Racing a Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16v

Racing a Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16v

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Thurbs

Original Poster:

2,780 posts

221 months

Saturday 21st January 2017
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Hi all.

In 2015 I sold a business I had spent the previous 9 years sweating blood toil and tears over and started living my childhood dream of being a racing driver. I spent the next 18 months learning some really hard lessons about what it takes to drive well and fast in a gen 2 Renault Clio. You can read some of the story here A Baptisum of fire and check out some videos here complete with some big shunts on my youtube channel.

I am now spending 2017 completing the dream by doing it in a dream car of my youth, a Lancia Delta! I bought a 1990 Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16v from Tanc Barret in Kidderminster. The car is currently full of rust, has many bodged repairs, has no engine, no doors and is pretty much a wreck. Definitely not ready for the race track.

The plan is to dip the car, repair any damage, weld in strengthening plates, put in a group a rally cage and add the required safety and security features needed to win some races.

I am going to race the car predominantly within the club racing circuit throughout England with a trip out to Europe also. The current calendar looks is starting with a visit to my local circuit in Norfolk at Snetterton (300 configuration) on the 1st & 2nd of April. Then a trip to Hampshire on the fastest circuit in the UK; Thruxton on the 22nd & 23rd of April. Silverstone (International) is next on the 27th & 28th of May which should be great with the wide open FIA circuit which is then followed by the legendary Spa Francorchamps on the 23rd to 25th of June. The north of England is next with Croft on the 22nd & 23rd of July and then the English West Country with a visit to Castle Combe on the 12th & 13th of August. Donnington Park (National) is next on the 9th & 10th of September followed by a trip north once more to Oulton Park on the 7th of October. The season finale takes the car to Brands Hatch, which will include proper night races on the 11th & 12th of November.

I intend to race the car with the Classic Sports Car Club. I have completed a few rounds with them in 2015 and 2016 with a Renault Clio 182 in their Tin Top and New Millennium series reasonably successfully. For the Delta, the car is eligible for the Future Classics. Modern Classics and Open Series’.

Future Classics is designed for Sports, Saloons and GT cars from the 1970's and 1980's and is split into 2 groups with an overall winner for each decade. The class structure is based on engine capacity, allowing cars to battle it out all down the field and provide great entertainment. The grids are full of iconic cars from the period including Sierra Cosworths, Porsche 911s, Jensons and TVRs. The Lancia is in the A80 class, which is the highest and fastest class in the series for cars manufactured in the 1980s.

Modern Classics is designed for most production Saloon, Hatchback, Sports and GT models produced up to the end of 1999. Modern Classics attracts a wide range of cars from Alfa Romeo and Volkswagen through to BMW, Ferrari and Porsche. The Lancia is in the A0 class, which is the highest and fastest class in the series. Nothing short of a win will do for both series!

The races are run over forty minutes and include the added excitement of a mandatory pit-stop with a 30 minute qualifying session on the same day. Entries may be two drivers sharing a single car or as a two car team, however I am competing as a single driver. All race winning cars/drivers accumulate winners penalties, helping to stop the same car/driver dominating at every round.







More pictures on my blog post Racing a Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16v.

Scalino

121 posts

88 months

Saturday 21st January 2017
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Absolutely brilliantsmile Are you preparing the car (mostly) yourself (though seeing the timetable I imagine that might be a bit difficult)?
Looking forward to the updates!

STEVEN EVO

12 posts

205 months

Saturday 21st January 2017
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Hi , have had 4 integrales over the last 20 years , a couple highly modified , I live in Suffolk and tracked at Snetterton lots of times ( mainly in a 172 cup ) .I am pretty sure we have been on track together . I still have a mint 16v but keep off the track in that as I wrecked an engine many years ago going rd Coram at Snetterton and getting oil surge . I am sure you will get a good engine built if you intend to race .

I look forward to seeing your car develop

Thurbs

Original Poster:

2,780 posts

221 months

Saturday 21st January 2017
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Scalino said:
Absolutely brilliantsmile Are you preparing the car (mostly) yourself (though seeing the timetable I imagine that might be a bit difficult)?
Looking forward to the updates!
Hi Scalino. Definately not! my skills are in the money making business. I can just about change a wheel and with help do things like starter motors but this is way beyond me...

STEVEN EVO said:
Hi , have had 4 integrales over the last 20 years , a couple highly modified , I live in Suffolk and tracked at Snetterton lots of times ( mainly in a 172 cup ) .I am pretty sure we have been on track together . I still have a mint 16v but keep off the track in that as I wrecked an engine many years ago going rd Coram at Snetterton and getting oil surge . I am sure you will get a good engine built if you intend to race .

I look forward to seeing your car develop
Cool. I have raced mostly with the 750 Motor Club and with the Classic Sports Car Club and I think have done 6 or so races at snet. Best result was 2nd in class when it rained and rained and I was overtaking M3s on the outside...

