Bob Kelsey tries the Zulu Warrior Hillman Imp for size

When Terence Tracey held a garden party for Bob Kelsey a lot of Impers turned up to greet Bob, he was the man who took the circuits of South Africa in his 998cc Hillman Imp back in 1966.

Thanks for this Terence.

Roy

Bob Kelsey Hillman Imp is in the lead

This picture was posted on the Terence Tracey Facebook page, its one I have never seen.

Dated around 1966 when Bob was cleaning up in the South African Saloon Car Championships.

Terence is the man behind the successful JoLon Imp drive to Coventry, UK.

Roy

Singer Chamois, a winter weather break in the Cape

With massive storms,a ship on the beach on the east coast, Claremont,  a Hout Bay fishing boat wrecked on Robben Island this is sure not the right time to be out at sea.

Note, unkown to myself, the salvors were busy taking the ship off the beach the same day I did this blog.

Click on any picture for a larger view and see more detail.

Then the rain stopped, I took the 1967 Singer Chamois out for a drive to warm it up and charge the battery, things sure look good when the sun comes out!

The car does really need a wipe down with a leather but the paint still looks ok.

Why does this car drive so well? It may be the part specification sport motor and with the twin Strombergs and Hartwell small bore exhaust?

Then again it may be the new clutch, pressure plate and release bearing, or the new set of Monte Carlo road springs, the 13" x 5J wider  wheels and 165-65-13R Firestone tyres, or the new set of  front disc brakes, I guess all together this is just a great car!

The original Singer engine cover is in the paint shop for a refurbish, when its finished this standard Hillman Imp one will go back into storage.

We have owned this Singer Chamois for twenty years, it was my wifes daily driver for thirteen years and it could do the same again now.

The engine bay was repainted when I removed the engine to fit the new clutch. 

Is this car for sale, I am not sure why not make me an offer?

Roy

Note, the sunshine did not last long, I had to quickly park the Singer Chamois in its garage, then drive down to the local  harbour in the Ford Bantam 1600i Sport (mazda engine) rather that gets wet than our Singer!

The Mazda engine is a cross flow, with fuel injection it puts out around 108bhp and makes for a good bridge between a road car and a daily work horse. Ford chose to use the Mazda engine over their own 1600 version.

Orginal Hillman Imp steering rack gaiter set

This was a purchase I was fortunate to make from a fellow Imp Club member, which does rather underline the value of being a club member.

These are not the copies being made now but the genuine thing and as made by Engproducs and fitted to the Imp. (was a letter T ever supposed to be in that name, will we ever know?)

I do have a spare steering rack, so the rubbers can be fitted and its an easier and faster change over then.
you need to fit the drag links and with one end boot fitted, pour in a half pint of hypoid gear oil from the open end.

Re fit that end boot and you can then refit the assembly to the steering rack mounts.

For club membership and other related items,  please view the Imp Clubs new web site  at the address www.theimpclub.com

Roy

Hillman Imp steering rack rubber gaiter

Mine may be all of 47 years old, or if I changed it when the car was taken apart 20 years ago, then rebuilt,its still 20 years old!

This is what a set looks like, there are two 13mm holes on the other side of the long tube with the fluted sections, the track rod bolts go through those holes.

They are marked as being made by Engproducs, both the main unit and the two end covers.

Its been a matter of discussion for years as to why the letter T in Products was left out?

Roy

Re fix of a Hillman Imp steering rack gaiter, works!

Weeks later and after a decent drive to Suikerbossie hill (sugarbush) and back, plus a Shell filling station for petrol, I do another visual and the fix holds and with no leaks of hypoid oil that I can see.

Works for me!

Two weeks later and I have just done a visual check to see if this idea has done the job?

There was an oil drip on the repair end, re tightening the screw clamp should have fixed that, it also prooves that the single rubber cap end on the other side of the steering rack was enough oil to work to the far end of the rack. I have since put another end cap of Shell Sprirax SAE 80W-90 heavy duty gear oil into the rack. With the low milage I tend to do in this car we should be ok for the time being?

The original story starts below:

These are very long lasting, the one on our 1967 Singer Chamois may be the original, if not its at least twenty years old and from the rebuild I did back then.

I had seen that the gaiter had come free of the bellows section on the right hand side, oil had gone and the free end would allow sand and dirt to enter if not fixed.

Seen here I have done a stop gap repair.

A new rubber gaiter is GBP30 by the time I get it here I expect that to be GBP50 with postage, duty and vat, more maybe?

In this case it was the very end that had come free.

The steering rack gaiter on the Singer had split right around where the right hand clip is.

A new one will be 50 quid by the time it gets here, plus its a big job to remove and refit the

entire rack.

This was last refitted twenty years back? I dont remember fitting a new one, if its the original

its now 47 years old and has done 99,300 miles or so.

The trick was to remove the old clip and what was now a rubber band underneath it, then with

a new clip and sliding the gaiter alone 3/8" re fasten it, as you can see its ok, will it work and

for how long?

Not all oil had gone from the gear end, so no damage was done, I took the rubber end cap off and

filled it with Hypoid oil, popped it back on and tightened the clip quickly, seems good.

With luck this will save someone out there some time and money?

Note the disc brake, working better and better now as the pads bed in.

Roy

Roys Imp front disc brakes work

In use about a month now, to start the brake peddle had a soft feel, the brakes were working though so I thought to leave it a while and see what happened?  The standard 0.65" master cylinder is still being used, I am told the 0.70" one from the Sport Imps will firm up the braking?

Click on the picture for a larger image.

I put some miles on them and bit by bit the peddle pressure firmed up, in fact the pressure is just about right now. Some heavy stops on a clear road from about 50mph seems to have bedded the brakes pads in.

This extra is a worthwhile addition to any Hillman Imp, ours is a 1967 Singer Chamois with around 99,350 miles on the odometer.

Roy