One of those makes one of these

Both circa 1967 and both ex Scotlands Linwood factory where they were built,the finished car is a Mk2 Singer Chamois,the car on its side is a Hillman Imp Mk2 that was built (assembled,ckd) in South Africa but will be rebadged as a 1966 Singer Chamois Sport,which we broke due to a poor body shell,all parts and documents are original though.

Left click either image to view in a larger size and greater detail.

Today we fitted the Singer Sports new front radiator & made a discovery when it was finished too,once the front is removed,the entire area under the front petrol tank is accessable to view and work in,what a nice thing to have.Now service of the clutch and brake master cylinders is easy,we can also see and check the petrol exit pipe too.

The black box to the right is a pair of water service pipes from the rear engine to the front radiator,still to be plumbed in but an easy job given the space and access we now have.

Roy

Driving and working with Imps for 47 years!

And another view of the Imp side on

Or is that side up,probably?

Looks great to me and I can now fit the cars front radiator,run some water pipes and fit the petrol tank too.

So today I start making spaces on the storage shelves where this cars parts have been waiting for their refit,time to plan another one soon?

Roy

Making extra space in your garage

This is easy,you came home,drove into the garage and into the rig and just rolled it over 45 degrees,you will get at least one more car in there now?

Hey,this 1967 Hillman Imp will be so easy to work on now,as with both sides easy to access I can work standing up without any strain at all.The first job is to fill the steering box with Shell Oils Spirax EP80/90 gear oil.

When is a car old?

Brian,an Imp Club member down in New Zealand asked me last week when does a car bcome old? not  a bad question,I would like to think old in this case means when it can no longer do what it once did and becomes useless.

This is the underside of a Hillman Imp and the hand brake assembly,the parts are either new,as in the cables or recycled such as the cross bar and springs,the hand brake will of course now work as it was when new.

The same cars front suspensions,new poly bushes fitted in the center pivot arms but the Armstrong original shock absorbers are quite ok and have been beed blasted clean,then black smooth Hammerited with a spray gun.The steering rack was fitted with a new rubber gaiter made for the Imp Clubs Spares department.Thats a new stainless brake hose hanging there too,that will be fitted to the new disc brakes soon.

Hillman Imp 998cc conversion

We now have the parts sourced and the engineers have sorted out the process,we can now supply the motors to order,exchange Mk2 block,crank and rods required.

Left click the picture to view some quality engineering in more detail.

Both these engines are Mk2 blocks,we can do the Mk1 but they are not as stiff,mind you there are a number of tricks and methods to get over this problem to some extent. The block in the front is the 998cc unit,with totaly new liners,the block at the rear is a sports version with plus 60 thou,pistons and will measure to 916cc,the maximum we can bore to on standard liners. Suitable cylinder heads with enlarged valves and ports can be matched to your chosen size block.

Roy

The Astra story,a continuation

Astra will now be around 77 years old,thats quite an old lady ,my involvment was from the time Jean and I saw her on a rickity boat park trailer in the public car park in Simonstown,the result was well documented,its in this blog if you care to find it,most is at http://www.duckworthmagazine.com/ there is a fast link to that and some of my other stories here at http://www.hbyc.co.za/ .

I rebuilt Astra in the only way how I know will last,cold moulded with  a new outer hull,no she will not measure as the Tumlaren she is but who cares,there are none other to race against,so its not an issue.

We re launched about 12 years back,the rebuild took me 18 months I think,all part time and mainly weekends,the HBYC kindly donated hard space to the project,thanks guys.

As the project took on to a decent pace,some from the local TBA took interest and Oscar and Howard decided to take Astra on as their own,I handed over to them and they became her new owners.The boat now belongs to Oscar,here it is on a trailer in Simonstown (i think) she looks fine to me from these pictures,which were taken and supplied by Justin,who tells me he used his Canon G12 to take the pictures.

Proof enough that quality ockume marine plywoods,epoxies and Internationals Interthane paints work well together.

Roy

The impossible staircase by Div De Villiers

I have lifted this from Divs own web site,many thanks Div.

Roy

The impossible staircase


Sun, 02/07/2010 - 22:37
by Div

Sometime last year I was approached by a client who wanted a very unusual staircase. It had to consist of a single beam with the treads straddling the beam. To make matters interesting, the beam had to have the shape of a bow when seen in plan view. To make matters even more interesting the beam also had to have concave sides when seen in section, wide at the top, narrow at the bottom.

