Hillman Imp Restoration

A montage of restoration pictures from start to finish of Hillman Imp GT
Song - U2 - With Or Without You.

[@johnwade5747]

Man,the pan and valve cover gaskets have to be right on the money!

[@nosnoj]

Superb little cars. My first was a 1965 standard model which served as the family car. Next was a Sunbeam Stiletto which I turned into a rally car, replaced by another saloon model which served as my rally car on and off for nine years, 998cc twin forties and 9000 rpm, close ratio box and loads of fun!. Owned an Imp 16 years in total, miss it still.

[@1100HondaCB]

My parents had a Sunbeam Imp just after they got married in 1968. I remember Dad saying it had twin carburettors and he hated having to balance them. The Imp took them all over the UK and Dad gave it away to a family friend that just left it in their garage. Dad in hindsight regretted giving the Imp away. Sadly Dad passed away recently and seeing this video was quite touching. You have done well with the restoration.

[@Hrodn]

A beautiful restoration. I always thought that the Imp was a superior car to the mini. Much more comfortable and quiet.

[@glenjarnold]

My first car - a 1966 Imp. Really wish I still had it now.

[@simonuden8450]

You see, that’s the problem with the internet. One person tells everyone they had a bad experience with a car and everyone thinks they’re a nightmare. Back when the Imp first came out, people were not used to reading the manual. The engine was all aluminium and need the right anti-freeze added to the coolant. A lot of people just added generic anti-freeze, or non at all, and waterways got clogged. Yes, it suffered from the poor position of the radiator and a weak pump, but I had four of these and never had any problems. Same with the carbs. The twins needed properly setting up, and some people just couldn’t do that. They’re still popular now because they’re genuinely very good if properly looked after.

[@Synthematix]

first car i ever got in as a kid, i love em

[@guidelineuk4876]

First car my brother had no insurance no tax don't you love the eighty's lol

[@Synthematix]

yea haha

[@davidharrison6615]

my uncle had a few of them and loved them . i think it suited the two of them perfectly . well done . nice job .

[@David-sv7by]

I had a Hillman Imp in the UK in 1982 as an old banger. It took me all over the place and was rammed from behind by an Express Coach on the motorway. You could get all manner of items through the back window. The brakes failed in the end and it went for scrap but it really was fun.

[@glenjarnold]

I remember driving a 30 mile round trip to pick a 6ft snooker table up in 1980 in my 1966 Imp with my best mate, on a busy Saturday afternoon with half of the table sticking out of the rear hatch window on very busy roads. I can't imagine getting away with that now! 😂

[@Neff__]

An impressive amount of work, and I guess love, is put in this car.

[@stephensmith4480]

Superb little car and a job very well done on the restoration. I have always liked the thought of having one of these classics but sadly have never got round to buying one. One day maybe.

[@1911olympic]

Beautiful job!

[@duggy788]

my first car was a 1968 mk2 super imp ,i still miss that little car after 38 years

[@dennispetherbridge6910]

You do not take engine out of a imp and leave gearbox you take them out together from ex imp rally mechanic

[@darrencarter8395]

Im restoring one at the moment , nice vid very interesting was hoping to see a little more detail in places never mind lol I should of paid more attention wen I stripped it :D

[@guyjonson6364]

Very cool!

[@abgsrt]

@spinlessbastard1 You arent wrong there, pre 1967 hillman imps had slight positive camber and a pretty bad under steering issue, also being rear engine meant that any over steer achieved was extremely difficult to correct. But in post 1967 imps they installed an anti-roll bar which fixed the camber issue and made the cars handling improve immensely. My father actually fitted one of his other imps with a torana front assembly.. worked well also had disk brakes.. thanks you for your comments mate

[@stuartgold5729]

A bag of sand in the wheel well helped a lot, especially in winter

[@johnisles9425]

I owned 1968 Imp which did have problems. Coolant loss turned out to be due to a porous casting also at one point the water pump seized. The engine design was inspired by an earlier Coventry Climax 1100cc widely used in lightweight fire pumps. When properly sorted, the Imp engine deserved a better chassis. I hope that they will continue to be preserved for others to enjoy.

[@stevezodiac491]

John Isles they should have kept the engine on the fire pump they were a bag of shite, invented by the government and Chrysler to occupy errant Scotsman.

