DEON VON BENECKE'S 1984 LANCIA BETA VOLUMEX

Deon Von Benecke from South Africa sends us these pictures of his sharp looking 84 Lancia Beta Volumex. Here's a perfect example of the kind of special car most North American Twin-Cam fanatics would just love to have. For Deon, its primary function is as his daily driver. A daily driver… We only wish! Despite this, Deon's car is anything but mundane. It features a series of interesting and purposeful modifications that lend the car a unique character. Read on!

A Lancia Beta in good shape is a particularly rare find these days let alone one equipped with a factory blower. Without question, that little tag on the end of its name would have to be the most interesting and attractive feature about this car. Volumex. Don't you just love the sound of that? It's tantamount to having a grill badge on your Twin-Cam that says "got one up on you Fiat boy!" The problem is, Deon's car isn't a Volumex…uh…anymore. It used to be. Instead, Deon has followed the opposite but not unfamiliar route of force-fed induction, turbocharging. Now, by virtue of the fact that the car stared out as a genuine Volumex model, many people would argue strongly against making any changes to the car at all. But remember, it's a personal thing. And if the mods are done tastefully as is evidently the case with this particular Beta, then what's the problem? When we first looked at Deon's engine pics we had to scratch our heads and go hmmm… it's not a familiar sight but where have we seen this before? We're also willing to bet that there are at least a few of you out there who before having read the information would not have been able to identify that intake plenum as a BMW component. That's right, it's off a Bimmer along with the fuel injection, which is supplemented by a customized ignition system featuring a specially modified VW Golf distributor and igniter.

The force feeding is now handled by a single Mitsubishi TD05 turbo while the intake charge is kept cool through a requisite intercooler. According to Deon, the Mitsu compressor is a bit on the small side but it's "nice and drivable" because after all, it is his everyday car. A gas flowed head assists this heavy breather which features a standard 2.0 liter Lancia Beta intake cam and a Volumex cam on the exhaust side. The addition of Vernier pulleys makes them easy to time. A word of note to those of you who are contemplating this type of modification; be careful with your cam choice, force-fed applications do not like a lot of overlap. So, that extra set of 40-80s you've got lying around won't be of any use to you here. The bigger the cam timing and overlap, the greater the tendency of the compressor to force the intake charge straight out the exhaust port. Less cam is actually better. We would be interested in measuring the specs for Deon's cams.

Internally, Deon's motor features modified pistons from a Lancia Thema Turbo to handle the added thermal loads and expels through a 63mm stainless steel exhaust system. A lightened flywheel helps keep the revs up, an important condition to keeping a turbo application in the power, while a clutch and pressure plate from a Fiat Uno Turbo transfer that power through the rest of the driveline. Speaking of power, Deon's claims his mods are worth a reliable 120 Kw (160 hp) with only 0.3 bar boost. (Don't forget that bit about it being his daily driver…) Operating temperatures are kept in check by a VW Golf radiator mounting a pair of aftermarket cooling fans.

What good is the added power and acceleration if you can't stop? To address this issue Deon upgraded the car's brakes by converting to Lancia Thema front rotors measuring 284 mm in diameter. Brake calipers from a 96 BMW on modified brackets provide the clamping force while 195/60 series tires wrapped around 15" five spoke alloy rims make it all stick. Inside the car, Recaro front seats from, you guessed it, a BMW, lend proper support and finish off this Beta's Teutonic alter ego.

Nicely done Deon!