CCOTY display setting up

News from Terence Tracey yesterday by phone was that the Jolon Imp was judged to be  given the award for 5th place.

Thinking positively this still got the Imp onto the center stage and in the Go Imp 50 year, what a wonderful acheivement!  Well done toall those involved and a special pat on the back for Geoff and Terence who drove through the Hell Road to Coventry.

This was at the NEC in Birmingham yesterday (friday 15th november 2013)

The event will be the last car display of the year and for all involved one of the most exciting, this time there is a prize, to be named Classic Car of the Year!

I suspect that only one of the five cars on display managed to drive through nineteen countries across three continents, do 14,000 kilometres and in 29 days to be considered to be worthy of making the stand for the last five to be chosen?

The Imp is a winner either way, it made the Go Imp 50 event with just six hours left on the clock, this is just a bonus!

TT wrote on his blog yesterday:

While the Imp Club Chairman Graham Anderson and James Spencer were traversing England with my JoLon Imp on a trailer taking it to form part of the Classic Car Of The Year stand where on Saturday it will be handed its FINAL JUDGEMENT

http://jolonimp.wordpress.com/

The award will be announced at 10.30am on Saturday, so for those in South Africa 12.30pm our time. The results be be posted very soon after and on this blog.

The JoLon Imp is now for sale by the way.

Roy

Hillman Imp rear brake drums

These I have ex stock and with the backing plate and fluid cylinder already fitted.

The rear brake drum set up is fine for most Hillman Imp applications, the liners are 8" and larger than many modern cars by some margin, there is a single adjustment on the rear of the back plate.

The rather long threaded studs are ex Ford Escort and made to fit alloy rims which have a thicker center boss.

Roy

Fitting front disc brakes to a Hillman Imp

It can be a Sunbeam, Commer or Singer also, all part of the Imp range by Rootes Car Co,Scotland.

After a discussion yesterday, we have decided to fit disc brakes to the Sunbeam badged car we are rebuilding right now. This picture shows longer studs to accept the alloy rims by Supalite as fitted to the race imp in 2012.

The spacers and mount plates plus the stainless braided special fluid hoses are on order, we import them from a UK specialist for each application. We are still looking for a spare set of
 Ford Fiesta  front brake calipers though. So if you happen to have a spare set and for sale please let me know soonest!

The car in the picture has the Ford KA 240mm sized discs, they will fit the 13? Supalite alloy rims we used. The car we are preparing right now will have the normal 12" steel rims so use the smaller 220mm discs from the Ford Fiesta. Note the special braided fluid line, it is made with a metric thread on one end and an Imperial thread on the other.

The road springs are the competition Monte Carlo option, the new car will use the normal and longer road springs which with 80 series road tyres do give a softer and more comfortable ride.

This was the front stopping power of all Hillman Imps from 1963 to 1976, unless you fitted discs as made by specialists.

Roy

Henry on the big vice

Henry went where ever we went, this often attracted other similar birds, that's why although Henry flew off one day we still have a pigeon named Henrietta who visits most days.

 

 

We found it impossible to tell Henry from the so called wild pigeons, so placed a white ring on his right leg for ease of recognition, we are still looking for Henry!

 

Roy

Black Cat to sail the Cape to Rio yacht race again

Has the boat done two Cape To Rio races so far, must be as  she has crossed the South Atlantic Ocean four times this far.

The Royal Cape Yacht Club and a new design the Didi 38 by Dudley Dix, this time he was his own client, the boat was a brand new construction idea and the boat was for himself.

 

Since then hundreds of similar construction yachts smaller and larger have been constructed to the same design idea. Sizes now span 23ft to 42ft and larger, they are cost effective and very quick to build, CNC cut we can ship to most places in the world.

 

This really is a design you can build for yourself just like Dudley did!

 

 

Roy

 

New 998cc Hillman Imp news

Well, its news to me and does tie up a whole load of questions and tells us about what we have here.

The South African registration papers give the cars VIN number as one that starts with the letter R , this was taken from the UK registration V5 form that came with the car. The Imp Club say that this
is wrong and the number needs to start with the letters LH, how can this be and who is right?

Note

Note the Chrysler badge. Cars before 1967 had a much larger alloy plate and fitted in the engine bay on the left hand side looking from the rear.

