Thread: Landrovers seem to generate interest everywhere

Did they fit Holden engines to the Series 1?

They being who?
I think backyard mechanics would have done. I expect Holden engines were more plentiful than Land Rover, or parts for and cheaper, to boot.

We recently ran into some distant neighbours near the property,SW Qld,they live on a property,about 65Km down the road sort of.

Seen them around spoken to them every now and then.Anyway,they just bought the property behind,another 40,000Acres.

Their son,who helps on the properties, had seen the D4,and said there is an old LR in the shed,come and have a look.So we had a look,an old S2,SWB,not bad condition except the tyres,virtually no rust at all,lots of dings and a home made bar.Rats have eaten the seats,but wiring was OK,LR engine but no air cleaner.Anyway he says,cant find the air cleaner.
Thats it i said,sitting on the beam next to a couple of chain saws.He had no idea about it.Couldnt believe it was the aircleaner.

So it's still there,the comment was "might fix it up one day,it might be worth a bit" Yer,yer,i thought,i am sure it will still be there untouched in 20yrs time.

Just like the couple of old Stouts out the back of the shed,and a really old Chev tray back small truck.
And the various Dozers and Tractors,quads,mowers,pumps,graders,bikes,Holdens, etc,etc,some in pieces.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

They being who?
I think backyard mechanics would have done. I expect Holden engines were more plentiful than Land Rover, or parts for and cheaper, to boot.

And more powerfull than Series engines.

Originally Posted by scarry

And more powerfull than Series engines.

Yep, them and wide wheels to break axles far more efficiently.

Originally Posted by V8Ian

Yep, them and wide wheels to break axles far more efficiently.

Hmm,yes,even the 2.6L 6 cyl broke axles,particularly in a loaded LWB.And ours often towed a loaded trailer as well.
The old man always carried a spare set.

A mate of mine had many S2's and 3's in New Guinea.He was saying the other day,when the rear axle broke,they used to drive them backwards up the muddy hills
That place is very rugged and tough on any vehicle.This was in the 70's,and 80's.

Sorry JD,we are getting off topic, for something different,but it is LR banter

That's OK. And yes, Holden engines were fitted to Series 1s. They were readily available - remember early Holdens rapidly turned into rust, but the engine was still good (as much as it ever was for an Edwardian OHV design).

And yes, they were more powerful than the Series 1 engine, especially the 1.5, although about the same as a 2.25 petrol. And because at this point over half the cars sold in Australia were Holdens, they were cheap as dirt and so were new parts, and these could be bought in any town. So it made a lot of sense to fit one rather than overhaul the old engine, using expensive parts (probably on back order), and an expensive engine overhauler. (And if you wanted a as new engine, an exchange Holden short motor would probably cost no more than a set of rings and bearings for the Rover engine.

Of course there were downsides - firstly, shoehorning it into an engine compartment that had to be enlarged even for the 2.0 Rover diesel, and making or buying an adapter plate (and many years later it became clear that the gearbox issues of Landrovers fitted with Holden engines were not because the boxes were weak, but because the adapter plates were inaccurately made, misaligning the input shaft). And then the rpm range of the Holden engine did not really match the Landrover gearing, although the low gearing made it pretty snappy at town speeds, even in fourth. This led to many being fitted with an overdrive. These were never cheap, and made the economic advantages of the Holden conversion begin to lose attractiveness.

And if you had steep grades you would find that the carburettor did not like steep slopes, and if you did a lot of it, you would also realise that the oil system did not either - although since these mostly involved low throttle opening, the results were mostly just unnecessary wear rather than sudden failure.

And in the Series 1 (and even Series 2/2a) era, there were little or no legal worries about engine conversions - even when these involved much more powerful conversions. After all, Holden were putting the same engine into a lighter and faster car with 8" brakes compared to Landrover's 10" or 11"!

Whenever I took my 80" to the North - West Rally on the back of our company truck LR 1998.jpg
every time we stopped for a coffee or something to eat, we would get held up by people who wanted to talk to us about the LR this would add about an hour or more to the trip. When the Rover Club Qld held the national Rove in Stanthorpe I was stopped towing the 80" on a trailer by the police a 7am doing breathalyser check just before Warwick, he did a quick check then kept me there for about 1/4hr asking about the 80".