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Author Topic: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!  (Read 16249 times)

essex2visuvesi

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #25 on: July 23, 2010, 05:28:41 pm »

I can find you an MGBGT for a few hundred

can you post to Finland?
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funtimefrankie

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #26 on: July 23, 2010, 06:00:03 pm »

can you post to Finland?
Not sure it would survive the sorting office handling %)
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pugwash

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #27 on: July 23, 2010, 06:24:44 pm »

Hillman Imps were quite nippy little cars for screaming round the rural lanes of Northumberland
but as Panda cars they left a bit to desired.  One night in Morpeth 3 of us trying to get a very
fighting drunk member of the then Gosforth rugby team into the back of the car - we
eventually dragged him in thru' the back window - there was no way he was going to go
in thru' the door - Happy days!!

Geoff
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Bryan Young

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #28 on: July 23, 2010, 06:43:35 pm »

I also bought a new Imp to replace my Brabham tuned Sunbeam Rapier (Marriage and new child....you understand). I was amazed how nippy this this was.....until the steering got heavier and heavier. Lack of knowledge in those days. But we loved it.
But my favourite "small" car that I ever owned was my 1974 Ford Escort Mk1 1300E. Ultimately tuneable. But being a complete idiot in those days, replacing the 1300 engine without changing the rear axle ratio was a great mistake. But in "E" guise, that car was a little beauty. BY.
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vintagent

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #29 on: July 23, 2010, 08:25:41 pm »

Mogsy, you go with an Imp, mate.  The sweetest engine ever.  A Coventry Climax heritage , used in R1 hydros and Ginetta G15s regularly beat Ferraris on the club tracks.

I had a Herald for my first car and loved it to death, but it ain't got the same excitement as a screaming little Imp.
If you were a spanner man, it holds no fears.
Wills rings are a good idea if you can still get them.
I'd have had one recently but couldn't find any I could afford, so I went for a Reliant Fox van which has been a bit of a pain to sort out but I think we're getting there now. Another lovely little engine. I used to spanner for a Formula 750 driver and we changed the head gasket every lunchtime!. He would NOT pay a few quid for Wills rings!

I hope you paint it that gorgeous pale green. That's the colour the Fox is going to be. nearest I'll get to anything with a Coventry Climax link.  The Imp engine was officially the FWMA...Feather Weight Marine Automobile as it started life in an outboard motor.  Find one of them somewhere and your laughing!

Regards,
Vintagent
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mogsy

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #30 on: July 23, 2010, 09:16:45 pm »

Oooooh Yes Mr Net  :-) !!!
Is that the really light pastel green or the full Pestacchio number as found on Lambo Miuras and razzed up ford escorts  8) 8) 8) 8) ????

I was thinking along the lines of one of the following:
Paegent Blue (mini / BL)
Inca Yellow (mini / BL)
Dove grey or old English white (Austin)
Valencia blue (Triumph), I think this may be very similar to an Imp colour anyway.
Ford Diamond White - loads of rally cars are this and you can always break up the white with trim,a jaunty stripe and bright red mudflaps etc.
That Bright metalic Electric Blue you could get MKII Escort Ghias in.

Any blumin colour as long as it isnt that horrendous metalic bronze Imps came in  :} !!!!

I shouldnt go public but am bidding on an engine and boxless one on the bay at the mo.
Has a current MOT expiring in 9mths I recall.Ends Monday. Im prepared to buy as the guy collecting it is a card carrying MOT examiner so if the shell aint up to scratch I will void the purchase owing to inaccurate description. I've never had to do  that before as evrything else I've bought via Ebay has been as discribed.

This might not be a bad thing because I was considering a fully built up tuned block , head and box from a specialist anyhow.
I always believe in getting the shell right first so it'll get all the obvious welding done, then building suspension, running lines thru and trial fitting any arches and fibregalss etc etc and getting the 'stance' right then stripping it all out and cage in prior to a trip to the dippers. 
This process eats everything that isint good metal sound deadening and trim included. A certain amount of poking about and mechanical paint removal is worthwhile for obviuos reasons. The shell is returned in a light zincr finish ready or primer and way to go!

Should just be a bolt together job then. Banking on no more than 12mths max from purchase.

