Yes, 130 was to stay under Asian 2.2 or 2.25L. Rego jumped massively after that. This was for Malaysia, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia etc.

It changed to 2.5L during HJ as the 130 was replaced by the 138 during HJ. When I was in Malaysia about 5-6 years ago all their D4D Toyota engines were 2.5L for the same reason. This is why I think all the Nissan and Mitsubishi hand grenades are 2.5L and below now.

Old wives tale.

2 and 5 my side of the black stump also.but definitely only in full size vehicles never toranas no matter what the abuse or neglect they got, which was also a riddle.
People tried to explain it away as conrod angularity. But more likely the shorter pin to deck height and design vs dollars. Was the culprit.
Considering they made hundreds of thousands of HQs the amount we saw was possibly minute as a percentage.

not in my experience and I spent more than 10 years making red motors go hard and faster....

the 2 things I found was firstly
202 blocks cracked across the welsh plug (sand core) holes near the starter motor
... first indication was a dribble of coolant off the sump rail. All were prone to this and there was not much
you could do. Except not rev them to 7500 or 8000.

and they were prone to alternator issues. How so? No1 rod came thru the side of the block and knocked
the alternator off its bracket. Issue was oiling on No1 and the rod bearing would nip up. Goodbye conrod
as it went thru the block. Again not much one could except not rev the mothers too high (bit hard when in
Lane 2 at Calder )

to follow up on that
your solution to the oiling problem ?
im in the process of building a black 3.3 and have over bored the oil ways etc external 5/8 oil feed to the pump

anything you can add to that for me ?

while im here , just wondering if any one else noticed how many BXUV 2 type strombergs ended up with the accellerator pump valve & and the power valve in each others bore ?
cant say it was factory stuff up but i noticed it al lot , allways look for it at any given opportunity , they go much better when you put em back in the right place

Purchased as HZ with it original 202 and it had thrown number 5 out the side. But once again, not too common compared to how many they made.

I have seen stock 202 pistons do good service road driven bloody fast Torana's fully balanced and revved to 7000RPM, never seen a stock red piston 6 ever rev past 7000RPM you need thin rings to go past that, as the stock wide rings can not hold pressure past 7000RPM.

I think the split blocks in the 202 red were due to pulling 7000RPM was common, maybe more to do with the 6200 to 6400RPM part where the engine harmonics had a spack attack and that the mains bolts are a bit wider apart than the 186, so maybe more stress is put on the block, also the red 202 blocks without the strengthening ribs down near the oil filter may let the block twist just that touch more.
So with the block try's to do is twist from the front pass side and maybe the engine mount when it hits the stopper this may add to a touch more twist to the engine. seen this split water jacket 202 block in a LH Torana, I can not remember if the engine mounts are like in the HQ's with the holder clip that stops them from coming a drift like in the earlier models.

I think that cracked top of pistons is due to pinging mainly, that just hammers them.

My father in law had a HZ 202 auto and he complains that it was always burning out valves, he drives slow and mainly short trips, but a mate still has his HZ 202 auto 240.000km up and is fine rocker cover never been lifted and he is the 2ed owner for more than 20 years easy now.
I had a stock HQ 202 manual back in 1982 and flogged the p and pick handles out of that and it had 98.000miles up engine still fine and rocker cover never been lifted. the bloke who bought it claimed to me that it was a freak motor that it went so well.
I believe that burnt valves are due to the engine running too lean.

You will of come across Many who claimed the 202 red was crap, but the fact is that many of them were made and the main problem was that the average owner did not service their cars well and radiators would be Roo Ted for years before they were replaced, many so called mechanics were morons as well, even in the 80's you would get back moronic replies like well if it's over heating just do not drive so hard ? it all goes back to the days of old were one would skimp on everything as much as you could to get by and anything past that mentality just went over their head in general, a car was just only seen as transport like a hat cart. or if you had a fast car you were regarded as an enemy and if you road a bike well you were called a temporary Australian, that's how they seen it, the morons had their head that far up their arse that it was astounding, sure it was true of fools in general tho.

Dropping of valves mainly has to do with collets being shoddy quality or a engine that got to hot and the valve springs were shot, I believe a weak spring shimmy's and this give the collets more of a hiding, so a stock good red spring starts this shimmy dance over 4600RPM and a shot one could be anything. Std spring gives valve bounce at 5000 and can got to 5500 for a short wile but if you keep it at 5500 after a while it goes down to 5000RPM due to the shimmy effect going to town.
A head of the valve can come off due to many reasons.
As to doing big ends that's because of crap quality rod bolts, they flex and 202 has a longed stroke giving more pressure on them so they end up hammering the bearings.
High HP and revving 202's one has to inspect the block quality and it's oil gallery's.

I’d just sell it and fit a standard injected 5.0L. Very easy conversion, fuel efficient and easy to fix. Will give you more power and torque than a 202 ever will plus will often come with a 4spd overdrive auto with lockup converter. Turns a HZ from a prehistoric car to something that drives semi-modern.

All I’m saying is if you are looking for performance in a HZ wagon it isn’t going to happen with a 202. Not unless it is forced induction and then you are talking serious $. Even building a 202 to rev over 6000rpm is going to cost, they simply aren’t designed for it. If you want a car to putt around, sure go for it. Just remember you are never going to get sufficient power to drive a HZ wagon in a way that a 6 is going to give you any handling advantage over a V8. Plus getting a worked 6 to comply with HZ emissions is going to be a challenge in itself.
The beauty of the injected V8 is is is basically a bolt in conversion, with most of the bits you need like speedo cable now available already made. The fuel system mods are essentially the same as a VK EFI conversion. And if you use a VR-VS engine you have full ECU control of the transmission, cruise control is easy and HZ power steering bolts straight onto the engine. Probably the biggest hurdle is mounting an A/C compressor. It’ll pass emissions easily, just needs cats. An EFI 5.0L standard will give you around 280-300hp in SAE gross terms. Come rebuild time with flat top pistons, mild cam and a simple ECU retune really wake up, but will have to run on 98. Standard they’ll give you good power out of even 91 octane fuel. You can even bolt the whole top end onto any 1969-1987 308/304 block.