The Lancia Stratos Volumex project continues to come together; the custom interior is being stitched, wiring rationalised and the engine built, but there’s one pressing obstacle still to overcome – the supercharger, or more correctly still, the route its belt will ultimately take.
Tracing a suitable route down the side of the ‘Busso’ V6 has proved a challenge due to the amount of space already taken up by the OE cam belt train. In contrast to much of the wider Stratos build, a good portion of the parts that form the supercharger setup are from various OE suppliers, including the ‘charger (Jaguar X308 XJR) and belt tensioner (Jaguar X350 auxiliary belt).
This still leaves us with the challenge of mounting the idler and tensioner in a suitably sturdy fashion however, something rendered all the more important when you realise that the belt will be transmitting the best part of 60bhp just to drive the blower when at full chat!
We’re currently in the process of mocking up the belt run, ensuring that it runs vertically and remains taught, after which we’ll be designing the final billet alloy mounting plate to replace our steel mockup.
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