Thread: Holden 186 into Series 3 6 Cylinder Body

So I'll be the dissenting voice here and say "don't do it" - I would rather have a 2.25l land rover motor than a holden 6 in a land rover any day, and I currently have three land rovers all with holdens. It's generally speaking, a terrible conversion. In your position I would fix whatever butchery has been done in the fitting of the 4cyl rather than put in the holden. I am currently rebuilding two 2.25l motors to replace the holdens in two of my cars, the third car is becoming an EV.

BUT, if you're going to do it take the time to align the engine properly. DONT TRUST the adapter kits, they are almost all garbage. After looking at Mick's landys and chatting with him about problems with my SIIA I spent about half a day fixing the engine alignment on mine, to get the centre of the crank pulley in like with the centre of the hole in the front crossmember. This fixed a number of problems in my car, the main one being that the bellhousing was hard up against the bulkhead - a common issue in the conversions.

Originally Posted by akelly

So I'll be the dissenting voice here and say "don't do it" - I would rather have a 2.25l land rover motor than a holden 6 in a land rover any day, and I currently have three land rovers all with holdens. It's generally speaking, a terrible conversion. In your position I would fix whatever butchery has been done in the fitting of the 4cyl rather than put in the holden. I am currently rebuilding two 2.25l motors to replace the holdens in two of my cars, the third car is becoming an EV.

BUT, if you're going to do it take the time to align the engine properly. DONT TRUST the adapter kits, they are almost all garbage. After looking at Mick's landys and chatting with him about problems with my SIIA I spent about half a day fixing the engine alignment on mine, to get the centre of the crank pulley in like with the centre of the hole in the front crossmember. This fixed a number of problems in my car, the main one being that the bellhousing was hard up against the bulkhead - a common issue in the conversions.

I hear ya - the 2.25 is such a great engine. And aside from all the fitment issues and the ruined gearbox it actually runs pretty well.

Fear not - my plan is to swap the 186 into the 6 cylinder body truck and the 2.25 into the 4 cylinder body truck where it feels like it's meant to be.

I'll get the 2.25 rebuilt properly and take some time with that truck. More of a resto.

The 6 i'll keep dusty. I don't mind that it's not original, but I suspect I'll probably keep searching for the correct engine while the Holden does the work. IF the Holden does the work I guess.

Really good notes above thanks. I'll post some pics tomorrow of the two engines and bays before I get stuck in. It seems as though I'll need to take a lot more time if the swap is to be effective.

Originally Posted by gromit

Seems like Mick has helped with the brackets.

I eventually found a few pictures from the one I parted out.


Colin

Oh cool - thanks Colin. It's amazing how different the configurations are. I'll need to have another look tomorrow - ran out of time today. But having some idea of what I'm looking for is going to help.

I agree a 4 cylinder Land Rover engine would be better than a Holden 6 if the original vehicle was a 4 cylinder - just on ease of the conversion, but if it was originally the Rover 6 then I’d be very comfortable with a Holden 6 in its place. There’s nothing wrong with the engine as such but more the issues with fitting it.

Given the choice I’d go the Rover 6 - they are a beautifully smooth engine but I get why people don’t like them - they are higher maintenance and parts are becoming unobtainable. Took me 3 years to get together all the parts for a rebuild on one, and has cost thousands and I haven’t even had the block machined yet.

The Holden 6 is an easy engine to maintain and work on and parts here are easy and cheap - I couldn’t give away a running 186 a couple of years ago and sold a very good example recently for a couple hundred dollars.

Do what you need to do to get it back on the road.

One point I should make. Following conversions to Holdens, there grew the idea that the Series gearbox did not stand up to the additional power. However, it was eventually found that the gearbox failures were not the result of excess power, but of misalignment resulting from Holden adapter plates that were not made sufficiently accurate. Hence, After fitting the plate to the engine, the bell housing mating surface needs to be checked to ensure it is concentric with the pilot bushing and parallel to the flywheel face.

Hello Kane,

Following on from John's comment about problems with alignment - have a read of this thread

BEFORE FITTING A HOLDEN ENGINE CHECK ALIGMENT FIRST. Go to Page 2 and find Message 1 and start from there.


The thread details all the issues and how to remedy them.

Kind regards
Lionel

Originally Posted by Beautiful Machines

Hi team,

First post on the forum but I've been relying on the great info here for a bit before joining up. Great work.

I did my best to find info on this via the threads, so apologies if this is covered and I didn't see it.

I have two Series 3 trucks recently taken into my care, both with incorrect engines (and a billion other problems).

The problem I'd like to tackle first is the LWB Series 3, originally a 6 cylinder. A series 2a engine has been spammed into the thing at some point with a couple of lengths of old steel acting as adaptors. Can't believe it's been driven around like this. Needs to be sorted ASAP before the engine falls out.

Eventually I'd like to find a Landy 6 to put back. Haven't seen one I can afford so far. I DO have a 186 Holden which was in a Landy and which has the gear box adaptor. The person I took custodianship of the 186 from suggested that the Holden would fit onto the Land Rover 6 engine mounts with no adaptors or alterations.

This sounds too good to be true. Is it?

I THINK that the gear box and drive train are the original 6 cylinder gear. Some of the body panels are incorrect but I have a stash that can be matched up correctly once the mechanics are sorted. Any help appreciated.

Kane.

hi i have 3 miliry s 3 engines here for slae or parts jim

Originally Posted by Homestar

I agree a 4 cylinder Land Rover engine would be better than a Holden 6 if the original vehicle was a 4 cylinder - just on ease of the conversion, but if it was originally the Rover 6 then I’d be very comfortable with a Holden 6 in its place. There’s nothing wrong with the engine as such but more the issues with fitting it.

Given the choice I’d go the Rover 6 - they are a beautifully smooth engine but I get why people don’t like them - they are higher maintenance and parts are becoming unobtainable. Took me 3 years to get together all the parts for a rebuild on one, and has cost thousands and I haven’t even had the block machined yet.

The Holden 6 is an easy engine to maintain and work on and parts here are easy and cheap - I couldn’t give away a running 186 a couple of years ago and sold a very good example recently for a couple hundred dollars.

Do what you need to do to get it back on the road.

Three years and thousands of dollars won't support the plan to keep the 6 body truck on the road as much as possible while corrections are made. But I have a feeling I'll find an original 6 to sort through eventually. I HAVE a 186 right now so putting it into decent is a good use of on-hand resources I reckon.

I've been reading about alignment via the threads here. I think I understand what needs doing but I'll take my time. There's nothing less satisfying than a bad job and then spending a fortune to correct it.