Newbie - Hillman Imp loon... Any more out there?

[ImpManiac]

Hello 10 Tenths!

I am a life-long car enthusiast with a particular soft spot for 'interesting' cars, which generally means older designs, modified machines, sports and saloon, tin top and soft top, quite a bit of modern stuff too... I am struggling to describe my taste in cars because it is so non-specific and eclectic!

My two projects at the moment are a 1966 Singer Chamois (Hillman Imp) sprint/ hillclimb car and a 1975 Triumph Stag, which will sport some modifications. The Chamois is a full-race 930cc screamer. I have a modern car too, in the interests of being 'sensible.' And for towing.

I have not yet competed in the Chamois, although I did a track day in it last August. I managed to roll it too. I want to enter a sprint or hillclimb or two this season, possibly along with the odd autosolo for good measure.

Anyway, I look forward to learning lots here and generally getting stuck in. So say hi!

Paul

[GORDON STREETER]

Hi Paul. I actually worked on the very first Hillman Imp before they were announced. At the time it didn't have a name only a number, and their was talk of it being called the Hillman Ajax !
Brilliant, but I suppose it would have been clean all the time !!!!

[kjw]

Hillman Imps are great I used to autocross one. Although I race a mini now I would like to get hold of a nice full race imp.

[ImpManiac]

Imps are great - that is for sure! They have a loyal following!

Gordon, interesting that you used to work on the first ones. What was your role?

Paul

[GORDON STREETER]

I was just an apprentice mechanic in 1962 at the garage that was owned by Alan Fraser so saw the first of the Imps. I remember instead of a throttle cable they had a pneumatic coupling between the pedal and the carburettor, although innovative it used to leak and the car would slow down until you pumped the throttle again.!
Bit of brain fade it was known as the APEX not AJAX

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

Bit of brain fade it was known as the APEX not AJAX

Brill(o).

The Imp was a good fun car. I never owned one but rented one for a weekend once. Tremendous fun. Also had a girlfriend with one which was forever overheating.

The layout lent itself to modified saloon racing, but the historics are still entertaining to watch too.

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Also had a girlfriend with one which was forever overheating.

.

Too much information Pete !

[ImpManiac]

If the Imp engine is built properly and maintained well, the Imp can be as reliable as any car of its era. I built my own Imp Sport engine on the cheap about ten years ago and it ran like clockwork (only a bit quicker! ) for 25k miles, no sweat. Even the twin Strombergs were no problem!

Head gasket problems rear their heads if decent anti-freeze is not used, if the car is allowed to overheat for a prolonged period (e.g. if the radiator is not in tip-top condition) or if there are leaks or water pump issues. The Imp engine's light alloy engine castings are prone to warping and then the head gasket inevitably leaks. But I've never had one go on me.

My present car has a self-built 930cc Talbot Sunbeam-based engine with big valves, a works race camshaft (R21), Cosworth tappets, ARP big end bolts and a steel strengthening plate on the bottom end, lightened, balanced... It's already seen 9000rpm and it's only had 1200 miles from brand new, so it is distinctly nippy! I did have a close ratio transmission but it was secondhand and melted its first motion shaft bearing after 30 miles, so it's back on an old, spare standard transmission, which is not ideal (ratios too wide) but gets me about in the car on high days and holidays.

I have not competed in it yet, although I really want to. In fact, I have never competed in any motor sport (apart from some friendly karting on rare occasions). Sprints and hillclimbs are my favoured types of events because I consider the likelihood of damage that much less if mine is the only car out on track at any given moment! No car-on-car contact. If I bin it, it's my own fault.

But the car is built to compete. It has a full roll cage, disc front brakes, a bias pedal box, lightweight seats, harnesses, stripped shell, a battery kill switch... You name it! I don't have an extinguisher system for it yet but want to fit one.

I am a fairly well-rounded petrolhead, though. My passion for things automotive stretches to many, many types of car, from Edwardian racers right through to lightweight, specialised hillclimb single seaters... and everything in between! I have a particular penchant for AC Cobras (and replicas) and things like big-engined sports racers, like the Ford GT40 and Lola T70, as well as the old Group C machines.

Hillclimbing and sprinting seems like a very friendly, good-spirited and fun past time, so I shall start there. I might one day try circuit racing but I have the perception that it is very expensive and risky to the car (knocks, etc.). But autosolos also interest me, as well as track days - of course!

