Hillman Imp 911 project. Thanks to Hondas flat six....

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yoeddynz
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Hillman Imp 911 project. Thanks to Hondas flat six....

Post by yoeddynz »

Ooooooooohhhhhhhh. I have just had a new project delivered. What could it be?

Now if any of you lot on here already know the answer from other forums you might frequent then don't be a silly sausage and spoil the fun. Let the others play guessy games. I have tried to take some shots that only cars nerds might recognise. Lets start with this...

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Guessing game is over

Post by yoeddynz »

OK.. I cant wait any longer. I'll spill the beans...

I now have my very own little Hillman Imp!

A local fella by the name of Rob, who frequents these pages I think more as a reader, came up to me in the supermarket car park a few months ago. He said he'd read that I was after an Imp and offered me his Race Imp at a price I just really couldn't turn down. It does need lots of work as he had stacked it big time in a race a few years back. He pulled it all out straight on a chassis jig and continued to use it however it needs a really good tidy up. At Robs last race event with this car a large bump threw the gear linkage and it got stuck in gear, with possible damage to the box being unknown as yet. He took it home and it has then sat in his shed for a while.

So after a few ums and ers, a bit of consultation with Hannah I made the decision to sell my Datsun 120Y project. The 120Y is going to a mate of mine from NZs premier classic and retro car forum which I frequent most of the time, Oldschool.co.nz, to free up some space, time and money. I then agreed to welcome this little Imp into my life.

Rob sorted the linkage out so it would roll and he kindly delivered last night...

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Here it is being unloaded by Hannah and Rob with me excitedly taking some photos.

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Off the trailer and after Rob left I snapped some more photos. Kevin approves...

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I just love the look from the back. It has a fiberglass 'sport' replica cover. I'm gonna brace that and add some hinges. Such a sweet shape...

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The big bonus points that had me are the following. Its registration is on hold, its fully certified for the engine swap and other mods and its honest. Its come with enough spare bits, of which I'll work out what I plan to use and I can hopefully sell on some bits to fund the restoration.

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The steels fitted to it are my old 13x6 Viva rims Rob bought off me ages ago. Luckily the Certfication plate is an older one which just states the wheel size, not material. This is great because these are well made wheels and I have a full set of stainless Viva hubcaps to fit them..

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The previous owner Rob is a top bloke and seems keen on seeing what I make of it. This is also nice. He has bought a older Corolla race car and that's his new toy. So everyone is happy! (including Hannah I might add...her first classic she bought was a little Imp)

The cage is legal and has its ticket etc (or the car has its motorsport association nz card or what ever its called) but, and I realise some of you might cry at this, I am going to remove the cage. I really cant be dealing with it. All I want is a nice fun road Imp and I'm more concerned that its reliable and peppy) In order to legally drive the car on the road with a full cage I would have to join a local club, join manz, compete in 3 events a year. I'm just not interested in that. Fully caged road cars would become a pita for any daily use IMO.

The seats are just spare, not bolted in. It had a full on race spec seat fitted which Rob has kept..

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The underside has had a beating but rot wise its pretty solid. There are a few repairs that have aged so I will just have to go through the whole lot and tidy it up.

I have also bought another Imp from down in Chch and that will hopefully be heading up this way in a few weeks time. Its pretty solid up top and is complete. I had previously looked at this Imp a while back, having first seen it when we visited the old car playground with a bunch of other oldschoolers. I had lined it up to buy for $200 along with whatever other Imp parts I needed. But I later decided it wasn't the time to take on a rusty imp resto. However, now was the time to take it on because its going to be mighty handy. It has sat here in this car graveyard for many years...

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The inside..

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Good headlining..

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Luckily a mate, Will, from Oldschool has pulled it out for me...

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Will has sort of become quite smitten with the idea of an Imp race car so and while he was there he has grabbed another plus will get as many parts as he can...

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Another one for bits...

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I'm now planning to swap the whole front ends over instead of trying to fix the bent front end on this. Big job but it will be a better result.

I can also swap over the interior too. I'll fit some suitable bucket seats. Not sure on rear seats or not yet.

Probably re-do all the wiring because well... I enjoy wiring and Imps don't have fuses as standard.. which just seems dodgy.

Here's the engine. Its an A12 from a Datsun 1200...

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Pretty standard I'm told so I figure around 65-70bhp? It did have twin Weber carbs which he kept. I really wasn't into the idea of them and will either fit a standard Hitachi carb or a Weber 32/36. Luckily it comes with a manifold made for the Weber I'm told. I was originally worried about the extra weight in the back compared to the standard Imp. However I have just learned that the A series engines have alloy heads and that these little engines are pretty light. Combined with the radiator now being in the front with the battery I reckon the balance wont be too bad. I'll find out. Anyway- what can I compare it to?...my old Viva wagon?....

I'll tidy the exhaust and make a sexy new can. I am a complete novice with these Datsun engines but luckily there's lots of information out there plus I know a man named Bart!....

I'm think I'll probably make a bespoke dash arrangement with a rev counter to suit. I also have a very nice old Momo wooden steering wheel which I might fit...

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So for now that is all. I have much work on right now. There is a truck cab swap going on and then the Datsun 120y is coming inside for rust work. As soon as that is completed the new 120Y owner, Greg, will come up with the Blue imp and take away the Datsun.
I can then start working on the Imp proper.
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yoeddynz
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Hillman Imp project with Datsun A12 power

Post by yoeddynz »

Cheers. Yeah I'll keep the updates coming in as I progress. Things will be a bit slow for a while as I finish off some little jobs on my Viva HB wagon. Then I have to do a load of rot removal on the Datsun 120y...... phew.

In the meantime I shall be keeping tabs on the projects here, absorbing details and learning stuff. I'll be sure to have many questions to ask.

Actually..I shall start now!

Springs. Getting Monte Carlo springs here in NZ will be tricky and or expensive. So how effective is it to do a 'Makita' lowering job? (Possibly a Kiwi term right there?..) ie chop a coil out and so by lowering the height whilst stiffening the rate. I'd heat and bend the chopped end flat as per the originals. I guess I can play around and see. The most important thing being that they remain captive when the car is jacked off the ground (or flies off a big road jump...)

Is chopping springs a done thing on Imps, as on many other cars?

Also- do MK1 imps have longer springs and dampers on the front- or is it only the suspension pickup points etc that are different?

