Im 65 years old, my first car was an old HR Holden, 161 donk borred out from an old 149 stock standard and the old 3 speed column shift gear box, not even a synchro between 1 & 2 gear back in the 70's! These engines were so common in those days which is all we had including Fords 251, Valiant Hemi head slant sixes Didn't think i would be watching you on U-Tube restoring this old Holden engine( internet in those days, what was that) I must be getting old! Good to see you guys taking an interest in those old machines, I cnnot imagine a mordern all Alloy fuel injected and all the electronics these days lasting the distance as those machines Well done, good luck
Sorry to impose , but a 149 can't go to 161 , 161 is its own motor from factory, the 149 and 179 were the first Holden Sixes , the smallest was 130 red an export only LC Torana engine to Indonesia and South Africa, 138 red was Australian Torana motor, 149 first red , then 179 , then 161, then , 173, 186, 202 reds . Later Blue 12 port 2850 cc and 3300 cc and later Black 3.3 . The injected Black 3.3 was painted red . And of course the Star Fire Four that's a 2850cc six with 2 cylinders cut off. The Ford's were 144 for the First in the 1961 Falcon , then 170, 188, 200, 221 and 250 later cross flow Cleveland V8 style cantered valve heads in the late 1970s , in 3.3 and 4.1 litre, in 1987 it got a Metric size down grade to 3.2 litres and 3.9 litres for the 1988 Falcon with a single over head cam and 2 valve Hemi combustion chambers. Engine size increased to 4.0 litre and 3.2/3.9 engines dropped in late 1990s , in the 2000s the 4.0 got DOHCs and 24 valves later a Turbo and called the Barra . All from that 144 ci Falcon six in 1961, the last Barra still shows its the same engine family , by being same bore spacing, bellhousing, mounts, water pump, starter , and so on . Lastly there was not a Chrysler Australia Hemi Slant Six, the 215ci, 245 ci and 265 ci Hemi Six is an engine family that shares nothing with the earlier US slant six . Two totally different engines.
Played strong done good Pete! That motor has picked a good shed to go to! Sounds strong - been a long time since I heard the pipes played by a stage 5 yella terra head. Love the content.
I really love these motors. I had a 202 that was 60 over 186 yella terra head,adjustable rollers big cam etc it made just over 180hp which is pretty laughable now but in the 90s it was alright. Back then just about every street in my neighbourhood had someone with a hot Red 6
That sounded so sweet on the first fire up. Man sounds lumpy af. Love the old holden red sixes n blue. Never had a grey but yer love the old holden sixes
Great video, thankyou for posting it. Brings back some great memories. The poor old 161 was a bit of a struggle buggy when compared with a 186, but they were fairly amenable to tuning. They could be revy with a cam/carb/head and exhaust. Yours sounds like there may be a bit of a mild cam in there, with that idle. Maybe one that was designed to improve the engine's midrange a tad? I knew a guy that had a TO3 Garrett turbo and draw through set up, on a 161, and it was pretty lively, but sorry, I dont remember power figures for it.
May I say, mighty nice looking anvil you have in the background there. Mate that motor started right up and didn't miss a beat. Excellent! Seems to me like it has v-e-r-y healthy compression, too... hi comp. pistons?
Gday Mike hope you are well, yes the anvil is a beauty weighing in just over 290kg. Motor sounds great and as you can see in the video I also was surprised she fired up as she did even with no working fuel pump. Haha. Glad you enjoyed it. Cheers.
sounds like a good strong engine, why not pull it down for a look freshen up before you paint it, its cheap to buy a set of rings and gasket set, check the bearings, lap the valves and fit new valve stem seals as old ones most likely are hard and stuffed, should cost less than $300 for rings and full gasket set, would make a great series, and find out cam grind as should be stamped on the nose, inspect the bearings, lifters, fit new rear main seal ect, cheers mate
First thing I do when starting an old engine is to fit an oil pressure gauge , I’m surprised how many people don’t do it . Any way looks like an awesome score . Keep up the good content and I also Subscribe to by the way 👌🏽
It was pretty common for old timers to leave their old holden sixes idling in car parks because they thought they turned them off because they couldn't hear them running.
