The unpainted cars behind their die-cast inspirations in L-R, Hartwell, Bevan, Kitson, Fraser colours
After Driffield we were looking forward to the Keith Wood Memorial Rally at 3 Sisters.
We got the gearbox back from Dennis @ Transimp after he fitted a new diff assembly. We fitted it when Alan brought the car back from cleaning it up, couldn’t finish the job because I left most of the important bits at the barn!
The day before the rally we finished checking it over and Alan took it for a spin then it was on the trailer tucked up for the night. Up early Sunday and off to the circuit with a grey miserable start to the day. As usual we were the last at scrutineering, and our scrutineer fell for the Imp and couldn’t stop enthusing, the last thing he said was ‘look after my car’!
The first set of stages were run anti clockwise, so we went up cowards summit, round the left hander, and down the hill to the conrod straight. The car drifted a bit on the top of the hill then as we followed the left hander the front lost all grip and we were heading towards two piles of tyres, which would have made a mess of the car. Alan managed to put the car to the right of the tyres, which left us with the tyre wall on the drivers side, which we hit with the osf corner which lifted the back of the car into the vertical then over onto its roof on top of the tyre wall then rolled back off the wall onto the circuit back on its roof, and all over so quickly.
So there we were lying upside down and I was about to undo my harness, when Alan stopped me, reminding me that if I dropped on my head I could damage my neck. I agreed to wait if he turned the fuel pump off! Once the marshals arrived they opened the door, one climbed in under me and I dropped on his back and crawled out followed by Alan.
The car looked in a pretty sorry state lying on its roof, and it was not until we had been checked over by the medics and stage 1 had finished did we push it back onto its wheels and moved it to the infield. Alan and I went back to the paddock to wait for the car to be recovered after stage 2.
I thought the day was over, but when we looked at the car there was no broken glass, no suspension damage or roll cage damage thanks go to Gez, Keith and the other lads, who set about the car and satisfied the scrutineers who were very helpful and fair and did all they could to get us back in the rally.
The car started first time so we lined up again on stage 4, we were out of the competition so started at the back to keep out of the way of cars still in the competition. The car, as usual, didn’t miss a beat for the rest of the afternoon and as the track had dried out we could have a bit of fun. I think Alan knew that he wouldn’t be driving the car for a while so he pushed it harder than I have ever seen him drive it. On stages 10 &11 he set the 13th fastest time overall only 10 seconds slower than the overall winner.
Bruised and battered we completed 9 of 12 stages and were very happy with what was left of the car, and surprised at the number of crews who acknowledged the fact that we carried on. The car is now at the barn waiting for a spot in the workshop to repair it in time for the Northwest stages.
Armstrong Massey Rally Driffield Airfield Yorkshire.
Something must have been drawing us to Yorkshire this year, our first foray into uncharted rally territory and the Imp National. Our service crew, Jimmy, Keith and I set off on Saturday with car, tent etc and after driving through torrential rain, mixed with some sunshine, we arrived at Driffield, when the sun came out to stay.
I took the car to scrutineering while the guys set up camp. No problems with scrutineering. Once I had the pass the scrutineer said ‘of course you know its not a Sunbeam’, “Hold on skippy”, was the reply. I build these for a living and I have owned one since I could drive so carry on……… The Sunbeams have a coupe roof on them. He now knows the difference between a Stiletto and a Sunbeam Imp Sport, done in the nicest possible way. That happened twice that weekend.
After a wet and windy night the day dawned………… that’s about sums it up. Following a bit of Jims breakfast and the arrival of the driver it was time for stage 1. To quote from the final instructions Stage Surfaces, “most of the stage surface is concrete or tarmac, some of this is broken up or uneven, so the event should now be considered wholly smooth, a small part (less than 5%) of each stage is loose surface and this can be fairly rough in places. Competitors should ensure they have suitable tyres to cope with the varying surfaces”.
We are talking major understatement, at the end of the first stage the car looked as if it had been dropped into a bog, but we made it passing a lot of dead modern cars. Stage 2 was a rerun of 1 and we went up the banking to miss the water splash. Stage 3 added a chicane which I only spotted at the last moment concentrating on the Peugeot on our left. Alan caught it in time and we let the pug pass but on the next corner there was a huge crack from the gearbox and it was the end of the rally.
We sat in the car for a stage and a half watching the cars pass, the Subaru’s and 6R4’s etc flying, but by the end of the rally more than half had dropped out. We enjoyed the experience but would have liked it a bit more Imp friendly. Still you have to try these new experiences.
This year at the National I am sponsoring the Scalextric challenge which Gez Newman is organising. Gez is putting together a 4 lane track covering an area of 8 ft x 16 ft. The plan is to have timed laps all weekend with 2 classes - class I for entrants who use their own cars and class II for entrants who use supplied cars. The final on Sunday will consist of the two fastest entrants from each class. In the final the cars used will be Impspeed prepared imps from
www.traffic-modelcars.com, one painted in Fraser colours, one in Hartwell colours, one in Bevan colours and one in Impspeed’s Alan Kitson colours. The cars will be given to the finalists in unmarked boxes so nobody will know which car they will race. After the race the cars will be the finalists to keep and an award for the winner of the final.
