I have the 65 L320.This has the 1200 engine in it.The carb and vacuum system has been baffeling.I wanted to ask the best suggestions for a clean engine swap.I am sure there are some great ideas out there.Any suggestions.

Welcome...

There is a "Tech Section" in the links on the left hand side of the website - it contains a number of engine swap ideas and how to do them.

A14, A14, CA18, SR20, L18 etc....

Thank you...Tracer

The easiest swap with the best results for effort is an A15.

If you are a bit more ambituous (and not in the tech section) put the bottom end and internals of the A15 into the A12 block....saves changing the engine number too - I know one person who has done it sucessfully on this site....

Quote:
If you have the 1965 model, then it will have the J12 engine & not the A12 which was first seen in 1970. The simplest swap would be the J15 engine & these should not be too hard to find, although you would likely need to major overhaul any J15 that you were going to use.
If your engine is the J12, then have a think about the J15.

Plan B?
An L series engine & five speed. You should be able to get a Series One Bluebird, or 200B type L20B engine & box for next to nothing these days & they are a strong & reliable power plant. This should perk up an old truck quite nicely.
The Series Two Bluebird engine [L20B] is also a good candidate, but it has a lot more smog gear to fiddle with.

Plan C?
An A15 & gearbox from a late '70's or early 80's model Vanette.
All of these choices are good, but one of then will suit your needs better, & only you can make that choice.

Mildman
I know that the A14 crank can be used in A12 blocks without too much drama, but i think that the A15 crank might be a bit of a challenge.

Your right it could be a challenge Dodgeman, I haven't done it myself....I do know of a certain ute in this area that defintely has an A15 crank in it...I assume it has the A15 head on it as well, but not entirely familia with the setup....

I'm being evasive as I don't know if he wants people to know about it or not...

i would be interested to know abit more about this a15 crank in a12 businesses i have got both engines and i am looking for max power. Does any one know the limit of power achiveable from a turbo a15?

Quote:This is, to some degree, one of those unanswerable questions as engine service life decreases substantially as ultimate power limits are reached, & driveability just about dissapears. Cost goes through the roof too.
A good dose of nitro combined with some serious boost will find the limits of both the power & life expectancy of any engine.

What is it that you plan to do with this engine? Street? [modest level] Race? [high level] or Drag? [very high level of power output]

i belive it is a a14 crank in an a12 block, . on a12 rods with a15 pistons.... i always forget the crank that he has in it........... but that motor, who ever is running it may not be running for much longer, cyl 3 is down on compression.... about 35% lower on comp then the rest... i hope that person has a bit of luck soon.... i guess its not so secret any more that mild man has spoken...