V6 Aurelia Mania

V6 Aurelia Mania
This article is about Lancia’s quite famous all alloy V6 engine, that got so gloriously applied in their “common” Aurelia models and
particularly so short after WW2 lacking Marshall stimulation Lancia’s post war resurrection was quite sensational for the early fifty’s.
The basic structure of the world’s first series produced all alloy V6 engine, seen in its time in connection to some later V6 designs and
some bore/stroke, rod/rad, conrod length, different multivalve, cam height, big end diameter and compression relations are considered
in accordance to the knowhow of the period and sometimes even down to its disadvantages. During the intensive rebuild of my #3900
Aurelia B-20 GT 2500 6 th Series Coupé, I noticed surprising construction details causing me to report some remarks and while work on
the block slowly advances, you will enjoy my sequenced information about how it all gets out of hand in a jolly way, even sometimes
not quite free of mild exaggeration. One might experience my writing about the car as a temporary substitute for not riding it.
NOVEMBER 2008
Last addition made October 2010 by Francosporto himself.
While I was taking apart my #3900 telaio Aurelia‟s engine, I tried figuring out why Lancia solved their V6 construction
problems as they did and got aware of a surprise defect in one of the cylinder foot seals. The light alloy face receiving
the O-ring got ill hydroxided due to
remains of coolant or more likely, just
faulty casted alloy allowing coolant from
the water jacket to leak into the 4.5
liter oil sump. Such fatal artifact (right)
was only noticed after removal of the
cylinder liners and thoroughly scraping
the corroded facings. So my all times
Lancia Ghurruh, Martin Willems, got me
another engine cylinder block from
somewhere.
Later on we can always think of some
repair method to rescue the old block by
TIG welding or just filling up the artifact
with DEVCON-F and subsequently not
introducing shrink tensions by welding
the old structured alloy.
The new “rubato” block appeared 4 th
series, stamped *B20#4786* and
unfortunately also heavily corroded on the cylinder liners as well as on the stud bolts lower parts exiting the block. To
remove the liners was quite something, but removing the studs was like trying to walk on water because they got galvanic
obstructed in the threading during the last 54 years.
In the end any resistant stud bolt can be removed with two opposing grip pliers providing sufficient torsional force,
especially while hitting the stud on the head axially. In most cases they will come lose, but despite lots of patience, faith,
courage, fear and loyalty the extraction of 3 of the 32 stud bolts resulted in disastrously torn off 20mm pieces left
stuck in the block. Maybe a bit of copper grease in the threading would do the miracle next time and of course some
fluid sealant around the studs‟ collars would prevent coolant entering the threading.

Coincidentally I saw one of Martin‟s B-20 blocks (similar as above) standing in a corner of his “Walhalla” being ill from
the same disease having non removable bolts, surprisingly at the same positions: the front right side near the oil stick.
The cause of the similarity is not clear, but besides me being quite good at drilling, in this case it is again clearly shown
why always every job on these old engines appear to be unbelievably time consuming. So drilling is what we are going to do
…… with a vertical drilling machine !!!! Hand held drilling tools will certainly bring disaster …. If someone should be looking
for disaster, grab your hand tool ……
The following part will exclusively be discussed to suit those of you, who do not know how to remove a torn off bolt from
an irreplaceable and certainly quite expensive engine part, without destroying the surrounding machined surfaces. DO
TRY THIS AT HOME FIRST …… with some useless carburetor or obsolete Fiat 126 engine carter !!!
So be smart and start properly by supporting your V6-block with a 30° jig securing the threading to be absolutely
vertical. Always mark the centre of the resisting part by using a center punch and proceed drilling with a small freshly
grinded sharp drill using quite some axial force at low rpm. You are not in a hurry and you don‟t want to remove an
overheated piece of broken drill from a smoking hole, clogged with hot steel grindings. So advance sequentially from
2,5mm by 0,5mm intervals to about 5,5mm to a depth of 6 to 7mm removing the chips in time. Start all over to a depth
of 12 to 14mm followed likewise to 20mm avoiding penetration of the end of the bolt with a small drill in a small hole.
Because now your hole is wide enough to use a stronger drill, it is now possible to remove almost all of the remaining
“pièce de resistance” except for the threading. Maybe with the help of a “Dremel” tool the entrance of the threading
can be cleared a bit more to make access for a (above) #3 M8 thread cutter, this time obviously operated by hand in
your vertical drilling machine to be followed by the #2 and finally #1 hand thread cutter. Operating an electric powered
thread cutter into a blind hole at high speed could be quite disastrous.
Sorry me being the Ghurruh here ………… of course everyone already knew this !!!!

