I took on this car for a friend who bought it. it was imported about 30 years ago then parked in a heated building since. lets see how it held up and what failed.
The Hillman Imp was assembled in Linwood in Scotland (just outside Glasgow). About 20 miles from my home. The very first Hillman Imp is in the Glasgow Transport Museum in Scotland. The engine was notorious for overheating. They went through more head gaskets than miles on the clock :) It's amazing to see something on the channel that was built on my doorstep!
My mother had one. I'm guessing a 1965 ish. I can clearly remember as a boy the utter embarrassment of being in it with thick clouds of smoke belching out of the back. 😀
Being a Brit born in the mid 60's it is great to see one of these on your channel. The Hillman Imp was a familiar sight on our roads when I was a kid. She is in lovely condition, the paint work is amazing for her age. Nice little car indeed!
@@bigfish74f I think the "chamois" was found on a very similar wee car but i think they were badged "singer".....My dad had a singer chamois before he had the hillman imp
Yes...same for me in North London born in 1956...and saw quite a few over the years...till the late 70s mid 80s then you never see these anymore...they just wasn't saved like others...Morris Minors.. there's loads..did I see a Minor behind this in the garage?
Later i remembered the other Hillman that was popular back in the day..the Minx..never seen one of those in decades either..not heard of any other Hillman cars..I expect there's info online these days but I haven't looked..I just recall those 2 models..not very common..not like minis and Ford escorts
I worked at a dealership that sold them new. They were great little cars. Very easy to work on. I passed my driving test in one back in 1974. How time flies.
Hiya, I'm a native of North Wales (grew up in Llandudno) and my Dad & Uncle, ran a very well known Garage Business all their lives (after being de-mobbed). They generally hated the Hillman Imps as they were so compact and they couldnt get their muscular arms in to work on them. I became a Toolmaker but a mate of mine had one (and I was co-opted to help him as and when). Things to be aware of: the early ones were quite prone to blowing head gaskets but if you machined the head and block properly and make them truly flat and parallel and use a decent gasket compound (I always used Hylomar), you 'almost' don't need a head gasket. In Racing circles, they didn't use them in some cases. Cooling flow, is 'critical' to them, any overheating and you'll blow the head gasket. The Mk-I's were notorious for doing this; the Mark-II's were better (but not perfect). Skimming (machining) the head and block faces need super critical (anally retentive) fixturing on the machine to avoid warping any surfaces and machined. I always used a heavy body flycutter with 'honed' HSS bits The Brake pipes are most definately not Copper by the way. Copper would be unworkable and unsafe due to work hardening properties; they almost certainly are Cupro-Nickel alloy. The engine was a Coventry Climax engine (Coventry Climax being a forklift company). Research the engine, they had a varied and and interesting history. You tune the living daylights out of them too. In full race trim, they could be taken up to 100+ bhp and in a road legal car (for Rallying), they were downright scarey. I know of many who had them and crashed them. Rear wheel drive with the engine extending beyond the back wheels, needed experienced handling. I owned one and also managed to lose the damn thing into a stone wall - but they are great fun to drive hard and competitively.
Forget the tales of woe! My late sister-in-law bought one new in 1965. She was one of those drivers for whom the throttle pedal was a switch - on or off. She thrashed it mercilessly around Central London where she lived and did 1000 mile round trips to visit family in Scotland. Problems? Zero! She paid out to have it regularly serviced at the main dealer and was repaid with flawless reliability.
My first car was a Hillman Imp. It cost $300 second hand in 1967. Mine soon had an apparent blown head gasket and I learned about engines on this car. I eventually figured out it had a crack in the casting around the cylinder sleeve. I was able to get a rejected block from a friend's father who had a Hillman dealership. I re-built the engine fom the ground up and balanced and ported it. It became a fantastic car. The engine would rev freely to 8,000RPM, the stock motor was flat out at 5,000 RPM. It handled well once you understood what understeer was and was a great car! The engine is all aluminium (except for the cylinder liners) and requires care with a torque wrench when working on it! If you hand tighten things by feel the aluminium will warp. If you torque everything properly it is great! It was 12 volt and the little hole in the back was for a crank handle. If you had a flat battery, it came with a hand crank so you could start it.
My mum had a white imp in the late seventies. I seem to remember she was always having clutch issues with it?. A bumpy ride but a fun little car. Because it was so small it always felt like you was traveling at 100mph but the reality was it was very slow. Fond memories I do miss it thanks Mustie 👍❤
I just got sober at the end of 2020. I needed a hobby to fill in all the time I used to spend drinking, idle hands and all. Fixing small engines turned into a great hobby. His boat videos inspired me to get a fixer upper boat, now I can spend some time on the lake too!
Stay with it friend, been there, won thru. I tried to help others with a similar problem, or the causes, not always wanted, helped some. Helped me understand my own problems too. Stayed clean for years now.