Btw- My wife Hannah is English and I had spent 10 years living in Oxford where we met. Its also where Hannah had her Imp. So Hello to James the Oxford area Imp club rep ?, organising Santa parades which we took part in :-)

Alex

Also- do MK1 imps have longer springs and dampers on the front- or is it only the suspension pickup points etc that are different?
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Hillman Imp project with Datsun A12 power

Post by yoeddynz »

Datsun A12 has all the powers....

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Maybe I could cane it in reverse and twist it back out?...

Anyway... I managed to crack on and do some starter jobs. Most importantly first.. make it easier to push. I think I have spotted the reason why it it drags..

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I think those tyres might be a bit too big :doubt:

So on with the Minilites. Now it must be noted that I am not really a fan of Minilite alloys. They are just a bit too.. well...common. But now they are on the car it looks OK. If I squint a bit, turn off the lights and face the otherway I can almost pictures a set of Cheviot Turbos beautifully gracing the car.

But they aint. So I'll look for some other alloys but in the meant time these stay. I reckon I can paint the centres and leave the rims polished for more of a Revolite alloy look. Sort of hide the minilite spokes.

"HEY HANG ON!" I hear you ask... "Weren't you going to keep those awesome widened steels on, change the tyres over and fit the shiny hubcaps?"

Yes. Yes I was. But then I found this...

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The front hubs had been machined down to take the smaller centre bore of the Viva steels. bother. There is still enough meat left further in supporting the outer bearings and for race car that doesnt see a rough road its probably OK , but for a road car I just feel a bit iffy about it. I don't want my hub cracking when I hit a pot hole, the wheel going wobbly, locking up in the arch and me spinning around a locked wheel into an on coming car.

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So alloys it is. I'll swap across the untouched hubs from the spares car once I get it.

I also removed the exhaust and the mudflaps. Looking cleaner and more the style I want.

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I took some photos in the evening light. I like it. So dinky.

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Next step- engine removal. The Transaxle makes funny sounds not really befitting of a transaxle. I suspect that it has more damage then we first thought from its last outing. I have been prepared for this and anyway- quite looking forward to taking it apart if needed and learning stuff.

I also have plan. A really big plan. Its in the future and it'll be pretty damn cool. I'm not going to say a thing more. You'll like it. It involves several of my building passions Just watch and see. I'm excited!
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Hillman Imp project with Datsun A12 power

Post by yoeddynz »

Cheers Paul. Its going to be fun. I like little cars. Less space taken up in the workshop :-)

617sqn...

Yes- some badges like that would be cool ! But I'll be getting ahead of myself looking at badges.

Instead- here's a photo of one of the Nolathane 'doughnuts'. The previous owner has been racing with these for a few years, for quite a while with a supercharger bolted to the A12. Never had a problem. Simple.

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When I take the engine out I'll get more photos of them. I'll pop this up in the Doughnut thread too. Probably more useful there :-)

Also. We found some old IMP club stickers from when Hannah was a member back in the UK. I think I might have to re-join. Then at least I can get access to all the info in the members only area......
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Hillman Imp project with Datsun A12 power

Post by yoeddynz »

I went to the Nelson Vintage car club swap meet on Saturday morning. I was chatting to a mate and taling about the Imp project. Some fella behind me said "Do ya need any bits? I've got heaps of parts!" I turned and it was a fella I had met a few years ago when Hannah and I were looking at Bush block for sale over the road from his place. We had turned up in the Viva and parked it outside. This guy came out to look over the car, we started chatting and he mentioned his Hillman Imps. He then showed us about his workshop.

Now I had been intending on going back to his place (handy too because we are mates with the lady who ended up buying the land...bl***y hippies :-) ) so it was good to bump into him again. I told him about how the Imp race car, which he knows well, was still quite rough from having been pulled straight after the accident. He mentioned the spare shell he had sitting there and said we should pop up for a look.

We went up there yesterday and....well.. I have now got three Imps.

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This shell has some rust, the worst being the drivers floor but very easy to fix.

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Main thing is that its straight. I would say the worst aspect is the dent behind the drivers door. It will pop out but I don't really like having to use lots of filler, especially on large panels. Oh well. I can only try my best.

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The front slam panel has a dent but there is a good panel on the other , completely chopped up shell in there.

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The windows need a clean..

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1971? Mk2?

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The car is a nice light blue, not too different to the blue I was thinking of painting the car.

All for the princely sum of 25 Quid ! :-) How could I refuse!

So my plans are changing (everyday) and I will now use this shell as a base. The Blue car in Chch will be used for parts but I will keep its shell as a future car project (old cars lining up the upper driveway amuses Hannah no end I can tell you... but at least Imps are little cars) thus making the caged race car shell spare (I already know someone who might just want it...)

In other news I went hunting with my large spanner and caught a Datsun engine sneaking around the back of my Imp...

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Then I had a BBQ, drank beer and stripped it down. Hows that for hardcore Saturday night antics eh?!

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Here's the little transaxle..

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Fits on to a quite nicely constructed 'bellhousing' adaptor. The flywheel and clutch remain Datsun. Uses a modified release for with a typical release bearing rather than the carbon Imp type. I'd love to know more about who built this adaptor because a few Imps were converted to Datsun engines here in NZ?

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Clutch has a sprung centre which is needed because I reckon the custom Nolathane driveshaft couplings don't have the required amount of give to take up shock loads like the original rotoflex couplings do..

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That is all for now. I must finish the truck cab swap so I can create some space for more Imps........
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Hillman Imp project with Datsun A12 power

Post by yoeddynz »

The fella is going to sell me a spare transaxle for 12 pounds too. Beer money. But it does seem to me that, much like the Viva circles I frequent often, Hillman imp owners are not out to make money. Its more about helping each other out :-)

This latest shell is a '71 I think..according to that tag. Apart from the suspension pivot points being lower are there any other differences I should know about because I intend to swap the interior out from a '65 into it.

I'm certainly very happy that I will now be able to do up one imp with he Datsun engine installed, have fun, sell it on and make some coin back and then have one Imp left as a long term project. I actually fancy making the Blue Christchurch imp into a nicely restored road car with an Imp engine and few useful mods (as is the way)

I have always been warned by owners that Imps are addictive. Yep. I see this happening. :D
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Hillman Imp project with Datsun A12 power

Post by yoeddynz »

I'll weigh the Datsun engine when I get a chance. We can see how heavy it is compared to the Imp item.
But for now I have a lot of mud to clean up before I can play with Imps. We have been hit by a cyclone here in NZ and our district has come off pretty bad! Especially our valley. We had 260mm in less than 12 hours here!!!