With our studs and liners removed from the block it is now possible to level the surfaces facing the head gaskets and
the water pump with my simple glass plate/sandpaper method. With 8mm a sufficient stable glass plane ensures a
perfect level surface by pressing evenly on waterproof sandpaper. Sanding crosswise (below) enables you to check your
progress in sanding locally. Where the sanding marks are too light more pressure is needed on the glass plate and you will
notice the surface being a bit higher around the edges of the threaded holes, due to 54 years of tension on the studs
resulting in some creep in the alloy. Do not press to hard on the edges of either surface and often refresh your #150 to
# 100 waterproof sandpaper to avoid differences in sanding ability because of locally worn paper. When the surface is
evenly sanded everywhere, your surface only shows some last slightly sanded areas left indicating your leveling being
finished. In most cases you will also notice quite some damage marks from heroic overconfident “mechanics” from the
past.
In the early fifty‟s the V6 engine layout was believed
to be impossible because of heavy vibrations, difficult
to balance until then. Vincenzo‟s son in law and brilliant
designer Francesco de Virgilio (FdV) managed to get
the balancing mathematics right and had his thesis
accepted after a historic dispute with the top of the
Turin Polytechnico. As there were almost no industrial
standards for parts, Lancia had to design and produce
most parts themselves for instance resulting in three
different length of stud bolts. In our case new M8
studs fitted quite nicely in the refreshed threads,
except for five formerly over refreshed threads some
solution was needed avoiding helicoils. So because M9 has the same 1,25 windings/mm and our tool factory anyhow has to
make such exotic studs, we decided to use the M9 solution. The only disadvantage is the cylinder head casings need to be
over bored to 10,5mm accepting the 9mm studs, again with your vertical milling machine. For the purists amongst us, it
would always be possible milling back the upper part to M8 metric fine threads, missing the advantage of streamlining
the bolts locally at their crossing through the intake canals without making them weaker than the M8 originals. Maybe
sometimes Martin Willems will make these 32-piece M9 stud bolt sets available, because even my wife Karin could easily
do the hand cutting up to M9 threading after having burred the M8 hole to 7,3mm. Use #3 first and feel the tool
entering the old thread. Later on with the Flaminia‟s M10 studs all of this was avoided.

December 2008
Because of the New Years Eve drinking at Martin‟s we all got to his hide out at Emmer Compascuum (NL) bringing
sufficient Italian Nastro Azzurro beer, Salame di Friuli and Oliebollen Olandesi and for the occasion William had all
bearings placed and measured. The four main bearing caps are coded by center punching and are related to the numbered
bearing supports crossing the block (above) which are taking all the resultant forces from the crankshaft and carefully
notice the multi compartment structure of this timelessly modern designed block.
William (Wim in dutch left) got all valves fitted into the
Francosporto 3C streamlined ported heads. (discussed in “Why
not 3C”)
The oil scheme (below) shows oil pressure coming through the oil
filter, feeding all 4 main bearings first as well as the upper
bearing of the vertical oil pump/distributor shaft and the chain
tensioner. Vertically from the main bearings on, pressure is fed
to the #1, 2 and 3 camshaft bearings. All left and right 6 rocker
bearings are conveniently pressure fed from the most forward
#1 camshaft bearing. The cam followers get oiled by return oil
from the rocker case along the pushrod ducts. The rear camshaft
bearing and the 90° cog wheels get oil fed from the #3 bearing
through the camshaft, the last part being hollow. At high revs the surplus oil in the rocker case flows back through two
return ducts in between each 3 cylinders,
while the cams themselves are lubricated by
waist oil from the big ends.
My digipic (next page top) shows a nice
possibility to attach an external oil cooler line
to the right side of the block and is pressure
fed from the #2 main bearing. Avoiding full
oil pressure on the cooling line could be quite
possible by using the (11) waist exit from the
oil pressure control valve inside the block.
The advantage will be that no pressure
control is needed at the return of the line for
instance to the right side of the sump. Maybe
sometimes a similar oil filter bracket with an

external low pressure waist oil connection will be made available by Martin
Willems suiting sporty Aurelia drivers at track days. Oil cooling at colder
weather can easily be adjusted by (partly) taping the cooler.
January 2009
In the meantime my set of new M9
“oversized” stud bolts (below) got
available, with two extra pieces for
testing purposes. The old M8 stud
on the left got murdered of course
by the two grip pliers trick. Spanner
14 still fits to M9 nuts because they
are made from 8mm high M8 models.
The testing is to verify 3,3kgm
torsional strength on the partially
grinded stud bolts at their exposure
into the intake ducts achieving at
least some improved aerodynamics .
Each cylinder heads‟ three intake canals are not at all similar and here we are very basically looking at the result of the
struggle for space in the design. The position of the studs are most decisive for the design of the intake and exhaust
canals and got even worse with the push rods in the way. The choice for push rod distribution even in the early fifty‟s
makes no sense to me at all, considering the Aurelia‟s sporty character and high price. Someone knew for sure easy
excess for decarbonizing the cylinder heads was a reason, while someone else knew for sure that simplicity in design was
the reason. Neither is plausible, because in general Lancia designs always lead to the most complicated and nicest
possible technical solutions, always being the least profitable. So this leaves us one last possibility: Gianni Lancia himself
ruled in favor of the pushrod distribution that had proven quite well in his one off V8 model from his “Polytechnico” days
and got his most creative engineer FdV probably instructed to better apply this “cheaper” solution. In the early fifty‟s it
was indeed not a bad choice at all, compared to the market, but ... below you see the M9 studs in situ as well as their
crossing the shifted intake ducts.

