yoeddynz

Here's an update...it's been a while. We have both been using this wee car heaps as our daily and apart from the rev counter dying, creating a short to the coil and cutting ignition its been reliable as. That one took a bit of head scratching to work out. I checked everything and finally had a guess at the rev counter. Well it did only cost $7 secondhand 6 years ago.. That has now been disconnected and every thing is back to being tickadyboo We got bored with sliding sideways in the original vinyl seats when corning enthusiastically and I had a pair of Mx5 seats waiting for the Imp project. Decided I might as well fit them and put them into use rather than just sitting there wasted. I made all the mounting points to certification standard as it'll be going through the cert process when the Duratec is fitted. They are so much better in for driving with! Not as heavily bolstered as Recaros I have had in the past but good enough. This pair will find their way into the Imp when its ready and I'll keep a look out for other seats to fit the Viva. The mounting points looked so similar in placement to the points for the Momo branded (but actually Recaros) Alfa Romeo GTV seats I had fitted in the Viva. So I'm am figuring that Recaros might hopefully fit in place fairly easily using the new mounts. Seats... Now the eagle eyed among you might have spotted the Motolita steering wheel. Yep- its the one I had in my V6 Viva. I kept it as part of the sale agreement and made a boss to fit it into the wagon. This time I have moved it backwards even further and its great to have back in my hands. Much nicer the than skinny, torn bus wheel that was originally there. Here it is with the old seats in place... Yep- this little car has been great to use and is even better now. Handy car for carting mowers (I do quite a lot of mower repairs in our valley as one of the bread earners)... But the car is gonna be so much better with more ponies. So I have been slowly chipping away at collecting things. I cant do the actual engine swap until the Imp is on the road though. No pressure then On this front I have to shout out a big thanks to @chris r and @Gozza who picked up and transported the gearbox from Auckland down to Nelson. Chris picked it up from the seller, packaged it onto a pallet and delivered it to the airport. Awesome. Then it got a first class flight in Steve's private jet. Steve then brought it out to our place. What a neat wee trip for an NA Mx5 gearbox... Thanks fellas!!! I opened up the packaging... With the box here I propped up an Rx7 bellhousing next to it. You can see the difference in length that will allow me to use an adaptor plate without having to space the flywheel back. A lot of work? Yeah but I have continued looking for a bolt on NC box and they just aint cheap here in NZ. I have looked in the UK, much cheaper..but in the UK. So for now I will continue down this path. It's one I have trodden before and its pretty easy. Next up... the elephant in the room that is the Duratec that needs a rebore. Not any more! Another big thanks goes out @Tumeke and @chris r, again !, who found a free Duratec engine, offered it to me and then @64vauxhall brought it down in the back of his Falcon on the way to the Oldschool nationals. Its in good condition but the head has been popped off bu the previous owner for inspection/cleaning. The bores are really good and the block is very clean. Its what appears to be a good honest engine. So I am back on track. I'll be getting a headgasket set and new headbolts from England very soon and will build this up over time. Its great that I now have a spare engine which I can use for the mockup. Much nicer lifting a stripped out lightweight block and head. New engine... Also- @NickJ was one of the fellas who came up to collect the Datsun 120Y. He brought up a collection of electronic components he had spare from building his Speeduino ECU and he and Hannah sat in the morning sun and sorted through bits I needed for my ECU build. I just need to get the main Arduino Mega chip and a few other bits then assemble it. Right on track for a decent $100 ECU though Thanks Nick!.. But for now...its back to the Imp.

So clean!

Explaining to younger folk that all cars used to driven like this...

Please tell us that you kept it that way for months and replaced the string twice.

Well... you've just stated whats wrong with putting filler on first. So why would you? Either cost cutting or laziness. Sure - do it filler first if its a crash repair on a tiida. But we aint talking about Tiidas eh. Its just better to follow best practice eh. Id rather always do it epoxy primer first instead of watching my car slowly bubble up down the road. One little tiny scratch through the top coat can let moisture in. Times have changed along with paint technology. The old 'slap some filler on first.. she'll be right mate' guard can fuck off back to their cave. Also- it means you can take your time with the filler stage. Even a high humidity environment, ie doing the work on a wet winter day, or in auckland... any filler present can start to pull moisture.

But still better to follow best practice eh. Id rather always do it that way instead of watching my car slowly bubble up down the road. One little tiny scratch through the top coat can let moisture in. Also- it means you can take your time with the filler stage. Even a high humidity environment, ie doing the work on a wet winter day, or in auckland... any filler present can start to pull moisture.

And then fill cavities with waxoyl or similar. Then fit 12A drill port and modgies.

That filler on your boot lid, the stuff that fell off, is a prime example of why one should never put filler directly onto steel. It never sticks properly and will absorb moisture through the paint, hold it against the steel and cause corrosion. It's why youll so often see old repairs with big blisters as the filler swells away from the steel. For fresh steel repairs paint it with resene industrial 440 epoxy. Then you can smear it with filler to your hearts content knowing that no matter how damp the filler gets it won't affect the steel beneath. Damn I like this car!

Edited double post..

Fantastic update!!! Big thanks for taking the time to post up so much good info and photos. I love reading threads like this. Looking real well engineered. How much did it cost to get the adaptor plate machined Inc cost of steel? Looks like you've got a bit less room between the bonnet underside and the cam covers than I had.. I'd have thought the escort would have a similar height within the bay? How close is the bottom of the block sitting to the cross member? I made quite a thin sump pan to get as close as possible.

Yeah you are completely correct there. That race car shell will never see the road again with its front end in that state. But its sills and complete rear end are in great condition but for some localised typical areas of old car rot such as the very bottom of the rear corners etc. If I dont end up selling them together to someone who wants a project then it will most likely get cut up for panels. I certainly have enough stuff here to build another car. Must keep a look out for live plates and tags which always helps.