So this happened yesterday... the Bridge, that is now wrecked, is just 500m up from our driveway entrance. We have had some huge slips on our 11 acre bushblock. Its not pretty. But compared to many we have come off OK.

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Our neighbours over the road have suffered big time..

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:(
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Hillman Imp project with Datsun A12 power

Post by ImpManiac »

^^ That's the spirit! Glass half full, as opposed to half empty. :wink: :D

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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Hillman Imp project with Datsun A12 power

Post by yoeddynz »

Good news. That Imp shell I am planning on picking up is safe. We drove up a very rough road in our trusty old 4wd Hiace to check out a friends property over the road which has been demolished totally, everything just washed away leaving a 6m wide creek bed where it used to be 1m! :-(

Some other flood waters rushed through on the other side of the road, only 5 metres away from the Imp and took out the inside of the campground kitchen. If you look in this following photo you'll see a line of brown mud heading down the field in the background, Imp sitting high and dry :-)...

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But our road out of the valley is still too nasty to take a trailer on so the Imp shall have to wait a bit longer.
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Hillman Imp project with Datsun A12 power

Post by yoeddynz »

Ha... the power of water. While on the topic of slips...a local friend just posted up a short clip of himself getting taken out by a slip not far from us during the same cyclone. Their place got totally hammered big time. Massive slips and the fields full of full sized pine trees. I promise to get back on Imp subject very soon...

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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Hillman Imp project with Datsun A12 power

Post by yoeddynz »

On Thursday last week it dawned hot and sunny. This was good. The thought of trying to load an old car shell onto a trailer using a tractor and some pallets in the rain would be yuck. Instead.. we got blasted by sun. We got the shell onto the borrowed trailer, loaded the van up with more parts from another Imp (there's more to collect!) and made our way back home slowly along a now revised (thanks Cyclone Gita) very windy route.

Once home this was our view as we sipped our lunchtime coffee...

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I moved it up to the workshop entrance. My Viva wagon daily was banished downstairs..

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Cleaned out a load of old interior carpet and insulation..

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Sat inside it and made (little) engine noises..

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It came with some patina attached..

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Then the clean began..

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It cleaned up nicely...

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Then we moved it inside. Lifting it off the trailer was a lot easier than putting it on..

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I am now building a decent sized rolling table to lower it onto. More on that soon. Glad to have the shell here so I can crack on and cut out the rot. First job though is to clean all the mess out inside. Quite a fun job that. I might find some coins and so it can end up even cheaper :-)
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Hillman Imp project with Datsun A12 power

Post by yoeddynz »

Cheers. Yeah we love our workshop. Always wanted a decent workshop after having done restorations on a cold stony floor in Oxfordshire, which would flood in winter. This workshop is the only 'proper' approved building on our land as we live in the truck. Keeps costs down so could afford workshop :-)

Here's an update as things have been happening on the Imp front.

I lowered the car off the hoist onto our old rolling steel table. I then removed the doors. Oh man was I expecting this to be a no go. Most of the screws were missing on one side suggesting someone had tried but gave up. Lots of wd40 and and an impact driver and I manged to get the rest to move. Then worked carefully away at them. I had to cut the retaining strap pins as they wouldn't pop out.

Tools of the door removal trade...

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The doors are in excellent condition. No rot at all. Not even a bubble. Just some surface rust on the underside of one. Much relief!..

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Last weekend I built a new rolling table. I can raise it up 200mm or higher if I swap the legs blue coloured legs out for longer ones. It'll carry 600kg so more than enough for an Imp shell :-) The shelf on the bottom is for all the panel bits and bobs and what not as they come off. The main 17mm sheet on the top can be flipped over for a clean side so we can use the table for woodworking projects :-)

Cost was very little, using old steel offcuts and castor wheels on sale at Bunnings.

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So with that built I started cleaning out the inside properly. The floors came up pretty good with the rot mainly around the front. Nice photo from the back where you can easily spot the holes...

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I'll fashion some repair panels to fix this. Toying with the idea of letting in an extra channel to allow the water pipes to run under the car- maybe widen the center tunnel slightly. Not sure yet. It's just pipe dreams at this point........ *

With the shell up on the hoist I gave the underside of the car a look over and scrub. The underseal comes away nicely and reveals a really solid bottom..often with the original paint. Inner sills are great! This is nice. The majority is surface rust with localised patches of rot. The outer sills need to come off but I am hoping I might be lucky and get away with just patches as the tops and bottoms seem good. I shall see soon.
I must add that I am really impressed with the way the car is built. Its a solid wee thing. And the steel seems to be really decent quality. I am guessing that earlier Imps, much like early Vivas, possibly used better steel than later cars?

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The suspension units and rear subframe came off fine. I was really worried about seized bolts but they all freed up nicely! The Arms are just covered in surface rust and should clean up well then get smoothered in Por15.

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Yesterday we went back to where this shell came from and picked up more stuff in a bid to keep the race car shell rolling. I now have an even better set of rear arms plus a working transaxle.

Back to this car. The windscreen pretty much fell out as the seals had gone all gooey in the sun. Due to this I expected to find rot but its solid as!..

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Then I had this lot to deal with...

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wow -what a nice design!? Rust trap with leaky rear windows. Now most of this will be cut out as re-built due to the opening that will exist there for the Datsun engine rocker cover to pop its head through. But I wanted to expose enough decent steel on the section to be removed that I might be able to use as repair bits for the other areas here.

Nasty job. So many spot welds and I couldn't see them for the rust. So I cut out the strips and then chisel away at the remains. So much rust dust and flying metal chips.

Yeah- I'm the Friday night party animal, sitting in my Imp chiseling rust...

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Next job is to start the sills. Lets see how bad they really are. I may well put a mattress on the ground and roll the shell over on its side to make the job nicer. The shell is so light now!


*see what I did there...

Imp001
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Hillman Imp project with Datsun A12 power

Post by ImpManiac »

I like the steel table that you built. That's a really good way to keep the bare shell mobile. :)

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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Hillman Imp project with Datsun A12 power

Post by yoeddynz »

Yeah it seems to work well. I have actually put the shell on the taller table for now while I attack the sills.

Opened the sills up this afternoon. The O/S sill inners are in great condition. Could have almost gotten away with not cutting it open. But glad I did as I can clean it out and paint it before welding in a new outer.

The N/S though.... ooooooooohhhhhh. That heater hose box is rotten. I have cut it out and will fold up a new one. Which leads me to a question you fellas can answer...

