1970 Sunbeam Stiletto and 1969 Imp Van

Haha... crikey, no pressure there then! Great that there is some interest in the Imps these days. ;D

Well the Stiletto was restored back in 2001, believe it or not, and was taken back to bare metal and a LOT was cut out and replaced to turn it into what you see in the pictures. It was in a pretty rough state and i actually took it off the road after i left school and it sat in 'the garage of doom' at my parents house for around 8 years before the resto finally got underway.

Garage of doom:-



As you can see from these pictures it was taken back all the way:-



Spit-roast:-



Inside:-



Then eventually into paint:-



Engine install:-



With the family history etc... I didn't want to cut the shell too much and pretty much everything I have done can be taken back to original with very little effort. I've still retained the rear radiator set up but improved things with a High-Efficiency unit which has eliminated any overheating issues.

The 998 engine spec is pretty high, the current incarnation being a Ben Boult creation comprising of a Fraser B cam, full race spec Chesman 'wedge' head, block strengthening kit, strengthened cam carrier, breather system, etc, etc.... It's also got a quick-shift rose jointed gear change and front discs with a bias bar.

I'm currently away with work at the moment and these are all of the resto pics i have with me on my laptop. It was restored back in the days when actual photo's were the order of the day so i have a great restoration album with hundreds more pictures.

The new Stiletto is still off being prep'd and will be getting the zinc phosphate treatment prior to the build up.

Here is how it currently stands. Absolutely zero rust. I've never actually come across such a sound Imp shell before:-









I'm going for a very different spec on this one as i feel like i can play about with it a little. It is certainly going to be very different to the turquoise car anyway. I don't want to give away too much at this stage, but I'm planning on a Bernard Newbury interior (which the VW boys will know all about), i've already got a rear cage for it, a set of Speedwell gauges, a pair of super rare Cosmic chrome door bin kicker plates, which were an original accessory back in the 60's/70's, a 2 spoke Cosmic GT steering wheel with an Imp boss, as seen here:-



It still needs a refurb, but i know the direction i'm going with the whole car now.

I haven't decided on the suspension set up for it yet, but i have got hold of a set of beautiful (and wide!) 60's J A Pearce wheels; lovely deep dish they have on them too. They are booked in for a refurb (to get rid of the horrid orange paint!) in April when i get home. Here are the rears having a trial-fit:-



Engine build is also underway with one of the Imp engine specialists, but again I'm keeping quiet on that for the time being.

did you do the paintwork yourself on the turquoise then? it looks immaculate! maybe when ive got mine done and on the road (donkeys years) i'll get a chance to see it up close

the new stiletto shell looks almost flawless - jealous

Paint was done by Ron Aspinwall of Impspeed fame, and he did an amazing job on it. The pictures at the start of the thread are 10 years later so it's lasted amazingly well. He'll be doing the paint on the new shell also when the time comes. The turquoise one actually got damaged by somebody whilst left in the show field at the last Imp National weekend (believe it or not!?!) so it's not immaculate at the moment. It looks like somebody sat on/punched the bonnet on it and i'm still waiting for my panel guy to put it right. Very annoying!!!

Yup, Koni's can be refurbished... there are plenty of posts about them and their availability on the Imp Club forum.

Yeah i've never driven a long-stroke Imp engine before..... 1296 should be quite a difference over the standard 875 or even a 998!!! I'm pretty excited about it, especially as it'll be going into the van

The new Stiletto is underway, but i have no idea how long the rebuild will take.

They come up for sale from time to time - I'm about to list on Ebay a pair of brand new old stock front Koni dampers. If you are interested, get in touch as I'd rather not line Ebay's pockets unless I need to.

thats going to be a beefy van by the time its done
and yess i'll pm you bout those koni's ta

Yeah, i'm looking forwards to seeing how the second Stiletto turns out... big plans for it already and it's slowly starting to come together now

Hi Mike,

Pleased to hear you like the Stiletto. They do come up for sale from time to time, although there are not too many left these days.... Joining the Imp club would be a good place to start - not sure whether i am allowed to post a link on this site but it will be easy for you to look up. Many cars are sold within the club, or at least made available before being posted on auction sites etc...

I was offered a garage-find Stiletto just before Christmas so they do surface from time to time, although condition is not often great and a full or part resto will most likely be required.

People do not tend to sell on fully restored cars as they will never recoup their outlay, so you will most likely end up picking up a car requiring a bit of work. I have been lucky with my second Stiletto shell as it really is in good condition but it has taken me quite a bit of time to find something like that.

Good luck!