Later on some more grinding was made on these three stud bolt as well as at the opposing light alloy side of the most
only needed few attention. Also notice
disturbed left canal achieving better air flow. The middle canals‟ stud still has
the flowed 3C adapted canals by Francosporto looking quite different compared to
the original. (see also “Why not 3C ”)
to be modified, while the right one
The 1953 Lancia upgrade to 2.5 liter V6 single (1C) Weber DCZ40 carbureted setup was only possible by rearranging the
obstructing adjacent valve stems by rotating the combustion chambers. At the time BMW‟s also struggled with this
problem designing a shorter block and called it “gekreuzte ventielen” crossed valves. So as a result the Tuscany Hills like
swirling intake and exhaust ducts got a little straightened, but Lancia left the position of all studs as they were. Why
steeper valves in lower combustion chambers were not considered will always be unclear. Only with the redesigned
Aurelia engines for the Flaminia‟s the Pesenti-Lancia factory realized such thermally more efficient valve setting
resulting into more or less roof shaped combustion chambers.
March 2009
Last week I got surprised by Geoffrey Goldberg‟s (GG) email asking “What about your 3C setup, please translate because
my Dutch is nonexistent ” (........ at the time this site was only in Dutch) So I explained the site being about my
experimental 3C setup only to check its advantages compared to the original as well as to the extraordinary expensive
Nardi setup. By exploring this twin Weber DCZ40 after sales upgrade kit at Martin‟s Living Museum, I realized that still
quite some tricks (discussed in “Why not 3C”) could be done on the original single carburetor job boosting the cylinders
inhalation. During his many years of Aurelia tuning GG experienced the intake valves being the most restrictive, because
them getting more rpm inhibiting mass at larger diameters. Agreeing I would add of course Lancia‟s choice for pushrod
distribution being the cause of frivolous curved ducts
and worse on top of all the Vittorio Jano styled
(discussed in “AR 8C Mania”) vestibule like passages
between the valve seat and the valve guide boss,
resulting in two disturbances for the fast moving gas
stream.
So one quite sharp angle exists at the rather swirly
intake manifold flowing into a bowl shaped chamber
around the valve stem, followed by a second opposite
deviation passing the valve seat into the even more angled
cylinder. Obviously designers seem not to have been fully
aware of the total resistance they were creating with
multiple changing gas flow direction. The exhaust side being similar except for an additional passing around a disturbing
stud bolt, resulting in the so called D-shape porting ………
Such gas flow process is heavily influenced by valve angles and basically the Aurelia‟s 1930‟s porting more or less got
dealt with in Lancia‟s D Series engines of course without the pushrods, but still with too many stud bolts in
disadvantageous positions. In the early fifties Lancia‟s “Reparto Corse” clearly did realize some of those restrictions
considering setups of FdV‟s B-54 as well as Ettore Zaccone Mina‟s (EZM) B-110 “prova” designs both already tested from
1952 onwards. So frankly spoken Lancia would have made more sense and certainly immortal history by installing their
sporty B-54 dry sump SOHC engine into all B-20 Aurelia‟s from early 1953 onwards and sell them as the next stage
upgrade GT Super Sports cars. It would have been a testimony of marketing skill using Lancia‟s advanced technical
knowhow profitable.

Or instead even imagine for the 1953 season, Lancia sensationally would
have been offering these 170pk B-54 SOHC 3C long stroke (crankshaft
similar to B-20 78x85,5) dry sump engines, fitted with stunning
“Elektron” cylinder heads to selected Aurelia clientele only. No adapted
crank/rod system was even needed considering the structure of the
compact (right) crankshaft being ridged enough having 60mm main shaft
journals and 50mm crank pins, considering D-25 sports cars, even being
almost twice as powerful, used about the same crankshaft dimensions
with of course much more ribbing on the block providing structural
reinforcement. Theoretically
with the big ends more (left)
overlapping the main bearings, once more an important design element, easily
resulting into short stroke dimensioned, more compact, lighter and more rev
hungry crankshafts, got ignorantly overlooked.
FdV‟s B-54 works drawing (below) shows both SOHC‟s, driven by one long duplex chain directly from the crankshaft‟s
front side sprocket, leaving the large sprockets on the camshafts for their 50% RPM reduction. The alternator and
water pump/fan unit are V-belt driven from the nose of the crankshaft. The vertical oil pump/distributor shaft is driven
by skew gears from the inside of the left SOHC. Lubrication was quite straight forward with the crankshaft having the
usual B-20 journals. Oil pressure was horizontally distributed to all camshaft journals as well as rockers and cams
through the hollow camshafts and rocker shafts. The
twelve valve B-54 engine left surplus space between
each exhaust valve to the period‟s obligate twin
sparkplug ignition system. Very noticeable should be
the ideal situated stud bolts and the unusual small
valve included angle being quite ahead of its time as
well as camshafts being positioned pretty low in the
heads actuating rather angled and spring assisted
rockers crossing over the camshaft. Attention was
given to all water jackets and distributing galleries
now being quite tight suggesting a much faster coolant
circulation compared to the B-20 block. All intake
canals now have been quite straightened
accommodating three double barrel (Solex 32 ? PA11)
carburetors.