Regarding the engine build, I am sure you know the world of racing is highly competative and this is an area I am afraid I wont be telling everyone much about (unless I sell it). Needless to say it is designed with big but usable power, lots of lateral g and endurance racing in mind. Thrashing around a car for 2 hour races at a time means you need control and reliability rather than willy waving peaky power figures.

andy97

4,691 posts

221 months

Sunday 22nd January 2017
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Thurbs, I look forward to being out with you in FC, I will be in my 944turbo hopefully.


Harris_I

3,225 posts

258 months

Monday 23rd January 2017
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Good man, Richard! We seem to have some shared childhood dreams - always fancied myself flinging a 'grale around.

We diced a couple of times in CSCC if you remember (blue Porsche). This topic bookmarked, and wishing you the best of luck in this project. Keep us updated.

Harris


Jacobyte

4,718 posts

241 months

Monday 23rd January 2017
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You will have a lot of fun with that.

I raced a 16v integrale back in 2001 with the Auto Italia series (actually an 8V with 16v engine):











We had some interesting challenges but it was pretty quick for a brick. Things have moved on a lot in 15 years, but feel free to ask if you need any ideas. I've still got the little setup notebook somewhere.

That car is now an EVO-bodied group-A spec rally car in Martini livery.

Thurbs

Original Poster:

2,780 posts

221 months

Monday 23rd January 2017
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Those pictures you have posted look great with a real mix of cars. Was the stratos original? And more importantly, did you win?! And does the car still compete?

I would love to pick your brains about it. I know it isn't the greatest shape for going around a circuit and would be much better off in something with a greater aerodynamic co-efficient. I have been speaking to Steve @ Walkers regarding the best set up to use. He sourced the dog box, diff, transfer box reconditioning from Italy and towards InTrax for the suspension. They are also giving me tips about driving style for getting the best out of it on tarmac.

Would love to hear more about your exploits...

Harris_I

3,225 posts

258 months

Monday 23rd January 2017
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Thurbs said:
They are also giving me tips about driving style for getting the best out of it on tarmac.
If you can, do share. Years ago when I bought my first Integrale I attended a driving day with John Whalley. The secret seemed to be to Scandi-flick the car into corners and flatten the throttle early, rather than the traditional smooth inputs and slow-in fast-out. Very odd at first but insanely fun on the road. Not sure if it's the quickest way round a track or suitable for the suspension set-up you have.

Veesix75

113 posts

123 months

Monday 23rd January 2017
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Good luck with the build, a friend is just starting a restoration of a very rotten integrale.

The Stratos is a kit, a Hawke I think and possibly driven by a chap called Tony Soper, I think it had an Alfa 3 litre V6 in it.

Shame you can't see the full grid, it was a reverse grid and would most likely have had a Fiat Uno at the front.


Jacobyte

4,718 posts

241 months

Monday 23rd January 2017
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Thurbs said:
Those pictures you have posted look great with a real mix of cars. Was the stratos original? And more importantly, did you win?! And does the car still compete?

I would love to pick your brains about it. I know it isn't the greatest shape for going around a circuit and would be much better off in something with a greater aerodynamic co-efficient. I have been speaking to Steve @ Walkers regarding the best set up to use. He sourced the dog box, diff, transfer box reconditioning from Italy and towards InTrax for the suspension. They are also giving me tips about driving style for getting the best out of it on tarmac.

Would love to hear more about your exploits...
As mentoned by Veesix75, the Stratos was a replica, owned and driven by Graham Scott with the occasional drive by Tony Soper. Not sure where the car is now, but it was very quick with meaningful downforce.

We never won, although I was fighting for podium places few times - it only had about 290bhp, road gearbox and standard diffs, plus we ran 195 slicks, so even with the weight down to 1100Kg it wasn't going to be truly competitive. Huge fun on slicks in the wet. Its current owner will be rallying it (it was a Group N rally car before I raced it), so it's certainly got a lot of interesting history.

Steve is very much a rally man, as was John Whalley. On track I found the quickest technique was to be very smooth in the fast corners, but in the slower/tighter ones you want to loosen the rear end by scandi-flick or lift-off-oversteer to chuck it in, so that you can get on the power early to spool up the turbo and launch through the corner. That'll be easier with more power. Your left foot will come in handy.

A couple of other guys have since raced much more developed integrales. Hopefully they'll join in here.

arguti

1,772 posts

185 months

Tuesday 24th January 2017
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Veesix75 said:
Shame you can't see the full grid, it was a reverse grid and would most likely have had a Fiat Uno at the front.
anyone know waht car is behind the Integrale on the grid ? Abarth??

Jacobyte

4,718 posts

241 months

Tuesday 24th January 2017
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arguti said:
anyone know waht car is behind the Integrale on the grid ? Abarth??
Maserati Barchetta. Stunning car with pullrod suspension and rather dodgy Burberry-style seats.

https://www.madwhips.com/photo/69608/1991-maserati...

