1967 Sunbeam Imp Sport

[impmann]

Yes, I did it again...

Its an addiction... I don't need any more Imps and until I saw this poor little thing, I didn't want any more. But after being sent a piccie of it... well, I had to have a look...

This is the Imp Sport that was advertised on here a couple of weeks ago - the previous owner had acquired the car when his wife's aunt passed away back in the early 90s. She'd had an altercation with a fence or gate post not long before that and had dented the front wing and bent the bumper. So it was driven up the driveway and was parked up to await the repair of the front wing. That was 1994. It never moved again.

She's done 27,000miles from new and is 100% original - although I have uncovered a couple of dent/scratch repairs. Whilst she needs a resto - both outer sills have gone but the inners aren't bad, plus there are some holes around the edges of things - because she hasn't been doused in salt for the last 16 years, she's in much better shape than most. Although, you'd probably not believe it based on the following pics of her as delivered:















You may notice, she's wearing some alloys... that was because I needed a set of wheels to move her on (they aren't staying on her), because this was the state of her original tyres...






So, I applied water and car shampoo for the first time in 16 years... and she doesn't look bad!!






I refitted the headlamp (which was in the back of the car), which had been standing on an old newspaper... so old, I think it predates the car's enforced layup... check out what's written on the bit stuck to the lens!!






So... what to do with it? Well, the priority currently is to find somewhere for her to live for a while until we can get on top of the other cars. And then she'll be restored back to 100% original, as anything less would be wrong IMHO. She just needs to wait her turn, and some money in the bank!

[impmann]

I think the colour balance is wrong on the camera... its actually Lincoln Green Metallic, but it does look very turquoise in the pics. Shame, that would make it 110% perfect!!

Fran - yep this is the one redhedhog posted about.

Darren - I love finding stuff from days gone by in the car. The tax disc holder (complete with 1994 tax disc) was in the glove box and that has the old Halfords logo on the back (from when they did mainly motoring stuff with a few bikes thrown in for good luck.... unlike today ). Sadly the rest of the newspaper was to rancid and decomposed to do a lot with!! I love the idea of George Michael being "no Lionel Ritchie"...

[ImpownerUK]

Still alive .. moved to a different location .. in storage .. awaiting time to (hopefully) do justice to what is these days a surprisingly rare survivor.

[Grahame59]

What a find! That is the sort of Imp I'm sure we all dream of finding. Glad it's gone to a good home.

[Lars Hagermark]

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[impmann]

Really pleased to hear that the car still exists and there is a long term plan for preservation. There was a lot that needed doing but it was such an original car. Sadly, I don't think Dick Tompkins ever forgave me for selling it without offering him first refusal... his perfect Imp, apparently. I didn't realise he wanted it... Sorry, mate!

[ImpownerUK]

This entry prompted by progress on my white 1968 Sunbeam. By no means in poor condition to start off with, I decided anyway to put a set of new panels on it. Partly the exercise was to learn the ins and outs of an Imp’s structure, and what repair techniques are best suited to what areas of the car’s bodywork. My tools are an oxy-acetylene welder and a spot welder.

I learnt a few things on the way. Any responses would be appreciated. First, removal and replacement of whole rear wings represents a lot of work. Second, and partly a reflection of the above, any braze administered by the factory constitutes a load of problems (I knew that anyway, before I started). There was braze around certain joints on the front and rear wings on my car. Third, Ex-Pressed panels (their patch panels at least) are a reasonable fit and can be a viable short cut to a quality repair (I hate cutting up rare original Rootes panels). Fourth, as repairers we can’t get always get the necessary access to replicate as-factory original build.

Pondering whether to tackle my ’63 DeLuxe or my low mileage and highly original ’67 Sunbeam next (albeit neither in the immediate future), I wonder what experience others have of using the Ex-Pressed panels – which I see are now available in a fairly comprehensive range?

[ImpownerUK]

A couple of photos that I meant to include yesterday. The spit makes life so much easier ..

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Picture1.jpg

The question is which of these two in the background (blue or green) gets the treatment next? The blue car was registered in early June 1963. And I like the style (simple, original trim). Especially if slightly lowered and with a 'works' binnacle and clocks I reckon it will look good.

But I suppose I ought to get this white one dipped, painted and fitted out fully first ..

[bazzateer]

Blue one

[The Nun]

Yes the blue one, that's probably the earliest IMP left that's not in a museum?

[ImpownerUK]

I tend to agree: blue one. Sorry in case it offends anyone, I've got a nice 998 I can use too. Nothing irreversible of course. The car is already in good condition. Even its bonnet is 100% rust free. Too many cars. Can't help myself. I'll probably start a new thread when I eventually get started on it ..

[impmann]

I would say Green... but then, I've always regretted letting go of that car.

[ImpownerUK]

It doesn’t really look it collectively in the above photos, but this thing is significantly rotten. Tim Morgan alluded as much at the start of this thread yet still understated the extent of its structural decay. Separated from any possibility of working on it during lockdown (or my other Imps), I have amused myself instead by thinking how to renovate it – which, by the way, is renovation of the existing shell, not transferring its prized Sport bits into a more intact Imp Super body of the same vintage.

Why bother? I am in print elsewhere stating that for me this variant of this vintage sits along with the really clean, simple, unadorned earliest cars right at the top of the Imp tree. It trumps a Stiletto. These B492-series Sunbeams are much rarer too. In its favour this particular survivor has remained essentially wholly untouched throughout its life, hence being complete and outstandingly original. That less than 28,000 miles have passed under its wheels is a bonus.

