Ibbotson automotive

Another TTV kit supplied and fitted with modified fork and suitable release bearing earlier this week.
Fitted to 1 of 5 Rootes department sand cast competition blocks, very special!
This is destined for a Davrian Imp, I’d love one myself one day!

Full race Imp TTV 140mm clutch and flywheel kit ready to go out to a customer racing in the Classic touring car championship. Complete with modified fork and suitable release bearing.

A must have kit for any serious race imp, we’ve seen what happens to iron flywheels when they’re lightened and raced with.

This lovely Ginetta G15 has been in for some work.
I’ve fitted a 998 Shrigley Imp engine which is an absolute dream to drive with. Sounds great with the Will Parry spec inlet/exhaust manifold and silencer.
A half cage has been installed and a general checkover of the car carried out.
It’s been out and about today at the Coventry motorfest.

Who knows their Imp gearboxes, spot 2 things wrong with this😂

BMW M3 specialist now!

A good friend of mine had a lot of work carried out by a well known performance car garage and the standard of work was less than satisfactory after a big bill.
One of the issues was the front diff bush failing after very few miles, we suspect this was something to do with all the bolts we found left loose😬
New bush fitted and a good spanner check on everything, it’s an incredible thing to drive👌🏻😎

A set of extended wheel studs and a throttle stop completes the work on the Fraser.
Wills has a couple more upgrades planned before we all head to Brands hatch next weekend 🏁

Work continues on the Fraser Imp in preparation for the next round at Brands Hatch.
I’ve refitted a proper clutch and flywheel setup for race use. I have also modified a clutch fork to work correctly with the supplied roller release bearing.

Another gearbox stripped and rebuilt, this time a box from a trials car fitted with a Ford diff.
Had to re-engineer the diff bearing carriers slightly to fix a major oil leak.

The Fraser Imp returns for some pre season prep.
Made up a solid gear linkage with new bushings to give a solid and direct gear change. Also modified the gear stick to suit the new owner.
Engine oil and filter change, brake and clutch fluid change and a general check over should see this car ready for the season ahead.
The first round of the pre66 touring cars is being helf at Silverstone on the GP circuit on the 25-26th of March.
Make sure you’re there!

Happy new year everyone!

Mk1 875cc Imp engine nearing completion and nearly ready for first fire up.

Lots of updates to bring you from since before the new year.

Sorting a few jobs on the tow car today whilst we’re in the quieter part of the year. The left rear brake caliper had started to seize up so I’ve rebuilt it with a set of new seals.
If you don’t have a hose clamp, take a pair of old sockets and some mole grips and that will clamp the flexi off just fine👍🏻.

Gear cables changed on a Citroen C2 VTS, 5th and reverse was unavailable when the outer sleeve snapped off😬

2 full sets of Mini Miglia dampers built today ready for the 2023 season🏁

Had a look over this Imp today for someone planning to build a racer.
Starting off with a good solid car can save lots of time and money in the long run whether you’re building a road car or racer.
Please get in touch for any consultancy on historic cars.

Great day spent with the owners of this race Imp. New Ibbotson spec dampers and springs fitted to the front and setup. This car will be receiving a few other upgrades over the winter and should be up in the sharp end of the grid next season👍🏻

Back on driving duties tomorrow sharing Simon Benoy’s very quick Imp in the 110 minute race at Brands indy 🏁

I’ve been very quiet on here since August, lots of success in the race car since then.
Now it’s time to get some work done through the winter and sort some Imps out 🔧

Please send me a message to enquire about any work 👍🏻

The main man at Shrigley engineering showing me the way round Goodwood🏁
A huge thank you is owed to Andy of Shrigley, with his magic engines we’ve been able to produce some incredible results.

Kept myself busy after Thruxton with this cool Imp.
Came in for some suspension and brakes work. I found a couple of other issues that got sorted before it tears round Goodwood at the Imp club trackday🏁

Quiz time

Can anyone tell me what car this is?

Correct answer wins 50 points⭐️

A successful morning installing the freshened up engine back in this Imp.

Another ongoing project is fitting throttle bodies to Chloe’s e36 compact. They’re from an e36 M3 so a pair has to go to fit them to the 4 pot M44 engine.
“Borrowed” an M44 head off a friend to make it easier adapting the throttle bodies to fit.

I’ve been working on the engine I removed a week or so ago, everything has been checked to make sure it’s flat. The head gasket had started to fall apart so it was definitely time for a refresh. Top of the block is cleaned up as is the head.
New gasket on its way so it can go back together👍🏻

The winner’s setup.

Coming soon…🏁

Spent this morning removing the engine from this lovely Imp local to me.
It seems to be losing a bit of water so I’m going to remove the head and check everything over.

Check out this Datsun 240Z Samurai.
I rebuilt the triple Weber’s last year for it, since then they’ve been fitted and the fuel tank removed for cleaning then refitted.
On Thursday i popped over to get it running and synchronise the carbs.
There’s a few little bits to sort out still but the noise when it came on song was epic.
It’s lovely working on some really interesting cars👌🏻

2 class wins at Oulton park🏆🏆

So after the gearbox rebuild on my car we took it to Goodwood for the retro rides weekender event. The car ran really well and the crowd loved seeing it at all sorts of angles.

It’s ready now to be loaded up to make the journey up north to Oulton park for tomorrows racing. See you there!🏁