Thread: how do you rate 6 cyl series rover engine

The six cylinder engine is, in my view, quite a good car engine, smooth, quiet, well mannered. However, with compression reduced for multifuel use as in the Landrover, it becomes rather thirsty, and unlike the four, does not stand up very well to the abuse it gets in this application.

Apart from the fuel consumption problem (although this is probably no worse than the Holden engine) it works quite well in the Landrover (much better than the Holden), provided it is given appropriate care (including things like regular tappet clearance checks) and is driven sympathetically. But for example, if overheated, much more damage is likely than would be the case with the four or even the Holden. And parts, while available, are more difficult to find than for either of these.

John

The six cylinder engine was introduced into the Land Rover range because of the marketing peoples need to compete with you-know-who. No other reason. It is a typical British engine of the 30's-40's. What I call the Early English Vertical School of Engine Design. Bulky, heavy, un-necessarily over-complicated, and not very good at the job. Like all too many British and Euro origin items, it needs regular maintenance and is not amenable to the negligible maintenance needs Australian and US operators are accustomed to with the American origin designs.

Similar marketing needs resulted in the Falcon Six in the Cortina and the Chrysler Hemi Six in the Centura, and the OHC BMC six in the Marina. These three totally changed the concept of understeer. Anything that came before them had only mild understeer in comparison. The Marina 6 in my opinion was bloody dangerous.

A slightly different marketing need resulted in the Opel and Sunbird engines in Torana and Commodore where GM-H marketeers needed a "four cylinder engine" to compete even though the six was a better performer and more economical. The buyers were conditioned to believe that a four was more economical so a four had to be provided.

G'day Olive Drab


I would have to agree with both JDNSW and Brian Hjelm on that question, the Rover 6 was a nice engine in the Rover saloons, but was a still-born in the Landrover(12 Mpg on a good day).
If you vehicle was a 4 cyl originally I would suggest you return it to the 2.25 litre motor if not I would suggest you modify the mounts and swap the bellhousing (if it needs changing) 6cylinder B/housing has top bolts at 11am & 1pm AND 4cyl B/housing has top bolt at 12.00 O'clock that is also the easiest way to tell if the vehicle was originally a 4 or a 6 this will determine if the engine mounts need modifying.


cheers

I have a rover six in my 2a and it is one of the smoothest engines i've driven.I really like it but the problem is in an LR they rev their head off which causes all the problems.In a saloon they go for ever but being a long stroke engine when they are pushed hard at highway speed they don't like it.I had no problems at all with mine after I geared it up(RR diffs) which brought the revs down and stayed under 100ks/hr.LR should have fitted the high ratio transfer in all series models,that is the biggest downer on the series models in my opinion. Pat

I am going to diverge at this point. It depends upon what you are doing with the car. The 4 cyl was a reliable engine that can be developed a little with performance tuning etc. If your Land Rover was a four cylinder chassis then fitting the Rover 6 is a tight squeeze and as you know the 6 cyl chassis moved the gearbox back.

If you want reasonable road speeds with a full load and good fuel economy the best conversion was the Holden 186A or 186S from a manual car. The 202 is thirsty as stated and suffers from overheating at times.

The Holden conversions get a bad rap from rivet counters and anoraks, but done correctly they out perform both of the Land Rover motors in carrying capacity, road speed, reliability and fuel economy. You can still get holden 6 cyl parts everywhere. Not something you can say for the Rover 6.

I currently own 5 Rover 6 cyl engines and 1 Holden engine and guess which ones on the road!

Diana

Use the better tuned 3ltr out of an early P6 car. Pull a stump out a idle and free running.
Tony

Originally Posted by Rangier Rover

Use the better tuned 3ltr out of an early P6 car. Pull a stump out a idle and free running.
Tony

Tony

I think you mean the P5 Rover car, (image below) the one you want is the 1962 P5 3 litre MkII with the Westlake head. The automatics have an 8 bolt flywheel/crank interface however you can use the flywheel off a 4 cyl Land Rover and the 9.5" clutch plate, with a Land Rover 6 cyl flywheel housing and gearbox bellhousing.

Addit: If contemplating the conversion to a Rover 3 litre. Also consider using the bonneted control 6 cyl Land Rover water pump adaption. The 3 litre and F/C pump use a small impeller where the LR one uses a larger diameter impeller with a lot more fins. The difference is an adapter plate fixed between the block and the LR water pump and worth the money in this hot climate.


The P6 (below) was the really good Rover car with the de dion sliding rear end and the 2 litre or the 3.5litre V8.



Diana

Yep thats the one. We had a pommy mechanic here in the late 80s and he used to swear by them, he did metion the flywheel and spigot bush had to be changed. When I was in the UK in 93 I came across a 107 S1 with this conversion and I was impressed with its perfomance. Always wanted to do one here but never got around to it.

Tony