Keep the 'beam alive
1969 SUNBEAM IMP PROJECT BENEFITING BC CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION |
1969 SUNBEAM IMP Purchased in Victoria, British Columbia on 27 September 2008. The seller (second owner) had it since 1977 |
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20081017 TRANSPORT Thanks in part to Richard Cox and his Land Rover, we towed the Imp from Victoria to Nanaimo. |
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20081026 ENGINE SWAP The original engine was seized. I won't know why until I take it apart. I had to bring a spare engine from Vancouver in the trunk of my Alpine. |
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20081108 TEST RUN After working out some of the bugs in the system, including a clogged fuel line and a fuel tank full of red sludge, the Imp made it first test run in over 15 years. Granted there is still lots of work ahead, but I was pleased to have been able to drive it home from Nanaimo to Vancouver. TEST RUN VIDEOS (MVI Format) |
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STAGE 1: Dismantle |
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Thursday 20081113 - Day 1 I needed a place to work on this car and could no longer conduct such projects in my apartment building. This was very frustrating. I was fortunate to have been granted the use of the secure parkade at work until the end of December. I need to get this project completed before the new year. 2009 will mark 40 years for this Imp. Also, it will be used for fundraising for the BC Children's Hospital Foundation. For the next four weeks, I booked off Friday and Monday from work so that I can maximize my time for this project. I walked around the car a few times and mentally visioned how the dismantle process should go. I decided that removing the exterior trim and lights followed by the interior then front to back and leaving the engine and suspension last. This way I can catalogue and store all the smaller pieces into boxes and leaving the larger items piled into a corner. |
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Friday 20081114 - Day 2 Today I tackled the dash. I thought this would be an easy deal - wrong. This part always frustrated me specially on the Alpine. The wiring on this Imp was an easier removal as it had connecters. The frustrating part was having to remove the obscurely located steering support bracket in order to slide the dash out. The other issue was that I had to properly label some of the wires to better identify later but also some wires were cut and others mated with different colours. |
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Saturday 20081115 - Day 3 Dismantling the driver door took me better part of an hour. Sometimes I question these tightly designed engineering and obscure mounting points. An interesting note, the cross bracket underneath the bonnet had one beam whereas the earlier models had a "X" beam. I suppose another Chrysler cutback. One benefit is that it is lighter. |
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Sunday 20081116 - Day 4 By now I am making good progress. I may even be ahead of schedule. I have logged in over 15 hours. The dismantle has been easier than previous Sunbeam projects, partly due to minimal rust. There are the odd screws or bolts that require extra persuasion followed by key choice of four letters words to remove. Currently, the screws that hold the back support plate of the rear seat may have to be drilled out. |
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20081120/21 - Days 5-6 By now I have removed the engine out for the third time. With the transmission removed and ancillary parts, only small items remain. In fact, I am right on schedule. |
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20081128/29/30 - Days 7-9 It's crunch time. By now, I have logged in over 35 hours dismantling the Imp. Practically, every nut and bolt was removed. Only the front and rear axles will remain on the car for easy of mobility to and from the media and paint. I have a second set of axles that will be cleaned and painted and installed on the newly renovated Imp. |
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STAGE 2: Media Blasting |
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20081201 Monday - Day 10 Towed to Airstrip media blasting. |
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STAGE 3: Body work & Paint |
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20081209 Tuesday All done at Airstrip. Now it's off to Arbor body shop for some colour. |
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| AT ARBOR BODY SHOP | ||
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20081222 Monday Making progress... virtually rust free with minor dents to work out, it is estimated for completion in early January |
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20090119 Interior painted |
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20090127 |  |
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20090129 Delivery |
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STAGE 4: Assembly |
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STAGE 5: Drive |
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