The reason the car is covered in small rust spots is due to condensation dripping from the roof of the garage, & as that car has sat for such a long time it has faired well! It is certainly worth restoring, either to original or as a restomod! The purchase of the Rootes Group in late '66 was the start of the problems for the whole company! They did not understand the reason for small cars and they completely baffled by the IMP. The senior management made that clear from day one and refused to give it the development money and attention we in the engineering department knew it deserved! They also refused to give the competition department the funding they required when the IMP was doing so well in racing and rallying! The potential this car had was Mini beating in all departments if only it was given the chance!
I still don't understand how the digger driver thought it was his to sell, what am I missing?? Could you not just have took the car legally? Without paying him?
I so wish someone else had found this and was working on, dropping some oil down the plug holes, then expecting it to magical turn over, at least give it some time to work down and soften things up.
In 50 years of working on cars, I've never seen anyone trying to free a seized engine by setting fire to it! The best way to do it is to fill the bores with paraffin and leave but keep topping up for 3-4 weeks.. you might have success then. By the way, the crankshaft is not made from aluminium. Good luck
My parents had a green one in the 70s. My enduring memory of it is a new got in when my grandmother was in the car and because she was scared of bees she climbed out of the rear opening window whilst my mother was still driving.
the rotos green is the colour of that car roots being the owner of hillman . i would imagine those were originally council lock ups that were sold off by mrs thatchers government
Aluminium Crankshaft(???)..The piston rings are seized in the bore,give it time to release ,,No doubt the waterways are corroded and more like the bores are full or were full of water ,hence seized bores.Just strip the engine down.
The aft and acetone mix is your best bet. Don't forget if it is seized now you will have debris in the bores if you get it to turn over. Your valve isn't stuck, its just at it's cycle of opening and closing. In all it will need to be pulled down and measured to make sure you have a reliable engine. My last imp engine had sat in the car for 19 years and spun like it had no compression, that was the rings stuck in the ringlands. They freed up nicely and has good compression. With the clutch only depress it once and if it stays on the floor try undoing the bleeder on the slave cylinder at the top of the engine. If the pedal comes back you will need to look at master cylinder under the fuel tank. Four bolts on top and the fuel line is screwed on with 11mm of imperial equivalent. One last ditch attempt is to loosen the dissy, and turn it back and forth to see if one of the spark plugs spark to see if one of the cylinders is at top dead centre. Put some fuel in the cylinder, put the plug back and see if you can fire it free. Good luck.
As a stateside ex-pat who owns a 69 Sunbeam Alpine coupe (5k original miles!)and a 72 Plymouth Cricket (Hillman Avenger), I am now searching for a Sunbeam Imp to restore! Not easy. Good luck with yours and I look forward to updates.
Hey Josh! I subscribed! My grandmother had a little grey Imp with red(?) upholstery back in the 60's, so I'd be real interested in how you progress with this one!
You can pull the engine out, including the gearbox is less than 15mins. Instead of messing about like you are doing. Compresst tthe donuts and take off the drive shafts. Disconnect the gear change and clutch. Disconnect the throttle and choke.... support the engine and give the car a shove. You are wasting time.... fix it properly. Haul the engine out, take the head off.
Try some coke down the bores, usually the rings rust in place inside the liner. You are correct steel crank but with white metal bearings/ shells on all of the journals. (Also steel rods, Ali pistons, steel liners inside the Ali block (cast in place))
ah thank you! i did think an ali crank would be ambitious! haha, i’ve let it sit overnight and one of the valves is open and its drained out all over the floor 😂 i’ll see how i get on this week!
It is a shame that another classic car like this Imp is being “restored” by a hack. Yes, of course you should lower it! Of course you should highlight the rust spots! Of course you should ruin the original mechanical systems because you know so much more than the designers! Please stick to “restoring” American trucks - there is little you can do to ruin them.
The reason the car is covered in small rust spots is due to condensation dripping from the roof of the garage, & as that car has sat for such a long time it has faired well! It is certainly worth restoring, either to original or as a restomod! The purchase of the Rootes Group in late '66 was the start of the problems for the whole company! They did not understand the reason for small cars and they completely baffled by the IMP. The senior management made that clear from day one and refused to give it the development money and attention we in the engineering department knew it deserved! They also refused to give the competition department the funding they required when the IMP was doing so well in racing and rallying! The potential this car had was Mini beating in all departments if only it was given the chance!
Gunk was brilliant we used to clean our motorbikes with it brush it on and wash it off with water .
I still don't understand how the digger driver thought it was his to sell, what am I missing?? Could you not just have took the car legally? Without paying him?
It's not crank to aluminium block, you have bearings in-between.
I had one identical to that 40 years ago. It's a Super Imp Mark 2 in Forest green.
Love to see another mini series like this but maybe something German from 80/90s. Ideally white with rare factory options.
Načo ti je nemecké tých je plno
I so wish someone else had found this and was working on, dropping some oil down the plug holes, then expecting it to magical turn over, at least give it some time to work down and soften things up.
😂
Getting real vice grip garage vibes here.
In 50 years of working on cars, I've never seen anyone trying to free a seized engine by setting fire to it!
The best way to do it is to fill the bores with paraffin and leave but keep topping up for 3-4 weeks.. you might have success then.
