So while going though some more catalogs I noticed that Honda D17 pistons from a 2003 Civic have a pin height of 27mm and a bore size of 75mm. The skirts are also very short and look like they might clear the crank throws. I may order one and test fit it in my A12A block has this set up wouldn't require any machining.

For race classes where one has to use an A12 block this could be an advantage. This would make it possible to get between 1450cc & 1488cc using oversize D17 pistons.

Additionally the dish is such that the static compression would be 10-1

There is one down side, at 27mm the pistons would be .4mm proud of the block. The choice would be use a 1mm thick head gasket which would leave .6mm clearance Nissan Comp gasket is .6mm so that clearance should be fine or mill .4mm of the pistons.

At $12 each from Rockauto (Enginetech #P47984) I likely order one for a test fit sometime over the summer. If I stick with racing the car as a C-sedan this might give a prayer against the 1380cc minis.

D I'm familiar with that car.

The Mazda twin cam head does routinely spring to mind but how many people actually have one running?

I also have all of the kit components (including the head) to bolt an E-series head on to the A series block but it also requires quite a bit of machine work to the block. I want something that bolts on otherwise I just assume change to a different motor.

So what North American model Mitsubishi cars were these dizzys in?

Matt I hear you on the long tow; that track is a 6 hour drive for me and I have to say it's probably as far as I wish to go on a regular basis.

As for more race parts that would be awesome as I'm pedaling the little car like a squirrel on large dose of meth. As you can tell I'm losing 5-6 car lengths or more down the longer straights. Of course it is loads of fun dragging the car forward. Dreams of cross flow heads are dancing in me head.................

While I really want to see another 1200 out I will also miss the big hole the Volvo punches in the air. My fastest lap was when I got a run off corners and was able to draft............from Phil Hill to the sweeper I actually got an extra 100 rpm.

Guess I'm going to have to build an actually motor rather than running the mildy tarted up street motor.

One of the Finnish rally guys I know was getting something like 220 wheel horsepower out of B20 engines. Now you all need to stop all this talk of Volvos or Stan is likely to desert us permanently for Swedish car forums.

The Volvo is a PV544 they are like a 3/4 scale 40's American car. I think they are around 2200lbs with driver and the motor in OGREInc's car may be around 175hp or so.

The video shows me the suspension is still a bit unruly. Obviously the motor is reeeeeally slow but for now I'm going to install some fresh Koni dampers on the front. I am going to fix the exhaust and change the worn dizzy to help the power but that's not exactly going to net the kind of power I need.

The manifolds on my car (one for each pair of cylinders) are made up of 5 parts; flat plate with tubular halfs welded together. The carbs attach to the manifold via what appears to be rubber fuel filler hose.

Here is some more video from a race we did last month, the camera car is an Alfa GTV that runs in a class for street legal cars. It's the glorious battle for 16-18th out of 23 cars. OGREInc is in the Volvo 544 and I'm obviously in the 1200 Coupe. The Alfa drove smoothly and simply bided his time. OGREInc (his first race) and I flogged them for all they were worth but to no avail.

https://youtu.be/wExUqiK5OU8

The pin height is 26.50 so they are going to be .1mm short but I wouldn't think it enough to worry about. Near as I can tell the pin diameter is 18mm; so you'd need to either bush the A12A rods or bore the A12 rods.

Additionally KSF250 pistons(KLR250 might use the same one) are the same 26.50 pin height and come in 75mm (1mm oversize) so in theory you could bolt them into an A12A block (I happen to have one).