Hillman imp + Honda flat 6. Musical engine swap game..

I read that as V12 and got mildly excited

Surely the heading for this thread should be "bring in the imp!"

I'd certainly keep this one if it was less rusty. But right now all I can see is a huge amount of rust work of which I have had my fill of.

Plus its missing everything! I'd need to source all the door parts, interior etc

(I wont mention that I have just been offered two 'better' doors by a friend.. whoops. Mentioned it)

flat 12 ?

Time to mount up.

First thing was to remove the air from the nearside chassis rail. It was a bit frilly right where I want to bolt a crossmember..



I bought some bobbin style rubber mounts, 60 in hardness, from the local engineering shop. They are British made mounts so somehow they will probably leak.

I cut some plates that then bolted to the stock Subaru gearbox mount points. Then shuffled the engine/box into the position I wanted it to sit. I had measured the level at which Imp one sat on the ground, finding that the bottom of the rear side windows were pretty much level. I set Imp two up on the hoist at the same level and made sure it was level across the car. Marked things, measured things, checked clearances. Once happy with all that I got some cardboard and started making little shapes with folds out of it. Added a bobbin and the other end went through the original Imp gearbox chassis mount, hole enlarged a mm to take a 10mm stud.



Kept trying them until things looked good and transferred the shape to steel. Bent the shape in the... bender.





Tacked in place..





Removed to be reinforced and fully welded..







Finished and fitted...





Now for the front of the engine.

Or is that the back of the engine?

The other end. I plonked a bit of steel in place.



I didn't want to go much lower than the sump. I went for some low profile bobbins that were ideal. Cut some more plate to suit and drilled, tapped, bolted them in place on the engine end plate. Played with more cardboard and then steel, folded and tacked till I had things that held bobbins.



welded them up..





Next job was to make a crossmember.

Now there was going to be lots of moving this engine/box in and out of position. Not just now while building the crossmember but in the future of the build as I do exhausts/piping/induction etc. The huge steel bench we have in the workshop that I had been moving the engine in and out on was just that - huge, heavy and often in the way. Plus its set in height so when I wanted to move the engine position up and down it was via the car hoist which is not exactly finely controlled.

I needed a bespoke engine table that was easily height adjustable.

Enter stage left the 'Engine cart 2000'..



I whipped that lot above in one evening using an old height adjustable Bedford truck seat base, some spare steel offcuts from the steel rack and some budget castor wheels from Mitre 10. I added some plywood for the top and then I sat on it whilst twiddling the knob - which made things go up.

And down. It was designed to match up with the main workbench in height so I could slide the engine and box straight on. Engine and box are quite light as they are and I can shift them about easily but that wont last when the flywheel/clutch/pistons/heads/gearbox internals are all back in their rightful homes.

I painted it grey because I don't like blue steel and Mitre 10 had loads of plasticoat spray paint on clearance.



I couldn't help but mask the old sticker on the seat base..



Hannah varnished the plywood so it looked pretty. But then I realised that sliding the engine off and on was going to ruin the ply, nor was plywood a very slidey surface. So a bit of old stainless kitchen bench got cut up for the top layer.



Now in action..



Aint that just so cute.

Way easier to move the lot about the workshop and into position under the car- which now handily sits a bit higher in the air which was nice for the next stage.



Crossmember time.

I wanted this to be more organic/factory looking then the simple box section one holding the Datsun up. It had to be strong and allow plenty of space for exhaust pipes heading backwards to a silencer assembly that will be slung under the rear valence. It also had remove easily from the car, ideally still attached to the engine if need be.

I started by making some mount points that would bolt in and out easily onto the chassis rails. Captive nuts welded on some angle iron that sits on the inside of the rails. 4 bolts per side. These bolted in place with 3mm alloy spacers on each side to allow for differences between this car and Imp one, which I know has rails a few mm closer.

Plasma cut a strip 50mm wide from 3mm mild steel plate. Welded some mounts on it to suit the bobbins hanging from the engine. Bent a curve in the plate till it sat where I wanted and had the shape I desired. Then started cutting cardboard again...



and transferring it to steel...



Tacked it altogether..



Added tubes to it for easy access to the engine mount nuts which made for a cleaner look. I could close off the angles on top and make it all pretty like.





I welded what I could on the inside of the crossmember. I really didn't want exposed welds on the outside or any lumps. Then welded the outside. I had to be strategic because even though it was all 3mm steel it would still move a heap as the welds cooled- shrink on the welded edge and shorten or lengthen the whole length either way. My final welds had to pull it back out in length as they cooled and shrunk so it matched the rails. To much relief I got it pretty much bang on and it all still lined up sweet.







The whole time I was building this bugga I was thinking 'ooh this is going to be hefty..' and stressing. Trying to find a happy medium between strength and weight but strength really was the most important thing. I didn't want my engine to fall on the road. As it was it turned out ok. Not a bad weight at all. I hung it on some scales..





Not bad at all. Just a smidge heavier than the alternator for example. Certainly brute enough. I was happy.

I bolted the whole lot in place, lowered the wheely cart 2000 out of the way and there it sat, engine and box finally suspended on their own mounts.

Beautiful I thought.

So beautiful that I had to take the car off the hoist and snap some pics...







Would ya look at that. Damn that looks cool. I was curse word stoked. This was a big occasion. I patted myself on the back and then took some more pics and measured some things..

Clearance under the car was great. The crossmember was only about 10mm lower than the exhaust on IMP one however this was also far further forward. It'll be gravy.





The room between the inlet faces on the heads and what would be the underside of the parcel shelf was almost bang on what I had very originally measure it to be when I first mocked the untouched engine up under Imp one. About 170mm..





Neat. I'd better start ordering some induction goodies eh.

So that's that. Engine is now a bolt in thing. When the time comes I'll be transferring this crossmember along with the suspension crossmember over to Impy one. But I'm a long way from that point.

I put Imp two back on the hoist, gracefully rolled the engine cart 2000 back in place, 'UNBOLTED' :-) the engine and box and rolled it away. Engine was slid back onto the bench and I am now going to look at making a custom alternator drive pulley and mounting the alternator (probably the old prelude/civic item I scored from the wreckers)

I have also been looking into the exhaust. I'm doing some research and trying suss out what to do about headers. Either modifying what I have or making bespoke ones. But that's another story and will be my next instalment.

Looks ace, kinda hate how you make a better job of a temp trolley than I do with most permanent things though!
Keep the updates coming, great watching people do the stuff I dream of. (Wanted to do this to a Skoda rapid !)
James

Brilliant! We all have to start somewhere...

Classy work as always. Looks factory.

Looking forward to the next steps.

Nick

Yes. Yes I could

But nup. I'm chasing the sounds of induction and the looks through, hopefully, six little itbs. Circa 100, maybe a bit more, bhp will be ample