fit the older-style engine is an involved, but not too labour-intensive process. I could very well imagine something similar would apply to the 16V Thema/Dedra/Delta heads versus your 8v twin cam head.
Whilst a lot of it might not be applicable to your particular car, what I want to say (I guess) is that you might be able to upgrade or convert parts or systems in your car with later OE versions that give a distinct advantage, and probably aren't any more expensive than their original counterparts on your car.
The 'T7' cylinder head I'm using (from 9-5 and 2000-on 9-3 models) for instance flows about 35% better than the original 16 valve head on 900/early 9000 models as standard, and will outflow even the most elaborate re-workings of the latter. Converting it to fit the older-style engine is an involved, but not too labour-intensive process. I could very well imagine something similar would apply to the 16V Thema/Dedra/Delta heads versus your 8v twin cam head.
The question of a 16v head has been raised many times for the beta, the problem is the ports were reversed on the 16v cars which adds a lot of work to it, plus there are a lot of other issues, suffice to say without serious cash, it cant be done.
On the plus side the volumex cylinder head can be very easily tuned, I will worry about it a little later down the line though, unless this all comes in costing less than I expect.
Thanks for your advice, I think an aftermarket ignition system might find its way into the bill, as the stock volumex system is not my favourite thing in the world ever.
On the plus side the volumex cylinder head can be very easily tuned, I will worry about it a little later down the line though, unless this all comes in costing less than I expect.
Thanks for your advice, I think an aftermarket ignition system might find its way into the bill, as the stock volumex system is not my favourite thing in the world ever.
lanciachris said:
...unless this all comes in costing less than I expect.
Oh well, you can just as well forget about it, then.
One thing I've learned: projects like this will never, ever stay within budget or stick to timeframes. This is often compounded by thinking 'OK, now I went this far... I can just as well...' which seems to be a repeating sequence, ad infinitum if you're not utterly determined to finish things up and start enjoying other worthwhile things in life...
Then, there's always that bl__dy Matt_T16 guy to extract even more power from basically the same car, and make it still lighter!
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