Hillman Imp front suspension mounting

Seen here the Fraser replica front suspension was being assembled on the bench.

The parts have all been bead blasted,serviced an painted and are really as close to new as we can make them.

Note that Rootes Scotland used special quality hi tensile bolts on the Imps front and rear suspension, they may be marked on the head of the bolt with the word 'Auto', keep them in a safe place, they can not be easily replaced.

Note that there are at least two pick up plates or boxes, this is the later Mk2 version.

Assembly with spotless parts is a real pleasure!

The lock tab on the two large bolts is still to be fitted and to be folded over the bolt heads. The two square plates with the threaded studs are the front spring top mounts. The studs go through the underside of the front wings, a second fixing can just be seen as a bolt, two of which pass through the side of the wheel arch.
Roy

Whats in your garage?

The service department? It looks that way, the Fraser replica was now the right way up and I had time to refinish the Toylander, note the addition of the ply panels, they had been cut by the CNC machine ok but I had failed to fit them.

The Imp was later set on its wheels and will soon ship the UK, the Toylander was given some primer on the new plys, stripped of its engineering parts and given a full respray.

Roy

Fitting disc brakes to your Imp

The trick is to use the right suppliers, we did and last year two such kits came into Cape Town by courier, not a cheap fix but the quality speaks for its self.

There are a few tricks, nothing much, you can fit the parts on the bench easier but you can also do it direct to the car as well.

The mount plate is a part of each kit, you will need to supply a 10mm high speed drill bit yourself,use it at low speed to drill the two 8mm holes out or you will burn out the drill. The existing suspension parts have been bead blasted clean and spray painted with Hammerite smooth black paint.

 Note the special long wheel studs.

Note the white plastic peg or hook in the center of the hub, thats the speedo drive found on the near side or left hand side of the car.

With front disc brakes and rear drums you will not require a servo, it is said that the sport Imp 0.7 master cylinder works better with discs but a road going car done recently with the standard size cylinder feels just fine.

How hard can this be.

Roy

In the drivers cabin, the racing seat

The seat is the main issue in a race car, it needs to be type approoved and very strong, it has a time life span and if the car is in an accident that seat may be scrapped.

Cobra brand seat that was an import, two only just fit in the car due to the wings on the seat.

Special side mounts come with each seat, one pair a seat, you will need special 8mm hi tensile bolts to fit them.

Do not remove the lables.

Note the internal roll cage.

The office is quite bare, white side covers were later fitted to the two doors to tidy the place up, we used a very light weight ply, painted white it blends in.

Roy

Two Imps

One is staying and one is leaving, in fact its going back to Scotland were it was built around 1966.

The Fraser replica race car and the 1967 Singer Chamois . It is the white and blue car that we are exporting.

Roy

Terence will drive over land to England in 2013

Finally I have managed to get a tiny bit of momentum into the preparations of our Jolon Imp.

Suspensions sandblasted and nicely painted. The interior cleaned up and readied for painting. Exterior bodywork also a work now well in progress. And what’s exciting for me is the fact that through Johan’s teaching I am learning how to panel beat, body fill and also to spray paint. It’s hot ahd hard work but I’m lovin it and I DON’T EAT MCDONALDS!!!

I am still needing some good sponsor to assist us in some finance for the trip!!!

http://jolonimp.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/some-movement-at-last/#comment-14

Our first choice of route will be through Botswana, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethopia, Sudan, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, France and through the Chunnel to England. However this might quickly change depending on the political situation of the various countries we plan to traverse.
I hope to be joined in Paris by two of my brothers who were inadvertently responsible for my becoming an Imp collector, they both owned Imps when I was still a lazy schoolboy in Ireland. So Ciaran and Sean will drive the final kilometers with us from Paris to Coventry.
Our journey will begin on Valentine’s Day 2013 when we head north out of Johannesburg and cross the border into Botswana by nightfall.

Imps and Cowboys

Who else but cowboy kids could enjoy the Imp like this.

Note the opening tail gate, was the Imp the first hatchback I wonder? I am sure it was the last car sold in Britain with a crank handle as standard, check the opening in the rear bumper.

This is an early Mk1 Imp,yet again another bright colour.

Roy

More colour for Imps

Rootes Scotland had a great take of the offer of paint colours, this one looks great!

