Thread: Holden 308 in '83 Classic. Anybody got one?

I worked on a RRC with 327chev and th400 auto so my guess is that not a issue at all, Like any conversion be prepared for some shoe horning

I've seen and heard a Classic powered by FORD. 351 or so very nice gutsy inches. It's buried somewhere in here...

There is a strong possibility that the blue oval will be adorning his grille / tailgate...

I had one with a Holden stroker, (336) and Turbo 400, went OK, but boy was it thirsty. 300 odd K's to the tank. Substituted this for a 6.5 chev diesel, same power, better fuel economy, biggest waste of time ever. Personally go an injected motor, or jap diesel.
Good luck

Originally Posted by Vern

I had one with a Holden stroker, (336) and Turbo 400, went OK, but boy was it thirsty. 300 odd K's to the tank. Substituted this for a 6.5 chev diesel, same power, better fuel economy, biggest waste of time ever. Personally go an injected motor, or jap diesel.
Good luck

I was under the assumption that a five litre would find it easier than a 3.5 when it was connected to a manual?

I've seen enough 308 Holden motors fail in heavy service to poison me for life. They were never that reliable even in Holden sedans. Cracking heads. Overheating in Statesmans towing horses, overheating in my mate's FJ45 Land Cruiser. Not only is the motor heavy but not particularly economical in stock trim. Any conversion you do with anything other than a Rover V8 immediately raises the question of engineering, exhausts, adaptors, cooling systems, non stock parts to break, and cost of fitting. The engine itself is the smallest part of the job. Unless you find a converted Rangie or a complete conversion second hand, I wouldn't bother. Oh and the position of the distributor is right up against the firewall, an absolute bugger to work on.

A friend of mine (a tree feller, uses the clutch a lot) has a 350 Chev in an old 2 door running the 4 speed manual. It drives well but because the spigot bush is specially made it doesn't work as well as a stock one. He's paid four times to have the trans pulled to replace a dried out spigot bush. Now he's given up. His replacement is a Holden 308 auto powered 4 door he picked up cheap in Victoria, it has issues all over the place but at least the auto keeps working most days.

This is why I suggest the best engine you can fit is a 4.6 Rover high comp engine with a suitable towing cam, everything bolts on in the stock position and in a couple of days you're mobile.

It's funny how a little thing like a spigot bush can undo a whole car. Why was it drying up?

Originally Posted by Davo

It's funny how a little thing like a spigot bush can undo a whole car. Why was it drying up?

You can't machine a sintered bronze bush without destroying the porous surface it needs to get stored oil onto the shaft. There should have been a Rangie bush in a new adaptor holder but it's not my call to do the job for him.