An Imp in another view, or how to rig the Imp to turn it 350 degrees.

This was the best way to re build what was to be a sprint car, suitable for fast road it was not an out and out racer but has the ability to go fast when required.

This shot was when I was lowering the car back to the ground, I had had it fully inverted around a month while I worked on the cars underside.

 

For some time I had the car on its side, this really did make a lot of space in the garage!

 

 

Fully inverted, the steel turning rig fits under the car and is well out of the way.

The car as loaded and on its way to Scotland eventually, the turning rig now waits for its next Imp rebuild.

Roy

Hillman Imp cooling fan gaiters

These are now quite a hard to find item, I guess we can use some soft sheet rubber similar to that used on a diving suit but with new ones being made in Australia you may want to buy from there?

The moulded black band is well produced, it looks like a better quality than the original, buy them from Bob Allan of the Imp Club Spares department. spares@theimpclub.co.uk

The red plastic cowl is not supplied.

Roy
 

Hillman Imp drive shafts

This could also be said to be the Singer, Sunbeam and Commer Imps as well.

This is the Imp Sport 1 inch sized drive shaft, the splined shafts are the same and interchangable.
Note that an oil seal fits just behind the bearing.

New bearings and UJs sourced locally and from the UK.

Note the competition drive couplers.

Drive shaft universal joints.

Where they fit.

 

The rear suspension sub assembly is best done on the bench.

 

 

 Later as fitted to the sprint car, working like this has its good side, you can see whats going on and work really clean.

 

Roy

 

The Hillman Imp front suspension exposed

There is nothing to expose thats very much wrong, the Mk 1 Imp did have lean in front wheels, said to be a way of lifting the ride height as the headlights were too low. This I find hard to believe as when the Mk 2 version came out the front wheels were upright and the lights the same height.

This front suspension set sits on our 1967 Singer Chamois and in the same position as the set on the car, left click the picture for a better view.

Note, the Mk1 and Mk2 center pick up plates differ at the front of the suspenion arms and also at the rear, its a big job to change them, there were also two versions of the Mk1 rear plate too.

Roy

1966 S type 3.8 ltr Jaguar for sale

A fellow S type man came to see me last week, he has a similar car to mine under restoration and needed some specific details and pictures taken from my own car, a past five times concours winner, so is well detailed.

This stunning looking car was also a concours winner but in the USA. The picture was supplied by Glyn but I am not sure if he took it?

Picture supplied by Glyn, right click on either one to view full size and see more detail.

Glyn tells me the paint colour was named Cherry Red and was a USA Jaguar colour, true or not the car looks fantastic! My car is in DuPonts New Red, a darker shade than this paint job. I also have the wire wheels but in painted silver not the chrome as on the USA car.

Roy

Cape Town, South Africa.

Lioness and a Mk1 Hillman Imp in 1963

This was part of a test that Rootes did prior to the Hillman Imps release to the general public on May 1963.

The Lion looks to be walking towards the Imp? its probably the first time a Lion had seen the Imp, or indeed the other way around!

The picture was part of a series from the Rootes Group and was found on Frankas site that Richard Sozanski of The Imp Club told me about.

http://www.imps4ever.info/algemeen/developing.html

Thanks to all involved.

Roy

www.theimpclub.co.uk

Hillman Imp transaxle output drive types

The May 1963 Mk 1 Imp had transaxle output drives (spiders) that were captive inside the box by using a circlip, there was a large nut on the outside so that the spider could be removed to change the lip seal.

The picture of five output drives shows five units and they spread from the original 1963 transaxle to the later Mk2 transaxle around 1965?

The two at the back are Mk2 issues and can be recognised by the fact that they have no large nut, if you look closer they also have the circlip groove missing. As with the later Mk1 issue, they may be removed from the transaxle simply by pulling them out once the drive shaft rubber coupler is taken off.

The center spiders can be recognised by the circlip grooves but also the fact that the cast spider web was left square. This prooved to cut the rubber drive coupler and the later Mk1 and Mk2 spiders had a rounded shoulder to prevent this kind of damage.

Note the square and quite sharp cast corner edges of the center spider, it has the circlip groove also, so is an Early Mk1 version.

Note, you can still use this type but please grind the sharp corner off with a mini grinder. Use the required safety glasses please!

A restored shaft is the one closest to the camera, available ex stock and on exchange with your old spider, note the entire unit has been bead blasted clean.

Perfect!

 

Roy

Roys 998cc Hillman Imp block and pistons

I am restarting the 998cc Imp block work and will have it line bored next week to ensure the crank runs free as it needs to.

For various reasons the block had to recieve some welds, the heat caused some distortion and if I had the same work done again I would sink the block in a container of water to take the heat away.

This Mk 2 block was machined to take the 998cc liners locally in Cape Town, the engineers have become specialists in Imp work as a result.

Imported as a special order to convert an 875cc Imp block to a 998cc block, these are really nice pistons!

Roy

 

The Jolon Imps progress

The car is now back from the spray painters and is back with Terence who is fitting the body out for his intended trip next year to London, then Coventry.

The Jolon Imp is seen here on the left and next to the race imp which Terence secured a second in class in his first year!

Roy

A South African racing imp 2012

An Imp Club member Terence Tracey has had success with his racing Imp at Zwartkops Race Circuit, he finished second in class in his first year.

Picture by Dave Hastie and taken from the Jolon Imp site

Roy

Malcolm Anderson Imp spares man

I will have started buying Imp parts from Malcolm about twenty years back, so we know each other quite well now. We also met him and his wife Joyce at the Wirrels Imp meeting in 2004.

Malcolm sent me the picture with a parcel of Imp spare, the caption on the back says

Joyces Stiletto and my Imp Super.

I have owned two Stilettos and both were the same colour.

How nice was that.

Roy

Our 1967 Singer Chamois

Seen here and in for a check up, do the spark plugs and clean the engine underneath, is our faithfull still 875cc engined Singer Chamois.

Basically the cars original paint shade as when it came out of the factory. The car sits lower on its new Monte Carlo road springs, front brake discs will be next!

The nice clean engine and related paint works came from an engine removal a year back to spray paint the engine bay.

Its nice to have a clean engine so you can see whats going on and not get your hands too dirty when doing services.

Roy