I had to pull out the hoses. wow... that kink at the back you have to pull through between the storage bin and the outer area. Tricky. I am imagining refitting the hoses is a mare of a job- especially if the car has all the interior and windows in. I will probably refit them once I have finished the welding. Then they are there for the future. But considering this car will have the front mount radiator as it does in the race car I was figuring another heater hose option would be to tee off some hoses from the radiator hoses as they run through to the front boot and connect up the heater matrix that way. Fit a tap to one of the heater hoses. Thus not worry about using the stock heater hoses.

I realise that by routing the heater matrix this way the heater wont work straight away because I'd have to wait till the engine is up to temp. Not very good for misty mornings. But are there any other problems I've missed? Btw- the Datsun engine was plumbed in much the same way as an Imp engine would be with a front mount- only thing was that the race car doesnt have a heater fitted.

Oh... and I HAVE looked up all the previous cooling and front radiator threads. Lots of them to read :-) But many conflict and it seems that there are several ways of going about a front mount radiator. Plus sadly many of the links to photos and old threads take me to the dreaded 404 page :-(
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun powered Hillman Imp - welding begi

Post by yoeddynz »

Started on the rot removal over the weekend. Its going well. Trying to sneak in time here and there between jobs but did some good hours on Sunday. As usual I am finding it super addictive and very satisfying. I had no idea what I was expecting to find under the outer sill skins so straight into it..

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and luckily the drivers side is in really good condition. Just surface rust.

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Glad to have peeled off the skin though. Gave me a chance to clean it out and paint it. Then a new outer sill - which I have to make in two sections because my folder is only 600mm :-)

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Also had to make new 'rear sill' or is it lower B pillar ? was clean as under there luckily so again just a new outer needed.

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The passenger side though.. Oh dear. bother. The rot had taken out the bottom half of the heater pipe boxing. The inner sill/floor edge had one small section with rot I had to cut out as well. Nothing for it but to chop it all out and let in some new steel.

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Before I went any further I had to remove the heater hoses. I can see these being a right mare to re-install. I'm sure there are some secrets some of you Imp old timers know about :D

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Then new boxing..

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New vertical sill piece. Lots of holes for plug welding..

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Welding in place. I must say I was happy that the shell was empty and resting on the table neatly along its length. There was enough decent upper sill including decent vertical sections to hold the shape of the doorway :-)

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With that lot fixed I painted it all in a heavy zinc rich paint and then welded on the new outer. I butt welded the whole lot because I didnt want any little seams that might collect moisture. I'll fill the lot with cavity wax later on (always a fun job..)

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I then carefully shaped up a new 'LowerB pillar, guard bottom sill end' (what is this bit called...just the sill I guess..) and was about to weld it in place after having treated and painted the inner section.

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But I was not feeling happy about the look of that inner bit. I just had to delve deeper and I'm glad I did. I knew the floor corner was rotten but I was going to deal with that later. However it made more sense to do the lot in one go. I cut the curved inner sill off and then there was this..

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Hmmmm... what's under here ?....

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Rebuilt it all..

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New inner cover...

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Then on with that outer..finally. Both sills complete, rot free and strong again :-) They are sort of the most critical of repairs to get right on this car. The rest is just about rot removal and letting in steel with having to use heaps of filler (I dont really enjoy sanding filler so I'd rather get the repair as close as possible and just allow for a skim if any )

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I was going to do the floor next but this lot was right there, laughing at me. I had to cut it out and see what gives..

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Shaped a new piece to suit. Luckily not as tricky as I was expecting. Given the awkward shape around the corner I'll break these corner repairs down into sections. The wheel arch rot visible will be dealt with afterwards.

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Drilled a new drain hole for future cavity wax applications and then painted the inner with Por 15..

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Ready in place to weld.

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And that is where I was last night. Its welded in now and I'll continue on around the corner, then do the other side. The battery box is rotten but the battery will be moved up front anyway in order to redistribute the extra 20kg of the Datsun engine.

Work will slow down on the Imp for now as I have sold on our family Datsun 120Y 2 door wagon on to a friend from Oldschool. I'll be doing a fair bit of rot removal on that before it gets taken away. That earns me money where as this Imp doesn't. So Datsun wins the time allocation. But I'm sure I'll sneak time in here and there. Plus Hannah can do work on either car to help with progress (when she's not at the beach swimming with her sister who's visiting - pfff....priorities..)

I have also eventually come to realise that it might well be a slightly tall order to try and get this Imp on the road for the nationals in 2 weeks time....... :roll: So Viva HB wagoning we shall be for that fine event.

But hey- I'll continue as is and at least I should have done the vast amount of rot work by then :-)
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun powered Hillman Imp - welding begi

Post by bks974c »

Lovely bit of fabrication. Doing a great job. :D

Its rotten in all the usual places but less so than a lot of UK cars.

Scott
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun powered Hillman Imp - welding begi

Post by yoeddynz »

Cheers guys. Yep I must say I am enjoying the work on this one. Its always fun seeing new fresh steel replace old rot. Comparing it to some of the Imps restored on this forum I am pretty damn happy with how solid this car is considering its been sitting outside for ages. The difference here in NZ, especially down here in the drier top of the South Island, is that we don't have the damp air throughout winter and we dont have humid summers here. Not like I experienced when I lived in Oxfordshire for 10 years. So old cars can survive quite well outside :) The further north in NZ you go the more humid it gets and cars rust a fair bit quicker (well there are exceptions depending on East or West.

Here's some more little unhappy Imps from where my friend has pulled out two already. I have bought all of them and as many parts as we can pull out for 100 pounds. It seems like a fair enough price...:-)

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Andy- the next Imp project may well keep an Imp engine. I'm hoping to have a couple of L2 engines lined up from the other Imps I secured down south.
However...it may well get something completely different :-) There are certainly enough original Imps floating about in NZ so I'll sleep ok. This shell will get the Datsun engine because the Rego plates and tags that its getting are set up with the certified Datsun engine applied. So its a real ball ache to change. Apart from the fact the engine is tall and hence the parcel shelf is hacked about I reckon its a neat engine. Oldschool looking and very very well known, strong, economical engines these with a standard unstressed 70 bhp. All with only around a 20kg hike in weight :wink:

But I do like an Imp engine :D ...just not just costs involved to get more reliable power from one :shock: . I can totally see why the Bmw swap is so popular! :idea:

Alex
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun powered Hillman Imp - welding begi

Post by 617sqn »

Don't get me wrong, Alex, I can also appreciate the draw of the BMW route. If I could afford a second Imp, I might even go that way. As it is, I can't and I'm happy with Imp power anyway. Keeps my licence that bit safer :lol:

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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun powered Hillman Imp - welding begi

Post by yoeddynz »

I sneaked a little bit more time on this last night (well I didn't really sneak out to the shed.. I just worked till late)

I have taken a few extra photos this time to show how I went about what is a fairly awkward bit to fabricate. After having just read Simons thread right through it was fun to see that his last few posts were about this area. I'm glad my corners were not as rotten!

