1983 110 rebuild - uprating the 2.25 petrol to 2.8 with ACR components

My plan for this one is a complete "restore" (if it still counts as a restore if the guy doing it doesn't really know what he's doing we will have to see).

The chassis is beyond salvage. So I'm about ready to order a galvanized chassis from RN.

The doors (pictures in another post) are rotten. so new door bottoms will be ordered from S-P 4x4

Keeping the seat fabric (washed up pretty nicely actually).

But the most important thing: I've decided to KEEP the 2.25 Litre Petrol. A little bit crazy, but I really want this one to stay as original as it can. I could put another Cummins in, or an LS... but those change the character of the truck. I was going to do an inline 6 (which I know will give me the power and acceleration needed to drive with modern traffic...

But, I simply love the originality of that little 4 cylinder with the Weber carb. I hand cranked it once... and I was smitten. It has to stay.

So:

I searched an awful lot, and emailed Roland at ACR (Automotive Component Remanufacturing) in the UK... and I'm going to rebuild that little 2.25 into a 2.8. Rebore with larger pistons (95mm) and a new crank for a longer throw. Header is with him now having some magic done. New cam and it should be good enough to pull into visible traffic (as opposed to before, when you needed a spotter about a mile up the road to safely pull out). This may not be the best use of money, but the decision is as set in stone as any I've ever made. The engine certainly won't be stock... but I feel I am giving the little terracotta 4 cylinder every opportunity possible to keep on firing.

Penetrating oil.

It was a beast getting everything apart. But enough penetrating oil, Dremel, angle grinder and carbide drill bits and it all freed up..

The outer and inner fenders are off being media blasted along with the hood.

Having never seen the inside of a motor before, I was super excited to take it all apart (bolts marked and documented to go back to the same position).

I've never actually seen a piston or a crankshaft before. Pretty awesome.

The header looked to be in pretty good shape, so that went by DHL to Roland at ACR last week.

The block seemed in good shape too. It had a refresh sometime fairly recently. 2 of the pistons were +0.02. I still have to call around the twin cities area to find a machine shop that can bore and hone them to 95mm. From my reading that is a lot to ask of the block... but... well, time will tell.



Since this picture it has had a good cleaning, leaving an incredible patina. I was going to repaint it Terracotta color. But I can't find the paint stateside, and "Paint Man" doesn't ship outside of Europe.

I am wondering if leaving the block's original patina/rust/fade (while everything else: mounts, bolts, nits and core plugs are all new) could be a good connector for the truck to its past.

My first question:
is there a service that I can send the original bolts/nuts/studs to that will nickel plate them? I really can't find one anywhere. I could buy an electrolysis kit and do it myself, but I'd much, much rather pay to ship them and pay for someone to do them properly.

Things are beginning to arrive!

Just picked up the outer/inner fenders, hood, and aluminum checker plate from the media blaster. Still deciding on the final color (mid grey)… but I have lots of time for that decision.

The new chassis from Rovers North is somewhere in the city… but not quite sure where.

And I’m expecting a crate full of ACR upgrades tomorrow too!

rdavisinva said:

If you are dead set on keeping the 4 cylinder petrol and are already dealing with ACR, you may want to look into building a 2.8 liter or 3.0 liter 4 cylinder petrol.
Years ago I looked at fitting the 2.8 300TDI stroker kit into the 5 main bearing 2.25 & 2.5 block which I think will work.
The tricky part would be to calculate the swept volume verses the combustion chamber and have JE Pistons make the correct piston to keep the compression ratio at around 8.5 to 8.8 so you could burn regular.
Then add the Holley Sniper 1100.
I think you could get a minimum of 130HP which would significantly bump the performance.
Am already designing an adapter for the 2.25 series engine to use the Holley Sniper 1100.

Click to expand...

Thanks for reading!

I’m completely set on keeping the little 4 cylinder- but you are spot on!

my first two boxes from Roland at ACR showed up this evening:

- pictured are a new crankshaft- long throw (getting the displacement up to 2.5litres

- AND below are the new pistons! 95mm diameter. That will get the displacement up to 2.8.

Along with the work done on the header, a more aggressive camshaft it should move a lot differently then the original.

And when I get that far, I’ll definitely ask your advice on the autolite. I’m going to have to rejet the Weber carb, or go the Holley sniper route.

Header arrived! ACR has been phenomenal to work with. Roland is exceptionally responsive, and takes the time in his emails to respectfully explain things, it has been a pleasure, and I hope to work with him again.

Here are the old and new pistons and conrods for comparison:

And finally:

the new camshaft and crankshaft:


He also sent out a Vernier adjustable chainwheel, bearings and thrust washer.

If anyone is interested in knowing the price, just PM… although prices are on his website too.

Chassis is here!