Fuel tanks & struts

[BETANUT]

What do the various Stratos replicas use for fuel tanks? Odd question perhaps :confused: but the reason's simple enough.
I hope to be able to match up people to parts so that not too many Betas are being scrapped or broken for parts when it's not necessary to do so.
Beta petrol tanks (especially coupe & spyder tanks) are hard to find in good condition and almost impossible new - they're something of a Holy Grail for Beta owners. I know :o I need one for my Volumex! (Anyone got one?)
Quality replacement Beta struts are getting harder to find (see the previous posts on recycling) and aftermarket Konis are very sought after. If you are converting your Beta based kit to Alfa and are parting out the beta 'stuff' do let me know, I may be able to find a home for it! :D Similarly, if you need a Beta bitlet me know - I may be able to help.:)

[mogul_x]

Hawks and Transformers typically use a pair of custom made alloy or steel fuel tanks, generally similar to those found on the original Stratos. Not exactly the same shape or capacity, but similar in layout.

I think the Corse also uses a custom made tank. I might be mistaken, but I think some have a single centrally located tank, where some others may have the dual tanks similar to a Hawk.

Anybody know if some of the older cars used Beta tanks?

[Stratos]

Allora had custom-made alloy tanks, very similar to the Hawk.

Corse has custom tanks, but these sit inside the chassis, rather than outside the chassis like the Allora and Hawk.

[chris.richard]

Hamish, I've got struts/springs ready now, with discs, calipers, hubs available soon.

[John]

Hamish,

I have just dragged a Beta HPE with volumex engine in from Peterborough. There is a fuel tank dumped inside the tailgate, but not knowing this model previously I don't know if it's the one you are looking for, and have not taken any notice of it's condition. It will take me a while to check on it as it's not here at home, but if you can describe what I should be looking for i'll report back when i can look at it.

John Davidson.

[BETANUT]

John,
What are you doing with the VX - are you popping the engine into a Stratos? I might be able to find a home for whats left after it's 'donor' facility as VXs have many unique parts that are hard to track down unless they come secondhand from spares cars.
If you are looking at the fuel tank it's the seam thats the problem, they split all the way round and new ones are impossible to locate. The tank should have a sender unit in the top, the fuel pipes and breathers come in from the offside of the car. There are 4 fixing bolts on the circumferance of the tank. there should be an electric fuel pump amongst the tanks plumbing.

[Chris Jarvis]

Hamish

Stratos reps use Beta struts whether they've got an Alfa engine or a Beta engine.

After market struts are sought after by Statos replica builders too.

[BETANUT]

Bugger...
I thought Stratos replicas just used the beta top mount? Maybe I got the wrong end of the stick. By the way, there is a firm in the Netherlands who do refurbished top mounts for a price. There's a link from the viva-lancia.com web page under reproductions, someone with more negotiating skills might like to approach them as the only reply I've had was 'its not economic for foreigners to buy our parts' . :rolleyes:

[JohnB_SPY8808053]

The rear struts on the Hawk Stratos replicas are the same as the front struts on the Beta Coupe. It seems to me that you should be able to get a set of the Leda struts from Gerry and use them on a Beta. Can anybody think of a reason this wouldn't work?

John B.


PS - Sorry I haven't been posting much lately - been REALLY busy.

[Bernard]

having seen various original stratos at Maglioli's in Biella and seeing the strange looking tanks i asked the specific question 'what are the tanks off' the reply was - Fiat 500 turned on end with a few minor mods....so everyone to the scrap yards!...or Croatia (there were lots of fiat 500's there)

[mogul_x]

Originally posted by BETANUT
Bugger...
I thought Stratos replicas just used the beta top mount?

Hamish,

You're half right - Hawk Stratos replicas with the optional Leda struts only need the top mount from the Beta, and the associated fasteners. However, before the availability of the Leda units, it was standard practice to fit the entire strut assembly from a coupe or HPE.

Even now, the beta unit may be preferred for somebody doing a 2-litre car, or working on a tight budget. I think Hawk Cars only recommends the Leda struts for use in 3-litre cars, or high performance variants of the 2-litre.

