Lancia Volumex Coupe - Advice sought.

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jaybee
Posts: 4
Joined: April 30th, 2012, 2:16 pm

Lancia Volumex Coupe - Advice sought.

Post by jaybee »

Dear All,
My name is Jonathan Baker (call me JB) and I am brand new to the site.
I am equally brand new to a 1984 Lancia VX Coupe having returned to the "Beta" marque after 15 or so years (used to have a VX HPE in 1994 but have had a couple of Integrales since.)

The bodywork is pretty sound and I can fix what little that needs doing, however, I would appreciate some advice on the mechanical side of things.
I have a two phase plan. Phase 1 is to make the car roadworthy whilst upgrading the essentials. Phase 2 will involve giving it to Mr Croft to make it go faster.
Anything chosen for phase 1 should have phase 2 in mind.
This is what I need / what can you recommend for:

Phase 1:
• Discs all round.
I am looking for a decent quick road set up with occasional track-day use.
• Calipers and pads all round.
As above. Also thinking about braided hoses.
• Shock absorbers all round.
As most of the time will be on road, I don’t want a super stiff, crashy set-up,
but I don’t want a wallowy old hector either.
• Exhaust system.
The car only “needs” the back box section and so I wonder if there is something
(preferably stainless steel) that would also liberate a few bhp.
However, would also consider a full system and manifold if this is the way to go.
• Spark Plugs.

Assume a budget of £1500.

Any advice gratefully received.
Many thanks.
JB
Guy Croft
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Re: Lancia Volumex Coupe - Advice sought.

Post by Guy Croft »

Greetings JB

1. back box replacement - nope, no power gain. The 'logjam' on these is the in-part the standard carb which is OK with the over-baffled standard ex system - but if you change it the whole system downstream of the manifold has to go really.

2. plugs standard engine should be on standard plugs.


As for the rest I hope some informed member can offer useful guidance. Please no 'have you tried?' or 'have you considered?' please ONLY write from direct personal exp!

G
jaybee
Posts: 4
Joined: April 30th, 2012, 2:16 pm

Re: Lancia Volumex Coupe - Advice sought.

Post by jaybee »

Thanks Guy.
Just to be on the safe side, can you kindly confirm what the standard plugs should be?
I would rather trust what you advise than take the chance of picking up some incorrect info from a website or trusting that the previous owner has the correct ones in.

Further to Guy's comments on the exhaust system - can anyone recommend a brand of full system?
I seem to remember that a friend had an "Ansa" on his Monte-Carlo and Janspeed used to be a player but I imagine time has moved on.

Thanks in advance.
Grundo Farb
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Location: New Zealand - Wellington
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Re: Lancia Volumex Coupe - Advice sought.

Post by Grundo Farb »

Hello JB, good to hear you are planning on upgrading the VX, it is a long road but certainly worth it.

I have some suggestions that you may wish to follow. Unfortunately with the Beta and the VX in particular, there are VERY few off the shelf go faster bits. Most of the things I have done to mine have all been bespoke solutions.

Brakes:
There are seemingly a range of uprated brake discs and pads available for the VX (of which I have never been able to actually buy as they are never in stock) but you won't get a substantial improvement without changing the rotor diameter to cope with another caliper. A common change is to move to a 16V integrale/thema caliper which allows you to run a larger ventilated disc (keeping the same pcd) but then you will need bigger wheels. Others have changed to a completely different system altogether running wilwood or other aftermarket calipers (again with larger wheels). Both options are likely to blow your entire budget once you change the calipers, pads, discs and wheels.

I have standard brake calipers (overhauled) running dot 5.1 fluid and have ferodo race pads in the front which are a substantial improvement over standard. A lot of brake suppliers will be able to recompound a set of brake pads for you on demand - but like anything they cost, but much less than a complete change. Some people swear by the change to braided lines but I don't think you will gain much on the standard system. Brembo dics for the standard VX are as good as any and are available.