I wander what the bore size is? The standard being 161 you can bore these out a lot .That looks like a stage 3 yellow terra head with roller rockers. There was a few variants of these heads mine had tubes in the exhaust ports so you could use the standard bolts . Be interesting to see what size valves it has. That motor is tight so it hasn't done many km's .Be nice to know what size the motor is but sounds to good to pull right down even though you could either stick a camera down the plug holes and hopefully read the piston sizes or at least pull the head to do the same . What are you going to put it in?
Hi mate, it definitely has a lot of unanswered questions. I would love to tear it down and see exactly what it has had done but after hearing it and feeling it definitely feels like a fresh build. Compression is very good also. In my eyes it’s pointless to tear it down when it sounds and feels perfect. In regards to the head i spoke to one of the old guys at yella terra and I was told it could be one of the old stage 5 heads they used to do late 80’s. It’s all new to me though. The plan is to put it into my FJ and have some fun with it. In the upcoming episode you will get to have a peek on the internals which I find very interesting. Cheers again and enjoy…
nice find,,.nice touch with rollers .lets see what it revs to in your car..i have 179 out a190/trimatic,,.hz..and converter to suit the cam..if its going in an fj, yo0u will have to change the floor tunnel.i used a hq.but no room for a clutch.good luck and good on you.allso hq cross member for the gear box.. trim 50 mm each side fits in then 4 bolts ..but that is on an fx ute..
@@petersbackyardbuilds hey mate .xy ford radiator fits with holden spouts and side mounts not much cutting .5min.and 3 core ,,no fan ,,thermo .guy at the shop was amazed,,this is 20 years ago..let me know when you want to lower it ,,i ll let you in on an old secret,,.
with the scorcher dizzy, set timing at 10 degrees BTC as thats what the sports advance curve was made to be set at, and dont forget replacement Bosch points need to be xu1 dot points have harder spring to stop points bounce
Yes, definitely will have an oil pressure gauge as I do on all my cars. In regards to the head, I will run it for a while as I may do further mods and at that time I will change to cope with unleaded. Cheers and enjoy.
without even watching it, 100% it will run, in the 90's we ran a 179 with no oil for 2 days to see how long it would last before it finally shit it self,
The 161 was the longest stroke holden red made the junk 202 red engine was the shortest stroke and 186s was the best red engine made and after that the best and only six to build is the later 3.3 black engine or blue engine having the better crank being fully counter waited and better rods and has the better 12 port head not the old 9 port and had a electronic dizzy no points…
Well done Dave. Thanks for your comments. Post your dyno results so we can see the difference. All holden motors are great in their own way. Cheers and enjoy.
Im 65 years old, my first car was an old HR Holden, 161 donk borred out from an old 149 stock standard and the old 3 speed column shift gear box, not even a synchro between 1 & 2 gear back in the 70's!
These engines were so common in those days which is all we had including Fords 251, Valiant Hemi head slant sixes
Didn't think i would be watching you on U-Tube restoring this old Holden engine( internet in those days, what was that)
I must be getting old! Good to see you guys taking an interest in those old machines, I cnnot imagine a mordern all Alloy fuel injected and all the electronics these days lasting the distance as those machines
Well done, good luck
Cheers for the kind words mate.
Definitely great old motors and cannot see me doing this to one of those alloytec motors in 20 years.
Cheers and enjoy
@@petersbackyardbuilds. Beeg to differ. U may be doinging a alloytec mine is 300xxx on the clock and still goeas like brand new
Sorry to impose , but a 149 can't go to 161 , 161 is its own motor from factory, the 149 and 179 were the first Holden Sixes , the smallest was 130 red an export only LC Torana engine to Indonesia and South Africa, 138 red was Australian Torana motor, 149 first red , then 179 , then 161, then , 173, 186, 202 reds . Later Blue 12 port 2850 cc and 3300 cc and later Black 3.3 . The injected Black 3.3 was painted red . And of course the Star Fire Four that's a 2850cc six with 2 cylinders cut off.