Mogsy
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kiwi

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #31 on: July 23, 2010, 09:32:47 pm »

Brilliant, but it has to be a 998, sooooooo much better
kiwi
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malcolmfrary

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #32 on: July 23, 2010, 10:29:31 pm »

I used to give my mate advice on which way to point his Cortina GT in club rallys, but I distinctly remember one guy who had a "tooned" Imp.  Just a pity he never figured out the benefits of fitting a sump guard.   :((  Now the Cortina would bounce and skitter over any surface, and the front face of the sump guard had pointy teeth painted on.  Maturity is optional.
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triumphjon

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #33 on: July 23, 2010, 11:15:44 pm »

well its your choice , enjoy your biuld and running , imps yes i too would recomend malcom anderson as a very helpful man ive asked advise for the bond 875 more than once ! didnt one of the late seventies early eighties talbots also share the same engine block ? whichever way you choose to modify remember to uprate the brakes FIRST it aint no good being quicker if you cant stop !  and its not the speed that kills its always the stopping that does the damage ! ! jon
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bonzo470

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #34 on: July 23, 2010, 11:52:32 pm »

Lord, this brings back the memorys had an Imp in 1975 loved it, swapped the engine out in a few hours hours in a lock up and had 5 parrty 7s left on the roof at the end of it.
My girl friend and her mate were cleaning out the engine bay in their party clothes! Happy Days!.stopped a water leak by applying plastic padding to the  the eng.  go for it 
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kiwi

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #35 on: July 24, 2010, 01:49:15 am »

Hi,
The Talbot was a 930cc block with different oil pickup. (block was vertical, not inclined)
I think is still available to. (or was a few years ago)
cheers
Kiwi
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Perkasaman2

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #36 on: July 24, 2010, 02:08:51 am »

Ok Mogsy  :D, use the engine/gearbox but dump the rest of it mate. I drove the imp van as a younster, and attempted a three point turn in a country lane one dark night, I reversed back and the engine quickly cut out. I got suspicious and remembered an almost  identical 'failure' earlier in thesame  month when I parked up in a secluded picnic area. I eventually realised that the local youngsters had  'knobbled' my tailpipe  ;D with a large potato which they had impaled on it.  <*< (By coincidence I was in the company of the same young lady.  %) )  Guess what? I'd reversed into the bankside close to the road edge and plugged the tailpipe with soil  {:-{ - I unblocked it with her nailfile. {-) The van was a weird yuk khaki shade of green unique to imps. I was later gifted a second imp for spares and went to N Yorks to get it. I drove 15 miles spewing a trail of oil on the motorway before it's engine finally blew. I was stranded late at night on the hard shoulder and the police obliged me to pay meggabucks to have it dragged off by a ripoff 'recovery' outfit they contacted, who dumped it in a scrap yard and some time later, for an exta fee, dumped me outside Darlington Railway station at 2am on a Sunday evening.  >:-o  Rabbie Burns had it right ............ An imp o' hell! :}
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vintagent

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #37 on: July 24, 2010, 08:31:38 am »

The Talbot blocks were available until very recently from Speedy Spares on the south coast somewhere, I was going to get my new R1 hydro lump from there. They were NOT expensive.

Some people call it lime green, but it ain't, it's that very particular very light,but rich green.
Metallic blue does look nice though!  With light blue spoked Revolutions and polished rims!  Oh Nursey!!!

Vintagent
Regards
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Patrick Henry

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #38 on: July 24, 2010, 10:13:37 am »

Speedy Spares are in Brighton... http://www.speedyspares.co.uk/
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vintagent

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #39 on: July 24, 2010, 06:55:59 pm »

Thanks, U33.
I knew it was somewhere that way!

Interesting site.

Regards,
Vintagent
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triumphjon

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #40 on: July 24, 2010, 07:17:14 pm »

mogsy , we all have different toys , parts are obviousley available if your prepared to look for them ! mmy car is over thirty five years old and still peerforming its duty reliably . keep the tin worm at bay AND KEEP THE CLASSICS ALIVE & WHERE OUR HERITAGE SHOULD BE , OUT ON THE ROAD FOR ALL TO ENJOY ! jon
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mogsy

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #41 on: July 28, 2010, 05:45:38 pm »

