Nods news , A fixorage happened

[Cally]

Had the Siran type on my original 69 Imp but has anyone else heard of the Tragonic small loop aerial I had on SUA's passenger door window coupled to expensive [£7 New] radio that came complete with a speaker!! Volume was a bit low but worked on the cheap radio but far better on Pye Highway LW MW and FM Pushbutton radio that next occupied the Imp dash

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Never heard of Tragonic small lop aerials , sounds interesting though.
Beaulieu as its thread says was great , Singer ran well and did 42MPG on the 161 mile trip and used no oil or water .
I bought some goodies including yet another interior mirror i liked as the chrome convex one is a tad small.
Quite how im going to fit a Tudor dipping interior mirror to an Imp stem remains to be seen but you know me.
Had some nice comments on the Singer and a few negative ones including " whoever owns this one has completely distroyed it by lowering it and fitting those stupid wheels "

AHH WELL

[james]

One of the things I like about the Imp Club is the relative lack of that sort of attitude. Stick at it, your opinion is the one that matters.

[ImpManiac]

Dave, ignore the detractors. Their opinions aren't worth the paper they're not written on. Your Chamois is one of the loveliest cars I can think of anywhere. It's a testament to your hard work over many years, fettling and improving all the time. The stance and the alloys suit the car to perfection.

IM

[colin rooney]

Had some nice comments on the Singer and a few negative ones including " whoever owns this one has completely distroyed it by lowering it and fitting those stupid wheels

i had very same said to me at imp 2010 by a member who i wont say but he was told in a nice kind of way its not ur car so dont worry about it, i think ur singer looks great mate

col

[pubcrawler]

If it's any consolation I think your car with those wheels looks great , and like mine it can all be reversed by a future owner if required .

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Thanks for the replies , if people dont like then thats fine , they dont have to , its my personal choice how it looks.

Got that interior dipping mirror to fit and very nice it looks too , yet another thing for purists to whine about

[chris d]

don't worry about the negative comments dave
I had some bad comments at bangor from an imp owner
and we know what happened at bangor
the car is yours and a proper credit to you
if somebody doesn't like it they can keep there comments to themselves and jog on
chris d

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Bought this genuine Singer sign at Beaulieu and spent a week making a light box for it

Noddys dealership is open

[ImpManiac]

Oh I love that! I need one of those in my garage.

IM

[pubcrawler]

Nice sign, I think we ought to start a garage thread again

[The Nun]

Looks absolutely brilliant, must get my MINI one up

[bks974c]

To quote youngest daughter when I said I was looking a getting an MX5 " Why ? its such a girly car, an Imp's not exactly manly but "

Scott

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Took the rear seat squabs out the Singer for a good hoover up underneath and found the squab kind of falling apart .
Being as they are early Chamois coupe ones and not exactly plentiful ive had to do a bit of sewing , not easy with carpal tunnel but made it in the end

Heres what i mean , the cloth has dissolved



New cloth sewn in , well not cloth but fire proof black canvas , i used shoe cotton for this as its near on unbreakable.



All sewn up and re-stapled back together

[ImpManiac]

Great work, Noddy. I love that you signed your work! Nice touch!

IM

[The Nun]

People can also remember you when youre dead and gone and think ahh yes, what a nice old chap he was

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Last year the old girl did less than 1000 miles , the year before only 800 or so.
So this year ive decided to either
A, use it or
B , flog it
So far its done just over 400 miles including the Beaulieu trip on the 14 / 15th May so in the scheme of its normal use its having a hammering.
No issues apart from the zorst box working loose on the manifold as the clamp had rotted out and given up.
No national for me this year so il have to find somewhere else to go to bang on the miles

[617sqn]

Ditto

What's more important than the National, Dave ? Also, If I'd have known you weren't going I'd have insisted you bought me a pint at Beaulieu

Tch. Some people ..............

Andy G.

[impmann]

I will, mate.