By the way, the crankshaft is not made from aluminium.
Good luck
Wear a microphone for better audio. Your voice is faint at times when away from camera...
My parents had a green one in the 70s. My enduring memory of it is a new got in when my grandmother was in the car and because she was scared of bees she climbed out of the rear opening window whilst my mother was still driving.
the rotos green is the colour of that car roots being the owner of hillman . i would imagine those were originally council lock ups that were sold off by mrs thatchers government
Aluminium Crankshaft(???)..The piston rings are seized in the bore,give it time to release ,,No doubt the waterways are corroded and more like the bores are full or were full of water ,hence seized bores.Just strip the engine down.
I enjoyed this! I had an imp and water pump was main issue. I sold it in early 90s. I liked the quirky side of it. Mine was a 73 in great nick too.
by all the bits lying about inside it i'd say the owner worked for ford at a main dealers probably . they were built in linwood not glasgow
My nans dead mate thanks crying now.
P.s the shots of the tyres being inflated where incredible 😍
The aft and acetone mix is your best bet. Don't forget if it is seized now you will have debris in the bores if you get it to turn over. Your valve isn't stuck, its just at it's cycle of opening and closing. In all it will need to be pulled down and measured to make sure you have a reliable engine. My last imp engine had sat in the car for 19 years and spun like it had no compression, that was the rings stuck in the ringlands. They freed up nicely and has good compression. With the clutch only depress it once and if it stays on the floor try undoing the bleeder on the slave cylinder at the top of the engine. If the pedal comes back you will need to look at master cylinder under the fuel tank. Four bolts on top and the fuel line is screwed on with 11mm of imperial equivalent. One last ditch attempt is to loosen the dissy, and turn it back and forth to see if one of the spark plugs spark to see if one of the cylinders is at top dead centre. Put some fuel in the cylinder, put the plug back and see if you can fire it free. Good luck.
I would say it was parked up before 1981.
Watching the engine wanting to fly out the back of the car and then the cover slamming down immediately after was a highlight for me xx
😂😂 my bad x x
Amazing find !! ❤️ it found the right owner
Epic! Basically a barn find series! Im here for it 👊
The cliffhanger ending has me hooked and almost wanting to buy the damn thing! 😂
haha! stay tuned !!!
TAKE THE ENGINE OUT MATT PRACY
I remember using Gunk😂
As a stateside ex-pat who owns a 69 Sunbeam Alpine coupe (5k original miles!)and a 72 Plymouth Cricket (Hillman Avenger), I am now searching for a Sunbeam Imp to restore! Not easy. Good luck with yours and I look forward to updates.
Very interesting. With the Ford tax disc holder and all the Motorcraft boxes and spark plugs I'm thinking the owner used to work for Ford!
great video, this is gonna be a fantastic series!
thankyou!
Such an awesome video and story, inspired me to get my a**e in gear to do similar on my old Lada, Can't wait to see future uploads up the imp! 😊
Watched imp video , enjoyed very much ,will follow your videos, good work 👍
B16 swap it
Do you worry that in 40 years time there will be kids making these videos about our unfinished projects? 😂
massive fear 😂
Hey Josh! I subscribed! My grandmother had a little grey Imp with red(?) upholstery back in the 60's, so I'd be real interested in how you progress with this one!
thankyou!!!
Hi Josh Andy here vwcoco -just subbed looking forward to viewing your vids 👍
thankyou!
Great Show . Will watch what’s next!
You can pull the engine out, including the gearbox is less than 15mins. Instead of messing about like you are doing.
Compresst tthe donuts and take off the drive shafts. Disconnect the gear change and clutch. Disconnect the throttle and choke.... support the engine and give the car a shove.
You are wasting time.... fix it properly. Haul the engine out, take the head off.
The van and estate (as in the picture) was known as the Hillman Husky
No the van was " the van" and yes with windows and seats ( estate) it's a husky 😀
Can’t wait to see the other barn find from your other video! Imp will look so good with a polish
pulling them strings !
Try some coke down the bores, usually the rings rust in place inside the liner. You are correct steel crank but with white metal bearings/ shells on all of the journals. (Also steel rods, Ali pistons, steel liners inside the Ali block (cast in place))
ah thank you! i did think an ali crank would be ambitious! haha, i’ve let it sit overnight and one of the valves is open and its drained out all over the floor 😂 i’ll see how i get on this week!
@@Joshwaa___ sweet, sounds about right for an imp! 😅😅 Keep at it, you'll get there!
Awesome mate, love to see it
Glad you enjoyed it
You run a garage? Not one I'd bring a car to I'm afraid.
Not a problem, wouldn’t allow an
MG ZR in the workshop anyway
It is a shame that another classic car like this Imp is being “restored” by a hack. Yes, of course you should lower it! Of course you should highlight the rust spots! Of course you should ruin the original mechanical systems because you know so much more than the designers! Please stick to “restoring” American trucks - there is little you can do to ruin them.
hahaha thanks for watching little johnny!
Offer him good money for it then restore it yourself if its upset you that much. Josh is a good guy I'm sure £5000 would buy it in its current state.
happily take 5 Grand little johnny
No need for your noncey comment little Johnny
Bro who hurt you 😂