K20 Lancia Beta Zagato

Roobus

Orange "K"rusader
I'm hoping the moderators will allow this here as there are folks on or associated with this forum that have had a part in this build. I've been working on this car on and off for the last 6 years. I've done almost all of the work myself, even the poor paint job. This is the first car I've ever built from the ground up. I've finally put a few miles on it, and since it runs and drives, I figured it was time to share it with you. There are still a few issues I'm figuring out, interior is not complete and I haven't installed a rear soft top yet. Seeing as there are a lot of people doing the K20 swap into their X 1/9's (I have one of those also), and the Lancia is sort of in the Fiat family, why not share it here first.

I think I bought the car in 2015 from the original owner. It had about 52,000 miles on it and had been sitting in a field for about 5 years. It was in decent enough shape that I took a chance on it. I think at the time Midwest-Bayless was building my K20 X 1/9. I may not have the dates correct, as it's taken so long. After a lot of thought, I decided this was also a good candidate for a Kswap. I stripped it down and fixed a few rust issues, then brought it back to Ohio where Jonathon Pack did the motor mounts and engine install. Once home, the project kind of stalled a bit until I moved about 3 years ago and finally had good garage space.

As you may notice, I changed some of the exterior design, which some of you may like, some may not. Bumpers are gone, front and rear. I filled the rear bumper holes, and also got rid of the trunk lock. I used a trunk handle/cable from a Honda and installed new struts to lift the trunk deck. Some may notice the redesign of the front face and the intercooler. I have a Kraftwerks rotrex supercharger waiting to be installed, although I haven't decided on if or when it will be installed yet. I painted the car myself, something I've never done before and it didn't go well. It looks ok in photos, but up close it's pretty bad. I figured since I was doing most of the work myself, I might as well try something new, as pretty much everything about this build was a new learning experience. I think I learned a lot what not to do when painting and hopefully won't repeat those mistakes next time. I was never out to build a show car, and I've seen the attention to detail some of you have with your builds, I just don't don't have that gene.

The LBZ is powered by a stock 2002 Acura RSX Type-S, 6sp transmission. It sits on 205/40/17 tires. Suspension is custom coilovers thanks to Matt and Braydon at Midwest-Bayless. Midwest-Bayless also helped me out with a gas tank issue and a new windshield, plus helping me sort other issues. Matt and Braydon went way out of their way to get the suspension correct and it is greatly appreciated. The brakes are from a new Fiat 500 Abarth with custom adapters built by Jim Ford in Shelton, WA. All new brake lines were installed, Tilton master cylinder, Tilton bias adjuster and a brake booster from Summit Racing. I replaced all of the wiring with a Painless kit and LED bulbs all around, with H-4 headlights and Halo lights in the front. I made a custom gauge cluster using Speedhut gauges. For now, the interior is pretty much original until I figure out what I can afford to do with it. I made the header and exhaust myself, but will probably revisit that at another time, as it's not as perfect as I'd like. I haven't had it on a dyno, but I'm sure as it sits probably in the 200hp range like most K engines. Custom drive axles were made by the Driveshaft Shop in North Carolina.

Only a handful of people have known about this build. I think this is the first ever Kswap into a Lancia Beta Zagato. Thanks go out to Jonathan Pack, Matt and Braydon at Midwest-Bayless, Rodger Lawton, Jim Ford and I'm sure I'm missing a few others. These people helped get this done and let me also rattle their brains for information, especially when I was clueless about what I was doing. There are still a few issues I'm sorting, but so far it's really fun to drive. I'm not on the forum a lot, but I'll check back if anyone has questions. Thanks for letting me share and I hope you enjoy it.

Gerald

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Very very nice.

Has a great Fulvia vibe. A little low :) but great look all around.

Impressive how the engine and its ancillaries fit inside there. Modern intake control systems are so much smaller than OE assemblies.

Did you keep the OE steering rack or change it for a newer set up with better feel ie reduction in assist when rolling?

Must be a hell of a ride.
 
I did keep the original power steering rack and it's an issue, because it leaks. It works ok going from Acura pump to LBZ rack, but the leak annoys me. Not exactly sure how I'll solve that issue yet, maybe a manual rack if I ever find one.

It is definitely fun to drive. I've never owned a front wheel drive car before, so I'm trying to understand the torque steer. I feel what it is like now, which isn't horrible, but add a supercharger and another 100hp......well, guess that's why I'm not sure about adding the supercharger just yet. It feels like a pretty good cruiser so far, but if I were going to attack some corners I'd still want the X 1/9.
 
