Jackaroo Rebuild- any ideas to upgrade 2.0l

Snowball replied:

matt,
the only mods for the early jackaroos was the STII kit - cam shaft, extractors and weber carbie. It was a GM approved kit at the time developed by Spencer Bros in Mitchum Victoria, now long gone. I gather from your earlier posts that you have already made those changes.
There was also a kit to fit the Sigma 2.6 engine, but they were not reliable engines. Jackeroo World handle after market spares and bits for jackaroos, may be worth a phone call:
http://jackworld.alphalink.com.au/

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Truckster (Vic) replied:

Seriously think about a different engine. They have never been known as a 'goer'..

If your rebuilding it pistons, rings, mains, bored etc, the difference in a larger donk may not me much more.

TO throw $ at the 2ltr wouldnt be worth it for the tiny power gains.

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dogart replied:

84 LS jack with the G200Z (actually 1.9L gemini motor) 4spd man
Basically cyl head bleep itself again and the rings were cactus too
so I got the mechanic to rebuild/recon motor.
Had it bored out 60thou, larger valves, slightly chunkier cam.
Added bluebird carby and put extractors on.
Doesn't sound like mutch but I'm still amazed at what 2wd vehicles
I can burn from the lights. 0 - 100km in about 8/9sec
This is with insitu rubber flooring from under dash right through
to the back barn doors, which has added a bit of weight to the car.
I love this car but the rust has let the thing down.

Your prob better going for holden red motor.

cheers
wolf
perth

(I'll be selling the jack soon for prob ~ $2K, good for spares) Thumbs UpThanks 0

Member - Colin (ACT region) replied:

I had a '82 2.0L model for about 16 years. Very reliable, light, economical but the 4 speed gearbox was its biggest problem - reved its guts out at 100kph! As a result the motor needed rebuilding every 100 000km.

Mine had the Stage 1 mods - cam, extractors, 2" exhaust, 40th rebore and the performance was good.

I did see some with a Holden 6 motor replacement - or maybe you could find a later model from a wrecker with thw bigger 2.6 motor and 5 speed.Subaru Forester
size isn't everything ! Thumbs UpThanks 0

Rowdy replied:

Matt sorry about taking so long to reply to your inquiry. I had a 81 jackeroo which I put a 2.6 sigma engine with a weber carbie back in 1992. The conversion wasn't too bad to do but I did have access to a machine shop and I was able to do most of the work myself. Two of my mates went for the holden six conversion but it was not very satisfactory as the holden engine was revving towards it's upper comfortable limit at 100k/hr and was very thirsty.
The sigma engine while it is not known for it's reliabilty did suit the jackeroo reasonably well but its not a project that I would recommend to do. With the increased towing ability with the sigma engine the brakes were not up to the increased weight and I frightened the ^*@#@ ! out of myself on several occasions when towing. I would recommend that you get a vehicle more suited to your needs and if you like the jackeroo a lot, the Jackeroo Rigout with 2.6 engine and 5 speed g/box and 4 wheel disc brakes wouldn't be a bad option. I found that every thing I did to the Jackeroo while it improved one aspect of it's performance it hilighted another deficiency in its design/capability and I found I was throwing good money after bad. I now have a rodeo! when will I ever learn.
Rowdy Thumbs UpThanks 0

Rowdy replied:

Matt sorry about taking so long to reply to your inquiry. I had a 81 jackeroo which I put a 2.6 sigma engine with a weber carbie back in 1992. The conversion wasn't too bad to do but I did have access to a machine shop and I was able to do most of the work myself. Two of my mates went for the holden six conversion but it was not very satisfactory as the holden engine was revving towards it's upper comfortable limit at 100k/hr and was very thirsty.
The sigma engine while it is not known for it's reliabilty did suit the jackeroo reasonably well but its not a project that I would recommend to do. With the increased towing ability with the sigma engine the brakes were not up to the increased weight and I frightened the ^*@#@ ! out of myself on several occasions when towing. I would recommend that you get a vehicle more suited to your needs and if you like the jackeroo a lot, the Jackeroo Rigout with 2.6 engine and 5 speed g/box and 4 wheel disc brakes wouldn't be a bad option. I found that every thing I did to the Jackeroo while it improved one aspect of it's performance it hilighted another deficiency in its design/capability and I found I was throwing good money after bad. I now have a rodeo! when will I ever learn.
Rowdy Thumbs UpThanks 0