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