Found on Gumtree!

Thats a neat looking car, I have no idea what the paint code or name is?

Roy

Imps in colour

I posted a picture of an Imp in the USA, it is painted in Rootes Wardance orange # 156 paint code, thats the first such paint job I have seen that shade but the name was known to me.

Looking for that paint code on Imps 4 ever I saw this pair of brightly painted cars, quite unusual ?

Roy

Reliant Scimitar GTE SE5a

We were lucky enough to have owned two Reliant Scimitars, one was the 1970 version, the SE5a was the 1975 type and with the up rated Ford V6 motor.

This is the 1975 car, I owned it some eleven years, one of the best cars I have ever had the pleasure to drive. A full body repaint was done over a number of weeks by a guy who was between jobs.

Roy

The new Hillman Imp

What I ask are our Himman Imps worth? well based on the expense just spent on this Imp, they are worth every cent we ask for them.

The car is a 1967 Hillman Imp, it was a pale grey at one time, I had rescued it for parts many years back but when I got it home I discovered the main parts of the body were sound.

New Lucas L691 & L692 tail lights were imported for the recent respray.

The cars inside paint surfaces were also painted, there was a new head lining fitted also.

The rear opening window was also changed for a fixed panel, with new glazing rubbers to the front and rear rear glass, the cars finish makes this one of the better looking Imps on the road in South Africa?

Roy

Singer Chamois engine bay

Seen here, the engine was removed so I could repaint the entire engine bay, thats a large job but with a clean engine back in the car, new paints all around it, I think it was worth the effort.

The engine in the 1967 Singer Chamois is a part sport spec engine, with twin carbs and an oil cooler, its a very handy motor. The other parts on the floor are from the 1966 Singer Chamois Sport we are shipping to Scotland next week.

Roy

Please pass me a new spark plug

Guys this is a good read and please pass it on to our buddies that like speed....

 

 

Read this thru slowly and try to comprehend the amount of force produced in just under 4 seconds!

 

There are no rockets or airplanes built by any government in the world that can accelerate from a standing start as fast as a Top Fuel Dragster or Funny Car!

 

 DEFINITION OF ACCELERATION

 

 

 One top fuel dragster 500 cubic inch Hemi engine makes more horsepower than the first 4 rows of stock cars at the Daytona 500.

 

It takes just 15/100ths of a second for all 6,000+ horsepower of an NHRA Top Fuel dragster engine to reach the rear wheels.

 

Under full throttle, a dragster engine consumes 1-1/2 gallons of nitro methane per second; a fully loaded 747 consumes jet fuel at the same rate with 25% less energy being produced.

 

A stock Dodge Hemi V8 engine cannot produce enough power to drive the dragster's supercharger.

 

With 3,000 CFM of air being rammed in by the supercharger on overdrive, the fuel mixture is compressed into a near-solid form before ignition.

 

Cylinders run on the verge of hydraulic lock at full throttle.

 

At the stoichiometric (stoichiometry: methodology and technology by which quantities of reactants and products in chemical reactions are

determined)

1.7:1 air/fuel mixture of nitro methane, the flame front temperature measures 7,050 deg F.

 

Nitro methane burns yellow... The spectacular white flame seen above the stacks at night is raw burning hydrogen, dissociated from atmospheric water vapor by the searing exhaust gases.

 

Dual magnetos supply 44 amps to each spark plug. This is the output of an arc welder in each cylinder.

 

Spark plug electrodes are totally consumed during a pass. After halfway, the engine is dieseling from compression, plus the glow of exhaust valves at

1,400 deg F. The engine can only be shut down by cutting the fuel flow.

 

If spark momentarily fails early in the run, unburned nitro builds up in the affected cylinders and then explodes with sufficient force to blow cylinder heads off the block in pieces or split the block in half.

 

In order to exceed 300 mph in 4. 5 seconds, dragsters must accelerate an average of over 4G's. In order to reach 200 mph (well before half-track), the launch acceleration approaches 8G's.

 

Dragsters reach over 300 miles per hour before you have completed reading this sentence.

 

Top fuel engines turn approximately 540 revolutions from light to light!

Including the burnout, the engine must only survive 900 revolutions under load.

 

The redline is actually quite high at 9,500 rpm.