To my opinion the B-54 design could well have been the initial design FdV had in mind for his sporty B-20 Aurelia project
all along. We will never know, because FdV is not anymore amongst us living and Gianni Lancia still alive but definitely not
ever wants to be interviewed about Lancia & Co Automobili. But in ‟52 and ‟53 on the contrary Gianni had a great time
with his “Aurelia da Corsa” (above)
project, only to pull out of GT Class
“competizione” in favor of Sports Car
racing, obviously forced by certain AR
protests against Lancia‟s not having
homologated their all aluminum “da
Corsa” B-20 body‟s and consequently we
now understand the B-54 dry sump
SOHC engines, even in thin steel B-20
chassis, being quite impossible to get it
all homologated in time, without
overstressing the factory production
capacity building such a substantial
amount of production competition cars.
In fact a fifty‟s GB newly imported B-
20 Coupé was price tagged only £200
less compared to a basic Rolls Royce.
Along with FdV‟s B-54 project Lancia‟s
other promising designer Ettore
Zaccone Mina was working on a second
V6 “prova” design (right) designated B-
110. In fact both “prova” designs had
“competizione” type D Series cars in
mind. Why EZM didn‟t choose for, if
only slightly B-20‟s deviating
crank/bore/conrod relations is unclear
to me, because the off the shelf
160mm conrods from the (115hp) B-20,
despite being very rugged, were
unnecessarily his first choice. These
comparatively long conrods heavily
narrowed down the DOHC and 3C (triple
carbs) advantages of this almost square
80,5x81,5 block still producing 187hp.
For this initially all blank “prova” design
exercise EZM could well have chosen
for the more radical 83,0x77,0 short
stroke variant, providing lower mean
piston speeds (mps) and even, with up to
145mm shortened conrods a more
dynamic intake gas flow cycle should be
possible since pistons accelerate earlier
and faster. See about this my 3e
experimental phase further below.
Quite interesting to discover in EZM‟s works drawing (above) are the Vittorio Jano AR (Alfa Romeo) style mushroom
actuated valves with spring coils under pretty much the same valve angles compared to the B-54 design as well as the
disadvantageous second oil ring below the gudgeon pin. Clearly no provisions were considered for oversized cylinder liners
to accommodate later capacity changes. Note also twin sparkplugs being quite accessible from between the DOHC‟s,
providing ignition through a not shown distributor on the rear side of the left intake camshaft. The lubrication system is
basically B-54 similar and probably to simplify valve distribution, a pair of gears oddly over reduce RPM from the
crankshaft to a duplex chain driving all four camshafts minimizing wear and tear on the chain, only to accelerate the
camshafts to the correct RPM at last with relatively smaller camshaft sprockets also enabling the bonnet lower over the
block. At the crankshaft‟s rear a rudimentary flywheel drives the alternator by V-belt. The water pump is directly driven
from the crank‟s front while the oil pump is gear driven downwards pairing the cam distribution driving gear. Each intake
manifold‟s vacuum is balanced by horizontal ducts but unfortunately again shows about 35mm carburetor shift compared

to the valve porting of the front right cylinder, because of large float chambered carburetors taking more space than
available.
Despite all these efforts Gianni Lancia,
though maybe not fully aware of all the
restrictive factors inside his “prova”
blocks, unfortunately decided not to
proceed with even alone his beautiful dry
sump B-54 design. He must have seen
that the increased power output mainly
got produced because of the better
porting only made possible by absence of
the pushrods. The increased RPM
possibilities involving the OHC valve
actuation probably had less influence
because of earlier discussed flow
resistance around the valves
unfortunately increasing squarely to
higher rpm‟s.
More restrictive factors in both designs, besides limited viscous oil behavior in all main journals, big ends, piston guiding
and second oil rings, would be the 15mm too long standard 160mm conrods together with the pistons free space to the
crankshaft of about some 18mm and the unnecessary low position of the Ø20mm gudgeon pin in each piston, leaving about
another 7mm unused in general dimensioning. Now one realizes why these bulky crank balancing lumps (see AR 8C crank in
“8C Mania”) should be kept small in diameter obviously to be related to the stroke. All together this waisted space could
well have been used advantageously for shorter 145mm conrods with B-20 style 26mm wide journals (today common on
most VW Golf) subsequently
decreasing the total engine‟s
height with 25mm (a good inch
lower all together !!!). Moreover
in all the periods high
performance engines negatively
working second oil rings were
ignorantly applied. Not only by
Lancia & Co, but surprisingly
after „56 these rings were
obsolete in all GP engines after
some 25 years, at least since
Jano‟s 1932 AR 8C 2300
discussed in “8C Mania” of
ignoring and misunderstanding
the nature of these rings. (see
also “Camshaft Mania” ) At last
in the 1956 GP season Ferrari
most gloriously seized the
World Championship with the (ex Lancia) D-50 V8 GP car, however without the second oil rings as noticeable in the
digipic (above) from “Classic Racing Engines” by Karl Ludvigsen 2001 and at the fabulous D-50 stunning with original
Lancia badge, steering wheel and factory stamped
parts in the “Museo Ferrari” (right) at Maranello,
second GP Car from the entrance and quite
emotionally choking finding the real car there.
Both FdV and EZM have been struggling with intake
canal layout from the carburetors on to the valves
avoiding unnecessary curved canals. After all it was
quite well known straight canals having less
resistance at higher revs, so I got rather surprised

