Where do i start with updates ..

Since the last update i have done the following: -

Cleaned and painted the croma engine, built gates into the sump, replaced the mains and big ends, installed ARP rodbolts, swapped the camboxes/cams/distributor with the Delta GTie non turbo ones which are quite a bit more aggressive (i had them doctored by Franklin Cams). Also used the Delta GTie camgears as they are quite alot lighter. I swapped over the intake manifold and fuel rail from the Delta GTie, with 440cc top feed injectors from Mitsi Evo1 / VR4. Have also swapped over the fuel lines with the GTie ones, and run a Bosch 044 replica fuelpump. To go with it, i have swapped to a Delta Mk2 HF Turbo and run the GTie oil pump and pulleys. The loom has also been fitted from the Gtie and the shifters and gearbox. The Flywheel is GTie, but has been redrilled to 12mm bolts to suit the Croma crank. Autoclutch has made me a killer carbon/kevlar 2200lb clamp clutch which should deal with up to 500hp on a single sprung plate.

I have fabricated the two lower engine mounts using 5mm plate, and the utilising the mk2 delta Gtie mounts. The upper mount is GTie, and the engine mounts are from GTie also. The radiator still fits from the existing HF Turbo, but i need to check out the radiator fan.

I also fabricated a strutbrace with rosejointed ends, which integrates as a torque mount for the engine under load.

The Turbo i have used is ex Stacey James who used to race a hot 130TC abarth in Targa. I believe it came off a punto, but its a T28 from Nissan Pulsar GTIR, modified and rebuild with a genuine garrett cartridge and tweaked slightly by Steve Merch, so it should have good boost response. Also have used a T2 manifold from mk 2 delta HF turbo.

Mark from Lynchbuilt fabricated up a 2-1/2" V-band downpipe to plumb back into the mandrel bent system that we built a year or so back.

We have also run a bigger aftermarket intercooler designed for GTS-T skyline R32, and a 16 row oil cooler. I have run 2" pipes into the bottom of the turbo, and 2-1/2" back to the plenum with an HKS SSQV blow off valve. Just working on oil cooler fittings at the moment.  I also cut and wired the injector plugs from an Evo back into the loom as they are all high resistance (16ohms).

There has been a whole lot more fabricating needed so far than i initially expected, but am making headway slowly. Heres some pics for a quite squizzy ...

So ! i completely lost access to this blog not that anyone reads it.
We sold both Fiat 128s earlier this year .. and have raced the delta, and now going through some Delta upgrades.

I probably did about 5 events last year, hillclimbs, streetsprints, and circuit. Car proved to be reliable and handle very well. Completed a big brake conversion and ran it with good horsepower, although i always felt the clutch wasn't hooking up particularly well.

The next step is fast approaching: - i have bought and stripped a Fiat Croma 1989 ie turbo which is a 2 litre injected 8 valve turbo - essentially its very very close to an integrale engine minus the balance shaft. I also bought and stripped a Lancia Delta GTie injected non turbo for the mounts and the gearbox. Combining the engine from the Croma, the gearbox, mounts, driveshafts, clutch and flywheel etc out of the GTie, i should be able to eventually turn my Delta into a 2.0 Injected 8V Turbo with around 180 - 200hp at the treads without too much stress.

Thats the goal :)
Heres some random pics of new bits that are happening.

The nackered clutch ..

Injected "Lynchbuilt" intake manifold for the 2 litre.

The bearings out of the 2 litre.

