Its mental seeing such a huge flywheel and bellhousing on an imp box😂 well done cant wait to see AND hear it driving🤞🤞🤞🤞
I have a soft spot for the little Imp (my first car) and RV8's are my engine of choice , great video great project
Such madness is magical back in the mid 70's a mate of mine fitted a Rover 3.5 V8 into a Sunbeam Stiletto the engine replaced the back seat and i think he used a modified VW gearbox
WoW labour of love. Well done.
Absolute madness, love it.
back in the day many moons ago i remember seeing an imp stock car racing with a rover v8 fitted, it passed everything i think it even lapped the all the cars at least once and oh that sound magic 🙂.
When I first saw the thumbnail, I thought you were going to be welding two banks of cylinders together Allen Millyard style . Still an utterly bonkers project and I'm green with envy of your engineering talents . Looking forward to seeing the finished job .
If my memory serves me correctly, there was a Roots project to make an Imp V8
Pretty wild ... Good luck..
Pretty dang impressive welding those bell housing parts together and get everything to line to where it will function.
I'm glad you decided to weld your gearbox bits together. Doing it yourself all the way. Total madness of course. 4.6l Husky van. Ace
True British spirit have a go and see what happens love watching your content love imps put a bike engine into one years ago and sprinted it passed my driving test in one at 17 keep up the good work buddy
I had a stock hillman imp when I was a young whipper snapper , all I can say is your a very very brave man , at 50mh the front was very jumpy , I used to carry a bag of cement in the front boot . 🤣 good luck guys .
I fully approve of this madness.
Excellent content 😁👍
Crazy idea - I hope it goes well. You'll need a right big bag of concrete in the front to steady this one up!
Nice! My friends 140bhp 1040cc screamer hillclimb Imp had Jack Knight internals & lsd, but he kept splitting cases. He rectified this with a steel belt brace. I had a Ford 1300 x-flow in my '65 Imp then sold it to a friend who fitted an lsd & a 150bhp 1700cc x-flow with van half shafts. It wheelied, but kept twisting the heavy duty shafts! The Lotus donuts suffered too! Looking forward to seeing it progress. You could get a cv joint drive shaft conversion made. Cheers. Leigh. PS: I'm building my 19,480 mile '74 Viva HC P38 4.6 V8 at the moment!
thanks, yes aggressive starts on the hill not kind to the box! good luck with the project 👍
I endorse and approve this project. I really, really want to see (and hear) it moving under its own power.
Ill be watching this one right through... love it.
I too love these sort of projects. Back in the day we did not have access to cheap tig welders lathes etc. These days problem is it's sacriledge butchering old classic cars!...I never would have thought one day the then much maligned Hillman Imp a classic!
@@patbutete1722 And it's growing in status. I have an Australian GT version now listed as $25k au.
Brilliant.
Just love watching your videos Andy , yes you are Mad , but a very clever Guy , can’t wait to see how it turns out👍
"Plonk a 4.6 V8 in the Husky to tow my Bond Bug to the track", sounds perfectly reasonable to me.
I had an Imp, brilliant car, brilliant engine.
I love the madness. You have crazy ideas and then the skill on expertise to carry it out. It will sound sick. I wonder if it could wheelie? 🥳🥳
Wow what a thing to take on, Testing your engineering skills like that IAM sure you will learn a lot a long the way
reminds me of the Chevy 350 into a Pontiac Fiero conversions.....hope the Hillman gearbox holds up as well as the little Pontiac box did....was fun to get one up on a lift.. the tiny gear box dangling off the back of the big V8 was quite a laugh...
Oh yes, mate . You are most definitely certifiably mad😂!!
I absolutely loved this video and what you’re doing there. Totally nuts, fella. Keep ‘em coming. Your a man after me own heart.
Hi, awesome work. Looking forward to next stage. Many thanks from Nr Chester.
Mega, I want this to work, then hear and see it run. Great video Andy
Would you not have been better to find an old Coventry Climax F1 engine which were V8's all based on the pump engine that was the basis for the IMP! I take my hat off to you for trying, A good alternative to the V8 would be the Subaru EJ 2 or 2.5 ltr 4pot or even the 6 cylinder. Suberu also made a 2wheel drive trans-axle that looks compact enough to replace the IMP box without any serious body mods! The linkage is almost identical and it gives 5 gears!
Good project, hope you can get insurance on it when finished. Thanks for posting
Ok, doing hillclimbs in a Reliant 3-wheeler?! Think we need to know more about that to! Off to search through your other videos.
thanks, the bond 875 is another subject that i would love to do a video on, just a touch busy at work at the moment to get near it.
A racer at Lydden Hill circuit raced an Imp with a Rover V8 shoe horned into it. It was great on the straight but rubbish in the corners. Great fun watching it though on Grandstand on the BBC.