[@TheTheotherfoot]

@@stevezodiac491 They were actually quite a good car. They suffered by being built in scotland by complete idiots. Owned two of them, did a lot of work seam welding large parts of the body and tuning the motor. Had a lot of fun driving them, better aroung town than the minis of the same year.

[@TheTheotherfoot]

@captain pugwash Never had any of those problems. The worst I had was one had the hydrolic throttle, and that f*cken leaked until I chaned it to a cable. I did high mileage in both, many of those on long trips. Sorry that you seem to have got a pair of duds. I have been told that there were a few of them like that.

[@TheTheotherfoot]

@captain pugwash I feel very happy for you. But I just drive a small caer now, I have no use for more than one. I've been looking at electric cars, but as most of my driving involves long distances, there is not one that will allow me to do that distance without a re-charge stop. When they can be re-charged in the same time it takes to re-fuel my little 1200cc car, i'll look at one then.

[@TheTheotherfoot]

@captain pugwash When the range gets to 500 miles, or a re-charge takes no longer than I do to finish my coffee, then I'll be there. But for long distance, ice can refuel quickly and easily. Electric must catch up.

[@rishy561]

I'm very impressed sir, I'm looking for one to buy for my first car :)

[@metalgearsolid19]

You need to but the U2 - With or without to this again its what made it so emotional for me to watch :)

[@mladenpesut284]

Moj omiljeni automobjl, Hillman inp.

[@adrianrouse5148]

I remember fitting twin nikki carbs to my 998 imp. A big improvement to the twin strombergs . 1978 I think

[@69waveydavey]

I don't know what the spares situation is like over there but most stuff is available here. Malcolm Anderson's in Somerset is the place to contact if you find yourself struggling for anything. Nice job anyway, keep the faith.

[@edstyles8109]

Noticed the Imp was registered in SA. No chance you know of any other potential restoration candidates? I've been looking for one for a while. It'd be right at home with the hunter. Cheers, Ed.

[@edwincasey3056]

If I remember correctly. In SA you register your vehicle through the engine no. All other states register through the VIN No. Handy to know.

[@vaccumme]

I would love to have one there in the States, But they don't exist , Dammm!!!

[@Quinntheeskimo99]

Were these built in Australia, perhaps from CKD? If so they were probably better put together than the Singer Chamois I bought new in 1966, which is without doubt the most troublesome car I’ve ever had. I had some exposure to the Linwood workforce in a later life and thought that they had a deathwish as far as the plant was concerned. If they did they got their wish! Shame. Great cars and fine people.

[@lyndacain1766]

They were built in Australia, the only sport Imps assembled/sold outside the UK. Although it looks like a Chamois Sport they were actually assembled from Sunbeam Imp Sport CKD kits, apparently 629 of them. There were few of the luxuries of the Imp Sport but were far better equipped than the non sport Imps assembled in Australia.

[@llessibm]

an ex-girlfriend (subsequently ex-wife) had one of these, nearly killed me on a high speed bend on cross-ply tyres but handled fine on radials - loved it's uniqueness but didn't enjoy lying underneath it on the side of a main road replacing an in-board hookes joint - quirky car but very fond of it nevertheless.

[@TheScothern]

i had a worn out one ,875 , if i had the money i do one up ,

[@69waveydavey]

The real problem was originally lack of money, A policeman pointed out to one of the early prototype drivers that the headlights were too low for UK regs, they had already spent too much money (in true UK style) so they just lifted the car a couple of inches on the suspension hence the positive camber and poor handling. in the UK the springs to sort it are "Monte Carlo" springs they put it to the perfect height and give slight negative camber. Hope that's of some use.

[@thomascarroll9556]

69waveydavey it was the side lights (beneath the bumper) that were too low not the headlights. They should have just relocated the side/indicator assembly to a position above the bumper to the inner side of the headlamps, surely an easier technical fix than the suspension option which caused problems.

[@xyz2121]

@@thomascarroll9556 Would have cost far too much to relocate the lamps! In any case your solution would not work with the twin headlamp versions.

[@vaccumme]

@locacoyote Thank you for the reply. Would you have any more contact info. ?

[@stevezodiac491]

I had a sunbeam stiletto and a hilman imp, the gear boxes broke, the Stromberg carbs were troublesome, they overheated all the time and the heads warped and the king pins failed regularly. It was without doubt one of the worst cars.