My Lancia Delta Integrale 8V restoration project

[samo]

Hello everbody,

Here I will try to present my restauration project. It is still not finished but at this stage I am assembling the engine so I have a few questions every week. I will post pictures as time permits.

Please bear with me if I miss type something, English is my second language!

[samo]

After a few months of dancing around the car with a screwdriver I took out the real tools and begun dismanteling the car.

[samo]

Since this story is too long to try to post it all here I will now just show you a few pictures...

[samo]

After that I promissed myself that I will do all that's neccessary to get the car to bare metal to avoid any surprises.

[1NRO]

A proper job, well done you. I know the work you've been through, it is worth it.

Nik

[Guy Croft]

MODEL POST!

I do admire these bare-metal restorations, I did one once on a Mini Cooper so I know too how much work it is and that was a very small car.

The Integrale must count (in my view) as one of the more 'worthy' restorations given the extraordinary provenance of these incredible cars (what was it - 9 times World Champion??) and it's fantastic to see these in-depth projects here. But - I can't believe how they rusted/rotted.

Well done indeed. I'm especially impressed with the way you have photographed and captioned your work..

G

[samo]

Thank you.

I have a lot more pictures but it's time consumming to upload them. So if anyone is interested on seeing the complete story it's published here http://forum.alfa-klub.com/viewtopic.php?t=18646

You won't understand much as it is in Slovene but the pictures tell the story. I hope the link doesnt violate the site protocols? It's not a commercial site, no popups ...

So after 3 years of non stop work, metal repairs, cleaning the car, scraping off the sealant, 2 trips to the body shop and a sand-blasting session the car was ready for painting. Since I stareted this project seriously I have had the car professionaly sprayed because I didn't want to bodge it myself.

I belive integrales (together with HF4WD and EVO1) had won 6 manufacturest WRC's. And elthou they retired from racing in 91 (or 92) they still hold the record for most wins which is incredible. I allways say that the only thing faster than an integrale is the rust on the integrale. Sadly Italians decided in the 80's to make cars from recycled "white tin"- that's recycled white appliances. So 80's and 90's integrales (and other Italian cars) are in fact 60's and 70's washing machines and refrigirators.

[1NRO]

I've just been right through that link and can only confirm what I've already said, a proper job, better than Lancia made.

As for that roller, my dreams are made of stuff like that :-)

[samo]

@1NRO-thank you. I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

So after 3 years of hard work and a few thousand hours spent on the chassis the car was finally painted and I was astounded by the work that was done. I did go for the best (and most expencive) expert I could find that has experience with oldtimers. He was also the only one who said that before taking on sutch a project he wants to see the car if it is prepaired up to his standards. When he arrived he told me that he's sick and tired of people ringing him for a quote for a paintjob but they forget to mention that half of the car is missing. And halfway trough his explonation he made a quick check of the body repairs, enquired me about my intentions with this car, history of the car, my history, checked that i am a proper car fanatic and a genuine oldtimer lover (I belive he considered me too young to be serious)... but then he bent over and looked underneath the car. He stopped talking and crawled under the car and then spent 30 minutes there in silence. And then he said that he rarlely see's someone clean the car so well.

[samo]

Some more pics of the painted car. This was a turning point in the project as I knew that I finished tearing things apart and I shall start the assembyl (or so i tought).

[samo]

After getting the car back from the paint shop the assembly begun!

[tricky]

Wow that really looks something, the highest of respects to you sir.

[samo]

Thank you!

This is my first project of this sort and I belive the last, since I have been threatend with decapitation by my wife :) Since this is primarly an engine building site I have only posted a few pictures of the chassis build.

[samo]

I am building the engine to be driver friendly with as much torque as possible, because I belive the dyno queens with huge graphs are only good for bar showin off. So I am not expecting huge power. The car will not be raced as I shall try to take care of it and keep it in as original state as possible.

Engine configuration:

-block & crank on 1st regrind
-king bi-metal bearings
-woessner forged pistons
-Garrett T385
-inlet manifold with 16V integrale throttle body
-spesso headgasket (one-piece with integrated fire rings)
-12,9 non stretch head bolts
-F/L 2.0 i.e. NA intake camshaft
-dyno&remap

The crank with the 1st regrind is an experiment of sorts. I know that they shoul not be regrind ever but I have had the crank tested for surface hardness by a reputable engine shop and they graded it as "above average" in hardness (don't remeber the numbers unfortunatley). I have also seen a similar setup engine with 3rd regrind and Fiat Tipo TD bearing which refuzes to die despite beeing abused on a race track. All the components have been measured, checked, re-checked, cleaned in gasoline, degreased, power washed with hot water, air line dried... I am trying my best to make a clean built. Crank has had the plugs removed. All the block oil lines cleaned and I even had the balance shaft center bearings replaced with new items. Aslo conrods small end bushings have been replaced and the oil pump renewed. So there should be good oil pressure and no contamination. I followed the strict guidelines for cleaning the bores with ATF, piston rings gaped properly...

So I shall wait and see how it goes. Anyways if you have any ideas on how to make good torque witouth chasing high BHP i am opened to suggestions.

[tricky]

The crankcase certainly looks clean enough, as for high torque usual tuning tequniques apply.

Which con rods are they samo ? they don't look as if they have the stampings of the Fiat / Lancia origianals.