So in pictures.. here's the corner to repair...

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Measured up to work out a size of steel needed. Add a bit extra because with the slight compound curve the shrinker will tease the steel and it'll end up smaller in other areas too... (hard to explain what I mean.. but yeah.. just cut a bit larger than you need)

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I rolled my little folder out and in several small bends curved the edge up. The bend downwards of this corner has a 5mm or so radius... but not all the way round as it actually blends back in to the guard.

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Then into the shrinker..

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Then compare to original section. Its not a simple curve and has to be carefully manipulated by hand to get just right.

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Cut, try, cut, try, cut.. until it just fits in neatly. Because its nice new thick steel and the area its getting welded into is good steel I don't mind a tiny gap. As I weld it the weld will sink in between rather than sitting out too far. Plenty of heat in short zaps. Meld it into one.. weld on, grind off, weld on, grind off....ahhhh grasshopper. :-)

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Then the little finishing off bit underneath. A slight compound curve in itself but can be just bent to fit by hand...

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Then fused in place.. ready for grinding (the boring bit..)

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I have now started on the other side rear corner. Much worse inside as the battery box area was rotten. I'm not going to bother trying to make it all original like in there because there wont be a battery there. But maybe I'll make a handy space out of it. Maybe a box or something to take spare engine oil, some basic tools etc. I'll see. For now I just need to make it solid again :-)
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun powered Hillman Imp - welding begi

Post by MattorMatty »

Excellent work Alex!
The Imp is going to back on the road in no time.

I've been reading your Viva threads on RetroRides so it's good to see you turn your skills to an Imp.

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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun powered Hillman Imp - welding begi

Post by yoeddynz »

I managed to do a bit more on this in between stripping a Datsun 120Y down and property jobs continuing on from the cyclone mess.

So where was I up to? Ahhhhh that's right. The arches...




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No. Hang on. That's the wrong photo. Not them. This..

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So there was some rust I had cut out. Made a little fill in and using Nanas favourite butter knife I was able to keep it lined up for butt welding..

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Grind off and move on..

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So onto the offside rear corner. It was messy..

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This fell out..

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And the rest was cut out..

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I started a the rebuild with a tricky inner bottom piece connecting the outer guard bottom to the chassis rail. Luckily it looked like this section is a mirror image of the other side. You can see it has many curves, bends and folds, as pointed out by Mr troll...

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So I copied it using folder, hammers, shrinker, pliers, hands..

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Welded in. Instant strength again :-)

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I then rebuilt the inside and started building the outer skin..

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I've finished off the entire rear end but need to get some more photos. There were some rust bubbles around the arch which I cut out in sections in order to not lose the shape. I'll get more photos. I need to cover all the repairs in Epoxy primer before it starts flashing off in surface rust. Then move on to the floor. Yay. Lots of rust. But I have a rough plan on how to tackle it.

Feeling happy with it all now its a lot more solid :-)

Alex Imp001
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun powered Hillman Imp - welding begi

Post by impmann »

Excellent work... looking great. Great to see *repairs* not blanket replacement - and I totally agree with you about making things concours perfect. There's a time and place for that - and if that's what you want, great... go for it. But, I prefer cars that you can drive, enjoy and repair yourself - I'm not into trailer queens and I have a lot of respect for anyone restoring cars like this (making the sections themselves)... if you have the skills its probably easier than fitting dodgy repair panels from certain suppliers! Keep us all posted..

If you are over here in July, does that mean you are coming to National?

As an aside... was it you that bought a set of 12in Dunlop wheels from me (I lived in Daventry at the time) for your Viva through Retro Rides?
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun powered Hillman Imp - welding begi

Post by colimp66 »

Always satisfying making a panel and then welding it in , nice work going on here. 8)

The Pest was Tahiti Blue when I bought it.
Loweredpest.jpg
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun powered Hillman Imp - welding begi

Post by 617sqn »

Anybody spot the mk2 Cortina copy in image 6. Looks like a 1600 E.

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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun powered Hillman Imp - welding begi

Post by yoeddynz »

Ahhh that's a Datsun 1600 (510). Very capable popular cars and starting to command good money.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datsun_510
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun powered Hillman Imp - welding begins.

Post by yoeddynz »

Imp time. Yay.

We went on a road trip south to go to the Oldschool.co.nz nationals. We were going to take the Viva wagon but instead filled the Hiace with Datsun 120Y parts and took them to the new Owner, Greg. With the van now empty we needed to fill it. What better to fill it with than Imp parts. So the next morning while the other oldschoolers were doing circles in some paddack somewhere we went here...

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Recently featured in Practical classics 'rust in peace' monthly feature this place is an old mans lifelong stash of old cars which is now being cleared out since his passing. As mentioned way back at the beginning of this thread there were Imps a plenty. Not anymore because with the help of Will several have been pulled out, the rest too far gone to save. But there were still parts I wanted.

So Hannah and I found ourselves out in the sunshine with our generator and an angle grinder removing stubborn bits. I managed to locate the item I was really hoping to find , the later stronger transaxle which seem to be a bit rarer here in NZ. Happy with that :-) We also got some other parts including a bonnet which although pretty rusty is savable.

Didn't take many pics while there. Having too much fun. Here's an Imp..

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and another, but sideways..

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We took some pics of the Imps that Will had pulled out a while back. Now at his place. The blue one here will be coming up on a trailer when I finish the Datsun 120Y...

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Here's the red Imp Will extricated with a crane...

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After all this fun we took off over to Akaroa to join up with all the Oldschool party goers for the weekend. Among other things Jesus turned up to drink beer and watch a goat race rocker covers..

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There was also many many fine cars..

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Back at home now and I assembled my ever increasing lineup of transaxles..