 

Assuming all the equipment is paid off, the crew worked for free, and for once NOTHING BLOWS UP, each run costs an estimate $1,000.00 per second.

 

The current top fuel dragster elapsed time record is 4.428 seconds for the quarter mile (11/12/06, Tony Schumacher, at Pomona , CA ). The top speed record is 336.15 mph as measured over the last 66' of the run (05/25/05 Tony Schumacher, at Hebron , OH ).

 

Putting all of this into perspective:

 

You are driving the average $140,000 Lingenfelter 'twin-turbo' powered Corvette Z06. Over a mile up the road, a top fuel dragster is staged and ready to launch down a quarter mile strip as you pass. You have the advantage of a flying start. You run the 'Vette hard up through the gears and blast across the starting line and pass the dragster at an honest

200

mph. The 'tree' goes green for both of you at that moment.

 

The dragster launches and starts after you. You keep your foot down hard, but you hear an incredibly brutal whine that sears your eardrums and within

3 seconds, the dragster catches and passes you. He beats you to the finish line, a quarter mile away from where you just passed him.

 

Think about it, from a standing start, the dragster had spotted you 200 mph and not only caught, but nearly blasted you off the road when he passed you within a mere 1,320 foot long race course.

 

...... and that my friend, is ACCELERATION

 

Wow!

 

Roy

Anthony makes progress in the USA

A chance question on rear wheel bearings found me a new Imp Club member, well new to me at least, his name is Anthony.

He has two Imps, one is an early (1964) Sunbeam and was an export to the USA, its left hand drive, the other is a Hillman Imp and made in 1971, that one is right hand drive.

The Sunbeam is the one under the cover, the Hillman Imp (1971) is the orange one,is that the Rootes Car Co Wardance colour (orange) ? if so the paint code is #156 and may be stamped on the cars Vin plate, otherwise a separate body plate, which can often be found under the front bonnet and next to the fuel filler neck.

Roy,

I might have mentioned that I bought a 10" bolt and emulated the official tool in drawing the inner bearing and seal against the distance tube and outer bearing.

I then installed the brake back plate, fitted the hub, washer and nut and, using an air-powered impact wrench, tightened the nut drawing the axle into place.

I was so excited that I temporarily hung one of the Minilites (how mundane) to reward my progress.

The other Imp in the picture is a 1971 Hillman Imp (right hand drive) that has a late model motor that has the sport cam, oil drain that Rootes was apparently throwing together at the end of the Imp run. The plan is to transfer the motor into the project car as its body is better than the Hillman Imp.

The Hillman came into the picture after the Sunbeam's body was done and did pose a problem as to which one to put on the road.

I enjoyed the pics on your blog and advice you offered; much appreciated.

Tomorrow; the other side.

Thank you

Anthony

Thats a nice alloy rim, I assume its a 13" size, that gives the driver a much greater tyre selection choice. You can even use Yokohama's K6271  175/50R13 tyre, thats a race tyre but the tread looks quite suitable for road use. The 50R is a hight ratio, it will lower the car and give a faster ratio in third and forth gear.

Roy

Anthonys Imp in America

This is the car that Anthony in the USA is working on, not sure of the specification but I will advise as I find out.

Photo supplied by Anthony.

Roy, This is about the only pic I have. The car is up on stands in my garage as I had to drop the front and back suspension to replace the brake lines. This pic was taken at the body shop.

I think your advice to mount the axle off the car is the way to go. I had mounted the "arms" thinking I could just slip the axles in. Ha Ha!

Anthony

Alain Prost rides the Absa Cape Epic

My ears picked up last week when Cape Talk 567 radio mentioned that one of F1s best ever drivers was in Cape Town and looking to by a house. Nothing unusual in that, many stars have holiday homes here, then another report on FM radio told me why Alain Prost was here.

Alain Prost in his Ferrari on what looks like full wet tyres.

World famous former Formula One champion Alain Prost has announced his participation in this year's Absa Cape Epic with well-known international ski champion Sebastien Di Pasqua. Together they will take on the challenging 781km and 16 300m of climbing in the Untamed African Mountain Bike Race.

One of my favourite F1 drivers.

