Mustang Sallys Land Rover Pages

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Choosing the right Holden motor

Discreet General Motors-Holden badge on back.                              The GMH Lion                        

• Some are better than others as Land Rover powerplants. Here are some tables (below) to help you identify a "red" motor and tell you which model it comes from. They invariably had the cylinder capacity cast into the block on the forward left hand side.The engine number is stamped on a boss on the forward right hand side.
• Holden tended to offer a pair of sixes in each model, a small one for commercials and base models and a larger one for the more upmarket models. They usually came in low and high compression versions.
• There was often a high performance version for the Larry Leadfoots. Some of the performance engines were very powerful indeed. I haven't covered the multi-carbed and lumpy-cammed 202's found in the much lighter Toranas, some of which put out up to 190bhp. If you want to build a replica for your Land Rover you are on your own.
• The table has engine number prefix codes which tell you approximately when the engine was made. The state of tune of a motor thirty years later is anyones guess. When rebuilding, don't assume that the cam now fitted is original or suited to Land Rover power needs. If in doubt, seek advice from an after market cam manufacturer.
• If you have plenty of money, balancing and blueprinting of a Holden motor is beneficial to smoothness and long life. However I would counsel against any drastic performance mods. Your gearbox won't like firecracker power characteristics and you are aiming for a torquey understressed motor just like the ones fitted to Joe Averages 1970's Kingswood with the three speed column change gearbox.
• My personal choice would be a 1966-1970 186 cu.in. motor. The 202 motor which came after was basically a 186 with the stroke lengthened from 3" to 3 1/4" and an increase in main bearing journal diameter. A stroke increase really requires a new block with increased deck height but Holden got around the problem by moving the piston pin 1/8" closer to the piston crown. This introduced a weakness in the piston in the vicinity of the lower oil-ring groove. The top of a 202 piston has been known to break off if the engine is chronically overheated. That is why I pay careful attention to the cooling and ignition timing of the 202 motor I have now.

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Legal stuff: These pages have no connection with Land Rover, BMW or any of their authorised agents. The information presented herein comes from my personal experience and I guarantee the veracity of none of it. Visitors should exercise their own judgement and seek expert advice about local vehicle laws before applying any of my practices to their own vehicles. The fearsome copyright notices seen on some web-pages probably aren't worth the bytes wasted on them. If you want to rip off any of my stuff for non-profit purposes please let me know and give me credit.