As far as i know the A-series heads run steel valve seats and so do not need lead replacement additives in the fuel. I never run any aditives in my 1200s and have not had a problem. I run 98 octane fuel as i run a higher compression ratio than standard but with a standard engine i've used normal unleaded with no problems.

have heard you can go to 79mm bore, thats 6mm oversize, but you need a custom head gasket for this. 78mm is largest for standard head gasket. I guess it depends on your particular block but this should be quite achievable. I know JTS has an A12 block over 1600cc reliably!

i'm running a 2 inch on my rally car but i'm soon to upgrade to a 2 1/2 inch as i have heard from another with a 1200 rally car that he noticed an improvement going from 2 1/4 to 2 1/2. His a12 is out to about 1600cc though. This is all press bent, so probably a mandrel bent 2 1/4 would be fine but probably more expensive.

hey kegs,
I'd be interested in the trx rims you got for sale. Are the rims themselves in good nick? How much if any gutter rash? Do they come with wheel nuts to suit?

Thanks Michael

As for an a14 head onto an a12 it is quite easy from what i understand. The oil gallery to the head doesn't line up with that from the block but this can be fixed by drilling a hole, maybe around 6mm, not too sure, in to the head to pick up the oil gallery in the block and in the head. It would only need to be like 5mm deep. I would suggest putting a head gasket in place on the head and marking the oil gallery hole in the gasket onto the head. Then simply drill the hole in the head just enough for the full diameter of the drill bit to start cutting. Then the head should bolt straight on without any dramas!

I'm after an early A12 motor from a 1200 ie distributor at front. I really only need the block and caps and maybe conrods but i'll take the whole motor if you want to get rid of it. Cmon all you guys that have done engine conversions and have an unwanted A12 sitting around at home. i'll take it off your hands or even give you a few bucks for it.
PM me here
Email to datral_10@yahoo.com.au
or call 0421646125

thanks
Michael

I have trx bluey rear disc brakes on my coupe with a h165. i didn't do the conversion but from what i can tell it's not too hard. use the bluey backing plates + internals have the bluey backing plate put onto your axle with a new bearing pressed on, it then bolts up to your diff same as the old 1200 backing plate. slide disk onto wheel studs bolt on caliper and wheel. Mine uses steel braided flexible lines from the t-piece on the diff to the calipers.

For the handbrake i put a cable between the two levers at the wheels and another cable from the handbrake that joins to this and pulls it forward. I would not recomend this as to get the hand brake to work properly the shoes have to be adjusted right up and the cable has a bit of tension on it even when the handbrake is off. mine is in a rally car and so is only for registration purposes, after rego i back it right off and never use it just park the car in gear and got a hydraulic handbrake for handbrake turns.

To fit 13 inch rims i elongated the caliper mounting holes and moved the caliper as close as i could to the disk. This is a rally car and the tension on the brake caliper bolts is checked often and have not had any dramas so far with the caliper moving. I use hotwire rims 13x5.5jj. I would suggest if your going to elongate the caliper mounting holes in the backing plate to fill the gap with a half moon type cutout or a drill and tap a hole for a grub screw to hold the caliper in the desired position.

AFRacer has a good point. My advice would be to fit a correctly sized single turbo as this would be far cheaper and less hassle. Also what car is this in? Would 2 turbos fit in the engine bay? Would the manifold have to be too complex and restricivte too make it worthwhile? Also if your after more perfomance just putting two turbos instead of one won't give you any more horsepower, assuming both turbo setups are matched to the engines characteristics. The two setups may differ slightly in the shape of the power curve but max horse power will be the same.

Having said all that if you have the money and really want to do it i'm sure you could but for me i'd get a well matched single turbo and spend the money that would've been spent on the second turbo and twice the plumbing on some other areas like a big intercooler, headwork, cams, aftermarket comper,ect.

I've just pulled the head of an a14 as i needed it so the short motor is available if you want it. Was in a sunny wagon years ago and ran but had blown head gasket. Let me know if your interested. What sort of manifold do you want as standard ones are for a single down draught and i got one of them too.

Nice work, i love forest rallying and have never actually competed on tarmac before but would like to, rather do a tarmac rally than track work but i'll probably have a go at wakefield park or oran park next year. Forest rallying certainly gets the blood pumping!! Although I've only done 6 rallies my advice would be work on keeping the car o the road and finishing for the first few events even if you're a bit slow then work up to speed. I'm doing the last round of the NSW state rally championship on saturday down in Canberra, eager to see how we compare with the other P1 guys!