Happy Christmas to you and your Imp!

All the best to you wherever you may be.

My thanks to fellow Imp Club member Marcel Peeters In Belgium for the use of his picture.

Regards

Roy

Seasons greetings for the festive season

May I wish everyone all the best for the end of the year and the same for 2018.

My 1967 Hillman Imp Californian at Hout Bay beach, South Africa.

New Hillman Imp windscreens

We imported a pack of four Hillman Imp screens, all laminated for extra safety, one saloon screen  is left and can be purchased at the last price which was back in 2016, so a good idea.

A new windscreen sure makes the car look better and as it should.

You also get a super clear view when driving.

One real bonus is unseen, the wiper blades move across the new glass in silence now.

.
The screen in stock is a clear one and still in its makers wrapping

Roy

A very early 1963 Hillman Imp engine

This motor I worked on back in April 2013, it was a unit that came to me in a very dirty state, so dirty that it took me two days to de grease it, then a third day to blast it clean in the bead blasting cabinet.

Click on the images to make them larger.

The engine number is 1574, so a really early Mk1 plus the cylinder head is lacking the deep valley that runs in line and above the spark plugs.

The engine was started and bench tested, it ran about eight hours over a number of weeks.

The pistons had new rings fitted but were seized solid, I used oxalic acid and a week of soaking the pistons in the fluid before they could be removed from the pistons for final cleaning.

This was the first Imp engine that I fitted a vesconite plastics rub strip for the timing chain to run on.

This is a nice Mk1 engine, it needs a nice Mk1 Hillman Imp to be fitted to.

How simple can this be?

Roy

Hillman Imp in 1962

This is dated 1962, as the Imp came out in May 1963 it seems a little bit odd?

Click on the image to enlarge it.

It is marked as a 63 calendar, was that year a mistake and it was really 64?

The heading says Past Auction .

Seen by a member of the ARCC and sent to me, I know nothing more about it.

Roy

Driving on Chapmans Peak Drive South Africa

This was yesterday, the weather was clear and fine but on the cool side.

The mountain in the distance is The Sentinel , a free pass is given to drive half way up the road I used.

This spot is a popular start to a walk or hike on the mountains.

Parking at your own risk says the sign.

This road is very twisty and suits the handling of the Hillman Imp really well.

Roy

Hillman Imp piston rings for sale

We have sets of brand new (old stock) Repco piston rings for sale.
Boxed and ready to ship to your destination.

The top compression groove is supplied with a spare ring that should your piston have wear there can be machined to accept the spare ring?

Instructions on fitting are supplied.

Priced at Pounds 47.00 per box for four pistons plus postage etc.

There are also crank bearings and thrust washers for sale.

Roy

Last engine rebuild date?

If I kept a log book for this 1967 Hillman Imp Californian I would know when I rebuilt the engine and fitted a set of new piston rings?

The fact is there was and is no log book but there are a few happenings that came after the engine strip down and then re assembly.

One was the David Piper Springbok race series and a round of which was held here at the Killarney International Race Circuit.

David Piper, I have watched David racing his cars at the Killarney Circuit outside Cape Town many times and since 1968.

The engine was in very good condition then, I had the car serviced at the Killarney Auto Services shop, a straight through exhaust pipe was made and fitted then.

Using borrowed race suit and a crash helmet I took the car on the circuit one friday and did a test lap.

There was just the one lap as the fan belt flew off at what was BP Corner , now named Cape Town Corner, I made it back to the pits ok and packed up for the day and the event.

This was (i think) 2006/7 so the engine was fitted with a set of new piston rings some ten years back, low miles since then have not taken much out of them, in fact my drive yesterday tells me that an engine rebuild is not required.

The picture below was taken today, the engines internal parts were fitted over ten years ago .

When checking the Champion N9YC spark plugs I am pleased to see that they burn clean, the engine uses very little oil and the exhaust does not smoke.

Having just imported a set of used but near new pistons sized 0.030" over sized I doubt I will be using them any time soon?

The piston rings are by Repco and I have some sets for sale, probably at Pounds Sterling 47.00 plus postage.

Roy

Hillman Imp new piston set

They are new to me but in fact have been inside an engine, such low hours run they are almost unmarked.

As a member of The Imp Club I was able to buy them from the clubs spares department.

They are perfect for a possible rebuild of the engine in my 1967 Hillman Imp Californian.

Washed in new petrol only they are nearly ready to be fitted with the new Repco piston rings I have in stock.

The Repco ring sets are for sale, around Pounds 45 for the set.

The Repco ring sets have a spacer top ring should that be required?

Look how clean the piston is inside, so very low engine hours on these pistons.

Contact me for Repco piston ring sets and thrust bearings.

Roy

Rosemary Smith becomes the Worlds oldest Renault F1 driver

This is one way to enter the record books!

https://drivetribe.com/p/watch-79-year-old-rosemary-smith-epV9NPY3R2KCcvxXqPGtrA?iid=aMQ7hYOMStqzOnDsxwMs7Q&utm_campaign=formula1&utm_medium=fb&utm_source=organic

You mightn’t recognise the name, but Rosemary Smith is without a doubt one of the most important people in the history of motorsport.

 Having originally trained as a dressmaker, Rosemary stumbled into the world of rallying in the mid-1960s and went on to win some of the most iconic top-flight rallies on earth in an era when women were more likely to be seen draped over the bonnet of a car than behind the wheel.

Watch the remarkable film below as, at 79 years old, the Dublin-born driver who still rallies to this day has defied the odds once again to become the oldest person to get in the cockpit of a Renault sport Formula One car.

A fifty year old Hillman Imp

Not only that but an Imp Californian, said to be one of 6000 made only?

This car has been under a two and a half year restoration, it is mainly complete now and is a pleasure to drive.

The car or the wife?

This is one of those things that can come between partners?

Well will you keep your Imp or your lady?

Roy

Hillman Imp Californian coupe

This car will turn fifty years old next month.

After a three year restoration its ready to do another fifty years service.

With only 6000 made they were never very common.

The car still runs the original engine block, crank bearings and pistons, just the rings were changed about ten years ago.

Roy

The house took about the same time to build as the restoration of the 1967 Hillman Imp Californian took.

So I could have built a house and made a predictable profit instead I did the car (smile)

The car is now in its 50th year!

The way it is?

Will you choose the wife or the car?

How hard can this be?