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In between other jobs including the Datsun I managed to get a bit done on the shell. I started on what I reckon is the trickiest reair on this car.. the floor. Not having access to any cheap repair panels (the cars left at that yard are worse) I had to just fabricate the sections bit by bit. I'm never one for obsessing about originality, especially on areas that no one will ever see. But I still want it to remain as strong as possible and this area involves many pressed ribs.

First off was this little bit that was already cut from the shell by someone previously. Not sure why though? There was some alloy casting bit above it, maybe for a speedo cable to pass through? I welded the section back in place. Lucky they hadn't lobed that bit away.

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I then cut out the front of the floor. Its a little bit worse for wear..

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I made a new section. It was tricky and I was really happy with it..

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Then I rolled the very handy stretchyshrinky thing over. I made a little piece..

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Which allowed me to move onto the big tricky bit. Tricky because the ribs have tricky to define corners which are hard to measure. I had to get the measurements correct. If any were wrong I would end up with incremental error and it be horrible to adjust later on. Very carefully I measured, marked , folded. I even turned down the music (The Radcliffe and Maconie show since you ask) and got there in the end..

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I welded it in and while Hannah braced the underside with a dolly (a metal block, not a Barbie) I hammered the front edges down to create the ends. Then welded it all all. Very strong indeed.

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From underneath..

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and now a solid drivers side floor :) ...

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So just a little section on this side at the rear of the tunnel and then over to the other side! Phew.
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun powered Hillman Imp - welding begi

Post by colimp66 »

As Scott says, a great job of replicating the floor and making it look so good. It looks so familiar to what I had to do to my Imp.

Keep up the good work and updates.
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun powered Hillman Imp - welding begins.

Post by yoeddynz »

Thanks :D I'll be pretty happy when the whole floor is finished that's for sure.

Then it'll be onto that pesky rear shelf.....
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun powered Hillman Imp - welding begi

Post by yoeddynz »

This little Imp has now got a nice solid floor :) I really needed to get some solid work done on the Imp so I can get it off the hoist. I also wanted to see the end of a rotten floor so yesterday I decided would be nothing but Imp day (in between important coffee, music listening and posting cat photos on social media of course)

Oh and also reading the latest Impressions magazine (I joined a club!!!)

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I finished the last bit of rot on the side of the tunnel behind the drivers seat area. Then moved on to the passenger side. Not anywhere near as bad as the drivers side but bad in different places. I pondered for a while at which bits I should keep or chop out. Then I set to work..

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Hannah kept busy with an ever so exciting ball joint replacement on a customers van so I could I fritter away on the Imp :)

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I remade the wheel well bottom...

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Then I wheeled over the magic machine and made a snake..

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Snake thing goes here...

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Followed by the beginnings of the firewall heel...

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The heel bone connects to the floor bone...

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Before I knew it there was a nice new floor upon which I can mount the MX5 seats I have recently bought :)

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Next step while its on the hoist is to deal with the parcel shelf which is rotten. Luckily most of it gets chopped away to allow for the top of the Datsun engine to peek the top of its little rocker cover through. I think I'll also be a lovely fella and gift the job of slapping Por15 on the underside to Hannah. Because I'm nice like that.
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun enginned Imp. Yay for solid floors

Post by moose »

Cracking work going on there and interesting to read. The ally bit you mention on the floor? i think you have found the part that the throttle cable goes through.
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun enginned Imp. Yay for solid floors

Post by yoeddynz »

Hey Andy. I'm glad you're enjoying the thread. Its fun trying to make any thread read with a bit of humour. Oh btw my name is Alex. I get a fair few people think I'm Eddy- which is actually the model name of one of my old classic Mountain bikes.

Moose- yeah cheers for that. Dave Linwood Lane had also mentioned this on RR where I also have a thread up.

Lucky I had the bit although though should also be one on the race car 'soon to be' shell.
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun enginned Imp. Yay for solid floors

Post by yoeddynz »

I'd have done this update earlier and was in fact in the middle of typing it when my laptop ran out of battery. It then wouldnt start again after plugging in the lead and to cut a long story short I ended up with the laptop in parts all over the dinner table and I'm now typing on a replacement given to us by our friend Will.

Thanks Will!

So anyway..where was I?. The back seat area. There was a fair bit of surface rust and glue to tidy up. I used a brand new Bosch wire cup wheel on the angle grinder and created a dust storm. Hard to make out maybe but here's a shot..

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And this is what happened to the wheel...

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Not that impressed. My ever long quest to find a wire wheel that lasts a decent amount of time continues.

So after removing all the wire spikes from my overalls I checked out the back seat area. Oooh there's a little bit of rust and some small holes. That shouldn't take long to fix. (you know full well where this is heading)

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Next minute...(rolls eyes)

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Oh bug-ger. It just keeps going..

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I folded up the edges on the bits where the heater hose comes out to avoid sharp edges. I may well not use heater hoses through the channels but best make it some the choice is there..

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Phew. Done. Next up. That rotten parcel shelf. Since most of it was going to be removed in order for the top of the Datsun rocker cover to peak its head through I just did this...

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With all the floor finished Hannah set to work painting the floor top and bottom with Por15 and Resene industrial 440 epoxy paint. Oh man I love this bit. It always looks so much better. Then she finished off painting in the engine bay up to where I will be welding.

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This where its at for now. So many other paying jobs have come in and we want to get them sorted so we shall sneak in bits and pieces on this here and there. One thing I have done already is remove the brake and clutch master cylinders. I may well upgrade the brake master to a tandem item if I can locate one that will fit and have a workable bore size. I just don't like the idea of a hose blowing out and all the brakes disappearing.

S i think I'm right in that the the stock M/C diameter is .625". The sport imps have a servo and use a .700" bore M/C. I need that larger bore size at least because this car has front disc brakes fitted Vented discs and Honda civic sliding calipers. I'd like to avoid want a long of travel, mushy feeling brake pedal. I can measure the piston diameter of the calipers and put it up here.

There is a Lada Niva M/C that apparently bolts right in. I have looked them up and they have a .750" bore. It'll work but the pedal effort will be a bit harder. I don't mind that though.. the Viva wagon currently has a non operative servo so it has a hefty pedal. Ya'll just get used to it eh :-)

More research needed. Ideas from those with experience in mucking about with various setups welcome. I have had a good look through the topics on here and I think I have it sussed. Are there any other tandam M/Cs that might fit? Or at least a good website I can look at where you can search for parts based on bore sizes etc ?
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun enginned Imp. Yay for solid floors

Post by tiker »

Just caught up reading this your fabrication skills are spot on it's a great job your doing keep it coming
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun enginned Imp. Yay for solid floors

Post by impmann »

Many moons ago, I was investigating running a twin circuit system on the Imp using the master cylinder from a Renault 5. My reasoning... I saw one on the counter of the local motor factors and it wasn't much bigger physically than an Imp one, which meant I thought it could be persuaded to fit under the tank. The fixings looked *close* in size to where an Imp cylinder mounts to that plate and I reasoned that the connecting rod could be persuaded to operate against the Renault's cylinder - although some kind of rebate would need machining in the end to accomodate some kind of circlip/fixing.