The cars are now built and waiting for painting – see photo:
The unpainted cars behind their die-cast inspirations in L-R, Hartwell, Bevan, Kitson, Fraser colours
Nice website,(thanks Gerry) shame about the lack of new stuff on there, could it be that I am so busy that the website is being ignored………. Yes.
Gerry Richards the infamous ‘web master’ is back in harness. He designed the site and got it up and running, then came up to give Lorraine and I a lesson in keeping on top of it, but as you can see that was a waste of time. So I will send updates to him and he will keep it up to date.
Work is still piling in. There is a Rally shell in the workshop with ‘history’, if only we can find out what the history is. The car is stripped ready for welding, just waiting for ‘the apprentice’ to start on the bodywork.
Gordon’s Stiletto is painted now and going back together and looking good, except that I had too much lacquer left in the pot and there are even more runs than usual.
I am not a fan of the colour Gold Bronze but freshly painted it looks very good. I have used a Rover colour which is very close to the original and can be repeated should we need.
Now the bits of missing powder coated parts are back I can carry on with it.
We are about to lift the body off John Taylor’s Ginetta G21 , I had originally planned to clean the chassis with the body still on but it seems a much better idea and easier to take the body off and do it properly, like the M series TVRs I used to do. I just hope it is as easy as the TVRs were.
Richard Gillespie’s Stiletto is over from Ireland which came as a fill in job just requiring painting but he job grew and grew. More welding required, new top tint screen, gearbox rebuild, shocks and Montes, paint the engine bay, strip the engine, get the head ported etc. etc.
Bob Ross’s Clan came back to have a dog box fitted and a few other small jobs. Then we have a day at Aintree with Gerry and I setting it up on the track (see ‘Competition’). Jim McKenzie’s Frasier is back with us without its engine fitted. I have since fitted the engine and hope to get it going.
We have been accepted on the North West Stages Rally on Saturday February 16 2008
In around Blackpool cant wait go to www.nwstages.co.uk for more info.
PLEASE NOTE NEW EMAIL ADDRESS IS: impspeed@hotmail.co.uk
It gets longer and longer between write ups, so while I had a bit of spare time over Christmas I decided to try and summarise the year. I hope you all had a good Christmas and will have a prosperous 2008.
Jim McKenzies Fraser is almost complete now, just a few bits to finish off and it is down to Dennis at Transimp to have the engine fitted. We are hoping to take it up to Alan Fraser when it is finished because he is still showing interest in the project.
I also had a tidy up in the workshop over Christmas and sorted the stores upstairs, its never been tidy up there so everybody who comes in has to have the tour.
The workshop has just the Fraser and Gordons Stiletto in while I attempt to keep the projects down to a minimum and not litter the place up with work that is just collecting dust. I have promised Gordon that his Stiletto will be ready for April and I had better stick to that because he has been without it for too long. Being self employed, it is always difficult to turn work down when it is offered.
The paint problems appear to have a solution, restorers of cars over a certain age will still have supplies of two pack paint if they register with the local council, which may be the only stumbling block.
The rallying has been a highlight this year, even Anglesey, which was quite traumatic. The new circuit is stunning and the location must be the best in the country. Alan Kitson?s car is now in pieces (although not as many pieces as I would have liked). It has been six years since we built the car and it?s time we stripped the suspension and running gear to check it and rebuild it, replacing any parts worn. The gear box is already away because Alan had trouble selecting second gear going down the box and when I drained the oil out it was a lovely gold colour! We went to the Autosport Racing Car Show this weekend to collect some new seat belts and some other bits so that we can get the car finished in time for the next rally, which is hopefully the North West Stages on February 16th in and around Blackpool. It will be our first multi venue event and we are both looking forward to it, but that doesn?t give us much time.
We have added more weight than I would have liked with spot lights, horns, spare wheel, tools etc, so it seems that the two fat gits inside need to go on a diet as well. I weighed in at 13.5 stones after Christmas, the heaviest I have ever been , I will keep a record of how its going, but if you hear nothing you can assume its not going well.
It wont help that we are going to the ANWCC awards dinner, somebody won the award for novice co-driver (I must be the oldest novice ever). I think we may have to build an awards room, that?s 6 now. I promise not to drink too much, I promise not to drink too much, I promise to enjoy myself.
If we get an entry for the North West Stages any support will be welcome. There is always lots of interest in the Imp but its nice to see some of the Imp Club there. The rally is based at Pontins in Blackpool and anybody staying the night gets free entry to the stages so make a weekend of it. There are stages at six venues and two visits to the spectacular promenade stage.
Entrants are asked to obtain sponsorship for the Marie Curie Cancer Care, the chosen charity so anybody who wishes to help please donate, I will put details on the website.
Heres hoping we get an entry.
Ron.