I learned to drive on the Hillman Imp in my - and its - native Scotland. By the time my father bought his 1966 Super Imp, the overheating issues had been resolved, and the automatic choke and pneumatic throttle had been replaced with conventional systems. But they were still not robust: the first car needed a new clutch and water pump within 24000 miles, and the next one, two years younger, burned its valves. But they were sweet and nimble little cars to drive, and the twin carb version was even nicer.
@@Biffo1262 Do you mean the seal on the selector shaft, which is below the oil level? Rootes made an external hammer-on seal to address the problem of oil leakage that wasn't that successful as I remember. Changing the flexible link in the linkage made a huge difference to the gearchange and the two plastic bushes the shaft ran in needed changing every now and then.
Launched in May 1963, you have here what looks like a 1968 Mk 3 model. Much improved on the original but watch out for the water pump, they remained troublesome throughout production. Chrysler had a big stake in Rootes in 1968 but whenever they spent money improving them, sales would continue to fall. Nearly all parts are available except (I think) the cylinder heads. Reconditioned this and that or newly made items. How this little Imp started after 30 years I found amazing although they were always good starters. Fantastic video. I've just today (1st August 2022) stumbled across it randomly on RU-vid. I remember both my Imps used to stall before being warmed up. If you come to a stop, the engine would stop but start up right away. Once warmed up it's all okay. So don't worry if this happens because it's quite normal. It's annoying but normal. Anti corrosive coolant needed for aluminium alloy engine. Speedometer cables sieze every 15,000 miles (or at least that's what I found) Rotoflex coupling live a cheap and cheerful life at around 30,000 miles and the water pump, well, they either last for ever or lay down and die squeaking and leaking every now and then. The copper brake lines must have replaced the original steel ones fitted in the Scottish factory which quietly rusted merrily away. And don't forget the universal joints on the swinging arms. If these or the Rotoflexes fail at speed it can be disasterous. Check them carefully. The release bearing on the clutch was not a bearing but a carbon thrust disc which would sometimes offer musical squeaky noises when pressing the clutch. The heater pipes take an interesting roote over the wheel arches and the sills. Don't just drag them out. You need to pull some thin rope with them or you're in trouble! There's a by-pass hose on the engine which is to aid faster warm ups. This runs from near the thermostat housing, around the radiator and to the brass branch which aids filling the water system up like an air bleed valve. I could go on but my tea is nearly ready. Cheers.
My wife had one of these in the early 1970's. The information that I have says that the engine, 875cc in it's standard form, was developed from half of a Coventry Climax engine used on fire pumps. The belt lap angle on the water pump meant that you had to run the belt fairly tight to avoid slippage. I found this to be the Achilles heel of the car as it quickly wore the pump bearings. I ended up fitting water pumps regularly. Enormous fun to drive and as others have said, in the right hands very nimble. I suspect that the "copper" brake pipes are really "Cunifer" made from a copper nickel alloy. It was very popular in the late 1960's and into the 1970's and I used rolls of the stuff to make replacement pipes on all sorts of cars. It's big advantage was it's corrosion resistance. There were kit cars in those days where two Imp engines were fitted in a Vee formation with the cranks connected by a roller chain. I'd love another Imp.
My Dad had one ! 105JUB it went to a nurse that was going to work in Africa and she wanted a red one like this one! First car with an 'auto' choke which meant it always stalled until it was warm... Thanks Mustie for making great videos . Ive learnt a lot ! Plus you transported a 65 year old guy back to a time when he was an 8 year old boy !
These were built in Scotland. My uncle rallied these in the mid to late sixties. Lots of memories. They were notorious for head gaskets being one of the first all aluminum engines. The later models moved the radiator to the front of the car.
My brother had one and the head gasket went. He dropped and broke the camshaft fixing it. I worked at a furniture place that had a couple of Huskies, the estate version, and they were fun to drive and could fit a chest of drawers in.
I had the Singer version of the Imp, it was called a Chamois, in British Racing Green. The engine was based on the old Coventry Climax engine, 875cc if my memory serves me correctly. Going forward from the engine was the clutch, then the transaxle and then the gearbox. the whole of the rear Xmember came out with 4 bolts and the engine assembly slid out backwards. I used to keep a paving slab in the front luggage space to keep the wheels square to the road! It handled well, I could take a 90 deg left turn in to a side road at 30mph. Happy spannering, a brilliant little car!
Nice! The Lucas mark on the distributor made me recall the following - Q - "Why do the British drink warm beer?"A - "Because they have Lucas refrigerators!"