Oh that.... been on TM for yonks. I'll pass...

Just hot up the 1300. Inject it. Lumpy cam. Make car handle amazingly and for sure it won't be the fastest at the lights but it will be great fun in the twisties, hooning along, wind in your hair. You waving enthusiastically... "heeeeelloooooo boys".....

Boat anchor in a tiny sports car.jpg 12A drill port with modgies please.

This new Imp. Hmmm. Its too good to scrap and I am hankering to do another Imp project in the future. However plans/motivation always change. However- in order to make sure that the really solid floor and inner sills etc dont get any proper rust I decided to remove all the heater pipes and loom, clean out the dirt and dry out any damp from the pipe removal process (they still had water in them). I'll spray some wd40 in the crevices along under the nice solid inner sills to halt moisture and so I can sleep easy at night knowing that my investment in for a future project has a chance. This done I looked at that rusty shelf. it had to go. But there as an engine in the way...so last night this happened... Getting quite good at chopping up Imps. Moved it out and Kevin posed for photo on his new perch... I separated the engine and box. Box feels to be in great condition, smooth, no slack. I now have five Imp transmissions. So I need more Imps? Engine feels seized. Spark plug removal attempt broke plug off in hole. Removed cam cover to have a peek. Very clean and tidy in there. Shame. Cute little cam... Engine will probably get weighed in. Cant imagine a mk1 engine with the weaker curly edged block is worth anything when seized. Now I must stop procrastinating and crack on with IMP two shell.

Bugger. Pcd is 12mm too big thereabouts. My search continues. There's a whole 6 page long thread didicated to failing couplings and alternatives. It's frequented by Imp barrys of the highest order. I shall go there.

sweet- cheers! I'll have a measure up soon. I think some Imp folk have been using modified BMW items too so I must look into those as well. Some how I dont think they'll be quite as cheap though....

I just get it from a paint supplier in Nelson. Should be available over there id have thought?

Oh and @RUNAMUCK look here.... https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/other-accessories/listing-1662697959.htm?rsqid=8f77ea972d7f4cae983e05baef056679

Those rubber driveshaft doughnuts - they look like these.... Now could you please be a kind young man and measure them up for me? Width across the steel inserts, diameter of bolts, pcd etc Are they cheap/where are they cheap/where should I get some?

Actually a fucking good idea!!!! Also- plans to setup wetback engine preheater to warm fluids on IMP 911 race car... because race car..

It works way better than I was expecting too. Roll that steel table over to it, stand 1 meter away and it's too hot.

Imp pimp?

So where was I ? Well some might remember ages ago, a long, long time ago when I still had a V6 Viva,that mentioned I was going to sell it and if so I wouldn't mind an Imp project. Well last August Hannah and I had gone to the Oldschool Hanmer get together and after the meet we went along to a large collection of classic cars an old boy had been collecting until he died. It was there that I had spotted this wee fella... After lots of in-decisions, plus getting another two Imps since then, this one ended up on the back of a trailer on Saturday morning and did a little trip north... Thanks very much to those involved in making this happen. Thanks to Will for collecting it from the yard, along with many other Imp bits (hopefully he might well yet get into an Imp project one day and when this one is finished he'll get a drive so hopefully he'll see what the fuss is about) Also big thanks to Greg for bringing the Imp up for me. Props to Bart, I think, who spotted one of the strops had broken and saved a potentially nasty incident. So it arrived and I sat inside it, beer warming my belly and pondered what new mess I had acquired... Before the guys went on their way back south, Datsun in tow, they helped me push the Imp up to the Imp 'Lichen removal' area... So it sat as I mixed up some warm water and car shampoo... As I cleaned it up an old rego label appeared dated 1985-1986... It looked a fair bit better with all the Lichen removed. Although no all the rust was better evident .... The inside (great head lining which was one of the reasons I wanted it) was filled with extra interior bits and even included a rats nest too. How lucky. I quite like the dated 'Jazzergetics-fitness the fun way' sticker.... I moved the car inside and started the empty out. Good score on a red and black set of seats and door cards. Great condition. It looks like someone had previously removed the door cards, made new hardboard backs and were obviously intending to fit them into either this Imp or another. I'm happy that they'll get used I think they'll look really good against the black mx5 front seats I have bought for the car. Another good score was this fine example of a '90s kettle... So that evening the Imp sat, all clean and dry, probably wondering what was to become of itself.. I was wondering too. I thought it would be a wise idea to pop it up on the hoist and see what it was like underneath. Turns out its really solid from the front to the back until you get to the rear arches. The outer sills are shot but the inner sills, floor area are great. In fact the outer sills are still intact along the very bottom but would still need replacing. The floors are solid! No rust. The front end is really good too. The worst rust is the entire rear end, from the bottom up to the swage line. The rear seat area is solid but the parcel shelf is even worse than the other one. I have learned from that and if I was to do anything with this shell that will be cut right out first. So there we have it. Another potential shell to be rescued but for now it will be plundered for anything that I might need to complete the other one. Apart from the pedal box having been nicked by someone its complete. I have already removed the following for IMP ONE.. The gearstick and choke lever/cable. The throttle pedal and cable. The hand brake and cables. I'll be taking the headlining at some point, the dash, heater, gauges, wiring, lights. So it'll end up as a stripped out rolling shell. I think between the solid rear end and sills of the race car and the really good front end of this a good shell could be made. But I'll wait until I see what Imp one is like to drive before I make any more decisions on what might happen with this one. i might just stash it away in a friends shed for the future. Or maybe flick everything remaining off for someone else to take on as a project. I shall ponder this in the future. Nothing wrong with having a spare Imp up your sleeve ....

and a pic from another on there... such great wee cars!