[imporium]

Dave, my chammy only done 70miles between MOT's to Yodelville & back & still has the same tank of petrol in it from WWW in 2011 when filled up at Abergavenny, receipt still in the car ! must get out more... .....or in the green van soon .......Malcolm

[ImpManiac]

I'd miss you too, Noddy, except that I doubt very much that I'll be at Perth Racecourse myself either. It's just too much money for Mrs. IM and me to get there and back, plus all the additional expense. I really do wish it weren't so.

Now WWW, though...

IM

[617sqn]

I'd miss to too Dave, if only because I could show you some other wiring that isn't up to your standard

You just don't want the added expense of buying that beer, I know. The lengths some people will go to to get out of buying someone a pint ............

Andy G.

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

With exhaust mounts .
Ive noticed no matter how smooth the tick over is theres a lot of vibration through the exhaust manifold and box , whilst the exhaust is steady on tickover i can see all this vibration doing the exhaust and more expensively the manifold no good whatsoever .
So for a play around i knocked up a rubber damped exhaust bracket from a piece of old factory chair and an inner track rod end , you can see from the pictures what ive done , the only thing you cant see is the sleeve i fitted inside the bush to make the hole smaller to except the 5/16th unf bolt

The vibration on tick over has all but vanished completely so it really does work
The only downside I can see is that the track rod bush isnt going to be very happy in all that heat , certainly isnt going to catch fire but i cant see it lasting too long TBH.
Il weld the parts together and do away with the small bolt , this is just a trial but it deffo does work

Am I completely mad or what

[bks974c]

Can you not turn it around so the bush is at the top - will need a longer stud though.

Scott

[617sqn]

Dave, you can already buy polybush exhaust hangers, mate. Like the doughnut shaped things/figure of 8 style. So I'd guess they can cope with a bit of heat !

Andy G.

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Superflex do proper poly bushes for imp inner track rod ends , could be the way forward

http://www.superflex.co.uk/products.php?cat=318

[HARTWELL MK1]

But a polybush will squeek, and have different damping characterics to a rubber bush!

[ImpManiac]

Good idea, Noddy. The vast majority of car exhaust systems are suspended on rubber bobbins, so why not on your, eh? Glad it works!

IM

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

For as long as ive had the Vusky its always been slower than the Singer , didnt really matter what engine was in it , its just slower

Nick AKA Meltdown on here has been down this weekend and had a drive of both cars
Singer is nigh on perfect but the Vusky whilst really happy to rev its nuts off was as usual much slower. It seems willing but not able
Both are L4s Singers is plus 20 and the Vusky is plus 30 , both have twin SUs fitted.
So this afternoon i did a comp test to see just how knackered it is , I tested it 4 times in total


Cylinder number---------------1----------------------2--------------------3-------------------4--
Cold , Dry , WOT -------------180psi--------------- 180psi -------------180psi ------------- 180psi
Cold , Wet , WOT--------------210psi----------------200psi--------------200psi---------------210psi
Hot , Dry , WOT--------------200psi---------------- 190psi-------------190psi----------------190psi
Hot , Wet , WOT--------------200psi-----------------210psi--------------205psi---------------200psi

As the comp ratio did rise when tested wet there is obviously some wear , also this is a cheap tester so the figures cant be guarenteed as accurate . I did notice the engine turned over much quicker when hot .
Doesnt seen that bad after all , plugs all run a caramel colour which i think is OK. I built this engine 15 0r so years ago so i cant moan too much
So im left with ignition advance curve or the things put on way too much weight after the restall mod and is technically morbidly obese .

[impmann]

Could it just be simple aerodynamics?

[Duk]

Wonder if they're the secret inspiration for the volvo 850 estates handling better than the saloons

[The Nun]

The IMP saloon is more aerodynamic than the Coupe for starters, the saloon has less of a drag factor due to the shape of the roof/rear window relief at the back.
Thats why an Imp Sport has a better 0 to 60 time than a Stiletto, like for like.
So what looks streamline isnt always streamline.

