land rover/valiant hybrid

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Originally Posted by Johnno1969

I don't really understand... Slants didn't have Hemi heads and they were 225ci. Is your engine a slant or a Hemi? Yep, I'd love to see some pics.

Thanks,

John

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Hey John, Neither 6 Cyl Val donk actually had hemi heads and the Hemi 6 was semi hemispherical at best.

Ive been spitballing the idea of replacing my 3.5 rover V8 with a 3.5 lt (225 cube) Slanty and adding a set of long runner manifolds and a 4bbl.

My reasons for using the slant are that they are cheaper to repair, parts are still available from the US because of their continued use in the early 90's as marine engines, they dont suffer from cam walk or oil pump issues nor do the dizzys handgrenade unlike the 215/245/265.

A bit of head work and a fancy intake and they boof along nicely.

Id also leave it slanted.

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Originally Posted by Johnno1969

That would be great, thanks. I look forward to it.

I think the bellhousings were quite different on Hemis and slants, from memory (it's over twenty years since I had anything to do with slants). i know all sorts of conversions have been done, like Borg warner single rails behind slants, so I guess anything is possible.

Maybe the slant wasn't used by some because of its orientation. There wasn't much space between the head and the inner guard on the driver's side on any Valiant with a slant in it; it must be very very tight in a Landy. Like you, I am keen to see pics of a Hemi in one. It was along time ago that I saw something like that, and when I was 21 I think I had less attention to detail...

I used to dream of having a Hemi in my IIA twenty years ago, but now I get all excited over my 2.25D, bristling with pre-war diesel technology. Funny, eh?

With all this said, I definitely remember hearing about slant conversions back when the engines were much more common. I remember a conversation late one night with a prospector who told me that they "bolt straight in" to a Land Rover. He was extremely drunk at the time. Actually, so was I.

As much as I like the IIA transmission, and have rebuilt mine and never had problems with it, I do not know enough about gearboxes to feel confident with a Val engine fronting something that was designed for such wee little British four cylinder jobs. Still, it has been done.

John

P.S. A push button auto on a Landy? I reckon I'd pay good money to see that......

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Aussie Slant 6 had a bigger footprint for driveline hookups because of the predominant use of the 904 auto's which are basically a smaller torqueflite with the exception of the 245/265 "S" Block which was produced by Tonsley park in the 70's because Borg Warner went on strike for yonks and Chrysler got sick of being held to ransom.

So the S block allowed them to use imported 904 and 727 trannies behind their 6's.

My only worry with using a Hemi 6 in a landy/rangie would be over revving the buggers in low range because unlike Landy and rangie v8's and 4's who dont mind a rev the Hemi 6 gets a bit testy over 4500 rpm (Cam walk again).

So unless youve spent a bit on the donk to get her to rev cleanly and added a nice balancer I reckon a rev limiter might be a good idea.

Cheers,
Tony
(3 VG's, a VK and many many more before that)

Didn't those long straight 6 motors also have crank problems at revs? Apparently the crank could twist a fair amount and even break off at a main join?

I managed a fleet of 70 rep's cars, all slant six auto. Valiants which replaced a mixed fleet of Holden and Ford. These were the most reliable and almost totally maintenance free cars I ever had to do with. Usually went through a four year lease period driven by heavy footed rep's with only routine services and replacement of wearing parts like brake linings. 300,000-400,000 miles on an engine without opening them up was the norm.

Their running cost per mile was lower than equivalent Holden and Falcon in spite of heavier fuel usage.

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Originally Posted by jakeslouw

Didn't those long straight 6 motors also have crank problems at revs? Apparently the crank could twist a fair amount and even break off at a main join?

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No, Ive had numerous Hemi 6 Vals in the past 28 years and never had a crank issue.

You may be confused with the cam issues especially the oil pump drive gears shearing as the Cams do float forwards although there is a fix for this its reliability at load and revs is suspect.

As for the Slant 6 (225) they are reliable as hell even 50 years down the track, Aus never got the 170 slant BTW, only the 225 and they are a highly under rated engine.

Tony

if your going to do a chrysler conversion you might as well go all the way
MoparMarket.com Forums • View topic - 440 BB range rover

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Originally Posted by mopar

if your going to do a chrysler conversion you might as well go all the way
MoparMarket.com Forums • View topic - 440 BB range rover

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Is that for me?

your already on mm arent you tony?
for the rest of you theres a lot of info on slants and hemis in the forum pages and you dont need to sign up to read it, might be worth a look

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Originally Posted by tony66_au

No, Ive had numerous Hemi 6 Vals in the past 28 years and never had a crank issue.

You may be confused with the cam issues especially the oil pump drive gears shearing as the Cams do float forwards although there is a fix for this its reliability at load and revs is suspect.

As for the Slant 6 (225) they are reliable as hell even 50 years down the track, Aus never got the 170 slant BTW, only the 225 and they are a highly under rated engine.

Tony

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all the hemi's ive had have enjoyed revs, the fix (being a thrust bearing on the end of the cam with an adjuster bolt through the timing covee themr) seems to be working finee on a lot of engines, but the e38's and 49's didnt have them and never seemed to be unreliable at revs.
slants only have 5 main bearings, maybe thats what your thinking of

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Originally Posted by mopar

all the hemi's ive had have enjoyed revs, the fix (being a thrust bearing on the end of the cam with an adjuster bolt through the timing covee themr) seems to be working finee on a lot of engines, but the e38's and 49's didnt have them and never seemed to be unreliable at revs.
slants only have 5 main bearings, maybe thats what your thinking of

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You beat me to it. A camshaft thrust bearing is essential on all high performance engines. Easy to do as you outlined. I have built up a number of hemis for various applications including some methanol engines for speedway which were somewhere over 300hp. Never had an oil pump problem. No need to fit a high volume oil pump either as the standard one is more than adequate. A good hemi will rev like a turbine. The later ones with the emission control camshaft are not revvers, being designed for low speed torque to meet the emission control requirements of the era. They really are a brilliant engine, light, compact, massive crankshaft,twelve huge ports and huge valves (in the 265). The only generic faults I can think of are valve guide wear which for some unknown to me reason is worse on cylinders 1 & 2, and the distributor location which has long runs of HT lead to nos. 1 & 2 often causing a miss which the unfamiliar find difficult to locate. If you have room underneath, a good modification is the much larger Centura sump if you can find one. For hard use fit a windage tray and baffles.

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Originally Posted by mopar

your already on mm arent you tony?
for the rest of you theres a lot of info on slants and hemis in the forum pages and you dont need to sign up to read it, might be worth a look

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Yep Matt I am mate.

Wasnt sure if you figured it out.