With lockdown easing – and unexpectedly rejuvenating me mentally as well, beyond the world of Imps – I splashed out a lot of money on the one missing factory panel from my cache that I required to complete a set (a long story: I had to sell a whole load of my stock about 5 years ago, including this same item .. which I had originally bought as a new part in the 1980s for .. no misprint .. £5-60). Beyond being a nice-to-have original wing it will help limit difficulties arising from factory-applied braze.

I must make it clear that even with such a (to me) desirable Imp variant there is a limit to the amount of decay I’ll take on. For example I might have baulked and instead broken the thing if the inner wing spring mounts front and rear were dodgy (on this car they’re unusually sound). As it stands it more or less creeps in as a project marked ‘healthy overall challenge’. But obviously I’ll need to proceed with a bit of a plan. Central to that plan is to make a Mk2 version of a rotary spit for it, which will also double as a jig to hold reference positions for the bits of the shell which aren’t going to be chopped away (including removing the badly corroded floor). My Mk1 spit (which can be traced via YouTube) won’t work as it would impose way too much of a bending moment into an already significantly weakened structure.

So with access to plenty of lovely secondhand heavy duty box section steel I’m designing all this in my head. Whatever I come up with will later additionally be useful for my blue Imp, irrespective that this car is less rotten. Obviously keeping an eye on total mass, the (internal) frame is going to have to be suitably rigid as it is rotated. It is going to have to be built in situ before I start cutting the shell apart. Yes, I admit, I’m a dreamer, so watch out for another post in a year or so? All in though, with such a lot of crud to cut out and replace with fresh metal, a well made spit-come-jig surely has to be a very good investment?

[Teddie2003]

Why bother? I am in print elsewhere stating that for me this variant of this vintage sits along with the really clean, simple, unadorned earliest cars right at the top of the Imp tree. It trumps a Stiletto. These B492-series Sunbeams are much rarer too. In its favour this particular survivor has remained essentially wholly untouched throughout its life, hence being complete and outstandingly original. That less than 28,000 miles have passed under its wheels is a bonus.

Agree with the above sentiment, my first car was a '67 E reg Imp Sport, great fun to drive and I always preferred having the opening rear window shells compared to a Cali or Stileto and as you say the single headlamp model is rarer. Look forward to seeing the re-build progress.

[impmann]

It doesn’t really look it collectively in the above photos, but this thing is significantly rotten. Tim Morgan alluded as much at the start of this thread yet still understated the extent of its structural decay.

To be fair - any car left outside for many years will have significant rust to fix. That one is no exception.

Yes, that car needed restoring, but its not beyond salvage - or rather wasn't when I sold it 11 years ago (not to the present owner, it has to be said). Even kept dry, rust continues creeping so I don't imagine its got any better with time. The best thing about that example was it hadn't been "restored", so you don't have to unpick someone else's repairs... But yes, it needed work 11 years ago (although it didn't need that many full panels back then... but then, I prefer to repair whats there rather than just replace).

Why bother? Well, they aren't making any more and the point of this place is keeping the Imp alive. If you aren't going to bother, I'd imagine there would be a queue of people that would be quite willing to do so - its a very cool car.

Good luck with it.

[ImpownerUK]

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Cheers for your comments Tim. My intention absolutely remains to do the vehicle justice - inasmuch my skills allow - rather than cashing in on what I can get by breaking it for parts. For lots of reasons, some of which you touch on. But mainly because personally I rather like it. And I also rather like the challenge it represents.

Rust. There's an interesting one. Yep, rust never sleeps. One person's perception of 'rusty' will be different to that of the next person. Seeing other cars on the forum, this one isn't beyond hope. Its most debilitating defect has been a leaky rear hatch. Hence the floor crumbling even when just being looked at. No blame on anyone for that, nor speculation where and when, and to what extent, decay happened. The car came to me at a good price, and I was never going to be dissatisfied with what I saw when I collected it. (In case anyone wants to take a peep at the current state of play there are some very crude YouTube postings available - 'Rusty Sunbeam' will find it).

There's probably a general line I should put down here as an apology for hijacking what wasn't originally my thread. So I'll try and stop writing too much down. Or, rather, too often. But it does - as the occasional post - give a little bit of continuity to what is already quite a lengthy (timeline) story.

Some other quick responses. Indeed, some wider debate perhaps prompted: whether or not to approach getting a vehicle back together while retaining as much of the original metalwork as possible. I don't think there is a right or wrong way of doing it. In my defence, in case I need to defend myself, I am that difficult combination of being a lazy perfectionist. Yes, I do like welding - the challenge of making the new-to-old metal as strong as what was there originally and yet invisible. My inclination is to opt for full panel replacement where I can - or at least where it is expedient to do so (I'm not sure for example that substituting whole factory rear wings is the best way to go). My inclination is fuelled by my good fortune of having acquired surplus Imp stock, including innumerable panels, when they really were very cheap indeed.

[ImpManiac]

Looks interesting. I look forward to following progress on this car.

IM

[moose]

Imp owner. You do not need to defend yourself or what you want to do with the car. It is yours, do what you want. Way too many opinionated keyboard warriors in the world today. There are more people that will like to see the build done however you want than people who will criticize.

[Teddie2003]

Imp owner. You do not need to defend yourself or what you want to do with the car. It is yours, do what you want. Way too many opinionated keyboard warriors in the world today. There are more people that will like to see the build done however you want than people who will criticize.

Well said Mike