Don.t be tempted to put super sticky wide tyres on your Husky V8.Put low grip tyres that will easily break traction acting as a sort of fuse should you give it a bootfull!...Better than replacing a geabox every 5 seconds lol!
I would have used two 4 mil plates, welded one to the gearbox casing and the other to Rover "bell housing". Then bolt the two together, no need to worry about welding pulling it out of alignment. Attach a rod to the end of Rover crankshaft and attach a dial gouge so that it sweeps the inside bearing bore on the gearbox casing. Once it is centralized, drill, ream and install a couple of dowel pins to keep the alignment. Interesting project, following..........
thanks, yes that would have been a much better way of doing it ! i will remember that for the next crazy swop !
Brilliant Andy! Mental, but brilliant 😀
Well... Project Binky is almost done...
A long time ago I had a Ginetta G15 with a 998cc stage 1 engine. I cant even imagine what it would have been like with this slight mod! (Would have had fun finding out though!)
I think it's utterly brilliant although a bit on the mad side , but I suppose that's the way us Brits roll , I'm still learning on my TIG & hopefully your welds & the box will hold ! The tolerances were just astounding considering how the car industry was in the 70's , really interested to see how it all pans out well done for just having a go🎉🎉🎉🎉
@@thehillmanatorOh yes in so many ways , best of British for this exceptional build!
You are increasing capacity to 5.25 times that of the engine that gearbox was designed for.... Wow !
Hi Andy in the 70's Bob baxter built an imp with rover v8 using vw transaxle appeared in hot car magazine call child of the devil
Ohhhh that sounds like it will fly 😳😀😀
Just found your site, love the madness. I’m of an age where Imps where fairly new cars. You obviously know what your doing and have all the kit. I’m asking a question out of curiosity and in no way criticizing what you’ve done. Why didn’t you split the gearbox after the diff housing? I ask this knowing absolutely bugger all about imp gearbox’s.
Thanks, i just needed that seal housing diameter to line up the input shaft, perhaps if i had split the whole box and put a shaft through the whole lot it would have made the job easier 👍
Yes you're defiitely mad, but not too mad! Loving it, hope you can get the time to get the next episode out soon. Can we have a sneaky peak at the Husky this is going into. I suppose those old Hewland Engineering 'boxes that the grass racers used to use are rare as rocking horse shit now? Weren't they a vw transaxle with re-engineered internals. Looking forward tyo seeing this one driving, judging by the amount of progress in episode one we shouldn't have to wait too long. Great work!
Renault 25 Transmission is what you need From memory the cross pin in the diff on the later transmissions is thinner than the early ones Yes V8 Mid engined Imp been there .
The UN1 transaxle is significantly longer than the Imp box, I doubt it could be fitted without a lot of modification to the rear suspension mounts and floorpan. An early Boxster transaxle is fairly compact and cheaper and easier to find than the UN1 and wouldn't need to be mounted upside down or have the diff flipped, but it's still quite a bit "fatter" than the Imp box. Edit: just saw you mentioned mid engined, isn't Andy making this rear engined as per regular Imp?
thanks yea i really don’t want to alter the husky shell, it’s just for a bit of fun with the plan to revert back at some point.
@@ferrumignis Needed the rear wheels moving back think it was 8 inches but the overall car lenght was the same used modified ford focus struts on the rear with fully adjustable arms
Yep, you’re mad. Your welding is shit and I love the attitude!
Looking forward to more.
Cool project ! Isn't necessary to improve the box case by adding more or augmenting ribbing?
thank you, the box is surprisingly strong, provided it’s set up correctly.
Can you get very long diffs? I had a Ginetta G15 with a 998 engine and it revved its heart out all the time. 80 was over 5000rpm. Frantic enough with an imp engine but with a V8 would be worse still!
I've built loads of 4.6 engines, usually with big valve heads and all the other 'tuning stuff' that I could lay my hands on, I admire your efforts but I really don't think your gearbox is going to last 5 minutes! Rover used the LT77 box in many cars and even that doesn't like sitting behind a 4.6. (well not if you use the 4.6 in anger).
Sure the imp gearbox wont last 5 seconds used in anger behind or should that be in front of a 4.6 V8.People said the same thing the Anglia box behind a 3 litre Zodiac V6! ..It will last if you don't pull wheelies all day!
@@patbutete1722 I with a friend of mine put a 3 litre Capri engine into a 1600E Cortina in the mid 80s. We used a Zodiac sump and mated the V6 to the stock 1600E gearbox with a Corsair bellhousing. He went through 3 gearboxes in 12 months, usually stripping 2nd gear overtaking stuff. He ended up putting in a proper 3 litre Capri gearbox.