 The car is now straight up for ease of access, all parts are now removed and the next job soon will be the cars black underseal repainting.

Seems the Imp Club are correct as the cars missing VIN plate was found yesterday and the engine/chassis number starts with the letters LH!

The ARCC is now making me a heritage document for the car, with that I may be able to get the licence transfer to my name more easily?  The cars original engine block is now known, its the 998cc engine I have had in rebuild for some while.

How easy was that?

The VIN plate also has other information, E 145/701 the 145 means Electric Metallic Blue and the 701 means black interior, this we had worked out but its nice to have the proof.

ARCC stands for Association of Rootes Car Clubs by the way.

Note, if you own one of the many versions of Rootes made cars you can apply for a heritage document for that car also.

 

http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2011/07/hillman-imp-998cc-conversion.html

 

 

 

Roy

Hillman Imp turning jig

The car is badged a Sunbeam but the English V5 papers have the car as a Hillman, they say its a 1973  car but they issued the V5 on 01/01/1973 so the car must have been built in 1972?
The form also post that the car is blue, we have traced it down to a more specific Chrysler Electric Blue!

The Canon G11 shows this more like a brite French Blue, in truth the shade is a darker one and more purple, yuk!

This was under the dashboard and some 42 years on the paint is perfect. We have checked with the Imp Club and discovered that this car left the factory in 1971. The paint shade closest to this is Samcor Ford Aquamarine Blue, the Ford Focus can be seen painted in that colour. We had a 1 ltr sample made up and its really very close to original.

 

The jig we had made to do the same thing on the 1966 Singer Chamois Sport in 2012 is one of the best bits of kit we have when this work comes along.

The car will be restored and offered for sale.

 

Roy

 

Pacer 27 for sale.

We have been asked to offer this boat as a brokerage offer.

Priced to sell, please contact me for more information.

Roy

Hillman Imp arrives for restoration

I doubt we will ever see the likes of this offer again, the car has been in dry storage at least twelve years as far as I know.  The car is a 1971 car but first registered in the UK January 01 1973, I have the cars original V5 papers with the car.

The floor pan is untouched, I can not see even a dent in it when looking underneath with a lead light, possibly I may find some marks when the car is rolled over on that turning jig you can see next week?  As you can see the body panels are straight and this far I see no signs of any accident damage.

For sale and to your specification , standard to what ever you want.

Roy

News in today from Richard one of the ARCC historians:

Roy ref your car , you probably not aware but I've got the production figures for the 13 years of imp production. your Imp is 413 694501 .

From the start of "G" year series on 10-07-1970 Chassis numbers started from 602002 and ran consecutively until the end of "3" year series in 5-10-1973 where they stopped at 863837 and then "4" year series restarted at 100000 and ran consecutively (in the case of IMP production  until 09-02-1976.)

your chassis number  694501 fits into the production date of 24-09-1971. hope this helps as Bob checks all the dates with me , if you want any others dated let me know . All production prior to "G" year series is itemised on a model basis. 

Rich,

Much asking of the forum people has come up with an original paint colour for me, Chrysler Electric Blue. I found evidence of it in small patches, then a very large area when the under dash panels were removed, it looks like the blue in the engine bay below.

I then matched that to a Samcor shade as found on the Ford Focus and named Aquarius Blue.

 

This works for me, strange that the 1971 Hillman Imp Deluxe is now 42 years old but Ford are still using paint shades from that era!

ERA African Rally car preparation

After ownership for over three decades of a 1966 Jaguar 3.8ltr S type, I have sold the car and while its left my place today, it will be returning for some changes and to get the car for a rally around Southern Africa in May 2014.

The first part of the rally preparation will be best done when the car is on a four post car lift, to this end the car was sent by special trailer to Clive who is a top mechanic and  does this kind of thing.

26 Days:

The Endurance Rally Association & The 5th Classic Safari May 2014

The 5th Classic Safari Challenge

2014

1st - 26th  May, 2014

http://www.endurorally.com/pages/5th-classic-safari-challenge-2014

 

Check the link out to find the route, it takes 26 days I think.

The car will be away some weeks while various specialist work their magic on the car, one will be Alan fitting an under dash air conditioner.