There are seal kits for the rack. The TRW rack is a popular conversion but seems a step backwards in my eyes. It's a Lancia and should be refined to drive.
JPAT P/N's BETA ZF AS18285 40852322
 
I'm hoping the moderators will allow this here as there are folks on or associated with this forum that have had a part in this build. I've been working on this car on and off for the last 6 years. I've done almost all of the work myself, even the poor paint job. This is the first car I've ever built from the ground up. I've finally put a few miles on it, and since it runs and drives, I figured it was time to share it with you. There are still a few issues I'm figuring out, interior is not complete and I haven't installed a rear soft top yet. Seeing as there are a lot of people doing the K20 swap into their X 1/9's (I have one of those also), and the Lancia is sort of in the Fiat family, why not share it here first.

I think I bought the car in 2015 from the original owner. It had about 52,000 miles on it and had been sitting in a field for about 5 years. It was in decent enough shape that I took a chance on it. I think at the time Midwest-Bayless was building my K20 X 1/9. I may not have the dates correct, as it's taken so long. After a lot of thought, I decided this was also a good candidate for a Kswap. I stripped it down and fixed a few rust issues, then brought it back to Ohio where Jonathon Pack did the motor mounts and engine install. Once home, the project kind of stalled a bit until I moved about 3 years ago and finally had good garage space.

As you may notice, I changed some of the exterior design, which some of you may like, some may not. Bumpers are gone, front and rear. I filled the rear bumper holes, and also got rid of the trunk lock. I used a trunk handle/cable from a Honda and installed new struts to lift the trunk deck. Some may notice the redesign of the front face and the intercooler. I have a Kraftwerks rotrex supercharger waiting to be installed, although I haven't decided on if or when it will be installed yet. I painted the car myself, something I've never done before and it didn't go well. It looks ok in photos, but up close it's pretty bad. I figured since I was doing most of the work myself, I might as well try something new, as pretty much everything about this build was a new learning experience. I think I learned a lot what not to do when painting and hopefully won't repeat those mistakes next time. I was never out to build a show car, and I've seen the attention to detail some of you have with your builds, I just don't don't have that gene.

The LBZ is powered by a stock 2002 Acura RSX Type-S, 6sp transmission. It sits on 205/40/17 tires. Suspension is custom coilovers thanks to Matt and Braydon at Midwest-Bayless. Midwest-Bayless also helped me out with a gas tank issue and a new windshield, plus helping me sort other issues. Matt and Braydon went way out of their way to get the suspension correct and it is greatly appreciated. The brakes are from a new Fiat 500 Abarth with custom adapters built by Jim Ford in Shelton, WA. All new brake lines were installed, Tilton master cylinder, Tilton bias adjuster and a brake booster from Summit Racing. I replaced all of the wiring with a Painless kit and LED bulbs all around, with H-4 headlights and Halo lights in the front. I made a custom gauge cluster using Speedhut gauges. For now, the interior is pretty much original until I figure out what I can afford to do with it. I made the header and exhaust myself, but will probably revisit that at another time, as it's not as perfect as I'd like. I haven't had it on a dyno, but I'm sure as it sits probably in the 200hp range like most K engines. Custom drive axles were made by the Driveshaft Shop in North Carolina.

Only a handful of people have known about this build. I think this is the first ever Kswap into a Lancia Beta Zagato. Thanks go out to Jonathan Pack, Matt and Braydon at Midwest-Bayless, Rodger Lawton, Jim Ford and I'm sure I'm missing a few others. These people helped get this done and let me also rattle their brains for information, especially when I was clueless about what I was doing. There are still a few issues I'm sorting, but so far it's really fun to drive. I'm not on the forum a lot, but I'll check back if anyone has questions. Thanks for letting me share and I hope you enjoy it.

Gerald

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What are the HVAC controls from?
 
how did you go about lowering it. Struts , springs?
It is lowered using coil overs I begged and pleaded Matt and Brayden for at Midwest-Bayless. It took a couple of tries to get it right, but they were great to work with and helped on some other items also. I also used these out if England on the front. Pretty sure I used the 135mm size, but I'd have to look to make absolute sure.


I used swedge bars in the rear and and got rid of all the brake bias stuff that was back there and installed a Tilton brake bias adjuster.

Gerald
 
who's coil overs, who made the parts to make this work. As you can see with my picture here. i have a zagato amongst others. But i would really like to lower my zagato when I restore this car. That will come this fall.
 
who's coil overs, who made the parts to make this work. As you can see with my picture here. i have a zagato amongst others. But i would really like to lower my zagato when I restore this car. That will come this fall.
I'm not sure how more precise I can write this. These were one off, all custom built from scratch, only for my car, coilovers, built by Matt and Brayden at Midwest-Bayless.
 
This is a really awesome build. I enjoyed driving my Beta Zagato, but reliability was always an issue. I imagine the engine management change that goes with the K swap helps out quite a bit. I bet doubling the power makes the car even more fun to drive.
 
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