discovering the B-110‟s carburetors being too wide
with their large float chambers needing more space on
the block related to each pair of cylinders causing
them to shift up to 35mm towards the right front,
only solved with (already discussed above) more
unwanted swirly intake ducts. Earlier with the Willy
Claes B-20 Liege-Rome-Liege (above a replica) works
3C rally car setup, Lancia managed to eliminate most
carburetor shifting by arranging the three twin choke
32 PA11 Solex narrow body carburetors oblique to
compensate partly for the 40mm difference between
opposing big ends. According to Nigel Trow, being
familiar with the car, the 3C setup was very drivable
and gave great satisfaction.
Only long crossed intake canals with D-50 like tilted
(right) carburetors, would have been ideal to suit the B-
54 maximally, but would be less advantageous for the B-
110 lacking enough space between the inner DOHC cam
banks. All together the automotive industry was very
much in need of narrow carburetors, quite possible at
the thought of these D-50 carbs also being specially
produced to Lancia specification. Notice D-50 intake
canals being perfectly straight also thanks to hair pin
type valve springs allowing intake canals passing tighter.
Later conversion to coil springs consequently needed
more curving around the valve guide bosses and indeed
today intake ducts are more axial adapted to the valve
stems.
After all such reasoning one can
question Lancia‟s ‟53 technical
competition level being sufficient at
all or did the “Reparto Corse” ran out
of development potentials to properly
engage the AR, Mercedes, Maserati,
or Ferrari competition at the highest
level or was the racing department
just following the easy way? Did
Vittorio Jano ran out of options and
what had been the cause of the
controversial family drama causing
FdV‟s “promotion” to the Diesel
department particularly in relation to
the developing D-50 design.
Remarkable in EZM‟s own data table
(right) about B-110 up to D-100
characteristics, you will notice mostly
the same crank/rod relations are
applied. Obviously the strong Jano
influences were still spooking around
in the Reparto Corse offices.

EZM slowly tended to under square bore/stroke engines, but for the
D-50A surprisingly 6,55mm longer conrods were tried. For the D-
100 design (left) the old still relatively long 135mm conrods
returned unmotivated, meaning nothing new was introduced and so
what should have been its testing all about.
Mechanically and historically reasoning about longer or shorter
conrods, the simplifying of the 1876 (above) four stroke Otto
patented engine by Maybach and Daimler had certainly been all
important to the developing automotive industry. The flat steam
engine type Otto piston was connected to a two peace articulated driving system with a steam era typical sliding joint in
between, formerly enabling double action push/pull steam pistons. The piston together with its fixed push/pull rod and
sliding joint got brilliantly transformed into one internal jointed piston to articulate directly with its crank‟s conrod.
Actually the gudgeon pinned piston was
invented but at the time “Deutz
Motoren AG” only could cope with such
transverse vectors coming from small
ends by using very long and consequently
extremely heavy dimensioned driving
connecting rods. Obviously longer
conrods (left) (rod/rad 13.5:1) produce
lower transverse forces resulting in
lower piston resistance to the cylinder.
By this improvement on Otto‟s
stationary four stroke patent, Daimler
and foremost Maybach managed to make the internal combustion engine successful to the automotive and aircraft
industry. Avoiding such long rpm restrictive rods were tried in the Borsig GmbH design (below) resulting in a much faster
and very much smoother running streamliner with short conrods and V arranged small Ø 300mm cylinders.

Back to Gianni‟s sports car racing
program. Note the dedicated Lancia
mechanics (right) changing plugs at the
‟53 “Panamericana” to the slightly
(0,965) under square D-24. Triple
carbs are 46mm DCF3 Webers feeding
the 3.1 liter 6200rpm DOHC V6 engine.
Lancia most gloriously won also the ‟54
“Panamericana” with their all new under
square (0,915) 3464cc D-25 redlined
at 6500rpm. Oddly rod length
increased with 4mm to 164mm with
1mm heavier 25mm gudgeon pins
illustrating (or maybe defying) the
Daimler Maybach heritage discussed
above. Power output increased to
280hp being twice the Willy Claes
factory car. Because of oil pump
starvation and the 4 th main journal
being molten at 7000rpm during the
‟54 Sebring, Lancia had to give up their
leading position jeopardizing
“Panamericana” aftermath hopes.
Extensive search for solutions like 3mm increased 68mm main journals, larger capacity oil scavenging and pressure
pumps, larger oil content and altered oil coolers, resulted finally the car to produce the intended 280hp at 6900rpm. The
end fifty‟s short stroke Ray Petty Manx Nortons, being fully comparable in capacity “parziale” could be raced safely at
10.000rpm producing over 60hp … on roller bearings. Thanks to modern design, metallurgic and lubrication knowledge
today, high revving Ø108mm pistoned heavily under square Ducati‟s with ultra short pistons and conrods are reliably
decorating our roads. Lancia was only just looking for such knowledge
at the time ... in the wrong direction and probably blinded by
“concurrenti ” the dead end street was not recognized!
Whenever my 3rd test project will show the 3.5:1 rod/rad relation
engine with (common VW Golf) 145mm conrods (right) running in a
lowered B-20 block (below) is uncertain unless I‟m to hit the
lottery‟s jackpot, but would be very interesting to learn about such
more dynamic gas exchange caused by faster and earlier
accelerating pistons. The right bank of the block has been virtually
lowered only to show the difference compared to the left normal
side. It would be a lot of work, but can be done by TIG welding a new edge 15mm lower followed by some machining to
receive shortened cylinder (below left) liners. All other experiments are totally reversible except for this stage needing
welding and machining, but all tests clearly
could have been done in 1953 by Lancia
Reparto Corse themselves and finally could
have been presented as B-20 upgrades.
Even the D-24‟s relatively high rod/rad
relation of 3.7:1 being higher to the ‟53 model
got exceeded by the later 3.3:1 ultra short
stroke Ferrari Dino 246 V6 with yet these
low design features and higher power output.
After all my reasoning about rod/rad/crank
related options one could additionally review
our V6 block still being of the two valve type.