Although obviously I would think a Transit van wouldnt be so aerodynamic as a Ferrari

[Lotus-e-Clan]

OK. Point taken. Got to admit that the exhaust rubber bobbin I used will definitely have much more vibe potential than a track rod bush so effectively you have created a different dynamic compared to my situation.

[Lotus-e-Clan]

"Suck it and see" is wot my dad always told me ... so nowt wrong with suckers in my book!

Seery arsely though, like i said, mine was a different set up and the devil, as always, is in the detail ...not least that the carbon m/c box is not as heavily made as a Janspeed (so bound to fall apart) and 'twas at the end of a long link pipe too - vibe is amplified a tad.

And 'tis true Lars, my imp experience was only with a 66 deluxe from 1970 to 76 followed by a 71 Stiletto from 76 to 1980... then i lost the plot and went clanward.

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Just niticed the Vuskys exhaust box is loose again as well.

bloomin zorsts

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Sorted the Vuskys Zorst , goes a heck of a lot better too.
I suspect the back pressure , or lack of might have upset things somewhat
Its weird that im doing the exhaust mounts and then checking the Vuskys compression due to lack of oomph and the issues are linked

Scary stuff

[Meltdown]

Vusky wasn't overly noisy, but then we did have the windows open. New test drive required

[kilty]

The lightest Blue colour you can find on a Rootes-mobile would go well I reckon.

[The Nun]

This is what the colour wheel says:
Blue is a cool color by nature, and it works well with pretty much any other cool tone: gray, purple, even black. Using color combinations like these will give your car a sense of stability and calm. (good for high cross winds)
For higher contrast—and a bolder look—use a warm accent color, like red or yellow.

[impmann]

I saw a gorgeous T25 camper in Devon that was a similar blue, but had pastel yellow wheels (really, really pale - think cream with a hint of yellow). It looked *really* 60s and really cool. I wish I'd taken a picture now...

[The Nun]

Ive seen yellow covers with a smiley face on them too, or how about a picture of Noddy??

[classiccapsule]

Gotto to be red innit?

[bazzateer]

Agree with red but has to be the same shade as the seats.

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Gotto to be red innit?

That is just scary

[The Nun]

I think a steel greyish colour would make the best of it. That'll be alloys then.

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

With numerous chats ive had with people at car shows about how unreliable Imps are ( which is utter rubbish ) I thought this was rather appropriate to stick on the arse of the Vusky.

You cant say ive no sense of humour

[617sqn]

I blew my first Imp up, trying to emulate another apprentice who rallied an Imp locally. He could get fantastic revs and speed out of his : Being young and (even more) stupid, I imagined that they could all pull such stunts. Little did I know about tuning, balancing and maintenance !! Eventually, I put a conrod through the block and that was the last of that. My wifes' first car was an Imp, which I bought from a newspaper ad. That was unreliable and kept failing her when she was out and about with the kids, but again was down to my lack of knowledge, to be frank. I was still only 22. Couldn't leave Imps alone though ...........

Now I can boast that I've built eight or nine decent engines ranging from single cylinder two-strokes, to a V8. Touch wood, all reliable

Andy G.

[Dave ' Linwood ' Lane]

Just fitted this NOS Tex heated screen wash kit , at some point il move it to the inlet side of the heater once i sort a proper heater valve and maybe change the heater pipes .
Boy does it ever work

[The Nun]

They are a real good idea, cant understand why they dont make all washer systems with heated water, would shift the dead flies far quicker, I mean you dont wash the dishes in cold water do you?
Only one thing Noddy, you cant fit the back cover with the box in that position.

[Bobbycham]

Time i've finished the dishes the waters cold!
Yeah really good bits of kit l had one that fitted to a few cars many moons ago, will look into making one if l cant buy one when Pet is up and running.
Bob