* $100 a small cam (and new lifters)
* $400 a downdraught weber carby
* $225 a set of extractors
* $125 an electronic ignition
That's only $850. If you buy them used (except the cam) you can get all that for about $325

If you just want to keep up with traffic, & really just want torque then a small cam, a downdraught weber carby, a set of extractors & an electronic ignition system makes a bit of difference. I have nearly the same in my 210 wagon, but it's only an A12 with a stock cam & before it stopped working last Monday, it was quite capable of keeping up with traffic, generally just cracking the throttle to get away from an intersection, & lots of poke for a holeshot up the inside. I'll be replacing the engine with it's original A15, which burnt an exhaust valve a couple of years ago. The A15 will just get the carby, distributor & extractors, with the stock cam. When the head was serviced, I got new valve springs from a VW Beetle engine fitted, they cost $20 for the set & are comparable to the standard single springs.
Any engine swap will need a gearbox & rear end upgrade. Just upgrading the stock engine or swapping to an A14/A15 means you don't have to change these. Hopefully you already have a 5 speed, if not you might be able to get one of those to lower the revs at highway speeds.

lol well, if i'm gonna spend $5k (or even $1200) on upgrades to this engine, might as well just stick with the complete swap.

Or, for $1200 get 160 hp out of the A13. See Turbo EFI for $1200

Hi Tolk - Datsun fact of life is keeping your foot to floor to keep up with traffic. Nothing wrong with that. I'd go up and down the mountains, (even the Grapevine) passing cars right and left, with the engine running a low 4000 to 5000 RPM (redline is 6400)

Sure the A13 can be hot-rodded. Use the same parts as for A14 engine, manifolds, headers, cam etc. All A14 parts fit. Even A14 pistons can be fitted. A13 is factory 75 HP. For $5000 you can get 100 HP out of it. Performance might increase from the stock 0-60 mph in 12 seconds to 0-60 in 10-1/2 seconds

Since a B210 with stock A13 will already do 80 mph cruising (an 90 mph top speed), it might be better to concentrate on acceleration. Changing the final gear ratio from the stock economy gear (3.900) to a performance (4.375) gear will make 0-30 accelerate much faster. And it's cheap if you can find a gear, they are only about $150 on eBay but I only see them rarely (they were sold by Nissan Competition). With the stock 13" tires and a 4.375 gear you could still cruise all day long at 70 mph

Hey guys... I keep going back and forth on the whole engine thing. So i figured i'd at least keep my options open about keeping the A13 in my 1974 Datsun B210 in tact. Maybe adding a few performance parts to help boost the HP a little, so i don't feel like i need to Flintstone the thing to keep up with Southern California traffic.

I'd actually am starting to warm up to the idea of keeping this engine, as it's kind of unique, but at the same time it sucks cause i can't find any parts of the stupid thing.

If needed, I could go for a A14 or A15, but even those are a little rare now to come by now. Just curious as to my options.

And yeah I've looked into an L20b, and even a KA24E/DE swap, and to be honest It just seems like so much overkill, and a crap ton of work. I don't need 150ish HP, but somewhere around 90 to 100 would be nice.

What'cha all think?