Enlarging valves as an option to improve performance is limited because they always have to fit in the available space,
which will be larger for short stroke/large bore cylinder heads. In our relatively narrow B-20 spherical combustion
chamber larger inlet valves easily could be installed (at a major overhaul) by exchanging the existing 43mm valve seats
for 4mm larger rings fitting common Fiat 130 TC 43.5mm valves (as below) only to overlap the Ø 72mm squish edge a
little requiring each piston to be grinded for clearance. Actually such enlargement from 35mm into 38mm would also be
possible for exhaust valves. My experimental 3C conversion and triple siamesed exhaust system certainly would perform
better and are at least an interesting next level test. In the meantime I feel the lottery coming my way very closely !! ??
Additional advantage could come
from improvement on aerodynamics
around the new seat edges resulting
in less resistant gas flow by
reshaping the entrance to the inside
edge of the valve seats. See graphic
design (right) projected in my B-20
cylinder head with its valve seats
already removed only indicating
dimensional position. Unfortunately
3 sets of spare cylinder heads are
lacking to me as this would have
been ideal for evaluation.
Please feel free using the idea to
your advantage and report me about
your experiences.
Having discussed the limited
possibilities to improve on our B-20
engine power output one got to be
creative. Lately at Martin Willems
Living Museum I had to be on guard,
because of the danger for getting
mental institutionalized because of
my Aurelia Mania or my healthy over creativeness, easily considered by non insiders
as mental distortion. On the contrary it is big fun thinking fifties design level in
honor of the great Francesco de Virgilio. The question why Lancia did not notice and
certainly did not apply developments seen at other constructors but Ferrari will
probably never be known. Quoting Nigel Trow: Yes that‟s a good question, but you‟ve
got to realize that at Lancia‟s not always there has to be a reason ?? For instance
using Morini‟s 3 valve setup (right) as a non patented possibility to improve easily on
lighter inlet valve operation with a bonus 30% increased inlet area was never
considered by senior constructors in the Reparto Corse Offices.

Even at Bugatti‟s those advantages
were used in their very successful
type 35 sports cars. Oddly the very
large (right) 46mm inlet valves of
the Lancia D-25, Maserati 250-F
and likewise 52mm for the Ferrari
Dino 246 or even worse 54mm for
the Maserati 61 Birdcage were not
at all considered being the end of 2
valve technology development at
increased rpm‟s.
Even related to the cylinder bore these huge valves
suffer great inertial problems related to their mass,
obviously only to be solved with three or four valve
setups. Another disadvantage will be such huge valves
strongly deflecting the gas stream earlier hitting the
cylinder wall nearby instead of streaming along into the
cylinder. (left and below)
If for instance FdV would have been given the
assignment (by Gianni Lancia himself of course !!!) to
explore the established Lancia design traditions for
dusty common generalities and research for alternative
solutions to improve on their racing program, he at least
would have been stumbling over the above discussed
items, being the theoretical genius he was. If so, Gianni Lancia certainly could have been showing himself off as the
gentleman like Lancia godfather and family man, but he ruled against his brother in law getting him deported to the
diesel department due to an unknown and certainly unsolvable supreme argument.
Maybe FdV commented him on short sighted mainly empirical
orientated development out of the Jano pleasing corner and
consequently about inefficient spent financial resources
related to the family company shares? Or was it about the
ancient clash between large ego‟s concerning FdV‟s supreme
presentation of V6 crank balancing mathematics once
defended at the Torino Polytechnico against at least one of
the professors being professor Fessia. (Cementi era designs)
In 1956 even Soichiro Honda bought a believed to be 3 valve FB Mondial
125cc GP racer, considered as state of the art, from the Fratelli Boselli
personally for study purposes only.
So imagine Gianni buying a
twin carburetor 250cc single
cylinder “tres valvole” 3V
Morini GP engine (right)
personally from Alfonso
Morini himself (left) only to
get it studied . . . . and had it
enlarged 200% as a 500cc
test bed fitting his D-25
program launching Lancia into
the multi valve league.

Morini even developed their very successful 3V GP engine into 4V (left)
upgrading their existing machinery obviously at low cost securing
compatibility for another year. From 1960 on all Honda competition
machines were 4V setup only. Mike Hailwood was their biggest star rider
and together with Nobby Clark the three of us drank a lot of beer one night
at the ‟65 Francorchamps GP meeting.
Giugno 2009
At Martin Willems‟ overhaul department Wim got my engine completed with M9 studs, new liners and 9.2 pistons. Note
the high piston heads installed and machined retention groove in the liner‟s flanges providing more grip to the head
gaskets. Between the cylinders notice two oil drain canals.
Wim (right) is installing the nuts on the right cylinder
head‟s studs, while the gasket on the left bank is still
visible.
Wim and B. were amazed (below) finding the water pump
fitting correctly between the 3C manifolds. Wait till
they find out the distributor fitting tight against the
#3 carb‟s left barrel !!

