8 replies to this topic

[Protarmic]

Hey there,

Was looking at imps lastnight, and it got me wondering if i could put an imp engine in the back of my mini, making it rear wheel drive? Apparently the imp had some decent suspension so you didnt oversteer with the engine weight to the back.. maybe both could be adapted for the mini. Has anyone seen this be done yet?

[Bungle]

thats if you could find a good imp engine spare anywhere

you have to remember a imp engine is going to be 30 odd years old now and engine technology has moved on

for all the hard work of fitting it you could find a much better engine

[Jammy]

Could do, would mean fabricating your own subframe though. And I believe the Imp engine was aluminium? So could be quite lightweight.

But there are better more modern engines that you could use where parts and spares aren't so hard to come by!

[Retro_10s]

too right, plus, the triumph engine was oringinally devised from a fire engine waterpump.... ooh the power.

[mini13]

Ahhh the good old imp engine.... what a cracker!!

derived from the coventry climax race engines, cappable of some pretty decent output, circa 120 bhp per litre. shame it was only available in 875 and 998 cc (and the 998s are RARE) although the talbot 930 block can be used...

as said spares are getting a bit sparse, plus the imp engine isn't a milion miles from a bike engine... small, 1litre, ally, high reving ect you may aswell use a bike engine, easier, more available and you get a free gearbox.

[*DJH*]

thats if you could find a good imp engine spare anywhere

you have to remember a imp engine is going to be 30 odd years old now and engine technology has moved on

for all the hard work of fitting it you could find a much better engine

Yeah that's true but don't ALL a-series cars derive from the early 50's.

[minivanman]

I'm sure I remember once seeing an imp engine grafted onto a mini gearbox. looked very shiney.

[Jordie]

the hillman imp only handles well with a couple of bags of sand in the front.

i agree with the rest, a modern engine with more available parts would be better

[fikus01]

if u could find a coventry climax v8 thats the liump to use, as stated fire engine pump driver originally but it revved to 10'000rpm hapily which is nice when u have a 2 litre V8 its all aluminium too i think so relatively lightweight!