@@stevezodiac491 The FW 38 hp 1020 cc straight-four SOHC was designed by Hassan and Mundy as the motive unit for a portable service fire pump which was supplied to the government under three contracts totaling over 150,000 units. This engine was revolutionary in its lightness, with a bare weight of 180 pounds, combined with the maintenance-free valve adjustment using shims under an overhead camshaft. Walter Hassan and especially Harry Mundy having their roots deeply in the racing field, started discussions and preliminary designs of a 2.5L 8 Cylinder GP engine in 1952 without a formal directive from the father and son Pelham Lees. Because this project was a pure racing engine from the beginning, which was in stark contrast to the corporate product history up to FWA, the engine was named FPE for Fire Pump Engine (Eight according to another lore) by the playful minds of Hassan and Mundy. After the corporate blessing was given to the project with the name 'Godiva', this DOHC, 90-degree, steel crossplane crank V8 engine was built in 1954 for an F1 Kieft with the intention to use the fuel injection system made by Skinners Union (SU). The FPF was a double overhead cam all-aluminium four-cylinder that was essentially half of the above FPE V8 engine, which was designed as a pure racing engine from the outset. Designed in 1955 Wiki is your friend....
The car I learnt to drive and pass my test in 1968, I also owned one a couple if years later ,great fun to drive and race against the Mini of the time. Always remember to put a bag of sand in the front to keep the wheels on the ground, and as a teenager the folding back seat was ideal for some 'back seat Olympics '
owned a hillman during high school. they could be very dependable but weren't really build for Dailey use on American freeways or extended traveling on higher speed American roads. Lil' old lady go to church and or short trips for tea with neighbors.Smooth running but gutless wonder.had 6 stereo a 8 Trac speakers in mine.
@@johndelucchi719 Here in the UK they were fine for longer trips. When I sold my lightly-modified one to my brother-in-law he took it to France for Le Mans no problem.
Back in the early 60`s our next door neighbor was in a car pool with 2 other men. They worked for Lockheed Aircraft Company. The car they all shared was a Hilman Minx. 3 cylinder two stroke with 3 coils, 3 sets of points and four speed on the column transmission. Cool car at the time.
My Uncle owned one of these cars, and my cousin and I drove around parts of Wales (The Country) in it as teenagers. We are now both 65 !! It was a nippy little car and fun to drive, good times. My uncle was not happy when my cousin scraped the passenger side door on a rock that was sticking out of the side of the road. Back then some of the roads over there were only dirt tracks and not the improved roads of today.
Treat this baby with respect. The Imp gained a reputation as a successful rally car when Rosemary Smith won the Tulip Rally in 1965.. The water-cooled four-cylinder power unit was based on the Coventry Climax one of the most famous racing engines.
@@johngrist2544 Coventry Climax developed the racing engine from the fire pump engine. The featherweight engine was designed to be as light as possible as the entire pump was designed to be lifted off its trailer carried to site by two men. This engine was designed (mostly) by Walter Hassan and Harry Mundy, two very gifted engineers, who later developed the racing engines from the featherweight. The featherweight had many advanced features for a production engine of that period and variants were used for racing by many people including Dan Gurney. It was also used by a number of small volume car builders, e.g. Lotus. I would not dismiss it so easily, it had quite a few victories in its own right. Jaguar bought the racing division of Coventry Climax, complete with Walter Hassan and Harry Mundy who then went on to design the experimental quad cam V12 for the one off XJ13 racing car. They later designed the Jaguar production V12 engine.
It is great to see one of the cars I worked on in the Rootes Design studio in Coventry back in the mid '60's It was my design that was chosen for the instrument panel and the seat & door trim patterns! There were other derivatives of the IMP that did not see the light of day, in particular a two seater sports car similar to the Lotus Elan), due to the takeover of the Rootes Group by Chrysler of America (who just did not understand the Imp concept) Who at the time produced the Toronado ( a 7 liter V8 front wheel drive two door coupe)! That appears to be a very straight and solid example and is definitely worth preserving. All the mechanical parts are available on the internet. It might be worth considering changing the radiator to the front with an electric pump & fan, which is one way of getting rid of any overheating problem! I think it is actually a 1975 model & not a '65, due to the trim and the alternator!
To be fair a lot of people did not understand the Imp concept starting with the ones who designed and built it. Toronado was a General Motors product, Chrysler's 7 liter car was the Hemi head V8 which was used in cars like the Road Runner, GTX, and Charger. These were full size 5 passenger cars with a 160mph+ top speed off the showroom floor.The kind of car British road testers like to describe as "lazy".
@@mrdanforth3744 Nothing 'lazy' about a 7-liter Hemi. Giant sumptuous relatively underpowered wallowy land yachts were described as lazy.was my understanding. (elbow on door automatic and wafting along)
@@martinda7446 It always amused me when they described an American sedan with 0-60 time of 10 seconds and a top speed of 120 as "lazy" and a British car with a 0-60 time of 24 seconds and top speed of 80 as "lively". This was common in the fifties and sixties. Interesting that you describe the American V8 as "underpowered". How would you describe the Imp?