Alain Prost 

A four-time Formula One Drivers' Champion, Prost has won more titles than any driver except for Juan Manuel Fangio (5 championships) and Michael Schumacher (7 championships). For a period of 14 years, from 1987 to 2001, Prost held the record for most Grand Prix victories. Schumacher surpassed Prost's total of 51 victories at the 2001 Belgian Grand Prix. In 1999, Prost received the World Sports Awards of the Century in the motor sport category. He has also received an Order of the British Empire (OBE) and the Chevalier de la Legion d'honnour (National Order of the Legion of Honour).  Prost employed a smooth, relaxed style behind the wheel, deliberately modeling himself on personal heroes like Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark. He was nicknamed 'The Professor' for his intellectual approach to competition. Skilled at setting up his car for race conditions, Prost would often conserve his brakes and tyres early on in a race, leaving them fresher for a challenge at the end.

Cape Town is such a great place to live!

Roy

Hillman Imp rear wheel bearings

Anthony, an Imp owner and Imp Club Member in the USA asked a question this morning, so I got out a spare set of rear wheel bearings and a shaft, assembled the parts and sent him my reply, lets hope it helps.

How does the rear wheel hub bearings fit the splined shaft? Thats a simple enough question, well we would think that and the Rootes workshop manual 141,section G does give a decent set of intructions and a selection of pictures,plate 6822 ,  but maybe one of these photo pics will make it more clear?

The bearings should be fitted with a special tool RG379, with grease on the metal surfaces and a small hamer and suitable drift tool, it is an easy enough job without the special tool.

Note that the larger bearing has a closed end and a step on it, that faces out, on the other end is an oil seal, replace this when fitting new bearings, do not foget to grease the new bearings and leave some spare in the hub enclosure.

Made by SKF,which is my prefered brand name.

Note the closed side of the cage, which faces outwards.

The same bearing on the other side, this needs grease packing in by hand.

Working on a bench is a whole lot better than on the car!

How hard can this be.

Roy

http://www.theimpclub.co.uk/

Imp full race race manifold

Another one thats due for export, it may leave for the UK next week?

Hand made to a sample from the large bore race manifold by Janspeed.

They are really well made and worth the time it takes to have them made.

Made in South Africa!
Roy

The R20 Imp race camshaft on a series 108 cylinder head

Setting the R 20 up requires that the number one inlet valve opens at the cranks TDC 0.113" give or take 0.002" either way, note the dial gauge to allow this to be set.

The 108 series head is on a 998cc cylinder block.

The parts are all re manufactured, or in the case of the camshaft carrier a new item, only the Sport cylinder head is original, circa 1967/8?

Roy

A Hartwell 420 lift camshaft

The normal Sport camshaft has its lift increased to 0.310" the Rootes Competitions R20 takes that lift to 0.360" lift, thats quite a jump but the George Hartwell race cam went way past that and to a massive 0.420" of valve lift!

Seen on Ebay UK.

Used but looks not to be abused, I wonder what stories this can tell and who has it now?

The Hartwell race camshaft with a valve lift of 0.420"  Hartwell used to trade from Bournmouth,UK, I have been supplied by them in the past but they no longer exist.

Roy

Hillman Imp R20 race camshaft

Fitting one of these requires a dial gauge, that plus the Rootes Competitions print out on the method required and what the settings are.

All these parts are brand new, thats the camshaft carrier, the R20 camshaft, the 1mm thick stainless shim and the tappet buckets under it.

Roy

Hillman Imp sport drive shafts

Seen here with new UJs and ready to fit on the Fraser replica we buit last year.

Note the SKF wheel bearings, my best choice always!

Roy

Hillman Imp transaxle ouput spiders

More good quality, the Imp box did go through a number of changes, these out put shafts being one of them.

This type came out after the Mk1 issue, which are easily seen with a lockable nut on the outside face.

Refurbished and on Ebay UK

Roy

Hillman Imp drive shafts

Known to give bother if the large nut comes loose but other wise they are very reliable, just grease the bearings as per the service manual.

Check the quality, in this case the drive shaft is the Sport Imps larger sized 1" shaft, the only up grade required on the Sports Imps.

Roy

Small parts, the engineering bits

Rootes Scotland really did put the best of engineering into te Imp when it came out 3rd of May 1963.

 simple UJ ( universal joint) this size was fitted to the 38bhp cars from day one but the same size joint still performs when the output is closer to 100bhp!

Another item from Ebay UK.

 

Roy