That's me!

Paul

[ImpManiac]

Some pictures of me with my pride and joy...

















Paul

[kjw]

Head gaskets were always a problem. I seem to remember having larger diameter head bolts fitted and that helped.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by ImpManiac

I am a fairly well-rounded petrolhead, though. My passion for things automotive stretches to many, many types of car, from Edwardian racers right through to lightweight, specialised hillclimb single seaters... and everything in between! I have a particular penchant for AC Cobras (and replicas) and things like big-engined sports racers, like the Ford GT40 and Lola T70, as well as the old Group C machines.

Taking the above into consideration and the fact that your car looks very good, how about taking it to Spa in September this year? All of the cars you mention and more will be there for the 6hrs event 25/27th Sept. And if you contact the organisers you'll probably get in for free as part of the classic car thing they do.

[ImpManiac]

^^ Plus Spa is one place I've always wanted to visit. It is legendary! Alas, I suspect that my finances would not stretch to a visit this season. You never know, though.

And thank you for the comments on my car!

I would definitely be interested in looking out for any drive-outs, meets, etc. here on 10-tenths.

Paul

[Peter Mallett]

Quite a lot are unsurprisingly associated with racing so if you keep an eye on the various forms you'll find somewhere to go.

I think the first of the historics is Snett 21 March.

[White flag man]

Had an enormous road accident in my Imp many moons ago, due to the engine seizing while going through an S bend, in Chipstead, Surrey. After rolling up a grass bank and smashing through a wall, I ended up, upside down in someones front garden, 15 feet above the road. Fortunately I walked away from the accident, despite the car ending up V shaped and no-else was involved. Unfortunately, a couple of days later it became clear that I had a back injury, so had to spend one day a week, for six months, on a traction bed.
The "funny" thing was in the front garden of the house next to the one I "landed" in, a guy was polishing his Aston Martin DB5! I've never had anyone offer me so many cups of tea in such a short space of time, I think he needed them more than me.
The car was sent to a scrapheap, a graet shame because we had a lot of good times together and I love seeing the Historic guys racing them.

[GORDON STREETER]

You were lucky that you escaped without more serious injuries !
The Imp wasn't the best in a front end crash, and a young girl in my neck of the woods swerved to miss a fox and crashed into a tree and was killed when the front petrol tank ruptured and caught fire.
Unfortunately this wasn't uncommon on the Imp.

[John Turner]

The Imp and its derivatives were great little cars. Unfortunately, the early cars damaged their reputation, almost irretrievably, since they were released to the public before all the little bugs, some mentioned above, were resolved. As a competitor to the Mini, they were overpriced, except that in reality, it was the Mini that was underpriced as the Ford Motor company proved. However, having owned both Imps and Minis, the Imp, in my view was better built, and certainly more fun to drive.

The only time I had a blown head gasket on one was entirely down to me. A combination of allowing the water level to get too low and thrashing it around the M25 at max revs will do that to a lot of cars. Since it was my wife's, Sunbeam Stiletto, I was not popular. I was only allowed back in the house because our eldest son, Kevin (then, only about 5 or 6 years old) was with me!

A tweaked version of that little Coventry Climax engine is a joy to hear. I had a Ginetta G15 with a 1040cc (the biggest you could go, I think, without expensive restroking etc) which rev'd to 9000rpm (possibly more but I didn't want to go there); fabulous sound.

[White flag man]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

You were lucky that you escaped without more serious injuries !
The Imp wasn't the best in a front end crash, and a young girl in my neck of the woods swerved to miss a fox and crashed into a tree and was killed when the front petrol tank ruptured and caught fire.
Unfortunately this wasn't uncommon on the Imp.

This occured to me Gordon, when the car finally came to rest, and I certainly didn't waste time getting out of the car!

[275 GTB-4]

Originally Posted by White flag man

This occured to me Gordon, when the car finally came to rest, and I certainly didn't waste time getting out of the car!

Sounds like a miracle escape Laddie!!! Join the club!! My big one was in a Mini (but thats another story)

[andy97]

Originally Posted by ImpManiac

Some pictures of me with my pride and joy...

















