186 or 202 - which is the better engine

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Originally Posted by Fluids

[snip]
I'm not a holden expert, but wouldn't a 173 or 186 be a better choice than a 202 ? (for offroad ... onroad is a different kettle of fish)

... and his 202 would scream its tits off onroad ... bad choice for a series lr imho.

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It all comes down to cam choice, then everything else revolves around that.
The 202 has a longer stroke and obviously more cc's than the 186 so to me that says it's ultimately able to make more torque at a given rev point.

blue 2850 is the best choice.counterwieght crank-12 port head.
reduced bearing cleances.EFI 3300 was very good at producing usable power .the 3300 black was OK but cranks and valve guides tended to fail at the end like a build quality issue--I did lots under warranty.easy to check when rebuilding.

186 didnt have the steel crank-many say it was in the 186S but ive not found that to be true.149 all had steel cranks.metal timing gewrs was a factory option.XU1 had better oil pumps.

149 and 161 was the engine of choice for pre 1975 conversions to bypass rego issues in NSW by government and councils..the engines some times are latter replaced with bigger versions.

!79 HP was the engine of choice for rebuilds.small block mods are needed to fit blue/black cranks.

american chev was called starfire as well i think people get these confused.starfire blue internals are much improoved.

australians like tourque but i think the smaller blocks are better.
compratio is a non even-lots of different types but the black is best for shape and learn how to adjust rolla rockers and solids.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Davehoos

blue 2850 is the best choice.counterwieght crank-12 port head.
reduced bearing cleances.EFI 3300 was very good at producing usable power .the 3300 black was OK but cranks and valve guides tended to fail at the end like a build quality issue--I did lots under warranty.easy to check when rebuilding.

[snip]

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Dave, getting off track here, but I've read that the 2850 blue block is the best for a performance build up (well in excess of 200HP) when bored out as it has better core thickness than the 3300 block.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Davehoos

blue 2850 is the best choice.counterwieght crank-12 port head.
reduced bearing cleances.EFI 3300 was very good at producing usable power .the 3300 black was OK but cranks and valve guides tended to fail at the end like a build quality issue--I did lots under warranty.easy to check when rebuilding.

186 didnt have the steel crank-many say it was in the 186S but ive not found that to be true.149 all had steel cranks.metal timing gewrs was a factory option.XU1 had better oil pumps.

149 and 161 was the engine of choice for pre 1975 conversions to bypass rego issues in NSW by government and councils..the engines some times are latter replaced with bigger versions.

!79 HP was the engine of choice for rebuilds.small block mods are needed to fit blue/black cranks.

american chev was called starfire as well i think people get these confused.starfire blue internals are much improoved.

australians like tourque but i think the smaller blocks are better.
compratio is a non even-lots of different types but the black is best for shape and learn how to adjust rolla rockers and solids.

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hi i have i79 balanced crank ex eagers own land rover which was in a 80 inch he used on straddi for sale

2850 bored with 186 oversized was common and easy to get.
it ticks all the boxes----engine number-ADR27C.