Thread: Do I Or Dont I..should I Or Shouldnt I.

Thanx guys ,i will be driving the car daily & as a weekend play toy thats why i am putting power steering from the toyota 60 series as well & discs.. i am also going to do the same as isuzurover has to his springs ,that thing of his is awesome...

I have owned series landies with a 4.4 leyland terrier v8 and one with several holden engines the holden engine will not take constant highway miles as it will be on the redline when cruising without a overdrive or diff ratio change

The last series i owned was a s111 shorty and i wanted a stocker , i restored that car over a couple of years and totaly rebuilt the engine , which i will say a very healthy 2.25 (4) is a very good engine i was more than happy with that motor compared to a holden 6

Mind you i did love the terrier v8 it was torque monster grunter

aaaahhhhhhhhh! the Series III with a Six. I remember when we got them in the Army. We could do 100km/h on the highway instead of 80km/h. And a HEATER, best thing since sliced bread, especially in winter at Pucka. Only thing I didn't like was the plastic dash, as we used to wash the vehicles (sIIa) by hosing everything, inside and out. Couldn't do that with the SIII (outside only).
No problems with the Six, course I only drove them....any RAEME guys who worked on them on this forum?????

in order Id go

any 2.25 rover (diesel by pref petrol is still good)
the holden 6
the rover 6

The rover six is a bit thirsty for the marginal improvement over the 4 pot but that little extra is nice to have on hand if you need it. Its also a bit more pedantic about its maintenance..

Id not convert from the 4 pot to a holden donk, but I would take a conversion from a holden 6 if the rover 6 was shot..

which holden 6... thats a whole new can o worms.

I don't have anything to offer on the LandRover 6-cyl engine as they were pretty rare back in NZ, but I did put a 186 Holden motor in my SIIA SWB to replace the 2.25Lt Landy petrol motor, and I can offer some comments on that.

I chose the 186 on that basis that it had a reputation as being less inclined than other motors for breaking crankshafts (not a common occurrence anyway though) and also less likely to pop the crowns off pistons than later motors. I fitted it with a twin-choke Nikki carb which made the Holden go better and I kept the oil bath air cleaner. I later put LPG into the vehicle and it was quite economical and drove well.

I also swapped the diffs from the original 4.7:1 to a pair of Rover 75 diffs at 4.3:1 to slow the engine revs on the road and it became a nice road vehicle. (I also ended up putting a Hilux clutch-pack centre into the rear diff and it was great in pea gravel in our braided rivers in Canterbury.)

It ended up being a much nicer vehicle to drive on the road and slightly more economical that the 2.25 Landy engine (that was the sales pitch to gain capital expenditure approval from the Office of War and Finance).

The down side was that it wasn't as nice to drive-off road because the Holden has a light flywheel and responds to right-foot instability when travelling over rough terrain. It needs a few more revs to work well off-road but you get used to that.

The only real regret I had later was that the vehicle was far from standard and it would have ended up with a higher resale value when I sold it to come over here if it had been stock standard. (I also changed the rims to put 7.50 x 16's on it and modified the front axle by replacing the railco bushes with the swivel pins and roller races from a SI and changing the caster angle to make it track straight - had the same effect as putting power steering into it would have.) Ah those were the days.

It sounds like you want to make quite a few mods to the vehicle anyway so the idea of keeping it original won't really an issue for you. If you go with the Holden motor I'd highly recommend changing the diffs (or a Fairey overdrive but they don't have a great reputation for reliability if you don't maintain them regularly). Hope this gives you some insight into the Holden motor performance. Now it's the turn of a Rover 6-cyl driver.

Originally Posted by Blknight.aus

Id not convert from the 4 pot to a holden donk, but I would take a conversion from a holden 6 if the rover 6 was shot..

which holden 6... thats a whole new can o worms.

I totally agree with the 1st part!......

......and as for which Holden Six?.......

......for simplicity get a 186 or whatever size you like best "Red" - BUT fit the HEI ignition into it......

......for a bit more ooomph fit a 202/3.3 "Blue" motor with a better carby and HEI system

..... for BEST power and economy [only a bit better economy!] fit a 3.3 "Black" motor with HEI and the Bosch EFI system - it also makes steep angles and hills irrelevant!

Just to add my 2 cents in case you are actually still thinking about the rover 6. What a pile of crap engine, good for a boat anchor. Thirsty, oil leaking, oil consuming and a right pain to (constantly) adjust valves. None I ever had I found to be anymore power over the 4 to be worth the trouble. The rover 6 doesn’t like to be revved anymore than a 4 or holden/ford 6.

For the age of series Landies, the Holden 6 is a good reliable option and with 4.1 diffs it's a pretty realistic package that would allow you to off road and travel. The 179, 186 even a 202 are all good simple tractor engines, easy to repair maintain and you won't need to start moding the rest, g/box, diffs etc.

I've never blown a Sals diff even with a 265 hemi behind it doing rollbacks with both wheels spinning (hey I was 19) the outer (fine) splines are more prone to wear. So being realistic for normal use it will be fine.

While the Land Rover 2 1/4 petrol is one of my favourite engines I wouldn't put it in place of a Holden 6 (but nor would I pull it out to put in a Holden 6).

Best regards
DarrenR

I don't want to hi-jackl this thread, but has anyone considered different Diesel engines - for a s111?? maybe a 200tdi or another option.

I've got two series 3's ( both ex-mil) one with a 186 and another with a rover 6, the plan was to restore one to original with the rover 6, but I'm not sure after reading all these posts. I would like to have the car as a daily driver, so perhaps just kitting out the holden engine with an overdrive and power steering might be the go??

Ideally I'd like to drop a 2.25 diesel or similar into it but not sure on the work required??

any opinions??

cheers
Jimmy