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Page 7                                     CHAPTER 7

                                  FITTING RED MOTORS

With all red motors, planning before the swap is essential, engine mounts must be fabricated and welded to the cross member, clutch countershaft mount fabricated, radiator relocated, sump changed, etc,

An EH sump and pickup is best used although LC-LJ Torana can be used, EH looks very similar to grey motor and clears cross member and draglink. Engine mounts can be owner made or purchased in kit form and should be fully welded to the cross member - the correct location can be ascertained by dummy fitting a motor to gearbox and lowering into position with the engine mounts bolted on, then tack weld the engine mounts to cross member - remove engine, and fully weld mounts to cross member. It must be remembered that most Holden cross members are only made of 1/8 inch mild steel and that engine mounts need not be any thicker than this.

Clutch countershafts are again owner fabricated, and can be located in varying positions, firstly and most commonly to two sump bolts. These will usually hold adequately but have been known to fail under heavy loads being only ¼ inch Whitworth. Secondly and also not extremely secure is by fitting ¼ inch Whitworth bolt with suitable spaces to fill the clutch countershaft and be threaded into the mounting hole for the standard red breather pipe. Lastly, and considered most effective is drilling the RH web of the block and bolting the countershaft to the block in the original manner.

The rear-casting web on the R.H.S. of the block just below the head, rear of side plate, must also be removed to provide clearance between the motor and accelerator linkage. Smaller oil filters if required for steering box clearance can be obtained from your Holden dealer (X-96), which will provide adequate clearance.

All red motors will bolt to the original gearbox - with either 8 inch or 8-3/8 inch clutch assembly and a red stater must be used due to differing pinion drive depths. The standard early radiator will adequately cool even the biggest red motor item with a selection of a grey hose used as a spacer at the lower neck of the radiator.

Exhaust can be adapted to fit - like using an EH-HD exhaust manifold and bending the engine pipe to suit, or fitment of extractors especially made for this application.

One thing that must be remembered is that no lateral engine mount is left in this swap (front mount is grey and rear mount is red - neither evident of this swap) and some forward and rearward engine movement may be experienced. Also that the red motor is approx 1-1/2 inches longer and this usually necessitates fitment of a flat flexi fan or a good thermo fan.

Highly recommended with this engine swap is upgrading of brakes and handling to cope with the extra power. Usually when motor upgrading has taken place an engineers report and pit inspection is required to ensure the vehicle maintains its legality for registration. Bottom hose EH joined to HR top hose with 1-3/8 exhaust tube expanded at one end to 1-1/2. Top hose FJ with grey thermostat housing.

 

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