Leyland Terrier V8 4.4 Petrol Automatic - Moths

A fairly std Terrier / PMC bodied bus (ex QLD) - lovingly called "Tess".

Now here's an interesting one .. This image comes from a Leyland Australia

I reckon that photos on the front of a truck and bus magazine from back in the day

Paul

The photo is

I was having a bit of a read in some old truck and bus magazines and learnt that the first Terrier V8 petrols all had 8.25 x 20 tyres
And in some later articals it would appear that more than just the one you show in photo had 8 stud rims so I wonder did they make a small and a large Terrier ??? or maybe they just used up parts ??????

Paul

Nah MMP ... all Terriers were light duty and only ever had the six stud hubs. 825x20 tyres were fitted to a six stud 20" wheel.
(info from former SA State Sales Manager of the time)
As said, the photo was staged, and likely that an actual Terrier was unavailable at the time.
Terriers were so popular early on that none ever made it to a "Showroom Floor" .... all pre-sold, they had a pre-delivery check and service then handed over to owner. More often than not this was done on the owner's premises rather than a dealer's.
Doug said in hindsight this was not a good idea as it meant a few quality issues slipped through, overheating being one of them. An easy fix but difficult to get the owners to park long enough to sort it.

I guess what I was trying to work out or explain is if
IH made a 410a ,510a and 610 a with 345 V8
Dodge had the DF series I think they were called with 318
GM Had the Bedford with the 253 or 308 Holden V8
It would only stand to reason that Leyland would have made a 4 and 5 tonner just like the rest maybe even a six tonner with Leyland V8 to compete with what everyone else was selling

I was just trying to think out allowed I aint no expert on any of this

Paul

Twice in the 90s at wreckers I seen two leyland trucks ( they looked like 8 tonners) both had the 4.4 fitted I've wondered to this day wtf one of them did have 4 fuel tanks fitted !

I guess what I was trying to work out or explain is if
IH made a 410a ,510a and 610 a with 345 V8
Dodge had the DF series I think they were called with 318
GM Had the Bedford with the 253 or 308 Holden V8
It would only stand to reason that Leyland would have made a 4 and 5 tonner just like the rest maybe even a six tonner with Leyland V8 to compete with what everyone else was selling

I was just trying to think out aloud I ain't no expert on any of this

Paul

Yeah .. that'd work with most ... not at Leyland tho ...

Kenny, you most likely stumbled on a couple conversions by a local crew. I recall you mentioned this previously, and asked my guru. He said Leyland never done it and didn't want to do it. Australia was the only place that got the V8 Tezza, everyone else only had the diesel jobby.
The V8 buses were another Oz only thing. Bit of a bonus for leyland sales, but not enough to convince the bean counters to pursue anything further.
Part of the problem also was that the V8 was happy to rev out to 5-6 grand and further, but was not conducive to longevity. Unfortunately too many "drivers" liked the high revs, which gave the 4.4 another undeserved rep for dropping pistons/rods/valves, which has also been mentioned here previously.
Ideally they should have run a lower dif ratio (higher gear) but they stuck with the same ratio as the diesel.

I fitted mine with 900x20s on the back, and it'll cruise at 110kph, or 100 with a near full load, and has actually crossed Australia twice in that configuration, and at those speeds.

Possibly another problem with the petrol engines in trucks is over revving them in the lower gears .... When trying to use the engine to assist with braking ... By the way the first larger leyland I seen with a Pnut 4.4 engine I walked over to see what motor was in it as it was a rather large leyland I was blown away to see the 4.4 in it .... Don't get me wrong but I would doubt if back in the day someone would retrofit a petrol where a diesel originally was ( although some of the diesels leyland used could hardly be called a engine lol