Eighties Contest Entry: 1988 Lancia Delta HF 4WD

[RallyFanatic]

Yesterday i finally got my base kit i wanted: the Hasegawa Delta Integrale 16v. I will start to turn this into the first group A Delta, from the 1988 monte carlo. It has a flat bonnet, other arches, and other bumpers. Also the interior is totally different, as well as the underside.
So i'm basically turning this

into this

I will be opening the doors and hood on this one, and maybe make a service diorama out of it. Still, i've not completely decided, so maybe later on i'll make one.
Now for some actual progress:
This is the body, cut out the hood to see how i'll fit the engine compartment, along with the firewall, IC, and the rest basically

I've decided to mode the arches first, and cut the doors open later on; it will be easier to align right, and i'm afraid i'll be losing to much strength if do it the other way around.
Here's a view of the engine compartment, still got a lot to do

i cut out the gearbox, it will be replaced with a modded revell golf 16v box, which is a bit more 3d-ish. it wont been seen much though, as the overall engine bay is , early group A like, highly overcrowded.
For the engine block i'll use a hasegawa 037 fiat twin cam, with added detail of course.

Started work on the interior too, i won't use the tub hasegawa provides. Its transmission tunnel is too wide, and if i open the doors the whole tub will sit too high. As it also lacks detail i probably won't use it altogether. Started filling holes and ejector pin marks, and i will be adding the whole 'pressed metal' surface later on with styrene.


Progress will sadly not be extremely quick i'm afraid, university begins next week for us here, but i'll try to make the most of it.
And while i'm at it i'll learn to take better pics too

[generationx]

Just so you get your references correct, the first GrpA Delta was from Monte '87, not '88. Group B banned end of '86, Group A followed.

Great subject by the way!

[sjelic]

Mmmmmm this is yumie, I will folow your progress as a big Lancia rally fan.

[RallyFanatic]

Originally Posted by generationx

Just so you get your references correct, the first GrpA Delta was from Monte '87, not '88. Group B banned end of '86, Group A followed.

Great subject by the way!

My references aren't to blame, i just frazed the sentence the wrong way ( i'm dutch and i don't use a translator) : i was referring to the type of car, not the outing.
As you (very correctly) pointed out, its first outing was the 1987 monte, however i decided to build the 1988 monte version, because the 1988 version doesn't have the black portion of the bumper painted over in white, like the 1987 monte version does (strangely, after that rally no other martini HF 4WD has the white inserts). I like it better in black, so i decided to build that version. The decals aren't fully made yet so i could even do the 1987 sanremo car, with the pirelli tires and logo's instead of the later michelins.

And thanks for the compliment, i love the early group A cars, maybe i'll build an integrale 8v and 16v to go with it, or maybe a golf 16v safari, but i'll try to finish this first, 11 months keeps me on a very tight
timebudget to do so

[Spitfire7]

Nice project, I'll be watching

[WRCfan]

This looks great, these were the days when rallying was rallying, only the best survived and only the toughest cars made it to the finish!

Will be watching closely

WRCfan

[Technoman]

Excellent subject choice, will be watching this one!!

[RallyRaider]

Welcome to the contest, good luck with your entry. I'll be very interested to see how you go with the engine transplant.
I've started similar ambitious projects with rallycars but have yet to complete one.

[RallyFanatic]

Thanks, the engine transplant will be the hardest, i've seen people open the doors of a delta on the net before though.
And i was wondering about your evo VI for a while, why the stop? Something gone horribly wrong or just lost faith?

[RallyFanatic]

well, i've started work on the removal of the fender flares, got the right rear one done, just need to cut out the hole for the wheel and a some styrene around that.


As you see above i've left the bumper alone, but that's just for aligning and measuring.
Below you see the original flare, and some of the reinforcement i've made to the door, since this will be cut out later on. you can't see the little strips then anyway, they'll be covered by the door panel.

And the body strength wasn't comprimised as much as i thought, partially beacuase i lined the inside of the fold in the panel with epoxy putty. Still wondering how to narrow the wheelwells so they won't destroy my arches but still fit tightly.