I owned a Sunbeam Imp Sport, with the two Stromberg carburetors. In 2nd gear it would rev to 7000rpm, and cruising at 78mph on the motorway it was pulling at 5800rpm. At that speed the sound of the engine became so high pitched that it became lost behind the car. It would also hold the road really well, with the wider tyres fitted to the Sport. You had to turn in early and then apply the power, bit like a 911. I changed the oil at 3000 miles with Duckams 20/50. I loved it.
Imps were well liked cars, fun to drive and quite quick. Their water cooling only had a small header tank so could overheat before you knew you had a small leak somewhere, causing head gasket leaks and the alloy head ground flat again. Great wee cars.
We had one in college that had the side of the engine smashed out from something inside failing, was not uncommon we were told lol. Nice little cars though, you still see Imps and Moggys around - especially in this warm weather.
That has an 875cc all alloy engine, which demanded the correct additive to the coolant, without which the alloy would corrode giving that white powder. This was developed from a Coventry Climax design which dominated F1 in the early 60s. Despite that it was quite a delicate engine - it certainly should not be run without coolant - you could do that with Detroit iron but not this engine. Properly serviced the Imp was a reliable nippy car
Since the pump and hoses are packed with corrosion, the block and head will also be heavily contaminated. It will be difficult to clean it out. The engine needs to come out to be stripped and the castings pickled
The imp is not a 1965 model. That trim on the outside was 1973 ish, dashboard is 1973+. The copper brake pipes were a replacement for the steel ones that rusted out. The heads tended to warp on these but the engine could be race tuned and go like stink. There is supposed to be a metal shield between the carb and exhaust. The system was 12v. Fuel tank in the bonnet. Do not hit anything (I did), fuel pours into the passenger compartment. Beware of the heater matrix coolant pipes that go on both sides from the back to the front. The tend to kink over the rear wheel arches and occasionally split/leak. Other warning. Before replacing engine make sure the clutch piston rod is pointing backwards towards the cylinder (mounted on the engine). If you forget and get everything installed then it is a complete engine out job to flip the pin over. I used to chew up clutches and could take the engine out, put in a new clutch and reinstall in only a few hours. No need for an engine hoist. Just make a wooden stand and pull out by hand.
Agreed - with the alternator it's probably a '74 'L4' final spec one. Didn't have a brake line rust issue on my '66 as the first owner had had a very good underseal job done on it. Not watched the full video yet but the shield between carb and exhaust was officially a stone guard. As for the clutch, same here. It was the carbon block release bearing that wore out with me and, like you, I got very good at taking the engine and transaxle out on my own. In my case it was three jacks then push the car away - getting it lined up to go back in was a bit more difficult.
@@manolisgledsodakis873 I am confident that you are right. Me saying copper is a bit like calling the engine aluminium when it also will be an alloy. Shorthand slang. Unfortunately these brake pipes apparently are now a MOT fail. Sounds daft but daft seems to be 'the new black'.
Fantastic to see you work on a British car. Love the story of the launch of these. The Linwood factory in Glasgow was built with government support. The components were all made in Coventry at Roots main factory. When the Duke of Edinburgh went to open the new factory they didn’t have enough cars to show the factory working. Instead they took the few finished cars they had, loaded them onto a transporter and brought them back into the factory out of sight of the dignitaries. They put them back on the production line to make it look like they were making more cars. Roots group were taken over by Chrysler in the 1970’s and they were then taken over by Peugeot in the 1980’s. The last Roots factory in Coventry closed when Peugeot 206 production moved to Eastern Europe in the early 21st century.
Great, concise history lesson. I now know much more about the evolution of a car and brand which I knew little about. Nor likely does anyone outside of the UK.
They discovered the front side lights were too low (legally) like on the day the Duke of Edinburgh was 'opening' the factory. They had to alter te front suspension central pivot point and that caused the front wheels to be at an angle, leaning outwards. After a couple of years of production this problem was resolved.
Wow Mustie, this brings back fond memories of my 1968 Hillman Imp GT with a 998cc twin-carb with headers that I rebuilt as an apprentice motor mechanic in 1979. I remember that little car once the engine a 45-degree Coventry Climax could power that tiny car to 105 mph making it faster than the Mini 1000cc at the time. Back in the early 1980's The Imp GT was a very rare car here in Australia. Seeing you play with this little car just takes me back to a time I raced my 1968 Imp GT. I remember it had a nice loopy idle at 1,250 rpm and a redline of 10,000rpm very easily. Originally the Coventry Climax engine was designed as a fire water pump engine. Overheating these engines would cause the cylinder head to crack between the spark plug holes and cost over $1,000 back in 1979 to have the head welded and the spark plug holes re-cut and helicoiled. It was a fun little car to drive. If I remember rightly, you could buy a water pump rebuild kit to fix them.
