Holden 173 in SIIa

[happykid55]

I am looking at buying an unregistered SIIa which will still need some finishing touches before roadworthyness. It already has a 173 engine, I have noticed it is a very common conversion to put the "red" engines in series land rovers. My question is does a 173 or similar conversion in a SIIa need an engineering certificate in order to be registered in NSW? I was under the impression that engineering was required if the engine increased displacement by a certain percentage or increased the number of cylinders from the stock engine, the number of cylinders has certainly increased, not sure about the displacement.
I may be wrong so any help appreciated!

[Homestar]

If it has previously been registered with the 173 in it, then you should have no problems. If not, then engineering will be required, but this is no huge deal - if it replaced a 4 cylinder engine, then the front crossmember would have been modded - this is one of the things they will look at, as well as the quality of the engine mounts, etc.

[happykid55]

Through further investigation, I now know that it was previously registered, so hopefully only a blue slip is required.
Thanks.

[Series3 GT]

The 173 isn't quite as common as the 186 but shouldn't be too bad a choice. It's a bit bigger than the 2.25 and as you mentioned it's got two more cylinders. The 173 is roughly a 2.8 so it's bigger but I don't what they produce in the way of power or torque. I'll find out.

[Homestar]

The 173 is no rocketship, but does provide more power and torque than the 2.25 petrol. Like all Holden red motors, they are easy and cheap to work on, and will run for ages without issue.

If it all checks out with the rego, don't be scared off by this motor - it will serve you well.

Cheers - Gav

[happykid55]

It also comes with a 202 not in the car, would it be worth swapping them over?
I have been told by others that they are more powerful and somehow more fuel efficient, although it seems this was their personal opinion.

[stealth]

See what clutch set up it has. That can be a pain in a..e.

[mudmouse]

Best check with the RMS (RTA) before you tip too much money into it...

My experience has been - in '93 I put a 202 in a shorty 2a. It went over the 'pits' as it was back then with no problems, the inspector said it was okay to be owner certified. In '97 I had let the rego lapse more than 3 months, so rego was cancelled. I later attempted to renew it and was told it needed a report. Got the report and got the rego. A few years later the rego lapsed beyond three months, so again it was cancelled - this time I had also changed the engine to a 186, and attempted rego again. This time I had a bit of a 'discussion' with the nice lady at the RTA because she reckoned because the engine number and capacity was altered, the engineers report was no longer valid and I needed a new one. Pigs ar$e says I. It took about two hours of negotiating between the manager and engineering
/tech section, but I had a win in the end.

I hope today there is more consistency and common sense, but anything is possible with a Government department.

All the best with it.

Matt.

[incisor]

the 173 is better than the 202 in a landy IMHO

put an electric fuel pump on it to stop the fuel vaporization issues and you will have a good truck.

my swb had a 186 in it with a toro overdrive and it went better and was more economical that a 2.25l land rover as uncleho will attest but i didnt know that an electric pump makes the vaporization issues go away or i would have not bothered doing the engine change on the vehicle.

the holden motors downside is the torque range vs the rev range. and don't weigh as much so they are not as effective off road.

a cam that puts the torque down the rev range would be an excellent value for $ improvement.

[mick88]

I have a Series 3 that has a 173 in it!
The registration is expired now, but when I purchased the vehicle it had a few weeks rego so I drove it around for a while. The conversion is a rather rough looking one but obviously it works. It used the Land Rover flywheel which is about 4 kg heavier (15kg) than a Holden flywheel and this made it excellent to drive. The vehicle would just pull away with ease without even touching the accelerator. A Bosch HEI distributor is a big improvement too!

Cheers, Mick.