The Ford's were 144 for the First in the 1961 Falcon , then 170, 188, 200, 221 and 250 later cross flow Cleveland V8 style cantered valve heads in the late 1970s , in 3.3 and 4.1 litre, in 1987 it got a Metric size down grade to 3.2 litres and 3.9 litres for the 1988 Falcon with a single over head cam and 2 valve Hemi combustion chambers. Engine size increased to 4.0 litre and 3.2/3.9 engines dropped in late 1990s , in the 2000s the 4.0 got DOHCs and 24 valves later a Turbo and called the Barra . All from that 144 ci Falcon six in 1961, the last Barra still shows its the same engine family , by being same bore spacing, bellhousing, mounts, water pump, starter , and so on .
Lastly there was not a Chrysler Australia Hemi Slant Six, the 215ci, 245 ci and 265 ci Hemi Six is an engine family that shares nothing with the earlier US slant six . Two totally different engines.
Played strong done good Pete! That motor has picked a good shed to go to! Sounds strong - been a long time since I heard the pipes played by a stage 5 yella terra head. Love the content.
I really love these motors. I had a 202 that was 60 over 186 yella terra head,adjustable rollers big cam etc it made just over 180hp which is pretty laughable now but in the 90s it was alright. Back then just about every street in my neighbourhood had someone with a hot Red 6
Definitely great old motors and simple.
Easy to work on which is a bonus.
Cheers
That sounded so sweet on the first fire up. Man sounds lumpy af. Love the old holden red sixes n blue. Never had a grey but yer love the old holden sixes
Great video, thankyou for posting it. Brings back some great memories. The poor old 161 was a bit of a struggle buggy when compared with a 186, but they were fairly amenable to tuning. They could be revy with a cam/carb/head and exhaust. Yours sounds like there may be a bit of a mild cam in there, with that idle. Maybe one that was designed to improve the engine's midrange a tad? I knew a guy that had a TO3 Garrett turbo and draw through set up, on a 161, and it was pretty lively, but sorry, I dont remember power figures for it.
Cheers mate, yes thought about turbo but maybe later after she is all up and running.
Enjoy!!!!
I’ll keep an eye out. Brings back memories of the young years. 186’s 202’s etc.@@petersbackyardbuilds
May I say, mighty nice looking anvil you have in the background there.
Mate that motor started right up and didn't miss a beat. Excellent! Seems to me like it has v-e-r-y healthy compression, too... hi comp. pistons?
Gday Mike hope you are well, yes the anvil is a beauty weighing in just over 290kg.
Motor sounds great and as you can see in the video I also was surprised she fired up as she did even with no working fuel pump. Haha.
Glad you enjoyed it.
Cheers.
I think you’re got yourself a good little motor, no blow by either.
sounds like a good strong engine, why not pull it down for a look freshen up before you paint it, its cheap to buy a set of rings and gasket set, check the bearings, lap the valves and fit new valve stem seals as old ones most likely are hard and stuffed, should cost less than $300 for rings and full gasket set, would make a great series, and find out cam grind as should be stamped on the nose, inspect the bearings, lifters, fit new rear main seal ect, cheers mate
I do intend to mate so keep watching.
Cheers.
First thing I do when starting an old engine is to fit an oil pressure gauge , I’m surprised how many people don’t do it .
Any way looks like an awesome score . Keep up the good content and I also Subscribe to by the way 👌🏽
Cheers mate, sometimes we are just too inpatient haha.
Glad your enjoying the vids.
Cheers.
In stock form, the 161 was the smoothest running holden motor.
Agree, 149s and 161 when tuned up are smooth as anything
It was pretty common for old timers to leave their old holden sixes idling in car parks because they thought they turned them off because they couldn't hear them running.
Yeah thats healthy, some work has been done.
Great videos! Ive recently picked up a classic with a 186 in it and I have no experience with them.
Good stuff mate. Easy motors hopefully you get something out of the videos.
Any questions let me know I’ll try my best to help.
Cheers and enjoy.
excellent
Cheers
Nice sounding little engine mate, just a wee bit cammy!😉
Thanks mate sure is, can’t beat a cammed sounding motor.
Cheers
Sounds like an absolute weapon
Sure does Adam cannot wait to get it in the car and see how it goes.
Cheers and enjoy.
