dmulally

Yeah furry muff. I suppose I could change it if it starts getting too warm.

The front one is a modern alloy radiator. I could weld it shut but not sure I want to go down that one way street. The 18psi is to keep it closed off. Rear ones look 80's or 90's. Front and rear will be on different circuits (front off the heater lines with an EWP in line) and rear two will be split and on the subie water pump circuit. So all with the same water but going down different paths.

Came with a pretty sweet split radiator setup in the rear. Anybody know if it will be a problem having a filler neck/cap both front and rear? Thinking for the front putting on an 18psi cap and 13psi on the rear with an expansion bottle off that one.

To the left of the plate is hillman and subie to the right. Going to be a right pain when it breaks as it will all need to be swapped over rather than punted into the creek like every other rooted imp box.

The angle iron engine mount is pretty sweet too. I love that sort of one off engineering. Looking forward to seeing if it actually drives.

Now then. I dragged this home so I might get it running in situ so I can see how it runs with a standard box. The fuel is varnish and the shifter is seized but it's all good because the engine is seized too. @Adoom and @cubastreet just felt a cold chill go down their spine.

From my fading memory the band on the diode should be on the alternator end. It's why I use a boring old one wire alternator these days and an altmeter. Bulletproof and simple.

Every dickhead is doing a subie swap now

So this followed me home on the weekend very slowly. Also came with another Hillman Imp with an EA71 installed in it. I'll drag that home in a few weeks and see as both are dead reg, I'll swap the Subie gear into the yellow Imp. If anybody wants a mint body/interior Imp with no engine sing out. It'll be cheep.

Ok hear me out...

So some big decisions are coming up soon for the Imp. I presently have the EA81 off being rebuilt and am working on the front radiator mounts/ducting. I got a call out of the blue about two Imps for sale along with a shed load of parts. One is an Imp van with the windows (a husky) and the other is a basic bitch Imp with a subaru conversion already done! From what I can tell without pics it has an EA71 and a stock gearbox. It has been certed and the rego on hold. The van is dead rego. All allegedly. I have ALWAYS wanted an Imp van and with my quest to get down to 3 cars in 5 years (67 Econoline camper van and 66 C20 ute the other two hence me trying to flog the rest now) I'll definitely be keeping an Imp as a forever car. The van could be a good candidate for an EV conversion with all the space in the back but I dont even know if I'll get around to doing an EV as my cert guy wasnt keen.

You must think my shed roof has a leak if you're concerned about it seeing daylight in the next 10 years.

If only you were as right as you are pretty. Allow me to show you my working out.

Here is something somebody else prepared earlier.

This is the grill that came with it. Looks like shit to me but would be perfect for a front rad. Lucky I gave it away. Can anybody think of any ideas of what I can put on that is subtle? I'm thinking five 2" holes punched inwards with some mesh behind it.

That could be a goer! I wont be seam welding it (ie: blowing holes in 0.8) so it would work. I'll send you a flirty PM

So the new radiator arrived and it looks pretty schmick. It is a bit thinner than I thought it would be but that's not the end of the world. I havent decided if I'm putting a heater in it yet or not so have some Y fittings with individual taps the same size as the original heater lines off the manifold. So I could run it to an auxiliary radiator in the back in summer and a heater in winter. Or just the aux rad. See how I feel. Future winter me will be pissed off if I don't put in a heater box inside. I was going to just use the bottom fresh air vent box hole thingy for the radiator but half of it will get nothing. So I might punch a couple of 2" holes where the badge used to sit above the bumper bar to get more airflow in. I might sleep on that one. The bonnet is punched full of louvres so that should get the air out. I have to purchase some sheetmetal anyway so might look at some ducting and a mini scoop where the number plate is to help direct airflow into it. Here are some before and during pics. The rad is off to starboard as the fuel filler hose is in the way.

Indeed it is the w400. I didnt think of lowering the nozzle/pressure. Normally when I do I get runs but I dont really care about that as much as it's all out of sight stuff. Thanks!

Has anybody had any joy with small touch up spray guns? I only have a primer gun and a top coat one. But I have to do some small spaces like door jams and some parts and my top coat iwata gun will just blast overspray everywhere.

So after about four attempts I got the gearbox mount bracket sorted. For the welding I couldnt grind smoother I used the tig to flatten out. Sadly I can't box it but I will add some 8mm thick gussets which should be ok but will leave it up to the cert man to let me know. Happy to use the original mounts which is one less drama. I needed to do some panel beating inside and ended up cutting away the gearbox tunnel which I'll replace when I get some fresh steel. So the half shafts would bolt right up to the VW cv's if they had the same bolt pattern which is annoying. Maybe a fraction too long so I cant fit an adapter but I will explore it. That would save some farting about with engineering half shafts but not fussed. Next on the agenda is finish painting the awful green inside and then I might start on the radiator mounting for a break.

Right then. So the reco'd Imp engine suffered a setback. I was on my way to pick it up (Martinborough to Tauranga is a looooong way in a GMC) and 20 mins out got a call it had seized on the test bench. So thankfully my plan B was already decided upon and brought forward. I popped out to the LVV cert chap who gave me the green light to use the venerable EA81. It weighs the same as the Imp donk and only the gearbox requires some changes to the bodywork to fit. The EA81 is presently being reconditioned. The gearbox I have decided upon is a "freeway flyer" VW box. 0.87 4th and 3.8:1 final drive. A massive improvement over the super short Imp box. Some challenges remain in that the selector is out the top rather than the bottom. So the gear linkage will need to go on top of the tunnel rather than under it. The handbrake and rear seat platform are in the way but I can sort that. Don't really have a choice not to. I have started on the mount and am up to version 3. I'm trying to use the original Imp mounts and a bracket linking the box to them. I have a shit load of other things to do but am rushing to get the mount done so I can sort the half shafts. The engineer said he would get back to me on what is acceptable which is fine. I'll get Howat Engineering to sort so I know it will be acceptable. In other news I dropped off the front seats to be retrimmed. I was going to use original seats but the modernish buckets I have are super comfy. I also had a custom front radiator made for it which I havent taken out of the box yet. It will be fed with the original water pump suplimented with a davies craig ewp Ill put at the other end to help push the water around. I got the springs lowered by Aechers but I think it is a little too low. Might stop being a tight ass and invest in some adjustable coilovers. It's all happening!

Must. Not. Touch.

Yeah will pass it on. If it has be done by a certified machine shop I'll give you a yell and we can perhaps sort something out. Especially if it has to be splined.