Lancia Beta Volumex
Discussion
Breadvan72 said:
I have lobbed the dude an email asking if he will sell me the blower as a spare for my HPE. If I had the space I'd offer to buy the engine too as that way I would get the special VX pistons etc.
I expect it will go for the value of the supercharger + scrap for the rest. It would be an ok parts car but, a lot of the bits that may be useful look pretty tired.That eBay vx is up to 899 with more than a day to go, some folks must be off their trollies if you ask me. What I can't understand is an mot'd vx coupe needing cosmetic work struggles to hit 3k but a total shed is likely to hit well over a grand baffles me tbh. There is no guarantee that a supercharger will still be serviceable after 20 years sat in damp storage either particularly as the rotors are iron and when stood corrode quite nicely unless sprayed with wd40 or similar
Breadvan72 said:
The last one on eBay went for over 1200. I have just got one complete with blower for 450.
Yep that lancia mega bargain that never comes my way! To be on the safe side you will need to strip the blower it is not difficult but whatever you do don't undo the rotors at the front as they will go out of phase, you can slide the body off leaving the rotors attached to the front panel. That way you can clean the rotors and casing plus fit new rear bearings.Last one on eBay was I think an hpe, a coupe is generally regarded as more desirable so I kind of expect it to fetch more
Edited by DELTAHPE on Sunday 1st June 00:29
A friend came and did it, and it was a long job because of the need to remove the bonnet, support the engine from a bar, drop the sub frame and remove the gearbox through the wheel arch. Probably about eight hours all told, including tea drinking and chattering along the way. Nothing too horrible discovered. Broken exhaust clamp (less broken one from donor car fitted), leaky rocker covers gaskets (replaced with new ones), headlamp levelling connector snapped off but probably wasn't working anyway. The radiator is leaky but swapping that can wait.
The Integrale clutch is a perfect match and fit , and it went on easily, as did the thrust bearing. The car feels fine with the new clutch on.
My friend drove and liked the car, and may be inspired to finish off his stalled Maserati BiTurbo project, and maybe get his lovely and almost minty Beta Berlina 1400 out of its shed.
The Integrale clutch is a perfect match and fit , and it went on easily, as did the thrust bearing. The car feels fine with the new clutch on.
My friend drove and liked the car, and may be inspired to finish off his stalled Maserati BiTurbo project, and maybe get his lovely and almost minty Beta Berlina 1400 out of its shed.
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 1st June 21:05
It's great to see this sort of repair still happens, tools everywhere, car on stands, impromptu wooden chocks, WD40 kicking about, cup on roof. One of the down sides of living in London is the lack of space to do home maintenance- not sure the neighbours would appreciate the street being blocked for 8 hrs due to a diy clutch fix.
The working conditions were not quite up to aircraft workshop standard! Knobbly bit of hardstanding on a slight slope at the top of my steep and rough driveway, with trees all around dropping stuff everywhere (I live up a track in a wood) . At the end of the job, there were just two washers left over that hadn't gone back onto wherever they had come from, and one set of plastic wheel bolt covers had strangely vanished from the scene. One bit of oil staining on the ground from when I was cleaning out the clag inside the bell housing with a scraper and white spirit. Otherwise, all good. I took the opportunity to spray assorted surfaces and bits made accessible by the work with wax oil and GT 85.
Watching my friend work and helping a bit (not very well) and slowing him down with conversation taught me some more stuff about cars. His methodical and steady car fixing skills are self taught. His day job is to develop the most advanced jet engines for RR, and he says that job has spoiled his hobby of mucking about with old cars.
I maintained the Italian and red theme by cooking us lunch - some (rather good if I do say so myself) meatballs with a piquant home made tomato sauce and linguine, and later bought the many beers.
I recall that my dad spent many weekends in the 1970s lying on the drive of our suburban semi under assorted dreadful Hillmans and so forth. I learned about swearing from that!
I am pondering whether to go out next weekend and swap over the radiator from the donor car, and change the oil cooler. When I last changed a radiator it was on a 1970 Triumph Vitesse back in 1989, and I swore I'd never do one again (I also just swore, a lot). Simple job for a proficient person, but that's not me.
Watching my friend work and helping a bit (not very well) and slowing him down with conversation taught me some more stuff about cars. His methodical and steady car fixing skills are self taught. His day job is to develop the most advanced jet engines for RR, and he says that job has spoiled his hobby of mucking about with old cars.
I maintained the Italian and red theme by cooking us lunch - some (rather good if I do say so myself) meatballs with a piquant home made tomato sauce and linguine, and later bought the many beers.
I recall that my dad spent many weekends in the 1970s lying on the drive of our suburban semi under assorted dreadful Hillmans and so forth. I learned about swearing from that!
I am pondering whether to go out next weekend and swap over the radiator from the donor car, and change the oil cooler. When I last changed a radiator it was on a 1970 Triumph Vitesse back in 1989, and I swore I'd never do one again (I also just swore, a lot). Simple job for a proficient person, but that's not me.
That VX on eBay went for 1245.
Driving my VX yesterday and early this morning, I was pleasantly struck by what a smooth and fast car it is, and such great fun to hustle along a twisty road. I put some early 80s music on the (excellent) stereo, opened the sunroof, and had a right old hoon.
Driving my VX yesterday and early this morning, I was pleasantly struck by what a smooth and fast car it is, and such great fun to hustle along a twisty road. I put some early 80s music on the (excellent) stereo, opened the sunroof, and had a right old hoon.
Do you ever put The Beta Band on while driving? I know I would.
Possibly the rather aptly titled Dry the Rain - www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsbR2dEmHGc
Possibly the rather aptly titled Dry the Rain - www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsbR2dEmHGc
Nope, I would not play anything by them because they are dreadful, and that song is a hopeless derivative dirge that totally fails to hit whatever bluesy or bluegrassy target it is aiming at. It is at least a reminder of how bad music was for much of the 1990s. Crikey! Those clowns even make Crowded House sound good, and that's saying something.
Breadvan72 said:
That VX on eBay went for 1245.
Driving my VX yesterday and early this morning, I was pleasantly struck by what a smooth and fast car it is, and such great fun to hustle along a twisty road. I put some early 80s music on the (excellent) stereo, opened the sunroof, and had a right old hoon.
£1245, all the money and some.Driving my VX yesterday and early this morning, I was pleasantly struck by what a smooth and fast car it is, and such great fun to hustle along a twisty road. I put some early 80s music on the (excellent) stereo, opened the sunroof, and had a right old hoon.
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