The 2 litre after cleaning and some paint.

the 2 litre Croma engine before stripping

 

The Croma before wrecking

The Delta in a paddock in Cambridge

Stripping out the GTie

The new rear spoiler on the HF Race car

Twin pot Subaru WRX calipers on Lancia Thema Rotors

4BNGR chasing down a honda

Pukekohe

Pukekohe new S' bends

Back straight of Pukekohe

Glamour shot

Picture from Automania 2013

 

Port & Polish

Well, the Lancia was starting to blow smoke on deceleration, and after exhausting all other avenues i decided the head needed to come off. I also have a broken turbo exhaust stud which needs replacing, and wanted to get that sorted at the same time. After lifting the head off, i have been stuck in for about 8 - 10 hours on my cylinder head smoothing the existing port shape, and getting the underside radius as smooth as i could get it. I have also opened all inlet and exhaust ports out to the gasket size, and will get stuck in on the manifolds to match them very shortly. Im hoping that with the porting/polishing and an extra pound of boost, i might tweak the 100kw that im looking for at the treads (the dyno gave me a figure of 90 front wheel kw which is around 125 wheel hp and these deltas are 130 flywheel hp from factory). 100kw will give me an even 140 wheel hp, which should make it damn fun to drive. Meanwhile my carb is also being sorted out by Murray at Weber Specs to flow the fuel i need at high RPM.

Anyway, take a look at the pics of my head so far.

Before

 After:

A few more additions.

My spoiler is now complete and mounted in place, just awaiting for the "Lancia Martini"decals to be finished for it. I have painted it back to satin black as it definitely looks better. Also my hoses are now finished and on the car, and the engine bay is looking alot tidier. The whole car runs alot better now, but i definitely need to finish my brake conversion :)

Heres a couple of pics.

We get closer each day.

Been busy again (little bit) - Peter from Pirtek (Legend) came over last night to crimp up my special new oil cooler hoses. I had adjusted the placement of my cooler for a bit more cooling and to get the oil cooler hoses sitting on a nicer angle. I also relocated the oil filter housing to make the positioning a bit better also. Peter gave me some special tail fittings which i drilled out and put all the steel bends into, then mig welded them together, then using 500psi he crimped them with his hydraulic press. Time to fit those up to the car tonight. I opted for these over the braided lines as the fittings for the Lancia are metric fine, which are virtually impossible to find, and all the braided lines use -AN fittings.

Next on the agenda was the fact that i've always wanted an Integrale rear spoiler, so i made one. My car already had a black finisher on the roof which i didn't like that much, so i fabricated up some steel mounts as per a nice picture from the maranello house website (http://www.maranellohouse.com/evo.html) and i mounted everything up to try and make it look the part. I'm going to sand the spoiler back this arvo and paint it matte black before having "Lancia Martini"signwritten on the top, and "Lynchbuilt.co.nz"signwritten on the bottom.

And lastly, i found an Evo Integrale has just popped up on trademe for 40K !! i reckon my car is a whole lot better value for money, but then im biased.

Check it out ... Mine: -

His: -

Exhausting my Hose ...

So .. two events down and no real issues. I ran a hillclimb in Ruakaka (1-1/2 hours north of Auckland) where i drove the car to the event, competed, and drove home. The only thing that was a bit of a bummer is when i got to Ruakaka it split an oil line - so i am now well into the task of sorting that out.

I have removed all the oil lines, and decided it was a worthy opportunity to remake the oil lines and relocate the cooler to get some better angles for better flow. Managed to tack everything into place, then my local Pirtek guy decides "yep, you can Mig those fittings, then ill do the crimps" so why not ? ... I now just have to wait for him to crimp the fittings and then put it all back together.

Also .. just for a bit of a laugh, decided the factory exhaust just wasn't going to suffice on a race car for much longer so that just absolutely had to go, not questions asked. I went for a visit to Lynchbuilt (www.lynchbuilt.co.nz) where Mark, myself, and Tony pulled the original exhaust off the car, and Mark proceeded to mig up a full 2-1/2" mandrel bent exhaust right off the back of the turbo with a single muffler.  It doesn't sound hugely louder, but definitely goes better. Immediately it free'd up another 2psi of boost, so i think once the oil lines are on, a quick visit to the dyno might be in order to make sure the engine isnt running lean.

The downside to getting closer to the "reliable, and fast" status is that i think my valve stem seals might be giving up the go .. theres a moderate amount of smoke coming from the exhaust under deceleration, but clears once your back on the throttle. Might be time to lift the head off over xmas and do the seals, check out the state of the valves, and maybe do a light amount of port work just to clean things up a bit.