Hey guys

I have a broad general knowledge of cars and performance stuff but am relatively new to A-series engines. Obviously the recipe is still:

capacity
head
cam/springs
revs
extractors/exhaust
fuelling

If I was wanting to build a fairly simple little A-series combo for a with good manners/economy, what would be the best way to go about it, without spending a million dollars?

Capacity
I'd assume you would want to start with an A14/A15 block? Any particular thing I should be looking for?

Cam/springs
I'm sure there's something off the shelf for cam/gear/springs that will improve performance without making it #OOPS# to drive and/or ruining the economy. I've had enough of that over the years, i want something reliable and well behaved.

Head
I hear about 'oval port' heads. Are these the way to go for a nice street motor? Do they just bolt on to any A-series block? Any concerns/considerations? Do they benefit from some basic porting?

Revs
Really this is dictated by cam selection, but generally what kinda revs is an A-series worth revving to anmd/or safe to?

Extractors/exhaust

Bit of a no brainer and mostly down to personal preference, but a 2" exhaust and off-the-shelf extractors would be heaps I assume?

Fuelling
Obviously big carbs are the go, but are there any cost-effective options for injection? I assum eignition is just points dizzy.

Any info would be great.

Also interested to hear from the turbo guys, as to whether there are any massive shortfalls of these engines.

A-series is a bit different

1. capacity
2. carburetion

Carburetion is small in stock form unless it is a factory twin carb.

Just get an A14/A15 from a 4-speed car (5-speed models have the small-port heads), swap on dual DCOE or dual Mikunis and use 2" exhaust. Use the stock cam but rev the snot out of it while driving 6000-7000 RPM. The stock block can go 8000 RPM safely if you change the cam & springs. But why bother?

Quote:
Yep.

Ok so A14/A15, twin carbs, and that's it.

As for why bother with cam etc... I would be rebuilding the engine so if I'm spending a couple of grand getting a new motor then another few hundred here and there to get another 10hp is worth the trouble.

bige has a great ported head for sale, add a pair of forties, extractors and a good cam and you are in performance A series territory. the fun starts here.

A couple of grand? Why spend that? The stock blocks are already balanced. Save money for the wheels and paint.

Quote:

There's an easy $2k in a basic motor rebuild. Perhaps cheaper in the US but here there aren't many people that would expect to get away with a rebuild for less than a couple of grand - certainly not without cutting corners.

By the time you have a block bored & tanked, crank & rods prepped, etc it all starts adding up!

I think people are just unrealistic about what stuff REALLY costs.

well said shifty , some people just don't understand what goes into a good rebuild. I have not come across a stock block balanced correctly yet, (factory balancing is not done, only weights are done and vary approx 6 grams plus between components, thats factory specs)so the balancing could be out by 10s of grams, quite common.balancing improves a number of things engine life the most.not that expensive to do correctly. cheers

First off the condition of the motor you're going to rebuild will have a huge effect on cost. I'm one of the folks who wonder why you would be spending 2K for a street engine. If the bores are not horribly worn you won't have any machine work. As for prepping the rods, I've been running the stock rods in my car and buzzing it to 8K for the last 15 years. Having the crank and rods balanced is only about $100.

So far a street car I'd find an A14 or 15 in good condition, use a GX or oval port head. You can clean up the ports yourself and gasket match the manifold. As for cam you could go a GX spec cam which is pretty mild and the GX valve spring which are good to 8K. Flat top pistons with GX head will give 10-1 compression. Somewhere one the site is a diagram for trimming the flywheel down from 21lbs to 14lbs. As for carbs DCOE's would work nice but I'm not sure about the economy.

The A-series engines are very sturdy and for street use race level prep of block rods etc is kinda overkill.

So I'd go with an A14, GX head mildly ported, GX cam, 10-1 compression, 14lb flywheel, and side draught SU's or DCOE's. The set up should be easily 90-95ish horsepower range and very streetable.

Now of course if you have to pay for labor 2K will be reached very quickly.

Tom

Thanks for your response mate. I've never rebuilt a motor before but I've done most other stuff so I'm sure this isn't over my head. Obviously I'll still be paying for any specialist machining but assembly etc is not a problem as I have a torque wrench and plenty of patience :)

The biggest question I have is, why an A14 not an A15? And are you meaning 90hp at the tyres, or the engine?

Also regarding the 'couple of grand' I was thinking I'd pay the extra to bore it out and fit new pistons... but again when I start doing that you have to wonder why not go L-series.

weight-wise is an A15 much lighter than say an L16?

I'm rebuilding my engine and a I've paid about $400.00 for professional machining of my new block (I stuffed the other one).

Bore, hone, faced sides to clean up, mock up assembly to measure how much will need to be machined for the piston deck height to sit flush.

The cheapest way to get a worked A-Series engine is to buy one that's already been built.