According to something I've seen today, the bore size is 17.46mm - not sure how that would work in with a disc/drum set up... I'm no expert on these things.

A quick google found a load on eBay and such like... over to the engineers/experts to pull the idea to bits! :wink: :lol:
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun enginned Imp. Yay for solid floors

Post by yoeddynz »

Pete- I think it might have been a post from you that had put me onto looking into the Lada MC. They are .750" so possibly mean a harder pedal but obviously its worked ok for you. However according to the previous post from Oli it would be too hard.

So here is a typical issue in the car world of what one person likes another might not. Pedal feel. Well I guess I'll just have to try out a few combinations and see what I like :-)

Tim- cheers for heads up on the Renault 5 item. I'll look them up too. Sadly R5 cars were never sold in huge numbers here in NZ so finding cheap parts might be trickier (Ladas were actually sold in quite high numbers here and there are still many being used as daily transport :-)

I've not yet ordered anything. I'd rather just mount a twin circuit mc and see how it goes rather than muck about making a bias setup. However, pedal pressure aside, there is a more important issue of balance and locking front brakes. Has anyone used a proportioning valve in an Imp to reduce pressure to the the front brakes? Or is that just a bandaid fix that doesn't actually work well? Certainly very easy to install one in line!
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yoeddynz
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Re: Yoeddynzs 1965 Datsun enginned Imp. Yay for solid floors

Post by yoeddynz »

This turned up last night :-)

Watched over by Kevin the cat...

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I'll post up more once its cleaned.
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617sqn
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Re: 1965 Datsun engined Imp...and then there was three.

Post by 617sqn »

Kevin looks to be a big boy ! :o

Andy G
Member No. 7500, and Stan's best mate.
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yoeddynz
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Re: 1965 Datsun engined Imp...and then there was three.

Post by yoeddynz »

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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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So it sat as I mixed up some warm water and car shampoo...

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As I cleaned it up an old rego label appeared dated 1985-1986...

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It looked a fair bit better with all the Lichen removed. Although no all the rust was better evident :( ....

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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.

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I quite like the dated 'Jazzergetics-fitness the fun way' sticker....

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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.

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Another good score was this fine example of a '90s kettle...

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So that evening the Imp sat, all clean and dry, probably wondering what was to become of itself..

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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.

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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 :)

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alex
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yoeddynz
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Re: 1965 Datsun engined Imp...and then there was three.

Post by yoeddynz »

617sqn wrote:Kevin looks to be a big boy ! :o

Andy G
He does indeed look quite big here...

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But back to cars. 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. Hwever- 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...

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Getting quite good at chopping up Imps.

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?

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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...

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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.
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Re: 1965 Datsun engined Imp...and then there was three.

Post by oli »

You may want to hang on to the early distributor, as I understand that they have an advance that is close to a Sport dizzy. (Can't remember where I read that now, so feel free to refute or confirm).

Oli
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Re: 1965 Datsun engined Imp. Lets go time travelling...

Post by yoeddynz »

Phew. Well that bonnet took a while. In between other jobs I whittled away at the rot on the bonnet. Some awkward shapes going on at the front. I did my best, without getting too carried away, at rebuilding the shape correctly in steel. It will have filler on top however I wanted to avoid having to use filler to get gaps between the bonnet and the car correct. I don't really like the idea of filler on edges that can get knocked.

Not really a lot to explain in the process of rot removal on this. I think the photos do a better job. You'll see I started the main repair by fabricating a new front edge and welding it in stages so checking it lined up with the body and the gap remained correct. It was so rotten that I sort of guessed the gap just tried to make it look 'correct'...

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The front repairs puled up in welding slightly- enough that I wasnt happy with gap. Had to slice open and stretch it bac down. Lucky an easy rscue..

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Then onto the underside repairs..

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That's probably enough photos of a bonnet for you all.

Next job is to modify the front panel and inside the frunk to accept a radiator.
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Re: 1965 Datsun engined Imp. Lets go time travelling...

Post by yoeddynz »

Front radiator time. The race car came with a radiator mounted in the front. Not sure what its from, I think the previous owner said it might be Toyota starlet. Anyway- it was loosely mounted and not sealed at all. I want to fit it into this shell neatly and so it has the very best chance at pulling off heat as well as possible.

I cut the horn box out. Easier than I was expecting luckily.

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I made the hole bigger...

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Radiator plonked in place...

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I'll fabricate a box for it to fit to. Then add back in some strength now lacking from not having that box there- to support the mounting area for the front suspension wishbone pivot brackets. I'm also hoping that by the time all the rad cowling/shrouds are fitted it'll all be nice and strong around there. I'll have to try my best to impart some element of crumple zones within the structure but hey- I'd rather just not crash.

Looking from the front to the left, I'll make another partitioned off box to gather air for the ventilation. The large vent pipe will have to locate further up the side or on top of that second box because it will effectively be moved left towards the chassis rail and drivers headlight area. I'll then cut a big hole in the spare wheel well and fabricate a shroud to guide the hot air out and under the car. I realise that some other Imp owners have vented the hot air out upwards and forwards into the low pressure zone in front of the bonnet gap. I really dont want a open gap. I'll go for down and under the car.

I have a fan. Its good grunty wee fan off the old aircon setup we ripped out of a customers Toyota Hiace. I kept it when I spotted it was almost a perfect fit for the little radiator. Orginally I was planning to mount it right on the back of the rad...

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But then the non- fan covered areas would require a shroud so to keep fan effective. I didn't want to shroud this rad so closely and create a buffer that would hinder airflow through the rad. I then thought about mounting it facing down over the outlet hole and shrouding it there. Not sure on how this will still potentially create a resistance though by making the outlet hole effectively smaller...

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I had to do some thinking. I had a cup of tea and pondered the layout...

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Fitted the tank in place to double check on room and theres plenty of space. Spare wheel will have to go on top of the tank.

