Imp Electric Fan

The shaft driven fan on the Red Imp just wasn't moving as much air as I liked.  The advantage of the electric fan is that it moves just as much air at idle as it does when you are going down the road.  So if the car overheats, you can be assured that pulling over to cool down will actually cool adequately without MORE overheating.

Here's what I did.  I removed the stock fan and shroud along with the rubber.  I got an electric fan off an old Toyota in the junkyard.  I can't remember which model or year (sorry).  It was the same diameter as the Imp fan shroud.  I just created three clips to attach the two together.  It runs off the generator output.  This way the fan only comes on once the engine starts and doesn't steal any amps away from the starter.

Its not pretty but it works.  The air flow is from the engine compartment towards the front and under the car.

Imps going to Hershey

(It used to be Chocolate Town, USA but since Hershey Food Corp is now outsourcing so much that that title has been pass onto the town of Lititz... where they make Wilber Buds.  Mmmmm)

I just saw this photo and remembered going to the Hershey Vintage Hillclimb in 2008.  Too bad that this was the last Hershey Hillclimb forever.  We didn't know that at the time, so I'm glad we had such a good time helping out and being a part of history.

Autocross United 2008

Val and I had our first attempt at the autocross event at United 2008 in Potomac Maryland. Val's red Imp did very well. In my opinion it bested Eduardo despite his dual SU carbs and electronic ignition, even though our best times were exactly the same, the red car was doing it with a passenger and I was solo. Val was having a ball. It doesn't look fast from the stands... but behind the wheel it feels fast.


I got some wheel lift on some of my runs and was pushing fairly hard.  My harder tires were not helping resulting in sliding around the cones, where Val's softer tires allowed Lil Imp to just sail around the corners as if on rails.

Imp door latch repair

Here's my latest attempt to bring back life into a worn Imp door latch plate.  The hard steel star-wheel on the door wears away the soft potmetal of the door latch plate.  Over time grooves wear into the latch and make it impossible to latch the door without slamming it.

The first move is to put some washers behind it and move the contact point.  When this fails and the grooves just wear wider, then another solution is needed.

I then took and cleaned up the teeth of the latch plate, and even roughed them up.  This way the epoxy will stick better.  I coated the teeth with two-part epoxy and then fitted a thin stainless steel sheetmetal piece over top of the original potmetal.  This should prevent wear since the potmetal is protected and the stainless is a bit more resilient.  We'll see how it works.