Thread: Holden 202 into series 3s

A friend has just restored a Marina coupe 2.6 with 3speed box. He had K Mac make up a Bathurst front anti roll bar .

Engine was rebuilt maybe 100 km ago using a copper head gasket as he was wary of the lack of distance between cylinders. Loaned it to his son last week who made about 50 km when the head gasket failed.
Head gaskets are a known problem but a stock type would probably have been better. One peculiarity of the motor is that the exhaust manifold drilling’s go into the head bolt drilling’s so you have to be careful to use thick washers or you never get the head bolt tension correct.
I had an Austin 1800 once and was a good car and I drove a fully loaded Tasman up the Goulburn valley with a Datsun 1600 trying to pass but couldn’t.
Regards PhilipA

Originally Posted by ian4002000

You mentioned an ElCamino , i dont think these would have a Holden 6 cylinder in them.I suspect you may have some type of Chevrolet 6.

Can you post photos of the engine you have ?

we might be able to identify it

Ian
Bittern

Holdens were re-badged as Chev's in SA. (The other SA, South Africa )

Originally Posted by PhilipA

A friend has just restored a Marina coupe 2.6 with 3speed box. He had K Mac make up a Bathurst front anti roll bar .

Engine was rebuilt maybe 100 km ago using a copper head gasket as he was wary of the lack of distance between cylinders. Loaned it to his son last week who made about 50 km when the head gasket failed.
Head gaskets are a known problem but a stock type would probably have been better. One peculiarity of the motor is that the exhaust manifold drilling’s go into the head bolt drilling’s so you have to be careful to use thick washers or you never get the head bolt tension correct.
I had an Austin 1800 once and was a good car and I drove a fully loaded Tasman up the Goulburn valley with a Datsun 1600 trying to pass but couldn’t.
Regards PhilipA

Tec.jpg Technical Bulletin from 1972 about head bolts. Those 6cyl Marina's went like a cut cat but handled like a Billie cart , They would been better off using McPherson front suspension instead of the Morris Minor torsion bar , They were much better with the telescopic shock absorber kits fitted & modified top ball joint bush kit. The early steering rack clamp's didn't help either allowing the rack to move sideways in the clamp's . Here is a couple of more Tec Bulletin's
tec 1a.jpgtec 2a.jpgtec 3a.jpg

Originally Posted by 1950landy

The Mini was a great car as well . I have owned two Mini's , around six M1100's but never an A1800 but wish I had. The Mini is a great young person car , the M1100 was a grate car for the wife & kids , were the A1800 was the ideal family car with ample interior room , comfortable seats large boot & adequate power from the engine , to add to that the ride & handling was superb . They all excelled in these rolls. The Mini was the most trouble prone but I think that was due to the age of the owners not the cars . We had few warranty clams for M1100's & A1800's compared to Mini's until Leyland take over when the quality control dropped & cheaper components were sauced to cut costs.
I would own all three of these vehicles today if I had the room to house them.

I had an 1800 ute pass through my hands around 40 years ago. I'd LOVE to still have that. Ditto the Cooper S, which was a hoot just going to the shops.

My sister and her husband had an 1800 ute. Found several serious issue with it - rear suspension arm twisted - not up to the load on rough roads, and inadequate ground clearance resulting in a holed sump - same problem encountered with their Morris Minor "school car" and their daughter's Morris 1500.

Originally Posted by 1950landy

it was a toss up weather the A1800 or the Morris 1100 was the better vehicle .

I can assure you the 1100 was not a great car - I had the 1300 version and it was the worst car I have ever owned - reliability was zero.

Originally Posted by 101RRS

I can assure you the 1100 was not a great car - I had the 1300 version and it was the worst car I have ever owned - reliability was zero.

When you say 1300 are you referring to the M1100S which had a 1275cc motor which was a detuned Cooper S motor.
The M1100 was a great car but the M1300 automatic was better than it's sister the M1500 manual . now they were a heap of rubbish , overheating , blown head gaskets , timing chain & guide failure , water pump failure , cheap trim & switches, Front brake callipers, , gear box synchro 's braking & synchro surface on the gears falling off & gear change cables getting damaged from hitting things & leaking oil. When we did a gearbox there was a good chance we would have to pull it out after the test drive because the synchro rings would brake on the test drive . The Mini's also had synchro problems during this period , they had changed there supplier to cut costs which did not work due to the extra cost of repairing the boxes under warranty . The dealership also sold Daihatsu even with the F10 4WD's having transfer case bearing problems , warranty clam's for them were les than one per month were with Leyland it would have been 100 or more.

A car salesman who's family had owned several dealerships, including a British Leyland one, once told me that even when taking customers for test drives in P76's, they were plagued with issues. He said you would be driving along and see a windscreen wiper just fly off over the roof, then on arriving back at the dealership, and a piece of body trim would be gone. He always maintained they had the makings of a good car, but just needed about another $200 spent on them in the production stage, to ensure better quality control.

Cheers, Mick.