Thanx 4 the info above....i also found it a great little car...shoulder kept my foot down....she probably wooba done more than the 95....that's mpa....if only I'd kept it...
haha i remember going to the scrappers and getting a water pump for mine - wasnt really much better than the one i replaced lol. The guy i bought the car off was a welder who had it for his daughter, and he skimmed the cylinder head himself. the car cost me £120 in 1980 with a years mot, i had it for 5 months and sold it for same price so twas a good investment and as you say fun to drive. gl
Bloke in Perth dropped a 1600cc Cosworth 4 cylinder into an Imp. I had a pretty quick Mk3 Morris Cooper S. This thing ate my S. At 80mph, this thing just disappeared. The guy called it his 'toy'.
My Mum had an IMP here in Australia and it broke down 2-3 times a week and I remember seeing my mum come home to turn into the garage and watching the RHR wheel take off down the road after the wheel bearing collapsed. In 1974 I think it was.
My brother had one for his first car, he went to do his license test in it, when it was time to do a hill start the clutch slipped so bad it wouldn't take off! He failed his test, would have been 1975 in Adelaide
Hey Mustie, the Hilman Imp was an attempt by the Roots Group to counter the mini. Not great cars but quirky all the same. The engine was adapted from a light weight water pump engine on a fire tender - the 'Coventry Climax'. Alloy heads used to warp if you looked at them funny!! Also have valve shims that were a pain in the ass to set up. My brother and I used to work on his regularly chasing cooling issues, the heater matrix is in the front under the hood. They were so light on the front, skittering around, that we put a paving slab or two in the front to keep it on the road. Oh what fun!! Thanks for sharing.
You finally get a Scottish car in the shop! I saw a Hillman Imp yesterday in the Sainsburys car park in Livingston Scotland. Over 440,000 of these cars were made. I grew up in Johnstone and played on the site of the former Hillman factory in Linwood. It is now used for airport parking.
You are working on something very British! It even has the steering wheel on the proper side!! There were loads of these on the road when I was a kid. There was a cashback model called an Imp Californian and a more upmarket version marketed as a Sunbeam Stiletto.
@@manolisgledsodakis873 That's it, I couldn't remember the name but I expect there were other brands. The original steel pipes only lasted about 5 years.
It’s really the only option when replacing brake lines, always copper alloy. At least here in Scandinavia. Buying anything else for brakes is almost impossible.
I learned to drive in one of these. Them me and 3 friends went on a road trip around Scotland. Our bags were in the small boot and on the roof. That sweet little engine didn't miss a beat, even when we had to reverse up the steepest slopes. Thanks for posting this, it brought back some good memories. Peter
My aunt used to have one of these here in Finland. It was snot green in colour. It was a hilarious little car with a really distinct running sound. My dad used to also drive rally on one of these and he was also the spare parts manager for Hillman&Sunbeam here in my town. Our yard used to be full of these old Rootes Group cars.
@@WCKD. Sääli että nämäkin on valtaosin vedetty jokkiksessa ja rallissa romuksi. Tämän tädinkin auton veti sen ostanut teini pellolle, kun ei meinannut liukkaalla hanskata takavetoa.
Britain's Corvair - these things competed with the original Mini. Quite successful in racing too from what I remember. Very cool to see it firing up so easily after being sat for so long.
G'day Mustie 1, you are now the New England expert on Hillman Motors products. A fine quality Scottish Automobile. The Imp came out in 1963 and was quite advanced for its time. Remember that when you go to O'Reilly's for a new water pump, tell them that you have the Imp and not the Hunter. You do not want to confuse them.
I had an Imp based Husky in the late 70`s. Reg no. MHW220F. It was really reliable and never let me down. The only thing that let it down was the rubber doughnut in the drive shafts. At the time I couldn't get them so I very reluctantly traded it for a Mk2 Cortina but that is another story regarding Fords propensity to rust!!!
As a Brit I must say I am impressed by the deductive reasoning you use on a strange car! Fascinating to come across one of those Imps. In my day they were looked down on - a shame really as they were considered quite nippy. The use of aluminium/aluminum for the engine made it less tail-happy than other rear-engined cars. Best wishes from London!
Back in the day people used to race these in a class with minis. They were sucessful on the track, if not very popular on the road. My Aunt had one as her first car, and my best friend, when I was 17, had one which ran beautifully as it was maintained to a high standard by his father, who knew his engines.
My very first car was a Hillman Imp. Back in 1981, when I was 17. The aluminium head and block were prone to warping. If you ever remove the head, make sure the engine is stone cold first.
This was our family car back in the early 70's. IMPs had a huge issue with cooling and you used to see them seized by the roadside all the time. They were race tuned all the time - you could get race parts for them really cheaply. The other car looked like a Morris Minor 1000 - really hope you get to work on that one. They still draw loving glances even now in the UK - especially the Traveller variant with its wooden body.
