1963 Hillman Imp MK1 restoration

[3xpendable]

Unfortunately restoration of the car has halted for the time being due to my brother having other priorities and interests so I have shut the thread down. When he starts restoring it I will get him to try and put a blog on here but in the mean time thanks for all your interest.

[hillmanimpman]

i be watching this closely to get ideas on rebuilding the van,
looks a good project they all in the front arches,sills,sometimes in the rear wing towards the back the car,
but good project nice see another imp owner here

[haaallloooom]

I love the torpedo reversing lights. We've got them on Dad's Alpine SIII - the bases are like hen's teeth apparently!

[Aar0sc]

Ah brilliant, I remember this from the old site. Think you should keep the handmade centre console though - it's both epic and unusual

[JPB]

Another vote in favour of that amazing console! OK, I can appreciate your desire to restore for originality, of course I can. But that console - dodgy crimped & Scotchloked wiring job apart - is a nice little touch, IMHO.

[bnicho]

Somebody sure loved pop rivets.

I agree with JPB on the console. It's really nice, I thought it was a period accessory at first glance. With a good tidy of the wiring it would be a neat little addition without spoiling the originality much.

[3xpendable]

Thanks all, hopefully now the weather is imporving my brother will get his arse in gear and make some progress. I'm going to maybe have a go at the suspension parts over easter though myself.

I didnt know the reversing lights were rare but I certainly like them! Sorry to disappoint you all but the console will definately be going and will be up for sale soon. Its been well done I admit but it makes the choke and handbrake hard to use and we already have a optional period extra 'gauge pod' to fit under the centre of the dash. You'll see it in due course

[gurnsimps]

Hi Mate,bit of surface rust,should see this at Wicked Welsh in September?

[3xpendable]

Its been a while but now my brother has taken over restoration of this, and the aim is to have it ready for the 2013 Imp Nationals. Its been moved into a shed for gridning and welding:



The engine has been stripped and inspected, and found to have lips on the top of the bores which is to be expected for a 100,000 mile unit but we also have a suspicion the bores have gone slightly oval looking at the lip positions and the blow by marks on the pistons. The motor has already been bored to +20 oversize so we may have to go up to +40





This is the new engine for my brothers Californian. 998cc wet lined and yes we built it all ourselves from an 875cc unit....nothing bought in here!

[3xpendable]

This project is stagnant at the moment, but as a side story, I wanted a model example of each car my family owns. I was pleasantly suprised to find a massive market for model restoration where you can even get custom number plates made up, so I decided to start with a Dinky Vauxhall Viva and Hillman Imp. The blue Imp originally looked like the picture below (and will be restored to this colour).



So after scouring ebay I found one with what should be the right colour interior



I drilled the rivet off the bottom and separated the bodyshell and stripped the paint using caustic soda (interestingly the 'new' Nitromors did nothing)




Next job will be to repaint it. Then order number plates