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Series Land Rover: Higher Compression Cylinder Head

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Fascinating Series Land Rover facts
(No.137)
Genuine Series I & II Land Rovers no longer legally require an MoT in the UK.

Last Updated
26/10/13

A Series Land Rover can generally get you where you want to go, even if there is no road leading to it; even if there are obstacles in your path. Infact Series Land Rovers were designed to operate in the absense of decent roads. However, the 21st century has now brought the widespread use of high speed vehicles on roads surfaced to suit them. Impatient drivers, in fast modern cars, have become the 21st century problem for Series Land Rover owners.

The original engines have the torque for steep tracks but not the power for today's competitive roads. Many owners have opted to lower their driving stress levels by transplanting more powerful engines into their Series vehicles. The most commonly used engines for transplants are from the 200Tdi and 300Tdi Discovery Land Rovers. But then you don't really have a true Series Land Rover any more do you?

The ideal solution for many owners would be to significantly upgrade the power of the original engine. There are several routes to achieving this ideal and several of these were featured on the May 2008 UK homepage dealing with engine upgrades for Series Land Rovers. Perhaps the greatest single step that can be taken towards this goal is to modify the cylinder head by increasing its compression ratio.

It was a standard practice amongst some classic car owners of the 1960's and 70's seeking increased engine performance, to have the cylinder head skimmed. This reduced the volume of the combustion chambers and thereby increased the compresssion ratio.

The popular 2286cc petrol engine of the Series II, IIA and early Series III has a 7:1 compression ratio and these can be machined by ACR Ltd to give 9:1 on an exchange or outright sale basis. The company can also gas flow the inlet and exhaust ports, raising the engine power from the standard 67 BHP to 82 BHP.

I recently fitted one of these cylinder heads to my 1961 Series IIA station wagon. The increase in power is immediately noticeable by the relative ease with which the urban 30mph is reached from a standing start. Furthermore, the vehicle can now climb some particular hills on my regular route in 4th gear instead of having to change down to 3rd as was previously the case.

For more information on this conversion and a whole range of other engine related power improvements for Series Land Rovers visit the website of Automotive Components Remanufacturing Ltd.

The new gas flowed 9:1 cylinder head prior to fitting


The new gas flowed 9:1 cylinder head fitted