Does your car need sorting for the same rally, why not let me sort out your needs here in Cape Town for you?

Watch this space for updates as they happen.

Talking of space, the floor area that the Jaguar has used all these years will not be vacant for long, in fact a 1971 Hillman Imp will take its place there in the morning!   Then another Imp restoration starts then on monday.


Roy

Shear Tenacity in the Pacific Islands

Rod and Mary left Hout Bay on their Dix designed Shearwater 39 some years back, they are now well into the Pacific and have just stopped in American Samoa.

En route to Tonga....if you look really closely you can just see the island

Thankfully, the weather for our 340 mile leg to Tonga was nothing like predicted! A bit rough on day one, we still managed 150 miles, and another 160miles on day 2 in more manageable seas. We knocked off the last 30 miles in good time, and were able to anchor in Port Maurelle by about 15.30h, after a dry, fast, and good sail. As a bonus, I boated a nice Wahoo on the run in to Tonga.

 

 

Cruising on your own yacht, the good life indeed!

 

Roy

A history of the Royal Cape Yacht Club

I was an RCYC member when Bill Rabinowitz had his volume published, it was a short run and its possible most were pre orders?

Bill was at the club the evening the volume was released, with my order ready for me I was fortunate to get my copy signed that evening.

What luck!

Roy

I was asked by a blog viewer in Austria recently about finding a copy and I know the RCYC itself was trying to locate a spare copy last year, are they now collectable?

David raises his Didi Mini Transat mast!

We sent David quite a complete kit, even the deck gear, stainless fittings and alloy stations, push and pulpit.

What a nice calm day to raise a mast.

Good day Roy

            I have finished the Yacht mast up all is good, some photos. I will be testing her next week will send photos and a performance report.

                               David

 

It looks like the crane was in use here but that's not the case.

 

 

David is in the Freemantle area, Australia.

 

Roy

 

 

Mariquita on lake Attersee

You may wonder how some of this stuff comes to me so do I sometimes!

What a glorious picture, click on it to see a larger image.

Lake Attersee is in Austria.

My thanks to Micheal for the picture.

Mariquita is of course a 30 square design and a regular Lipton Cup winner here in South Africa, Durban was her home port. Did she win Lipton seven times?

Roy

Zeeslangs new home

Where would that be you may ask?

How about Attersee Marina in Austria!

My she does look nice!

Dear Roy,

attached please find a picture of Zeeslang at her new home.

Micheal contacted me about send him a Toylander kit to Austria and mentioned that Zeeslang was on a lake there now.

Roy

I asked about shipping?

Dear roy,

 just in case you are interested:

 Zeeslang loaded on the cargo vessel

 on the cradle in Hamburg

lifted onto a brand-new custom made trailer.

I am asked does anyone know where the original plans may be, Van DerStadt yacht design does not seem
to have them.

Roy

Wien, 29. October 2013

Drawings for Zeeslang

Dear Roy,

As discussed the other day, I have bought Zeeslang a few years ago and upon our return to Europe she was shipped to Austria.
We are trying to collect everything pertaining to her history, especially pictures and, quite important, we are looking for the original plans as work needs to be done from time to time. Cliffie, who has bought Zeeslang from KeesBruynzeel, told us that Kees  the time didn’t want to give him the plans. Reason being that  Cliffie paid less for Zeeslang than Kees had paid for the plans alone. We obtained a copy of plans from van de Stadt, but the drawings seem to have been altered as the set shows different dimensions for the same “piece” between the different sheets. Furthermore, at least a few sheets show a date years after Zeeslang was built.


Can anyone fill in on the history of this very important sailing boat?

This came in from Ray who knew the original owner.

Hi Roy,

Zeeslang is still a breath-catching sight... many thanks for the pics.

The plans are probably among B’s papers at one of his son’s homes, or his daughter who lives in Cape Town.

Black Soo, as you will know, is a very close copy, only slightly smaller in beam.

Unhappily, boats can’t get the authentic treatment expected with Vintage cars. So if there’s any tinkering to be done to keep Zeeslang fit & sailing -- so be it.

Sorry I can’t be of more help.

Stay well!

Ray.

 

Roy