i have a car that i am learning gravel driving with the problem is that the the motor is so f**ked that it only does 60 mph and i cant get to go any faster
should i just rebuild the motor with ports cam carb
or a diffrent engine all togetha

what is it?

1200 coupe

i have been reading the l18 swap would that work in a coupe does anyone know

no, the L18 conversion is not as simple in the 1200. trust me! Alot of fabrication work required to crossmember, engine mounts, etc.

If it's just a car to learn in, you probably want to keep it cheap and simple, but with enough power to learn about car control.

So if it was me, I'd rebuild the A12, throw in a 30/70ish regrind cam, and a downdraught Weber, mill .030 or .040" off the head to bump the compression up a bit. Then a cheap 1.75 sports exhaust, maybe a 2nd hand set of extracters if you can find some. I wouldn't bother porting the head - with such a mild engine, there won't be any real benefit. Same goes for getting an A14 oval port head - if anything, you'd probably loose a bit of power on this engine, because it will reduce the velocity of the inlet charge which gives better cylinder fill. Besides, it's money you don't need to spend.

you could drop in an A14, but that will cost as much as the parts to rebuild the A12. And you'd probably want to rebuild that before throwing it in anyway, and this is where it all begins to get out of control... But I guess if you are planning on an A14 for the coupe you are building up, then it's not money wasted. But in NZ, you can throw in just about any engine you want in a rally car hey?

Stick with a rebuilt 1200 if you can't find a good 2nd hand A14. Learning to drive on gravel is best done starting with an underpowered car. That way you learn to drive the car properly thru the corners and setting up a good handling car rather than relying on sheer power which tends to turn you into a lazier "point & squirt" driver. A motor with good string mid range torque is what you need....that eliminates the need for expensive close ratio gearboxes and high revving motors that need constant rebuilds to keep them up to scratch. Hope this helps... :)

I went through the same thing 2 years ago - over here we have Karnacross, which is a series of short 1-2km timed dirt events. Like most people in this class it is an entry level contest, so $$$ are always important.
I ended up using a A12 standard bottom end (new rings only) added a GX2 head with a very light port job (no polishing) and added a twin SU set up. Run on Premium unlead fuel with welded diff (3.9) the vehicle was a great training toy. It had enough power to step the rear out, but it lacked enough power that you had to drive the right line to get a good time. Please note, this motor will not blow up, rev the ring out of it and you'll get a great 12 months before compression starts to die.
The best advise I can give you is to spend your money on a good set of tyres if you plan to go quick. I've still got the same set of tyres from 2 years ago. However I now use an A15 instead of the A12 - a lot more fun but my times aren't much better because I spend more time sideways than going forward :) yeah. Note, with the A15 gearboxes die pretty quickly - I've been through 3 this year.

Micko