Lancia Beta Forum

Hi Guys,

I notice that most Beta coupe engine timing belt covers are yellow.However my car which is a series 1 has a stainless steel or some sort of aluminium alloy one.

Is this normal??

Sulo

Hi Sulo,

Yes this is pretty normal. There are/were metal timing belt covers fitted by lancia, so it's not an after market item.  I'm not sure if they started out fitting metal types then moved to the yellow plastic type due to cost.... Anyone know for sure?

My series 1 saloon has an alloy timing belt cover.

I have always assumed that the move to plastic for the series 2 was a cost saving measure, but no doubt it was justified at the time by claiming to be a weight saving measure!

Andy

Hi Matt/Andy,

Well for a moment I thought mine was a one off special. I must say this is a great forum and thanks for your reply.

I have also read some where that the 1600 can be tuned upto 140bhp, is there any truth to this?

Sulo

Hi Sulo

Not sure if it is original, but my S2 pre F/L Spider 1600 also has the alloy one. At this time I am unsure if is the original engine as I suspect that the timing belt went on it and the damage repaired at some time in its past.

Peter

Sulo

The 1600 can be tuned to 180BHP naturally aspirated, but not cheaply. 140BHP is a good cylinder head twin 40 Webers or 45s with smaller chokes 4 into 2 into 1 exhaust cam from 2000 engine and lightened flywheel and uprated clutch. Have a brouse arround Guy Croft's website for more of an idea on what can be done depending on budget. Remember throttle response a broad spread of torque and good gearing can have a 200 BHP engine leave a 250 BHP engine for dead.

Google Guy Croft Racing Engines

Eric 

as far as I know those alloy covers will fit the early engines and also possibly later 1.3 and 1.6 I'd love one shined up on the VX but the 2 litre engines are taller  >:( hence the elevated bonnet and they don't fit, almost certainly a cost saving measure of which there were plenty for instance the very early series one berlinas had lovely enamel badges on the rear pillars which were later changed to plastic. there were two covers for series one 82284877 for 1.6/1.8 and 82291670 for 1.4 the series 2 book shows two covers 82321595 for 2000 82322768 for 1.3/1.6 I would guess that these were all plastic there is no mention of a change over of parts so presumably all s2 had plastic but of course it is possible that they used up stocks or someone has fitted an alloy one on a 1.6 cos it looks the business. amazingly the part numbers change again for the s2fl to 823246996/82346997 but I doubt they differ much if at all   

I still want to try & re-adapt the 1800 Alloy cover to fit my S1 after I put a 2l in it...

Another obvious example of S2 cost cutting would be the replacement of the door end lamps with simple reflectors...

would be very interested to know if you can adapt the timing cover if you do try post a 'how to' on here!!

the good news with those is that they fit all the later cars so quality can be restored  :D

Thanks guys,

 You are all a wealth of information.
Eric 180 Bhp sounds great , not sure if it would still driveable in traffic?

Hi all,

I'm quite interested in this timing belt cover modification- is it possible? Does anyone have a plastic cover and an alloy cover so they can do a side by side comparison or does anyone know the differences in measurements by any chance? The plastic ones look $hite I think...

Andrew.

Just a random thought - given that it's not a particularly complex shape, couldn't one be fabricated using aluminium or stainless checker plate, using the grotty yellow plastic one as a template??

I have both the ally timing belt cover and the yellow plastic version for my 1600.  (1600 and 2000 timing covers differ in size)

I will check this out tonight, the fixing holes are definately different, on the ally version the holes are much larger, so I'm assuming they locate by more than just an M6 bolt.

bump :D

Apologies, work has been manic for the past few weeks.  I will look tonight.

If anyone can post a picture of how the ally version is secured to the side of the engine or provide a description that would be great.

I do know this, the shape is not as simple as it first looks, you have to factor in the path for the alternator belt which will complicate things a little I fear, the ally version is not just a flat piece of metal with rounded edges and a couple of holes.

Here are the two together, I think it would be much more difficult that you first think, there are subtle differences in the amount of clearance of the cam wheels and the route for the alternator belt.