Originally Posted by
V8Ian
I recall a magazine (Wheels?) article from the era. Sydney taxis were commonly fitted with 253 or 308 V8s. A mechanic who maintained six or eight cabs converted them to the four cylinder Isuzu of which you speak, Digger. The conversions were then tuned to give comparable performance with a V8. For reliability, all of the testing was done on the workshop HJ ute before fitting into the taxis. The article went on to say that previously there was always a reconditioned V8 ready to fit, after the conversion the Isuzus were removed from retiring cars to be fitted to new ones. They must be robust little engines.