@@johnkey1682 I agree, it could be an Oxford. I didn't think of those at first because Minors are much more common. I hope Mustie will get to work on it. Either way, It's neat to see both the Morris and the Imp on this channel.
As it is a split screen Morris it may well be 800ccs not 1000ccs. Though given the height of it and the size of the wheels it might be a Morris Oxford.
I worked on brand new Hillman Imps in a Chrysler dealership in the UK back in the seventies - I also owned several as daily drivers. Brilliant little cars. Thanks for the nostraligia trip!
I remember Hilman Imps well - they were v common here when I was a kid (I'm 50 and live in the South-East of England, just outside London). Very few and far between here now though - especially in that good condition. Probably worth a fair bit to an English enthusiast. My guess is that many parts will be common to other British cars and therefore still readily available via u.k. websites - maybe even for cheap. Copper brake lines certainly were normal here during that time and I think they are not uncommon now, due to our wet climate and salting of roads in winter. If I can give you any more info - plase shout - big fan of your channel and appreciate your taking the time to make such great content. Thank you.
This brought back a few memory's, I haven't seen an Imp in a few years now. I know there are rebuild kits for the water pump because a friend of mine rebuilt his about 10 years ago (now sold). I had a quick look and they are still available so that should not be an issue. I have a suspicion looking at the badging on this one that it might be from the 70's rather than the 60's.
passed my driving test in 1975 in a gold Imp Super, they were fantastic wee cars when looked after but could be very temperamental , especially cylinder head gaskets, A trick with some of the guy's who wanted that bit more of a "planted" front end when cornering was to put a bag of cement in the front boot and soak it so it went solid, they did have a tendency to get a bit light on the steering once you got over 60. they could be tuned up pretty fast, the engine was based on a Lister i believe, and there were a few variants that used to race round the local tracks like Ingleston, sadly no longer there, but always been really proud of our wee scottish car, so pleased and surprised to see this video
These are great little cars I often see at car shows in the UK. I’ve seen some seriously quick ones going up Prescott Hill Climb, those corner. Like they are on rails. Great video 👌
Didn't see that coming. The Imp was a very popular car in the UK in the sixties. Many suffered from cooling system problems due to owners using the incorrect coolant. Alloy engines weren't very common and owners didn't understand the issues around corrosion caused by the use of water in the cooling system.
Hillman Imp wow? I live very close to where the factory was that built them. They had a great tuneable engine in them. The engine is all aluminium alloy, OHC, it was originally designed to be used as a portable water pump for fire engines. It's light weight meant it was used in racing a lot, there were Le Man's race cars that used the engine! In the 60's and 70's it was used extensively, for sidecar racing, and very successful it was in the sport too. The Imp itself suffered from what every British car suffered from in those times, under development and piss poor quality control, they had a lot of labour dispute issues at the factory too, as was the style of the day. Still it was a ground breaking design, way ahead of it's time, just a pity it had so many issues.
@@DonConstance Yup it was a bad time for the automobile industry, but TBF we Brits did seem to go the extra mile (excuse the pun) to be top of the tree with bad QC. The funny thing is, there are still a lot of cars made here, just not by British firms, and they all seem to be great quality, so I'm guessing it wasn't the workers, it was just poor design and management.
@@yakacm yeah definitely, I think you nailed it My Man! I am a Mechanic and our shop won't touch Classic British made, the positive ground electrical systems causing extremely High resistance issues and subsequent shorting out, we ALWAYS refer them Away(lol) from our shop, due to the Liability only.
The Hillman Imp engine was based on the Coventry Climax fire pump engine but it was not the same. It was the later Coventry Climax engines that were raced at Le Mans and fitted in '50s Lotuses and other 'exotics'. The larger Climax engines were fitted in some F1 cars.
I nearly fell out of the passenger side of an Imp when i was about 7, luckily my Mum grabbed me and hauled me back in, door just swung open on a corner! great memories, thank you.
My grandad had Hillman imps, my uncle’s buddy had one he tuned right up. It had four Amal concentric motorcycle carburettors, and a trick exhaust manifold he designed and made himself. It went like snot off a stick. The fellow who he sold the car to wrote it off on the way home. A performance parts manufacturer from Salisbury got hold of the manifold, copied it and sold them through performance magazines here in the UK back in the day.
You hit it on the nail when talking about that opening rear window being used for lumbar transport. I remember my friend's Imp, and we transported many a full length of 4x2 stuck out the back window, with the passenger holding onto it in the front 🙂
One of my first cars here in the UK was a metallic green Sunbeam Imp Sport with twin Stromberg carbs. Bought it second hand in about 1973, drove it around for maybe 4 years. Loved it! Still got my Haynes workshop manual for it. Great to work on, could get the engine and gearbox out in half an hour. Last year it took me about 3 hours just to get the alternator off my Honda CRV!
