Classic Alfa Forums

a new addition to the driveway today, my lad rob turns 17 in june so we've got a little project car for us to get sorted for him. give him some practical experience to go with the college work...

looks nice and tidy Kev.

his 2nd car.......another driveway addition tonight, thanks again to the wonderful services of shrew

I do love Imps.

I've bought and sold loads of ka's over the years. The imp is a good start into classic car ownership nice to get him started early.

My 21 year old daughter likes going to watch touring cars and f1. My 8 year old daughter wants a classic mini for her first car. I'm doing some work for two mates that are starting to importing cars from Italy, I said that I want a 1972 fiat 500 at some point and the 8 year old said that she wants to work on it with me so it will be our car lol

Very good, like the colour - hope Rob keeps it that way.

he's been having 2nd thoughts about the state of the imp, partly prompted by the Mrs who only sees doom and gloom with rust rather than the challenge of resurrecting another classic

so this afternoon we set to and made an attempt to coax it back to life

when I returned back from meeting Richard he was busy cleaning all the interior out having removed the rear seats and skimmed over the fact that it's a flintstones replica in the back! didn't stop him sweeping out the rust and dust from the floor mats, must say though the seats have come up a treat. being vinyl so easy to wash and make look better helps no end.
he'd also got the spanners out and was pleased to report that the engine wasn't seized up, a good sign!

so after a few checks I attached the integrales' battery to gain some power for the points etc. they looked fairly new so just took them out, cleaned the contacts and set them to what looked about right.
the throttle cable and linkages are seized solid so I just removed them and used the spindle direct.
replaced the fuel line to the carb and stuck one in a petrol can for the supply tank

starter solenoid wasn't working so a thick screwdriver was a decent substitute....first problem

starter just span over without engaging....second problem.

removed the starter and cleaned up the Bendix, it had stuck in position but came free easily enough. the old inertia ones throw themselves into the ring gear once moving, this one was just staying out

now we were cranking over I checked the outflow from the fuel pump, nothing......third problem.

stripped the pump down and cleaned out all the crud freeing off the stuck valves in the process

so with a squirt of brake cleaner down the carb we tried again and she fired right up!!

haven't run it long at all because of missing water pipes, a couple of seconds was enough to find out it wasn't knocking wildly or throwing clouds of smoke so once we get some water in we can be a bit more sure of its' health



all smiles from the lad himself complete with portable radio perched on the dash top

Excellent news on the Imp front a day well spent. More than I've done today.

Top job Rob & Kev.. Great little starter classic now breathing some life..

Cool that runs

He looks very pleased sat in his new car. Is it bronze or gold, can't quite tell from the photos.

It doesn't look too bad in the pics around the arches and doors?

Looking forward to seeing it post your (and Rob's) magic touch......is rob already planning on masses of negative camber, and some small but wide rubber?

he is pleased with it now phil, was touch and go though...seems he hasn't quite got my indifference to rust



forgot to mention the other good news from last Friday too, he passed his driving test!!

mind you that celebration was tempered by the £1,059 bill for his insurance

KevJTD wrote:he is pleased with it now phil, was touch and go though...seems he hasn't quite got my indifference to rust



forgot to mention the other good news from last Friday too, he passed his driving test!!

mind you that celebration was tempered by the £1,059 bill for his insurance

My 18 year old daughter is paying £1445 for a 1.5 d corsa after passing in November

Well done for passing

Congrats on the pass to Rob and well done getting the old girl up and running.

had a look under robs' imp this morning, not quite as bad as we thought...

inner sills we can save, repairs to the bottom edge lip should do it. saves a hell of a lot of extra effort chopping them out.
central sills will need repairing or replacing, outer sills are toast.

rear floors need chopping out
rear arches both sides, n/s/f one needs doing
rear 1/4 bottoms inner & out
battery tray area missing

new/used bonnet & boot needed plus a better rear window as frame has rotted out near latch

rear window opening has disappeared, will need reconstructing or replacing from another car...

a fair list of metalwork to do but not as bad as we thought

took the front mounted fuel tank out while we were at it, rob will give it a good clean up and paint it, keep him interested in it
saying that though his enthusiasm hasn't waned yet, far from it

Not take you long to sort that out. If it needs a bonnet, then a fibre glass one in satin black might look good with the metallic gold. I want one !

won't be as bad as we thought mate....having said that, little sister had a sit in it today with him. she's 13 and reckons she'll be driving before it's on the road!

the imp is now pretty well stripped down, by rob I might ad. hope he remembers where stuff goes....everything is bagged and labelled so should be ok..

we have had it running, water pipes fitted up so we know the engine is sound despite appearances!

is an alarming amount of rust though so the welder will be kept busy...

All the best with this Kev, it amazes me how you can take on a challenge that would have less talented people like me looking to weigh the car in.

Here's something to aim for, KGF have one alongside their £15k Sud 1.3 Ti, so a good one must be worth at least half what they are listing for

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cheeky-Hillma ... 1932233378

Cheers,

Adam

Good imps are right were you suggest, 4 to 5k.

I'd still like one, do you think I could persuade Mrs v675 to use one for her short commute to work...

"oi, where do you think you're going with my digs?"

cat has been using the imp as an overnight den for the last few days

borrowed a mates trailer, didn't bother shrew as it's just a local trip
got the imp up to the unit then met Kev to hand over the sud parts, sorry they were a bit dirty mate!

after a chat and a quick clean out of the unit we unloaded the imp into it's new stable then got it up on some stands.

beauty of the rear engine design is the back panel unbolts then the engine can be slid out on a trolley jack....so we did

up on stands now ready for the metalwork to start...
bit of rot to sort through...

Don't you just love cats?
They decide where they want to be.
Looks like you and Rob have some late nights ahead.
Did Hillman make the Imps out of old Lancias ??
Don't let Shrew near it as he will want to space frame it and fit a bike engine

Kegsti66 wrote:Don't let Shrew near it as he will want to space frame it and fit a bike engine

Now there's an idea

Or how about a Chimp replica - British Touring Cars at their absolute peak, Hillman Imp body on a Chevron B8 chassis...

cat walked out the door tonight then stopped in it's tracks, no imp there! you could just imagine the thoughts

bike engine conversions have been done with quite a few different powerplants Keith, an R1 or if shrew has his way a GSXR lump dropped in the back has been mentioned...the imp one will suffice for now

Remember Bill Mcgovern taking on the big Yanks in George Bevan's famous little Imp. Much like Nick Swift does nowadays.

Kev - bump into Dad sometime, he has a period book called 'Tuning Imps' for you - it was a 'Cars and Car Conversions' publication. It's very old school! Also ask him about the front air dam he made and fitted to his Dad's Imp at the time (early 70's)..........

7/6d!

thats awesome!

That looks like it will be a pants filler !!