@@petersbackyardbuilds she'll fly for sure
Looking forward to it.
Hi Peter just wondering how you went with the engine.Havent seen a video from you for ages.Cheers mate.
I wander what the bore size is? The standard being 161 you can bore these out a lot .That looks like a stage 3 yellow terra head with roller rockers. There was a few variants of these heads mine had tubes in the exhaust ports so you could use the standard bolts . Be interesting to see what size valves it has.
That motor is tight so it hasn't done many km's .Be nice to know what size the motor is but sounds to good to pull right down even though you could either stick a camera down the plug holes and hopefully read the piston sizes or at least pull the head to do the same .
What are you going to put it in?
Hi mate, it definitely has a lot of unanswered questions. I would love to tear it down and see exactly what it has had done but after hearing it and feeling it definitely feels like a fresh build. Compression is very good also.
In my eyes it’s pointless to tear it down when it sounds and feels perfect.
In regards to the head i spoke to one of the old guys at yella terra and I was told it could be one of the old stage 5 heads they used to do late 80’s.
It’s all new to me though.
The plan is to put it into my FJ and have some fun with it.
In the upcoming episode you will get to have a peek on the internals which I find very interesting.
Cheers again and enjoy…
nice find,,.nice touch with rollers .lets see what it revs to in your car..i have 179 out a190/trimatic,,.hz..and converter to suit the cam..if its going in an fj, yo0u will have to change the floor tunnel.i used a hq.but no room for a clutch.good luck and good on you.allso hq cross member for the gear box.. trim 50 mm each side fits in then 4 bolts ..but that is on an fx ute..
Cheers mate for the info as I’m undivided if I want to go auto or leave the column shift.
Either way I think it’s going to be great.
Cheers and enjoy.
@@petersbackyardbuilds hey mate .xy ford radiator fits with holden spouts and side mounts not much cutting .5min.and 3 core ,,no fan ,,thermo .guy at the shop was amazed,,this is 20 years ago..let me know when you want to lower it ,,i ll let you in on an old secret,,.
Legend, thanks for your advise.
Cheers
Definitely camed up
Can’t beat a lumpy engine no mater what size or shape.
Cheers and enjoy.
Too right mate @@petersbackyardbuilds
with the scorcher dizzy, set timing at 10 degrees BTC as thats what the sports advance curve was made to be set at, and dont forget replacement Bosch points need to be xu1 dot points have harder spring to stop points bounce
Cheers for the information mate it’s really appreciated.
Hope your enjoying and stay along for the ride and keep sending the great advise.
Cheers.
So I am guessing that you will modify the head to cope with unleaded fuel and put an oil pressure meter on to check what the oil pressure is doing ?
Yes, definitely will have an oil pressure gauge as I do on all my cars.
In regards to the head, I will run it for a while as I may do further mods and at that time I will change to cope with unleaded.
Cheers and enjoy.
without even watching it, 100% it will run, in the 90's we ran a 179 with no oil for 2 days to see how long it would last before it finally shit it self,
They are tuff old motors that’s for sure.
Cheers.
Why didn't you do a compression test, it so lumpy you wonder what is in it every race part you can get
There's a cam in there .. !
Hopefully a big one that will make it rev.
Cheers and enjoy.
How many valve clearen intake and exhause sir?
Cheers
Sounds like a 30/70 cam.
The 161 was the longest stroke holden red made the junk 202 red engine was the shortest stroke and 186s was the best red engine made and after that the best and only six to build is the later 3.3 black engine or blue engine having the better crank being fully counter waited and better rods and has the better 12 port head not the old 9 port and had a electronic dizzy no points…
Im your neighbour and i want you to stop all that noise!!!
Haha you must have some big ears mate.
Cheers and enjoy.
I'm not watching the video and i know the answer. of course it will start.
the only question is it a 186 or 202?
WTf it's a 161? why bother?
Yet you still took the time to write a post.
Good on you.
Cheers.
@@petersbackyardbuilds i type fast
just put the head on a 186 and it will perform way better without anything else. 161's were nothing to write home about.
Well done Dave. Thanks for your comments.
Post your dyno results so we can see the difference.
All holden motors are great in their own way.
Cheers and enjoy.