The first car I owned in here in the UK was a used Hillman Imp.I worked in construction and in the winter months I would put a bag of cement in the front trunk for extra weight in icey conditions.A very easy car to work on mechanically.
The Morris minor was and is another great old car or as we call them moggys . The estate had wood mouldings on the outside like a woody. Have fun . Great vids keep them coming . Love how you talk to us like we are there in your garage.
In the UK these were often referred to as "the poor man's Porsche". With the alloy OHC engine, based on a Coventry-Climax pump engine, they were highly tuneable and they and the more famous Mini-Coopers could compete with the Galaxies, Falcons, and Mustangs on reasonable terms, showing the big Fords a trick or two through the twisty bits. A great little car. The brake lines will likely be cupro-nickel, not pure copper. The Morris has to be no later than 1956 as it has the split windscreen.
It was good to see Mustie1 has used his spanners on a Hillman Imp !. I had a college mate who had one, the head gasket issues were a pain, but he managed to change over to his spare engine each time on a Saturday morning. Removing the engine and putting the replacement back in could be fine tuned to three hours !. They were very popular cars in the UK, with enthusiasts keeping a builder’s bag of sand in the front luggage compartment to stabilise the driving experience !. They are worth a lot of money now.
Bit of history for you Darren. I'm 72 y and the Hillman imp (not mini car!!) was actually used as a police car by the Durham and Cleveland police force in the UK. I believe it was built in 1974 and the standard colour for it was light blue and touch of white. My wife just told me that her mum had one and asked me if I drove on a holiday we went on. I couldn't even remember her mum owning one lol. I have never seen a red one, but please don't call it a mini car, as the mini is also a classic car. Looking forward to this one ...as usual.
@@MaNNeRz91 Yes it's common in the US to call any under standard small US sized car a "mini" car. There were several in the states like the Nash Metro. Some times they are called midget cars to avoid conflation.
@@thepittsstop4540 mini actually started off as an 850cc and finished with the GT 1275cc. I don't know the full history. My first car was an Austin mini 998cc though. Could fly through the lanes. Crashed it a few times blew the engine up at least 10 times 😆😆😆
That brings back memories, I had a friend who owned one in the 1980's. He frequently overheated it, the engines were notorious for head gasket leaks. Spent a lot of time fixing his mistakes. :)
My father got rid of his last one seven years ago. At one point he had 13 of them. He and his mad mates used to race them. There are all sorts of really simple tricks to extract more ponies from the engine. For example, changing the engine mounts to straighten the drive line. They're a magic little car, and fun to drive.
My friend had those problems with his we we’re all heading for Cornwall from Hertfordshire he broke down got as far as Somerset we were all in our minivans and minis at the time which were more reliable. The cylinder head gasket went so that’s as far as they got never met up in Cornwall those were the days
Brings back memories. I used to drive one whilst a student in the UK in the 70s. Having been a careful driver I never had any problems with overheating but the mechanics were generally unreliable and needed constant attention to keep going. Most parts were abundant and fairly easily replaceable. Most frequent to go were the steering king-pins. I had to swap the carb and the water pump for reconditioned units handing in the originals in part exchange. To adjust the valves I had to pull the whole engine out as there was no room to lift the valve cover with engine in-situ. I did that with basic hand-tools and the engine could be pulled out backwards once freed with the rear cross-member removed. There was a lot of blow-by to the point that the air-filter got wet by blown oil up the crankcase vent connected to the air-filter housing. To cure that, being very naughty, I disconnected that duct from the air-filter and vented it to the atmosphere.
These were great little cars! Good to see one being worked on. The Coventry Climax engine was first designed as mobile water pump or generator. Used in a lot of small cars in the 60’s even race engine’s; quite tuneable apparently!
My Dad brought an Imp back in 1972 for my Mum to learn to drive in. It was White with a Blue stripe. A classic indeed. Go for a decent price here in UK. Great video.
Hillman Imp was my Big brothers first car he bought it and done it up, it was bright yellow ( dont think it was its original colour) he had a lot of fun in it and learnt a lot of valuable skills doing it up. Saw a earlier comment about the engines being used from fire pumps in Green Goddesses to formula one engines, my experience of them, was as a young Gunner in the RAF Regiment on a surface to Air Missile system called Rapier FS B1 B1MLI which consisted of a fire unit with 4 missiles and a Radar Tracker for command guidance, each unit was powered by a Generator with a Coventry Climax engine, we lovingly referred to them as “screamers” cause they ran full tilt for hours on end and were noisey buggers but gave off a hell of a heat in the winter, whoa betide any young gunner on duty not checking the jerry can for fuel and one going down right in the middle of ur stag
I had one, had just about every part of it apart, early models suffered from warped cylinder head causing over heating. Head bolts are 36lb/ft Torque as I changed it several times only cured when I had the head skimmed when I rebuilt the engine. To access the master cylinders the petrol tank has to come out at the front. King Pins need greasing often otherwise stiff steering. Great car if you enjoy working on them. Overhead Cam nuts 6lb/ft. The Mk2's were better. The Singer Chamois was the fancier version. Oh what memories!