No structural plans were available and the architect had only provided a conceptual plan view and elevation with no details or dimensions. I don’t think his computer could cope with all the compound curves! The architect felt it was impossible to build the staircase in timber.

Gluing up the laminates

Now if you want my attention, tell me it is impossible to build something in timber! I immediately accepted the challenge and told my client in not so many words that it is not about whether it is possible or not but rather whether his cheque book was big enough!

And so with my big mouth I quoted a price, accepted a deposit and tied myself to a delivery date. The agreement even included a penalty clause! Thinking back, I must have sounded very confident to the client. Or something. No drawings, a hefty deposit, me telling him to trust me with the design of form and structure, construction and installation, all in the face of a respected architect that said it was not possible.

The time came where I had to put my money where my mouth is. I laid out the plan view shape as I saw it on some hardboard, then mocked it up in the house to get a feel for where I was going. The client approved of the shape. I took the hardboard pattern back to the shop and built a laminating form out of shutter ply. The total span or length of the beam was to be around 4,5m. Using my very scientific thumb suck approach, I figured a beam of 250mm x around 140mm would do. That meant 15 laminations of 9mm exterior Pine plywood. I decided to use resorcinol glue for the job. It is widely used in industry for structural bonding i.e. lam beams, plywood etc and is very good for laminating.

Also I’ve had much experience with it building masts when I was boat builder.

Read Divs full story at  www.woodspark.co.za/content/impossible-staircase

Well done mate,thats a fine piece of work!

Roy

Talking sawdust with Div De Villiers

Its nice when a customer is a friend,many end up that way of course,many just sail off and are just gone.

Div is one of those who did just that he hand built his own steel boat,fitted it out to a very high standard but not like some french gin palace,more like a country cottage,it looked great!

Div contacted me a while ago for some of our epoxy,this is what he made with it.

Div can make you special furniture as well,all one offs,he uses no drawings as far as I have seen on his web site,he can do copies but each piece will be slightly different,thats nice.

Roy

Div has a website,check it out below and contact him via that direct.

Howzit Sawdust makers!


There is a new blog on www.talkingsawdust.co.za :

LET’S GET TO THE POINT (THE ONES ON YOUR TABLE SAW BLADE!)

However good your table saw is, the cut will only be as good as the blade fitted. Let’s look at important points and how to choose the right one for the job.

In a previous blog I talked a little about the versatility of the table saw and how to operate it safely. To realize its full potential the right blade must be fitted. Condition of the blade is also important. Blunt, chipped or missing teeth, a warped plate and resin build up will drastically reduce the accuracy and .....

Read the complete article at http://www.talkingsawdust.co.za/

Feel free to add your comments and suggestions! Talking of which, any suggestions for future blogs will be most welcome!

Yours in sawdust

Div

Nandi,one of our own

Nandi,a Didi 34, was built in a rather short period of time by its owner Nick,we supplied all the materials,CNC cut kit, epoxies and also the International Paints.

With Cape Town now being a world leader in boat building (I never imagined I would write that) fitting out boats is simple,all the leading brands are mainly off the shelf here now,or in the case of a complete boat,parts are brought in with regular shipments.Masts and sails are made to order right here using the worlds best materials and in the case of sails,fabrics.

An open and shut case for the Hillman Imp in 1967

When I first saw a bright and brand new yellow Mark 2 Hillman Imp it was at Mr Pughs farm in Garth, North Wales,I had thought of an 850cc Morris Mini but as soon as I looked closer at the amount of space and engineering in an 875cc Hillman Imp, I was off to the local Rootes dealership named Kirbys In Maghull,Lancashire the next week.

Look at all those openings,the ease of loading this car over any other,then or now was just miles apart from anything then available.The doors are very wide too,making access to the rear seats easy,they fold down flat for carrying a load too.

This is a Mk2 Imp so circa 1967 when the revised front suspension lower pivot points were introduced,first seen on the Hillman Californian Coupe.

Note,the car in the picture carries a 1968 F registration number plate,as can be seen by the letter F at the end of the plate.

I was able to buy a Mk1 Hillman Imp painted in Balmoral Grey,which is quite a light shade,it was a single owner car and I paid 425 pounds for it back then,a Mini of a similar age would have been 400 pounds but just look at all the extra features the Imp gave me.As a regular camper,it was a real load carrier and excellent on rough roads and wet farmers fields,you never bog down an Imp!