The Hillman Imp
Discussion
I might have owned a few in the last 20 or so years 
. Current fleet (none of which work at present, too much other stuff to do) :
Singer Chamois in classic trials prepped form
and being trialed
Davrian Mk7a being hillclimbed at Longleat. 1040cc engine on Mikuni carbs with a .410 cam, 5 speed dog box.
Clan Crusader (presently without the engine and transaxle installed, 998 on 40s and a 4 speed s/c c/r transaxle with Quaiffe ATB sat on the garage floor waiting to go in).
. Current fleet (none of which work at present, too much other stuff to do) :Singer Chamois in classic trials prepped form
and being trialed
Davrian Mk7a being hillclimbed at Longleat. 1040cc engine on Mikuni carbs with a .410 cam, 5 speed dog box.
Clan Crusader (presently without the engine and transaxle installed, 998 on 40s and a 4 speed s/c c/r transaxle with Quaiffe ATB sat on the garage floor waiting to go in).
I had one in the 80s. Rescued it from a barn near to college and restorated it. I remember tapping a line of rust from the inner cill and when I finished I'd got back to where I'd started and the floor dropped out. My mate was an apprentice trained welder but he says he really learned how to weld on that Imp. We sanded it down and revealed at least half a dozen previous colour schemes one of which was massive red, white and yellow stripes over the roof.
When it was on the road I did an engine a week in it. I could get to the scrappers and back in an hour (including extracting an engine)and have it fitted in the car in less than 20 minutes. Never really got to the bottom of the head gasket problems but in hindsight it could have been a blocked or inadequate radiator.
I made one long journey in it to Leeds which is about 25 miles away (that's long for it, all the rest were very local) and it expired on Stourton Hill on the way home so I stuck a new engine in and banged it in Freeads (before t'ebay that was the baby) and a drunk bloke came round to test drive it. He drove to the minibank and drew 200 quid out for me and said that he was going to see his mate in Manchester. (50 miles away so an epic journey) I never saw the bloke again but had a phone call from the police a few days later to say that it had been abandoned in Barnsley and if it was still mine to go get it. Not sure if it was abandoned on the way to Manchester the same day or not but I have my suspicions. I didn't bother collecting it but had a drive by inspection to see which way it was pointing but it had been backed into a road so not sure.
After all that I still have a soft spot for Imps but don't think I'd have one again. Stick to Escorts!
When it was on the road I did an engine a week in it. I could get to the scrappers and back in an hour (including extracting an engine)and have it fitted in the car in less than 20 minutes. Never really got to the bottom of the head gasket problems but in hindsight it could have been a blocked or inadequate radiator.
I made one long journey in it to Leeds which is about 25 miles away (that's long for it, all the rest were very local) and it expired on Stourton Hill on the way home so I stuck a new engine in and banged it in Freeads (before t'ebay that was the baby) and a drunk bloke came round to test drive it. He drove to the minibank and drew 200 quid out for me and said that he was going to see his mate in Manchester. (50 miles away so an epic journey) I never saw the bloke again but had a phone call from the police a few days later to say that it had been abandoned in Barnsley and if it was still mine to go get it. Not sure if it was abandoned on the way to Manchester the same day or not but I have my suspicions. I didn't bother collecting it but had a drive by inspection to see which way it was pointing but it had been backed into a road so not sure.
After all that I still have a soft spot for Imps but don't think I'd have one again. Stick to Escorts!
Greensleeves said:
When it was on the road I did an engine a week in it. I could get to the scrappers and back in an hour (including extracting an engine)and have it fitted in the car in less than 20 minutes. Never really got to the bottom of the head gasket problems but in hindsight it could have been a blocked or inadequate radiator.
The fins can clog which makes them very marginal when it gets warm, as the fan sucks so much stuff in and blows it into the radiator. While it's 20+ years too late for you, best thing to do is take it out and pressure wash it, an amazing amount of crap will come out.The standard radiator is adequate for the standard engine when everything is working. Usually on an Imp some part of the cooling system isn't working.
20 minutes to get an engine out? Usually it takes more than that just to undo the four bolts through the edge of the rear wings into the rear crossmember as they will all be siezed and it's near impossible to get a spanner or socket on the bottom one on each side!
LotusOmega375D said:
ClassicMotorNut said:
I have no history involving Imps but I like them very much. Happy 40th.
50th.My first car: a December 1975 Imp Caledonian. That was the cherry red run-out model produced with a few extras to sell them off. I added twin Strombergs and a Peco pipe. You could eat your dinner off the engine. Loved it and taught me how to drive without meaningful brakes.
These Imps bring back memories, some real nice ones 
here is my 1st car circa 1984 I drove that thing so hard I was adjusting the brakes one a month I also had a problem with points bounce too cured with a lump of rubber 
I also had a rare CT Tuning inlet manifold with a 28/36 Weber carb and home ported cyl head, I also found out early that furred up radiator tubes caused over heating new rad no problem even sat flat out for mile on mile, a Reinz head gasket was order of the day IIRC, busted drive-shaft donuts was a regular of mine too 
please excuse the picture quality ..... 
here is my 1st car circa 1984 I drove that thing so hard I was adjusting the brakes one a month I also had a problem with points bounce too cured with a lump of rubber I also had a rare CT Tuning inlet manifold with a 28/36 Weber carb and home ported cyl head, I also found out early that furred up radiator tubes caused over heating new rad no problem even sat flat out for mile on mile, a Reinz head gasket was order of the day IIRC, busted drive-shaft donuts was a regular of mine too please excuse the picture quality ..... Edited by Sardonicus on Tuesday 28th April 19:52
This takes me back.
Some of those look fantastic!
Never was a fan of Mini's but maybe I should have tried an Imp - couldn't have been any worse than the shed of a 1967 MkII Cortina that was my first car!
It sounds like the usual lack of testing/development by the factory before putting the car on sale, meaning the first customers generally identified all the problems - typical of the British motor industry in the 60s and 70s.
Nice to see some still around though - very different engineering approach to the Mini yet aimed at the same market. I suppose the latest Twingo is the nearest we have to a current spiritual successor.
Some of those look fantastic!
Never was a fan of Mini's but maybe I should have tried an Imp - couldn't have been any worse than the shed of a 1967 MkII Cortina that was my first car!
It sounds like the usual lack of testing/development by the factory before putting the car on sale, meaning the first customers generally identified all the problems - typical of the British motor industry in the 60s and 70s.
Nice to see some still around though - very different engineering approach to the Mini yet aimed at the same market. I suppose the latest Twingo is the nearest we have to a current spiritual successor.
M4cruiser said:
Friend of mine had one at Manchester Uni.
He got stopped by Plod:
Policeman: "Excuse me sir, but your Hillman Imp sounds like it needs a new exhaust pipe".
My friend: "No officer, it's perfectly ok, it's just a little Husky".
Ha, reminds me of the story of the Husky with a 1040 motor, hot cam, Janspeed, Webers etc, would regularly spit flames on overrun, pulled by the Police, "do you know there is flames coming from your exhaust sir", "that's ok, it's perfectly normal" He got stopped by Plod:
Policeman: "Excuse me sir, but your Hillman Imp sounds like it needs a new exhaust pipe".
My friend: "No officer, it's perfectly ok, it's just a little Husky".
Forgot to mention in my last post, another Imp memorie is building the engine in my bedroom (upstairs in my parents home), then carrying the complete engine myself, downstairs and out the kitchen into the driveway.
I think the built engine (block and head) weighs about 80KG or so, maybe less ?
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