My older brother brought home a Sunbeam Imp back in the 70's Pretty similar slant 4 cyl. Timing chain for the overhead valves was its issue The chain tensioner had gone slack and jumped timing. The tail lights were the same as those. Were they rebadged as Sunbeam to be sold in the states?
We don't see many of these now here in the UK. I have worked on a couple in the past and they were great fun to drive but the body work used to rust terrible. It's great to see one in original condition. I hope you get to look at the Morris Minor that was parked behind it
Excellent video. Really enjoyed you working on the imp. They look s right blast to drive, and you can see them racing at Goodwood festival of speed here in the UK. Hopefully you can do follow up on this! James, from Huddersfield 🇬🇧
Thanks as always for the content Mustie. We had a couple of these when I was young, Dad used to call one the Kettle with Head gasket issues, the other he called an oil burning petrol cooled steam engine. I remember he used to keep 2 bags of cement in the front as they were so light on the front end they would understeer badly.
Once all the design flaws had been fixed, usually by the owners, Imps made great race and rally cars. Front mounted radiator to cure the chronic overheating, bigger engine with an exhaust silencer slung above the back bumper, stronger gearbox, a kit to give the front suspension some negative camber were some of the most popular mods.. The ultimate was the "Chimp", a Chevron B19 2 litre sports car car chassis with an Imp body stretched to fit.
When you started drilling out the corrosion from the water pump you triggered my PTSD from a childhood trauma involving a root canal. Had to take a sedative to calm myself down after that bit. They made those cars pretty well IMHO.
As old British cars go, you'd think this was the best built one ever. To its credit, it was largely a one man museum piece for most of its life. Still, it's got a fun vibe and plenty of character despite it's shortcomings. Edit: It took me half the video to remember, but this car reminded me of my dad's fondness for his favorite type of vehicles in the 80s, the "boxy units" as he called them, like Isuzu Troopers and Astro vans. This Imp and the Astros in particular very much have those similarities due to stuffing various components being set so tightly into unreachable areas that even the most devout DIYer would probably never change certain parts due to not having relatively easy access to them. I bet if you could read through the manual, there's definitely more than a few parts that would say you will have to drop the engine to correctly service them!
I had a Hillman Imp Van in 1972 in Edinburgh Scotland I would be about 17 I got it to find out how engines worked it was a nonrunner but I worked hard on it (No Google) and got it to run then someone stole it and trashed it Go figure this brought back some nice memories Thanks Mustie1
Kunifer was almost universal for brake pipes from the fifties onwards for British cars. Steel rusts, pure copper fractures, but the copper/nickel/steel alloy that gave Kunifer its name addressed all those issues - to an extent. Never understood why our colonial cousins had a problem with Lucas, their equipment is still all working fine on my Austin 7 as it nears its centenary.
OMG it’s in such good condition. We rebuilt my brothers every other weekend. My first proper car engine at 13 years old….47 years ago. What a little beauty. My brother then sold out to Ford and Capri’s. But there’s still a little bit of my heart & history. Nice work. Xxxx
You have a gem, I didn’t expect a HILLMAN IMP to turn up in the states . Built by ROOTES Group . I imagined you have checked it out on line ? A first with an alloy engine block . I should imagine quiet a collector’s car , ( in the UK) especially the condition its in . Well done !
Years ago I had a Singer Chamois sport which is basically the same but with a more aerodynamic body. Had a twin barrel carb and aluminum head which was the sport aspect.Agree with the comment about the paving slab in the bonnet to help steering. Forgot to put antifreeze in and on a cold winters day the engine was fine but took a long time for the heater to start working.
Wishful thinking as regards being more aerodynamic. Just a rebadged Imp but with more 'luxury' and twin carbs. And I did have an Imp! And had no head gasket problems.
This was my first car that I bought from a friend for £150 in 82. The exact model was a Sunbeam Stilleto, basically the same. Loved that car and used to get three of my friends in it on a regular basis.
Took driving lessons in the UK in one of these. The day of my test the throttle failed to work - if I remember correctly it was originally pneumatically operated! A bellows under the gas pedal, another at the carburettor and a plastic tube between the two! The Coventry Climax was developed for use as a portable water pump for the fire brigade and used very successfully in many racing cars in the UK. The Hillman Imp competed very creditably by the Royal Airforce Rally Team…
