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

Having never seen an Imp here, I had a look on the interweb and lo and behold. In a history of Philippine motoring, www.autoindustriya.com/features/sixty-five-years-of-philippine-motoring-part-1.html,  I find...

"Chrysler, besides their stateside Dodge, Plymouth and DeSoto brands, imported Simca's from France and Rootes Group's Hillman Minx, Imp and Hunter from Britain. Ford, through Mantrade, not only brought its Fairlane, Galaxie 500 and Custom along with Mercury and Lincoln but also the Cortina from Britain and Taunus from Germany.

British Motor Corporation, Britain's equivalent of GM, brought in the Austin Cambridge diesel, Morris Oxford, MG 1100 and the Triumph Herald."


And I haven't yet seen a single example of any of the above mentioned. But just maybe, there's one out there?

Hey Rich. Cheers. I'm enjoying this one which is always handy.. however the engine conversion isn't mine so it doesn't hold the same value to me as if it would had I adapted the Datsun engine myself. However... I have more Imps on the way plus this race car shell. between them I can create another Imp to which I can start a fresh with my own take on my ideal Imp This I look forward to very much and hence I am very interested in seeing as many other engine conversions as I can so I can absorb ideas and info

I really did enjoy reading your thread and it certainly got my creative juices flowing!

I do have 3 spare V6 engines kicking about....

@ greencarfritz, There's a guy doing a Ginetta G15 with BMW K series just across Dartmoor from you. John is very skill and fussy about detail - it'll be lovely when done, as his previous creations have been

www.locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/66/viewthread.php?tid=211756

Nick

Ah, you actually know him. I know him from the Triumph side of his activities and try to call in whenever passing. We did talk about the Imp engine route (I have some tenuous links with a guy in Dorset who builds very special Imp engines) but as you say, lack of a base unit and the scary costs involved in build a really good one swayed the K decision.

Nick

The really good 998 pistons are harder to get - not forged as there is no need the good cast ones are safe to 10,000 - the latest ones are not quite as good as the older ones, 998 is not the maximum - the Rally G15 is now at 1020 the next OS is 1040. You can also go long block where you fit longer liners a stroker crank and a block spacer to take the engine to 1200+ which is what a mate of mine is building and what we have had the big drive shafts made for. I may cover it when I start my G15 rebuild thread. I have an early chassis #100 and the has chassis #13.
You cannot bore the block very far as the liners are very thin, best way is to machine out the cast in liners and then fit new wet liners. The Millington book has to be high on the agenda for purchase. But have trawl through the Strato's thread as I strengthen a pair of trailing arms in there somewhere.

Building a hot Imp engine can run up quite a tab - For a budget build you would need to find a good Imp Sport as a foundation, 180 head, Twin stroms etc. A Sunbeam B1 930 modded is also a good option.
Normally aspirated and as is the sport runs 50BHP but with some careful head works you can get them to 60 BHP, which is as good as the stock 998.

The trailing arms crack here




Sport arms have an extra bit of bracing behind the brake back plate on the underside of the bearing block - this is a standard one without the bracing.

The 3pot? Would be fantastic. Expensive engines here in nz though. Anything euro and newish costs to much.
Toymota also make a neat little 3pot I think. Must look it up.

The main reason for going the BMW K route is that there are very few options for final drive ratio's (Zero in fact)in the Imp transaxle - The Ginetta and Dav generally go up to 13" rims to improve the final ratio to around 16MPH per thousand - The Imp 875/998 etc. when tuned rev up to max power at 7500 to 8500+. At 8500 that gives 136mph. If you fit a turbo that will be cammed to run out of puff at 6500 that equals 104mph and at 60mph its at 4000 - in an Imp it's pretty pointless really. Due to the low final ratio the route to fun in an Imp is rev's, lots and lots of rev's. To get the most out of an Imp you need to have an engine with at least 8000RPM capability with peak power up at 7500.

There is just no point going for loads of torque - Turbo's superchargers or big capacity in an Imp/G15 - if that's your aim then first job is to chuck the transaxle away. Then again the K is not perfect either as the power is probably a little too far up the rev range, fine for being a hooligan and what's wrong with that, but not for when you want to drive normally shifting at 3-4000. The Imp total package is hard to beat - The best route is probably the K1200 with the cam timing tweaked a little to bring up the bottom end torque.

I also pondered the Honda Goldwing lump for that mini 911 Vibe

And as it's FWD, could you not drop it in with it's own gearbox?