Later on Martin‟s modified beautiful Italian Malioli type (right) exhaust
manifold as intended for his own B-20 was tried just for fun and looks,
but my own Francosporto exhaust manifold better would be
constructed to the engine mounted in the car. So a lot of work still
remains to be finished.
But...
But only because I ever want to experience the characteristics
of a high performance B-54 like SOHC Aurelia V6 and since I
never will be allowed to drive The Louwman Collection‟s sole
surviving (right) original D-23, I have to build a SOHC Aurelia
myself and respecting historics I have to limit the design to the
era‟s design level. So digital fuel injection, toothed belts or KKK
exhaust turbo compressors are non options and in honor of
Lancia‟s Francesco de Virgilio (FdV) I would be very pleased to
produce only one super valuable “Diciotto” 18V SOHC “prova”
upgrade kit as a commercial attractive alternative between B-20 and D-20 cars, which in 1953 easily could have been
manufactured by Lancia‟s themselves at least suiting the rich Italian Noble‟s racing at Sunday afternoons finishing
always top five. Initially I referred to this project as my 4th test phase, but the plan quickly got developed into a full
“diciotto” B-54 like project. Important to the design will be the complete upgrade kit‟s necessity to get installed by the
same skilled mechanics who used to work on B-20‟s without irreversible alterations to the block.
The selected clientele
would have been kept
competitive for some more
years and even following
Morini‟s recipe also next
level 4V DOHC upgrading
would suit later model
development like Sport
Zagato Flaminia‟s …… if only
Lancia would have been
thinking more commercially
related to model efficiency
indeed.
Such wooden chest would have been marked with yellow or light blue
template painted lettering “Lancia Automobili Torino” and next
lined with “ ricambi competizione” and “ tipo B-543” containing 6
forged flat pistons, 2 pre assembled three valve cylinder heads with
camshaft installed, 1 chain box (below), 1 double sprocket replacing the
large camshaft sprocket, 1 duplex chain, 3 small chain sprockets, 1
chain tensioner with sprocket, 1 set 32 piece M9 studs, 6 separate
intake manifolds, 3 Weber IDA 48 R carbs (left), 2 Ø43mm left and
right MW-exhaust manifolds, 1 oil cooler with lines, 1 enlarged oil
sump, 1 gasket set and some not thought of small parts.

If I can do such design on the corner of my desk certainly the Lancia design team also could have done it in 1952 and
above all I never could discover any reason why Gianni did not recognize any commercial profit in producing small badges
of D-20 and D-23 cars after getting obsolete as his next move. Additionally quite profitable could have been providing
customers with package included proper maintenance and circuit assistance organized by the Reparto Corse exploiting
fully Lancia‟s technical advanced position like they showed they were well capable of at the ‟52 and ‟53 “Panamericana”.
The beautiful D-20 (above) was “THE” stunning ”want to have” car in ‟52. Within the first season it got obsolete second
best to the factory‟s D-23, which in fact were chopped D-20‟s. In the early fifty‟s seller‟s market consequently selling
such level racing equipment could well provide commercially profitable finance supporting properly Lancia‟s sports car
program. Compared to Enzo Ferrari clearly there
must have been a difference in Gianni Lancia
approaching technical as well as commercial innovative
management. Even our own Prince Bernhard of the
Netherlands had to pay cash collecting his Ferrari
212, while on the contrary Gianni‟s regular Old Boys
Lancia Racing Bunch for many years just used these
valuable cars probably without paying too much or not
at all, while the lucky factory drivers (flying D-24
right at full speed through Brescia) even got paid !
............ bold, but for sure glorious it was.
Despite Gianni Lancia obviously being familiar with the factory‟s
nearing bankruptcy, we always have to be grateful to him for the
glorious achievements made by his cars.
His famous Luglio 26 th 1955 “abdicazione” and consequently selling
(right) the Reparto Corse to Enzo Ferrari (complete with Agnelli‟s
blessing) for a few Italian Lira would not have been necessary at all,
if only the proper commercial attitude would have been present
earlier. Ferrari‟s “avocado” in dark suit (below) was present arranging
the deal. No it‟s not Willy Neubauer !
At that sad black day for the dedicated Lancia
workers all D-50 cars, parts and prototypes
were moved (below) to Maranello. Gianni sold
his mother‟s (Adèle) and his own Lancia shares
to the fortunate cement manufacturer Carlo
Pesenti avoiding the factory getting closed and