Of course, there's nothing preventing the use of the Leds struts on a standard 2-litre replica. Just a matter of whether you can justify the expense.

[mogul_x]

Originally posted by JohnB_SPY8808053
The rear struts on the Hawk Stratos replicas are the same as the front struts on the Beta Coupe. It seems to me that you should be able to get a set of the Leda struts from Gerry and use them on a Beta. Can anybody think of a reason this wouldn't work?

Not off the top of my head, but I don't know Betas, so my opinion probably isn't worth much here. The only issue that I can think of would be the springs. The Leda struts use a fairly large diameter spring, where the Beta struts appear to use a smaller diameter coil. If clearance is tight, you might need to machine up a couple of smaller diameter spring perches for installation in a Beta.

The upper spring perch might also need a feature to accomidate the nylon shoulder and needle bearing from the Beta top mount, since it would once again be a steering axle.

Anything obvious I've overlooked?

[JohnB_SPY8808053]

That was about what I thought. The Leda units might be a good alternative for anybody who wanted high performance struts for their Beta. The Koni struts are hard to find but you can get Koni inserts for the original strut bodies from Classic Garage (http://www.classicgarage.com).

John B.

[BETANUT]

Always fancied a set of Ledas but can't justify the cost - around £180 each:rolleyes: is a bit rich for my blood and if I did buy a set I'd get divorced just as quickly. In many ways it's probably good I don't have a Stratos - I'd realy be in the doo doo then:p
Unfortunately the classic garage inserts are for Saloon betas, it's a different part to the coupe/HPE insert which is a real pain as there's plenty of them around:rolleyes:
Back to the drawing board and a set of standard replacement struts:(

[rutthenut]

Originally posted by BETANUT
By the way, there is a firm in the Netherlands who do refurbished top mounts for a price. There's a link from the viva-lancia.com web page under reproductions

The web link for this is http://www.viva-lancia.com/forsale/classic-bushes/index.htm

But I'm not sure if they are offering the top mount itself or not, the description is a bit brief...

[BETANUT]

Originally posted by rutthenut


The web link for this is http://www.viva-lancia.com/forsale/classic-bushes/index.htm

But I'm not sure if they are offering the top mount itself or not, the description is a bit brief...

Hmmmm:rolleyes:
They assure me it is a completely refurbished top mount but 'due to costs is not economic for foreigners to buy our parts' :confused: I did point out to them that ther's a reasonably high demand for these but I never got a reply. Perhaps I was too foreign:p
Nevertheless, they are the only place that seems to sell them:rolleyes:

[rutthenut]

Originally posted by BETANUT
They assure me it is a completely refurbished top mount but 'due to costs is not economic for foreigners to buy our parts'

And I don't suppose they even told you what the price would be?

I'm sure the postage cost would not be crippling when trying to purchase items of this sort. Things should be that bit easier for them to sell elsewhere in Europe now that they all use the Euro too.

I have passed their contact details onto Gerry, so he might try to see if they want to deal with him - if the parts are correct and the price is even reasonable.

Maybe Eric and Sabine would be able to deal with this guy, although they are in Belgium and not Holland - it is somewhat closer.

Nico is another person who may be able to contact them and see about doing business with them - but I would not expect any individual to pay out for some 'stock', which they would then have to hold onto for a while and sell on with some markup as demand appears.

[BETANUT]

To say they were a tad uncooperative would be gross understatement:rolleyes: You're quite right they didn't quote a price to me but they might to Gerry as he's trade....;) To be honest I'm surprised Huib has kept them on his site as I'm not the first to give them 'negative feedback'. Horses for courses I guess :confused:

[BETANUT]

Here's a direct link to the suspension section of a website belonging to a company in Germany who seem to have lots of quality NOS beta parts kicking around. If you scroll down you'll come to the nice new top mounts they've got in stock:p Their price list is easily accessed but a quick bit of mental arithmetic suggests a new top mount will be around £83.... if only the Konis were still in stock!
I have been meaning to get around to having an English translation of this website available :D but I've not quite got round to it yet. Happy shopping!!
http://www.bielstein.com/LANCIA/Beta/bet06achsen_aufhangung/bet06achsen_aufhangung.html