Engine petrol 2.25L 3MB
From the Resto-Mod department
In 2009, Victoria's old engine with 180'000km o'clock was replaced by an identical unit (3 Main Bearings) ordered from ACR in the UK, along with a new SIIA gearbox. This exchange included a SP95-ready headgasket, since high-octane leaded fuels have disappeared from petrol stations long ago. Lead contained in the old fuel was protecting valves from wearing. Iginition can be adjusted to modern fuel but nothing can be done to avoid the abrasive effect on the valves. The use of fuel additives at each top up of the tank has the favour of certains, but some doubts exist about their capacity to efficiently dilute into the filled petrol. They also significantly increase the cost of each refill. The replacement of the head gasket with reinforced valves' seats is a permanent answer to that problem. The actual risk of using unleaded fuel is minimal for cars that anyway don't drive much, but on the long run, a reinforced head-gasket will make sense. The Land Rover engines being under-powered, they would probably endure inadequate fuel for decades before SP95 has a measurable impact on their longevity. The Ethanol contained in the petrol today is another story: being "hydroscopic", it tends to condense moisture and accelerate rust in the petrol supply system.
ACR Ltd offer standard and performance Land Rover Cylinder Heads for Land Rover engines. They are available on an exchange or outright sale basis, and cover Land Rover 2.25 / 2.5 petrol and diesel, 200 / 300 TDI and V8 Rover engines.
Re-manufactured units are processed entirely in house. Cylinder heads are stripped then internally and externally blast cleaned to bare castings. Cracked or porous cylinder heads are rejected and scrapped. Sound, clean castings then under-go a series of machining operations to the sealing surfaces and valve seatings. Worn or damaged threads are replaced with stainless steel inserts. All valve guides are replaced, and petrol cylinder heads converted to allow the use of lead free fuel. Iron cylinder heads receive an oil and heat resistant coating. All cylinder heads are then carefully built up with new valves and springs.
More pictures below.
