FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

I've had my latest Fc for about  18 months, brought it from Orbost in Victoria. It was my daily driver until recently having done aprox 16000 miles in it. It still goes very well but its now has major oil leaks and is fumey. It still has a grey motor, but has Jack Myer headers, leather trim,bright red paint and dragway mags. I'm planning to have a grey motor rebuilt but should I consider a 149 or 161 red motor?. I would be very interested in anyones comments.   :) thanks Tony Styles (in Tassie)

My Opinion (Only)

The car has already been modified some what so why keep the grey. If your car had original interior and paint I would say keep it.

As for the red It is a personal choice, I would go the 186 twin carbs and few other bitz and pieces.

If you do decide on the red, I would be very keen on the headers.

If your going to use the car everyday I would modify it, but if your going to put it on concessional rego you might want to check your local RTA for regs. Each state seems to still have a variation on this.
In ACT its still vague but period mods are acceptable, NSW is original only

Cheers ChrisB  8)

In NSW and Vic you can fit a 149 without making any other mods.  Anything bigger and you need engineer's report and all the usual other things like discs, 2speed wipers, belts, heater/demister etc etc.

Other states vary, and I'd be interested to know what the rules are in Tasmania.  Also, if modifieds are allowed to have some form of limited use rego over there I'd like to know about it - seems NSW is the only place that enforces stockies only on historic/limited use rego.

In other states limited use tends to mean less than 5000 miles/year, typically weekends only.  Could you do that many miles on the Apple Isle anyway? :P

cheers
RET

G'day all, thanks for the replies, I think I am going to stick with the grey motor, they cruise along at 60 or 70 miles an hour easy enough, which is fast enough for me. I am not sure about  the rego laws in Tassie , but I think you would need to upgrade the brakes if you went to a larger engine. Also does anybody run their grey motor on unleaded petrol?   thanks Tony

Hi Tony,
Good choice if you're wanting to aviod engine swap hassles with the rego mob. After all, you can make a grey go hard and still keep it reliable, you've just got to fit a steel timing gear set. I run both my greys on straight unleaded and they go really well. Don't have the rough idle and hard starting anymore after ditching that ULP crap. I plan to swap motors for a red and/or a V8 in the future so I'm not worried by valve seat recession problems. If you are doing up a grey, just fit hardened valve seats & valves and you can run straight unleaded forever.
cheers,
Leigh

G'day Leigh , thanks for the advice, I am having a grey motor built  over winter , and because LRP will be phased out in the next couple of years I reckon I may as well get it built to suit unleaded. thanks again.  :)                   Tony

Tony,

I drive an EJ with a 138 grey motor as a daily driver and am very happy with it. I had the motor rebuilt 3 years ago with hardened valve seats and I run straight unleaded. It is not quick but is very flexible and easy to drive with the 3 speed crash box. It is stock apart from extractors and a 2 inch exhaust.

I have fitted a taller (3.55) ratio diff which makes 60-65mph cruising very comfortable but doesn't compromise flexibility around town too much. If you do any highway driving I'd recommend this but if not, the standard ratio is fine around town. With either diff ratio I use around 13l/100km around town which I think is pretty good (similar to a new Commodore- would a red be as good?).

I think if you're not after power a grey is a good option because it runs so easily on unleaded which reds don't. The only downside is a grey will cost more to rebuild.

David