Whilst I wasnt expecting the Imp on Fleabay to be given away I was stunned when it went the auction closed at over £500.  You may remebre I mentioned this vehicle had no engine or box even.  I know it's been discussed in length on this forum but it's nuts what people will pay on the bay.
(Who know..s someone local to Nuneaton might of gone to view it and it turned out to be exceptional).
My search continues
Mogs
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funtimefrankie

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #42 on: July 28, 2010, 07:07:19 pm »

I can find you an MGBGT for a few hundred

Apparently, it was sold for £200 :o
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vintagent

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #43 on: July 29, 2010, 09:24:27 am »

Well done, triumphjon.
My son's GT6 is as old and I would jump in that and drive it anywhere.  Indeed I bought an open GT6 a few years ago (GT6 with Spitfire body) and drove it straight to Germany where it took me all over Europe, where I was working in the car design business. It always caused great interest and admiration.  Having a tuned six where most expected a tame four, it would always demolish the locals in their tarted up Golfs and Astras!  It's marvellous how the Germans wag their fingers at a mad Brit fish-tailing a sports car down Diesel Strasse :P

My current classic is not so reliable. A Reliant Fox van which keeps cutting out as you drive. Just can't get to the bottom of it.
Perhaps the new engine I'm building will sort it out.
Regards,
Vintagent
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Perkasaman2

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #44 on: July 29, 2010, 02:25:28 pm »

Here's me trying answer Mogsy's desperate plea to be saved and you lot are getting all nostalgic for asthmatic, wheezy scuttle shakers built in our darkest :o ' doggy motor manufacturing days. I was an MGB roadster fan but deeply regretted  <:(  it's crude and unreliable engineering in all departments, but loved the exhaust note and 8)  body shape.  :}
A nice inexpensive 1.6 Eunos grey import would'nt go amiss if I had the garage space.  :D                   
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BarryM

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #45 on: July 29, 2010, 03:04:31 pm »

Perhaps because the old ones didn't need a megabytes computer, the entire range of Snap-on and wads of cash to diagnose any problems while the engine bay was not crammed to bursting with gizmos.

It's amazing what you can hear with a screwdriver applied between block and lughole and anything more exotic than the basic tools was usually unnecessary. Tuning a pair of carbs with a length of plastic tubing, a couple of school rulers and your own senses was just as accurate as anything else available. Engines could be a pleasure to work on then.

Barry M
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Perkasaman2

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #46 on: July 29, 2010, 08:13:26 pm »

I agree with much of what Barry says but my days of 'banger' diy  are'nt fondly remembered. I could generally hear every last moving part of the mechanicals while sitting in the driving seat, without the aid of a screwdriver and I generally could'nt even hear the radio, if fitted.
Emissions/safety  legislation has obliged much more complexity but the considerable engineering benefits which modern drivers enjoy and take for granted, would be very sorely missed.  There's a happy medium, but I think the prestige German marques  have  gone 'off the planet' with  luxury gimmicks and electronic wizardry. My bangers were mostly very forgettable, but I recognise that one or two had 'soul'.  :}   
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essex2visuvesi

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #47 on: July 30, 2010, 05:10:15 pm »

There was a nice Imp for sale on Finnish ebay the other day.  I watched it with a view to having a little bid.  Went for €7000 :(
Problem is here good ones are hard to find as they never really sold well here and many of them were and still are used for Rallying.

Its funny tho I got this for half that




Was listed as having a gearbox fault.... drained the box, changed the filters, new sump gasket, replaced the kickdown cable and good as new

Not much room for boats tho lol
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vintagent

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #48 on: July 31, 2010, 11:16:16 am »

Hmm, I'd rather have an Imp!!

Vintagent
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Nordsee

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Re: Hillman Imps - Someone might be able to stop me!!!
« Reply #49 on: August 19, 2010, 08:34:04 pm »

If you cam find an Imp Sport, they were 1000cc and really moved. The Fraser Imps were more than a match for Mini Coopers and when Owen Greenwood fitted an Imp engine in his 3 wheeler (Motor cycle sidecar racer) it was fantastic to watch! The Bike boys tried every which way to get it banned! The front wheels of a standard road Imp had Positive camber which looked a bit odd, cornereing was much improved, and the looks too, by removing the front whisbones and putting the top on the bottom linkage,bottom to top, this gave Negative camber, at no cost, you needed to re track the steering afterwards though.Great little car, the engine started life in a Fire pump!
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