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I shall scheme ideas the fan situation overnight. I have an idea already but it its a bit more involved. Any ideas or photos of how folk have done there layouts on here most welcome.
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Re: 1965 Datsun engined Imp. Front radiator fitment time..

Post by Cliff Pountney »

There's a lot of us in automotive cooling. At some public road test locations, like the Gross Glockner in Austria, you can scarcely get to the bar for all the thirsty cooling engineers :D

All the points he made are spot on. Create a high pressure zone ahead of the pack, a low pressure zone behind it and seal it up as well as you can.

Cliff
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Re: 1965 Datsun engined Imp. Front radiator fitment time..

Post by yoeddynz »

Cheers Col and Cliff.
I can remember reading that part of your thread Col and finding it all very interesting - especially the wall of technical text from Moose.

I have a design nutted out taking advice from all. I'm just folding steel and cracking on with it now. The front end reinforcement started already with a nice lump of RHS going between the chassis legs - that front suspension pivot point aint gonna flex :-)
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Re: 1965 Datsun engined Imp. Front radiator fitment time..

Post by yoeddynz »

In between working on a very sweet little Chevette with a Mazda 12A I have I have been whittling away on the Imp radiator placement, fan mounting and shrouding.

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What started off as simple ideas turned into more complex shapes as I wanted to make it all easy to take apart for servicing, plus super strong. Its now very beefy up front and those mount points aint gonna move a bit. The radiator mounts, fan mount and exit point and shroud have so many folded over edges that its all really nice and stiff.

To start with I lobbed a hefty chunk of RHS connecting the front rails and welded to the front suspension bracket points...

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Then I did some CAD work and started building up a radiator support panel..

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This was made so much easier by our new tool- a guillotine we bought and picked up from my Uncle when we got our new lathe from him. I will never miss making long cuts with a cutting disc and all the associated dust mask, googles, ear protectors etc. Its made in England by Pictorex, is originally for paper but good enough to do 1.2mm steel so ideal for most car work..

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Once the radiator mount was made I had to sort out where the ventilation system was going to get it air from. I had cut the hole in the front large enough to allow for an extra pick up. I built a tapered box behind it and angled it take the original hose ducting, making sure it was ot going to foul either the headlight or the fan shroud later on...

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I went to the local radiator place for a bleed nipple and drain tap that I was going to solder in myself. He said he could fit them while I was shopping and so he did, cleaning and pressure testing it too, all for only 15 quid! Awesome. I'll go back there once I worked out pipe placement. I had cut a hole in the support panel so I can drain the coolant out the front..

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Then onto into the fan and shroud. I wanted it to flow air through well when the fan was not on so made side supports with holes and little stainless hinge bars...

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These were welded to the fan frame like so...

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Mounted in place with alloy flaps hung on those bars.

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I tested them by blocking the radiator intake with a well fitting piece of hardboard and firing up the fan in reverse...

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Works really well. Happy with that. So I started framing the outlet hole. I added a new Lada Niva tandem master cylinder in position so to make sure I would build around it to suit. The M/C was given to me by good 'ol @NickJ ( I owes ya!) and he gave me the newspaper that the box came wrapped in which had these two likely looking Russian characters on it...

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Framing the hole..

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Then I had a point to mount the shroud to. I welded the shroud on the inside of the joins so it cleaned up nicely. I made it as swoopy/smooth flowing as possible to make the air flow out cleanly (again... most likely getting a bit carried away a bit.. but its is fun this ). It can be removed easily, two screws, without moving the tank and then the fan with its shroud can come out, two screws. Then the radiator.

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So to finish this lot I need to swap the top inlet position on the radiator to the other side and add a baffle on the opposite side. Given how cheap and friendly that 'Rad' fella was I'll go back there... I reckon if I touch it with my current unsuitable gas torch I'll probably end up melting all the solder away from everything! With that done I can add the channel I am planning to run the pipes under the car but out of harms way. Then I'll make some seat mounting points for the MX5 seats now spare from the Viva.
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Re: 1965 Datsun engined Imp. Front radiator fitment time..

Post by moose »

whole project is looking superb. Have a think about how you are going to keep the fuel tank cool, you dont want pre warmed petrol.
Regards Moose imp competition secretary
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Re: 1965 Datsun engined Imp. Front radiator fitment time..

Post by yoeddynz »

I moved the shell onto the hoist and removed the last bits of rot, tiny bits around the front arch..

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Work then continued on the cooling circuit. The race car was like this...

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Fine for a race car but way too hot and in the way for a road car. I have had the intention of fabricating a separate tunnel to house the pipes ever since getting the race car. This is because if I was to run the pipes inside no matter what I try and do to insulate them there will be a fair bit of heat escaping into the cabin, plus they'll take up more room. With a tunnel the heat can instead radiate out into the airflow there should be very little transfer into the cabin. They'll take up less room and with a simple false floor above the tunnel in the front the passenger should not even know....

Plus any leaks go to the ground, the pipes can be easily attended to and the well.. it just seems a neat way to do it :-)

So I started by chopping down the removable cover so I can weld it back in for a neater stiffer area.

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Then I marked out some lines and started cutting away...

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Then I cut and folded some tunnel sections up and welded them in. I have tried to keep the curves as gentle as possible without encroaching too far into the footwell. I had to make sure the pipes would be clear of the front suspension arc.

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Meanwhille Hannah kept busy stripping useful parts out of the racecar shell...

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I cut more bits out, formed more tunnel sections and ended up with a lovely clear tunnel front to back...

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I now need to fit the rear seat in and see how I can avoid passengers getting a hot bum. I'm not sure how close it sits to the metal base. I might just have to wrap the pipes and make some heat shields as i can box it lower due to the rear swing arm mounting point box section. Then its seat mounting time. Then paint prep. That will be where things start to get very, very, very tricky!

What colour? I have my mind on a on a few different light blues and even some light greens. Decisions... :-)
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Re: 1965 Datsun engined Imp. Tunneling for pipes...

Post by moose »

http://www.textiletechnologies.co.uk/su ... e-red.html

I used this to keep the heat out of the interior on the rally car, added bonus is the colour as for UK rallies all water pipes running inside the car have to be red !
Regards Moose imp competition secretary
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Re: 1965 Datsun engined Imp. Tunneling for pipes...

Post by yoeddynz »

Good idea!!! There will be a similar product available here in nz in sure. I only need a metre for the bits under the rear seat.
I'm a member of our local fire station.. Maybe I can pinch something from the firetruck..... :-)
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