Paul

You need to get that out racing - I am biaesd but try the Classic Sports Car Club's "Swinging Sixties" series. There's a one hour race at Spa in July this year. A great club & great VFM. http://www.classicsportscarclub.co.uk/

You could also investigate this: http://www.classicandracing.co.uk/hundredthousand although I know nothing of the organisation.

[col rooney]

I have to say Gordon i have never heard of an imp going on fire and i have seen a good few imps that were wrapped around trees and i for one would rather have a big off in my imp anyday than in a mini .I once cut the scuttle panel from an old stiletto and the front pillers were cut free and scrap man came with a hiab picked it up and sat it on top of a scorpio and his comments were that will squash done easy .When he put the arm on top on the stiletto it never moved it was the scorpio that went pop before the stiletto did


col

[SidewaysFeltham]

Interesting thread.

I purchased an insurance write off Imp, in 1968 and rebuilt it for my younger bro.

Nice little car: was strange driving it back from the salvage dealer's yard.

Everytime I braked or accelerated, I heard whooshing glugging sounds.

And then it ran out of water! And needed constant topping up each few miles on the circa 20 mile journey.

It was hit hard, nearside rear quarter and sill. Once we stripped it, the problem was obvious: the hoses to the front-mounted rad ran through the sills!

Had loads of probs with the gearbox: kept jumping out of second gear. Aventually, after three strips and rebuilds of the transaxle and some bug-sorting updated synchro hubs from Rootes, problem solved.

One nice thing Imps and Chamoise did, was to rupture the fuel pump diaphragm: and since the pump sat right on top of the cam cover, the sump filled up with petrol!

Had a customer with one of these probs: she had been running around like this for weeks!

Interesting feeling and smelling lubricant!

I ran a Chamois (The later version with the modified steering/suspension) as my road car, for a bit, on extra sticky Dunlops radials . Amazing cornering if you knew how to drive, were brave and in a hurry!

Remember frightening my workshop foreman rigid once: and the big wimp had just finished his Jim Russell advanced course and was pedalling a Formula Ford 1600.

Mike Parks of course, designed the engine block configuration of the Imp originally, with identical bore centres and stud positions so that the Climax Twink head could pop straight on. In production, however, they were all moved. Spoilsports.

Built up a new Davrian for a customer: Imp based, of course.

Now that really handled!

Nice little cars but underpowered for their weight and wind resistance.

However like the Deux Cheveaux, once you wound 'em up, and had faith in their cornering ability, you simply kept going!

Until you were hit by a strong motorway cross wind, that is!

Exciting.

[ImpManiac]

Thanks for all your comments!

I have never heard of Imps ablaze following a collision. The petrol tank is up and away from the front suspension. Certainly it is not a common problem, at least.

I do want to compete in the car. Funds are holding me back at present. I want to enter a few sprints and hillclimbs later this year, though and perhaps the odd autosolo or two.

Some videos of me on track last summer at Teesside Autodrome.





I have plans to fit EFI soon, once I have taught myself how to fabricate an inlet/exhaust manifold. Mapped ignition too.

Paul

[andy97]

Originally Posted by ImpManiac

Thanks for all your comments!

I have never heard of Imps ablaze following a collision. The petrol tank is up and away from the front suspension. Certainly it is not a common problem, at least.

I do want to compete in the car. Funds are holding me back at present. I want to enter a few sprints and hillclimbs later this year, though and perhaps the odd autosolo or two.


I have plans to fit EFI soon, once I have taught myself how to fabricate an inlet/exhaust manifold. Mapped ignition too.

Paul

Might be better to leave it on carbs as originaally intended. When you do start competing in it you will then have the option of running it in historic/ classic races, classes or events, including things like the aforementioned CSCC "Swinging Sxcties" series. As soon as you fit EFI then the car becomes non original & you'll either not be eligible or will be put in to modified classes against more modern stuff, against which I doubt that you'd be competitive. Just my twopennyworth!

[ImpManiac]

I was thinking the same thing. My original intention was to compete only in sprints, hillclimbs and autosolos but the idea of circuit racing in Historics is growing on me. What worries me is (1) the cost and (2) racing door-to-door with others will lead to scrapes, etc. Anyway, we'll see. I might even leave the clockwork dizzy on the engine rather than going mapped too...

Paul

[Peter Mallett]

Come up to Snett on 21st March. Take a look at the cars I suspect Mike Dowsett will be there with his Historic Imp. And Masters allows electronic ignition but not mapping etc.