@@ralphmillais5237 For the 4.6 projects that I've worked on I always go for the Borg Warner T5 (Cosworth) gearbox but with Quaife internals. (not a cheap box by any means!) This box clearly would be no use in the Imp.
@@sidecarbod1441 I used a T5 with a 4.3 in my Capri for years ,I only originally fitted the quaife fifth gear kit, it coped admirably for years, taking plenty of stick.The LT box was a massive lump and even they used to crap themselves behind even a 3.5 on carbs, as soon as any torque is applied I see this box leaving the chat😊, and almost immediately.
Is it a Rover Vitesse twin plenum version fuel injected twin turbo?😃 you'll need a slab in the front for sure.
ha ha i think i be better off with the low compression 3.5 on s.u”s! give the box half a chance.
It is going to need MORE cement bags in the front boot.😊
Does it run the same rotation as the imp?😮
It could be a prototype for the new Tatra minicar.
As long as you don't go stupid or suddenly floor the pedal the gearbox should be ok. Just don't put a lairy cam in it lol
Great conversion, but why don't you use the 3.5 version rather than the bigger one to go a bit easier on the gearbox?
Welding old cast ally is not easy and if you bought a TIG from an ebay bloke in Blackburn like I did I can sympathise, I sold it shortly afterwards and bought a branded one!
Great build but I thought 4mm plate to thin 6mm or 8mm better but it may be ok 👍
thanks, yes in hindsight 8 mm would have been more appropriate, hence the tie bars.
It was done decades ago here in Oz. 4.4 Leyland in the back seat with a Hewland VW based gearbox. Like all the rear engined V8 cars it was banned when the rules stated the engine must be in the original location in relation to the gearbox. Chev/ Type 3 VW,, Chev. Corvair/ Chev, Imp 289 Ford and a couple of others
As I understand this will be rear engined, substituting the Rover motor for the Hillman in a more or less stock location.
Thats certainly interesting, not sure how an imp gearbox is ever going to cope with a 4.6 rover, on my dyno even a mildly tuned 4.6 on twin su's wil chuck out 290lbft torque
@@thehillmanator so just 190lbft then, i admire your optomism and go for it attitude, keep it up :)
I thought that the Imp 'box was a weak link that limited the application of large power increases? I have not measured it but the o/a length of the Imp 'box must be close to the air-cooled VW 'box that can be built to take very large power outputs and the typical abuse that drag racing dishes out.
I looked at alternative engines/gearboxes for my Clan project and drew up the installation using a Scubbie + VW 'box, which fitted easily in the space, with capacity to accommodate a longer gearbox if necessary. Maybe this is an alternative engine route for an Imp?
From a practical stand point, surely the Husky isn't rated to tow a Reliant 3-Wheeler (+trailer?) whatever the power output of the Husky is without massive chassis strengthening that will put it in the realms of a BIVA?
yes its something iam going to have to look into before putting on the road.
Great bit of engineering Andy but can't see that standard box lasting long. I've always loved the idea of fitting a Rover V8 on carbs into the back of a Stilleto fast back like the old Autograss cars from the 1980-90's. The Boss "Jeff Hog" S270 Class 7 champion was a legendary car from the era always one that everyone longed to see it always seemed to win and sounded great on open pipes 4.3 Rover V8. Great clip here they always used a hewland gearbox czcams.com/video/i21q94gYHTk/video.html
I've usually found its traction that kill boxes and axles, I wouldn't imagine great traction unless on slicks so might surprise on the longevity.
You've chopped mickys ears off the imp bell housing how you going to mount the silly slave
Basically, basically, very annoying. Have you ever listened to yourself. I like your idea of the V8 though.
i struggle to play back, not keen on sound of my own voice!!
yes my other nerve word is erm 😐
Do not hang it out the back,, Imps are very dangerous with th little alloy 4 let alone an V8
I suggest you take a look at James Ibbotson racing his Imp in the wet and then revise your beliefs.
@@ferrumignis ....Or Andy Dawson, George Bevan.Rosemary Smith who campainged Imps succesfully back in the 1970s. Cantekorous yes.Dangerous certainly not.
@@patbutete1722 Yep, lots of successful drivers have campaigned Imps, including the owner of this channel. Fantastic little cars that make for some very entertaining racing. I only mentioned James because of his antics in the wet, embarrassing the Escort rally lads with his sideways action 🤣
Your TIG welder, single phase and max amps ?
@@thehillmanator what can your m/c produce max and how many amps did you use to weld the bell housing Ta rob NZ
Absolute madness, love it.
Your knowledge of Imps is incredible. In the 70's I wanted to mid-mount a Ford Taunus V6 in an Imp for hill climbing. I forget the gearbox but it was possibly Saab. Lack of space, money and talent eventually canned the project but I've always liked the concept, so this build is fascinating to me!