about 5.000 workers out of jobs.
Thanks to the following “Cementi”
era we still can enjoy our Flavia‟s,
Fulvia‟s and Flaminia‟s today.
So in the meantime while Martin
Willems is reassembling my faithful
(below) originally light blue #3900
B-20 Aurelia, I had plenty of time to
review my probe design (former page above), only testing available
space for SOHC distribution and 3V layout. It appeared difficult
situating the exhaust cam
between (A) the two intake
cams (in) because a central
exhaust cam would
interfere to both inner edges of the
cup type cam followers. So an offset
(right) rocker actuated by a third
eccentric (B) cam would be a solution.
The SOHC only can be situated
between the two inner rows of stud
bolts, because two intake valves
between the two studs (left) take too
much space with their adjacent valve
springs.
Anyhow dimensioning 3V SOHC 3 carburetor setup definitely seemed possible with the heads fitting the existing stud
bolt positions. But realizing in retrospect the machining of cam cup seats could become too complicated and expensive at
service overhauls I had to rework the design. So less bulky valve springs and finger followers were discussed at Martin‟s
during teatime enabling a strait and much lighter exhaust rocker actuated by a central (A) cam. Distribution had to be
chain driven considering general Lancia design practice and could only be installed nondestructively by maintaining the
existing camshaft. A small sprocket fixed in front of the existing large camshaft sprocket offsets my second
distribution chain enough to the front providing free passage to the higher situated left and right camshaft quite like
the well known B-110 setup.
December 2009
In review of the Giugno (June) 2009
initial design a second setup (right) was
made getting all valves and rockers in
appropriate positions and angles. A
wooden mould model had to be as
versatile as possible to serve multiple
purposes. As long as it could be taken
apart in segments later correction
stayed possible and so we went
modular or segmented (below) for easy
access and shaping internal water
canals as well as producing water
passage kernels for the foundry. In
case of serious mistakes or design
changes only a few faulty segments
need renewal.

Zuffenhausen” solution (below) shows us some
of the problems FdV must have encountered at
the time.
In the actual dimensioned setup (above right)
the exhaust rocker is tested for position and
dimension. Later on intake canals got positioned
Later the fixed intake manifolds got separated for easy access to
the porting and unfortunately the cam cover level seems to
interfere to maximum (above) straightened down draught intake
canals. The weight of several parts are in the setup as well.
Due to each exhaust valve being under heavy thermal load shaping
coolant canals around the exhaust area (left) will be very delicate,
because two plugs, two stud bolts and one oil drain canal
concentrate around each exhaust valve obstructing effective close
coolant passages because of their casings being rather bulky all
together. Maybe later some additional forced fresh coolant have
to be injected in poorly circulating
areas to solve this bottleneck.
The revised design (left) shows the
swirly curved intake canals
necessary for usual DCZ40 type
carburetors redesigned for Weber
IDA carburetors with their float
chambers between the throats or
even more favorable, ideal but
unfortunately 2.5 times more
expensive pair of 46 IDA 3C triple
throat Webers. So an “out of

steeper and got almost straight by situating the rocker cover gasket some higher at camshaft level. Note the ball joint
cam followers giving camshafts to shift more towards the exhaust valve resulting in a more compact exhaust rocker.
Actual valves and cam followers with their fitting ball joints (above) are shown compared to the 1:1 design.
In the sixties Ludwig Apfelbeck (left) also designed a SOHC 3V upgrade kit
for pushrod VW Beetles and got honored some 50 years later by the actual
construction of his aged design described in his book “Wege zum
Hochleitungs-Viertaktmotor”, Motorbuch Verlag 1997. Camshaft distribution
by “modern” toothed belts and digital fuel injection were unknown to him,
but however additionally used by the “Apfelbeck team”. Particularly look for
the fabulous 3D graphics of the 3valve layout at their website
http://members.home.nl/r.vd.meulen/demo.htm
Besides the design of the B-543 Diciotto Prova upgrade kit, it would be
quite exiting to honor FdV likewise by the actual construction of .. .. ..
In the meantime (summer 2010) work on the mould model is progressing nicely. Stud bolt nuts have to remain accessible
without removal of camshafts. Spark plug positions and water passages are not interfering. Shaping coolant passages
Viva Gianni
. . and how versatile these
fabulous Aurelia‟s are !!!
around the exhaust area is quite
complicated not to interfere with the twin
plug casings as well as the oil return canals
and stud bolt casings.
Have patience, to
be continued ………

Francosporto‟s Related Links :
Aurelia Mania : http://www.lanciaaurelia3c.nl/aurelia%20mania.html
Classic thinking : http://www.lanciaaurelia3c.nl/classic denken.html
Unfortunately some parts are still in dutch but digipics are great !
Why not 3C : http://www.lanciaaurelia3c.nl/toch%20maar%203c.html
Home : http://www.lanciaaurelia3c.nl/index.html
Martin Willems : http://www.martinwillems.nl/ or http://www.b20.nl/
DCNF40/Aurelia3C-manyfold : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db8lBtvNjMM&feature=channel_page
Vere Lancia Racing : http://www.lanciaracing.com
VCR engine video : http://www.mce-5.com/downloads/MCE-5_2008_GB.mpg
MCE-5 site : http://www.mce-5.com/introduction/index.htm
BMW efficient dynamics : http://bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/efficient_dynamics/bc/homepage
Thesis TDI Spider LM : http://www.fiatlanciathesispidertdilemans.it/ita/home.html
The official MB Photo & Film Site : http://members.chello.nl/m.been6/index/Mijn_albums/Mijn_albums.html
The Apfelbeck 3V project : http://www.apfelbeck.nl/
Jay Leno‟s Garage : http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/index.shtml
Email Francosporto : aurelia3c@kpnplanet.nl
don‟t hesitate, even for a small question or a tiny winy suggestion …………………………
- Have fun in reading all of this –
Francosporto
-/-