227bhp

10,203 posts

127 months

Wednesday 25th January 2017
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Well if optimism wins races you should be ok.

Thurbs

Original Poster:

2,780 posts

221 months

Thursday 2nd February 2017
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I am certainly optimistic...! …but I know money and talent are needed to win.

In order to sharpen up my driving skills ready for the new season I rented a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 4. The car is a rally tarmac spec car with around 400 horsepower so is comparable to the delta in many ways. As it’s January I saw 2 degrees and a damp track all day at Snetterton on the 300 configuration.

This is the car (at Silverstone last year):


Here are a couple of laps towards the end of the day when the track was nearly dry. Sadly it was not very fast but I have plenty of excuses stored away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnF0C8Z2jO8

I really enjoyed the day and are beginning to get my head around the massive power and traction you get with AWD. I have another session booked in at Rockingham towards the end of Feb to build more technique and confidence.



Psimpson7

1,071 posts

240 months

Thursday 2nd February 2017
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I raced one for a while and may be one of the people alluded to by James in the post detailing his car.

I did probably 2 seasons worth of racing in the same series as James, although by the time I was racing it was called the European saloon cars. (I also did a few of the Bentley Drivers club all comers races at Silverstone where we got to play with some super exotic stuff)

I don't have that many pictures unfortunately, but a few are below. It was a 1993 Evo1

At the end we were running about 365bhp on a fairly low boost level, (built from a new engine running with a chargecooler setup), Motec management , carbon wings, plastic windows, Ap brakes, coil overs etc etc. It was quite quick and compared quite closely to some of the Italian cars still running in the series but it got smashed by all the ex works BTCC cars that turned up!






SlimJim16v

5,617 posts

142 months

Thursday 9th February 2017
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Regarding the aerodynamics,the biggest problem is

Edited by SlimJim16v on Saturday 26th August 18:16

Thurbs

Original Poster:

2,780 posts

221 months

Saturday 11th February 2017
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Thanks for all the pictures and advice, all good.

The car is now ready for the paint shop and will be there for a week or so. Just signed up for a test day on the 23rd of March and the first race on the 1st of April.







The good news is all of the bits needed to get it on the grod have arrived... all expect a couple of hubs.

I have also picked up another shell (non integrale) over the weekend which is much less wrotten than the yellow one.


Thurbs

Original Poster:

2,780 posts

221 months

Wednesday 15th March 2017
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Hi all, another update.

Driver positioning is really important when building a car for endurance so we took some time getting this bit right. I am going to be doing 40 minute races mostly but want to compete in the odd 2 hour race also. We spent a lot of time getting the seating position as central and rearward as possible to get the best COG. This means the rear seat mount is half way in to the reat foot well and the seat is a good part behind the B pillar. I haven't got any pictures of this but will do so when the build progresses further. We have also decided to go with an electronic throttle and throttle body to give us more flexibility when it comes to engine mapping.



Most of the parts ready for building have now arrived and some of them are a demonstration of engineering excellence. In particular the machining of the engine components including the con rods, pistons, clutch, crank, cams (not pictured) and block. All of the components have been balanced and weighted to within a gram, the block has been pressure tested and honed ready for the new pistons. The head is away still being machined and the valves installed ready to be built up. Because this is a race car I don’t want to say much more about the specification but if anyone is interested, drop me a line and I can fill you in.











Once the car’s welding had finished and the new panels had arrived the car was shipped off to the painters ready for the final paint to be applied. Colour was an important decision in the build and whilst there were red cars briefly around in the 1989 WRC, I ended up going for the classic white. This is mainly because I want to get sponsorship for this and subsiquent seasons and I thought a white car would be the most attractive. For the interior and engine bay I went against the Lancia factory standard of light grey and opted for a classic dark grey look instead. This was mainly to cut down on glare during sunny days as well as during night races where reflections can massively reduce visibility.

Once I had decided on the colour (and there was much dithering) the painter ended up sand blasting the shell rather than dipping it given there was very little rusting of the metal since the last dip. The painter then applied a rust inhibiter to the metal, base coats and then the final finishing coats. The floor had additional layers of stone chip protection applied before the final finishing colour.







Only two weeks to go until the first race and as you can see I am currently knee deep in wires as I am doing the loom myself.

How many hours in a day? Not enough to work, build let alone rest or sleep.




Edited by Thurbs on Wednesday 15th March 11:42

Jacobyte

4,718 posts

241 months

Wednesday 15th March 2017
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Two weeks until the first race? You have an incredible amount of work to do. Clearly, much like me, you consider yourself to be an optimist.

It's looking great, although I'd have gone with a lighter interior colour, as you can find those tiny dropped washers more easily.

Pro Plus for you. wink