Fitting new Hillman Imp pistons to con rods

You first need to ensure you have the piston to con rod the right way around, check the manual, the valve cut out goes to the lower side of the bore.

This is a quality Hepolite plus 0.060" piston which I had just fitted to the conrod, the pin is a tight fit, please heat the piston and then the pin will push out quite easily, never force it!

The method is simple, you do need leather gloves and to refit the pin and conrod quite quickly though.

How hard can this be.

Roy

Hillman Imp, new plus 60 thou, oversized pistons

By the time you get to needing new pistons you may as well do a full rebuild, thats bearings,crank grind and gaskets, not doing the valves and guides on the cylinder head is false economy.

A mismatched set of standard size Hepolite pistons.

Imp parts off the shelf

Bearings are quite an international thing but some are quirky to each country.

The Imp Sport one inch drive shafts and ends take the same bearings as the standard Imps, in this case I looked for and found genuine SKF brand parts, worth the effort and a bit more cost wise, they do last longer. The part from the orange box is the UJ, not easy to find in South Africa but off the shelf from The Imp Clubs spares department.

UJs sourced locally were found to have the grease nipple in the wrong place.

http://www.theimpclub.co.uk/  worth joining!

Roy

Imp parts

I was at a classic car rebuilder yesterday, he has not one but two Mini Mokes in build for a customer from Mauritius, both around 1984/6 year. They are the Australian built Mokes, they had the 12" rims and tyres from day one. I was surprised that finding parts for this type of  Mini is quite hard now, not so the Hillman Imp.

Competion Imp drive couplers, supplied ex the UK with no problem at all, they will also fit the Lotus Elan which takes two per side. The best were made by Metalastic.

Beware standard ones  marked SUK, they do not last long.

Roy

Terence Tracy races Peter Collings

Looks like Terence in his Imp is having great fun in his first year racing a Hillman Imp.

 A Dave Hastie picture

Terence had to learn about Imps the hard way and in a very short space of time, the first engine had a problem when a valve hit a piston, the result was a large hole in the piston.

How hard can that be.

Roy

Hillman Imp classic racer

Terrence Tracey managed a second spot overall in his first year with the Hillman Imp.

Racing Classic cars in South Africa

The movement is well established and in most centers.

 Picture by Dave Hastie

Seen here in Zwartzkop, Danie Van Shalkwyks VW Beetle fends of the Hillman Imp of Terrence Tracey