41 replies to this topic

[trafficface09]

slightly offputting is that hill climb is not what dave was intended for, regaurdless of how hilly bath is i dont think i could run a car that couldn't handle 10 minis of driving.


i have fallen on my ass again, there must be a way i can help the cars reliability?

[mini13]

nope there was only the 998 rallye and chamois rallye, rare beasts indeed, think in terms of 970 S rare.

Unfortunatly they did have a bit of an overheating issue, the big problem was that when they did get hot people would refil with water and neglect to put antifreeze in, the ally head would then corode away until the headgasket went, the result was Imps got a bad reputation for eating headgaskets where they didnt totaly deserve it.


In all honesty it will be easier and cheaper to rig up a bike engine in the back, you then get a nice gearbox too!

never driven a decent imp then....

a std imp 875 is 40hp putting roughly it on par with a 998 mini, but the imp lump is cosiderably smoother and revier,

the 875 imp sports were around 55hp putting them on par with a 998 cooper,

the rare 998 rallye imps had circa 70 hp putting upt there with the 1071 cooper S,

i thought the sports were 998 and the standard imps 875... my dad has had loads of them...

i was thinking of getting one recently however he said that minis were better for long trips (driving to Uni) as said before they overheated badly and blew headgaskets....

i like the idea of the imp/mini engine! would be interesting to see some pictures.

[trafficface09]

well this topic was worth it anyway, in future once i get myself setup with an alright job i shall consider this for entering into a hill climb event.

i may continue to research it and please if anyone feels like they want to do this and have the money i would be glad to help as an extra pair of hands

[trafficface09]

if you didnt click the link here it is, i have contacted the guys who have built the engine in hope that i can provide some technical detail, and also if there would be a way to improve reliability for fast road and daily use. after all id like to take it to shows

[mab01uk]

if you didnt click the link here it is, i have contacted the guys who have built the engine in hope that i can provide some technical detail, and also if there would be a way to improve reliability for fast road and daily use. after all id like to take it to shows

Nice find!
I don't think there is a major reliability problem for the proper conversion...............the earlier quotes about the hillclimbing car problems were due to it being a bodged up job, the Ginger Marshall race conversion and the one in the Link you have discovered are done in a much more professional way. A properly built Imp engine can be as reliable as any A series if built properly!

[trafficface09]

if you didnt click the link here it is, i have contacted the guys who have built the engine in hope that i can provide some technical detail, and also if there would be a way to improve reliability for fast road and daily use. after all id like to take it to shows

Nice find!
I don't think there is a major reliability problem for the proper conversion...............the earlier quotes about the hillclimbing car problems were due to it being a bodged up job, the Ginger Marshall race conversion and the one in the Link you have discovered are done in a much more professional way. A properly built Imp engine can be as reliable as any A series if built properly!

mab01uk thanks for your support in this matter ha ha, i often feel stupid.

im talking to them now about the conversion about the adapter mainly, obviously i should have purchased the imp engine then and there it went for 80 quid
im wondering about a few things though aparently that particular a series mated imp engine could be made AWD

imagine that a classic engined light weight engine in AWD!

[Down&Out]

Only benefit i could think of is weight, seeing as the imp engine is aluminium..

I don't know what the weight difference is and don't know how much difference it would make seeing as your attaching it to a mini gearbox, but all i know is that my dad could lift an entire imp engine and gearbox by himself, and i doubt he could do that with a mini engine.

I don't know how the weight of imp engine + mini gearbox would compare with other engines because i'm no expert, but that's just my two penneth.

[Sacaasi]

So what layout are you going for? engine in front or back? front or rear or all wheel drive?

[1293sleeper]

if you want to do mate do it. i have plans for a mini shelled mg midget once i get the money up to do it and have finished my other 2 projects. don't let any one tell you i can't or shouldn't be done. plus who cares if there is not benifits it will still be really cool.

[mab01uk]

There are many advantages to the revvy all alloy overhead cam Imp engine over an A series which is why race Mini's started to use them in the 1970's and why Imps were so quick in saloon car racing. If you want to know more start by searching for "Coventry Climax and the Imp engine" on Google......................

Edited by mab01uk, 04 June 2010 - 08:30 PM.

[trafficface09]

found a siezed engine i wonder how hard that would be to fix, not only that but i still dont know alot about the conversion. however 35 quid i dont know...

[mab01uk]

found a siezed engine i wonder how hard that would be to fix, not only that but i still dont know alot about the conversion. however 35 quid i dont know...

Check out this site for some good IMP engine technical info..........
http://www.imps4ever...ech/engine.html