Thema

Probably one of the first to fit a Lancia Thema 8V engine in his Scorpion was Ken Haven. Owner of this car since 1981, he uses it for track days and found out soon that the Scorpion lacked power. Then the decision was taking to fit the Thema 8V.

I think this is one of the bravest engine upgrades there is! It needed a lot of engineering to fit the V8 in the back of a Montecarlo.

After some initial problems with the KE3 Jetronic I am now running the engine with a MBE 970. The car sounds great with the Ferrari V8 in it. The cross member was as always rusted trough. But to fit the V8 I had to change the middle part. Its moved forward to fit the exhaust and starter motor. The small shelf behind the seats had to be raised about 80mm to give room for the intake manifold. The V8 is not more than 30kg heavier than the four cylinder engine, when you have removed all unnecessary auxiliary units. I use a very small alternator as well. The car weighs 1053kg with a full tank. About 30kg more than with the standard engine.
With 56% of the weight in the rear. The fuel tank is still in the rear. I have just moved it 100mm to the left. So that gives 244bhp at 7500rpm on the wheels. I have 300mm break discs in the front with Mazda RX7 aluminium callipers. I have not yet changed the rear breaks, but it's coming. I have a little bit stiffer front springs and the shocks are renovated and filled with a bit thicker oil. I have not yet tried to change the front plugs but it is possible that I have to take the whole engine out. The car still lacks a little power. I have driven it at 235km/h. It will go faster but I ran out of road and had to brake. It goes from 0-100km/h in 5.5sec. So I hope I will be able to fit the two turbos until next season. A Montecarlo is not fun at speeds over 200km/h!


Original engine in Thema 8.32	Montecarlo #2096, 2004	Montecarlo #2096, 2004


Montecarlo #2096, 2004	Montecarlo #2096, 2004	Montecarlo #2096, 2009

Thema 8.32, Belgium

After racing this Montecarlo for some years in the Belgian Historic Cup, for 2009 the engine was changed with a 8.32 unit.


Montecarlo #5525, 2008	Montecarlo #5525, 2009	Injection


Front brake	Rear brake	Montecarlo #5525, 2009

Specifications:

Lancia 8.32 Ferrari

Flowed cylinder heads and higher compression

Direct fuel injection (www.vankronenburg.nl)

LEDA suspension

Fully rose jointed

Front: ventilated 280mm discs, AP 4 pot calipers.

Rear: 240mm discs with Wilwood 4 pot calipers.

Lancia Thema gearbox with limited slip diff.

Special drive shafts


Scorpion #999, 2001	Scorpion #999, 2004 16V	Scorpion #999, 2004 16V	Scorpion #999, 2007 16V


Scorpion #999, 2009 16V