Suspension:
If you have the original suspension then it could be quite spongey as the inserts are could be shot. There was an aftermarket product for the beta from Koni which made the suspension inserts easier to adjust and change, but that was MANY years ago that they were available. You may be able to find a second hand set of these (but they are quite rare) or have your existing suspension rebuilt. Betaboyz offer some products which are mostly tailored to improving the standard car but the VX had uprated springs already on it so I don't know whether they would offer much improvement. They do offer an insert kit that may help though.

I have completely rebuilt front struts with adjustable coil-overs - a motorsport/engineer would be able to provide advice on what could be done. The rear struts are off an Audi (don't know which one). You may want to go to a motorsport tuner near you who can typically source a range of spring types if you need stiffer springs. In my experience the original uprated springs were fine for alround activity, making sure the inserts were up to scratch made a big difference (I have had three different suspension set-ups on my three VX's).

Exhaust:
I would plan on doing exactly what Mr GC advises you to do on the exhaust and do it from scratch. Anything off the shelf is not likely to do it as A) it isn't designed for the VX and B) won't be tailored for any improvements you intend to make to the engine. Again, I would find an engineer/fabricator experienced in exhausts and have them build it based on Guys spec. 4-1 big bore with the correct lengths for the header, with as few straight through resonators as legally possible, (unless you can do it yourself).

Spark plugs:
I use NGK BP6ES plugs.

With your budget my advice would be to do the exhaust first, suspension second (if it is a problem) and brakes third. Until you have uprated the engine the brakes will be sufficient.

Good luck, Adam.
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jaybee
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Joined: April 30th, 2012, 2:16 pm

Re: Lancia Volumex Coupe - Advice sought.

Post by jaybee »

Many thanks Adam - great advice - much appreciated.
I shall start hitting the Internet.
WhizzMan
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Re: Lancia Volumex Coupe - Advice sought.

Post by WhizzMan »

From personal experience, I can say that going from "stock" plugs to an iridium equivalent, gave me better spark with added benefits like better cold starting, cold running and longer spark plug life. It may actually give you a slight improvement in power, but you'd need a dyno to prove that probably.

Guy gave you a very important piece of information. He said the main power impediment on the stock volumex is the carburetor. I'd investigate that and see if you can get some more power from an alternative setup. Maybe combine that with an exhaust upgrade, depending on budget and options? If you have to choose, I'd go for the carb and not the exhaust.

My personal experience has been that a stock brake setup on most cars works just fine, if it's properly maintained, has proper dot4 fluid in it (dot 5.1 tends to be just as good or even worse than dot 4 in just a few months time, due to hygroscopic properties) and maybe some "sports" compound brake pads. Make sure all calipers are functioning and moving freely, any brake balance adjusters (automatic or manual) are functioning properly and set up correctly. If your brakes are overheating, it's usually driver error, extreme weight in the car or you're going steeply downhill. You can upgrade a lot, but most of the time, it's complete overkill once you get the suspension set up properly and have someone experienced drive it. I'd say if a mix and match with stock parts from other cars can get you a cheap upgrade, by all means, do so, but don't go spending money on dot 5.1, race pads, four pod calipers and whatnot until you have your car set up for track use only.
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jaybee
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Joined: April 30th, 2012, 2:16 pm

Re: Lancia Volumex Coupe - Advice sought.

Post by jaybee »

Thanks Whizman,
Info much appreciated. Coupled with what Adam has said, I have elected for standard discs with upgraded pads. For suspension I am aiming for standard shocks (will probably just order new inserts from betaboyz) with slightly lowered springs.
For exhaust, further inspection shows that I need 2 out of 3 boxes so I am going for a new stainless system from manifold back. Again Betaboyz do one that is manufactured minus one box.
Less restrictive exhaust plus a new K&N filter and the iridium plugs that you recommend (and I am a big fan of) will hopefully help things burn and breathe a bit better!
Like the tip on the carburetor. That will be the next point of focus.
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