All good ! Anybody know someone in the Bendigo, central vic area to get a cheap respray job?

You do need a Engineers certificate for a A15 in a 1200 in NSW. The A14 doesn't need one, this is why the A14 transplant was more common throughout the 80s and 90s. The 120Y would fit under the same criteria which uses percentage increase in the capacity of the engine.

If you have some technical knowhow and tools, doing another transplant will give you better value. But the A15 is almost a "bolt-in" job. But you'd still need a Engineers Certificate in NSW.

Chris

Do i need an engineers cert for an A15? Also where can i find one, im in Bendigo victoria, hard to find here i have trouble finding parts, gearboxes etc...

Holeshot.
With Lobsters low cost carb improvements, on what i presume to be an adapter on the stock manifold, then i think that a 2" exhaust with low restristion muffler[s] might be about as much as it would need in this state of tune, keeping in mind the stated criteria of not wanting to replace a lot of parts, or spend a lot of money. From memory, the last time i priced new extractors & turbo muflers, they were a bit pricey.
I wonder if a stock A14, or A15 exhaust manifold would be an improvement. They would certainly be cheap enough as most would be glad to get rid of the ones they have got.
The only cost then would be a new manifold to manifold gasket & some new bolts to join them together & new flange studs & nuts.. [i always use new bolts & studs] That is, assuming that it will bolt to the A12 inlet, & i suspect that it will.

That exhaust of yours is good, but methinks a little bit too good.[$$$]
Chris

Go to your local EXHAUST shop and get them to fit a set of SCAVANGER headers and 2in pipe,TURBO type muffler all the way to the rear. IF YOU CAN NOT HERE IT THE CD PLAYERS TO LOUD turn it off.
that will give you about 10 to 15% more grunt.

Kegs
That compression figure doesn't sound too bad, but to get a good idea, check it again with three squirts of oil in each cylinder. This will temporarily seal up the rings. If the compression jumps by more than about 15psi, then there is some wear in the rings.
Desirably, all cylinders should be the same, but a 10% diference between cylinders is OK in a used engine. 5% is better. If low compression pressures don't improve with the oil, then it's probably fair to say that there is likely to be some leakage around the valves.

When testing, do it on a warmed up engine, try to do the same number of compression strokes for each cylinder, remove ALL plugs first, & do it with the throttle wide open.[to prevent low readings due to the closed throttle plate preventing a full charge of air reaching the cylinder.]
If possible, try to note how much the needle comes up in the first two strokes. If it reaches almost full pressure in two strokes, start smiling. If it takes five to get there, stop smiling.

So here is what we are looking for.
A quick rise in pressure
All cylinders with near equal pressure.
A modest diference in pressure between wet & dry tests.
120psi dry sounds pretty good for a stocker.
Chris

Lobster
What you said, plus a "sports" exhaust to allow it to reap the benefit of the better breathing. That means a full new exhaust of larger diameter.
Modest cost, nice little pep up.
Chris

Quote:
what is the compression on a a12 meant to be, i checked mine the other day it was 120 psi is this normal ???

After that stuff I would go for a 32/36 weber or G180 Holley to give it a little bit of pep.

Before you go looking at performance improvements, try going for the cheapest & best performance tricks. Give it a FULL tune up.
Check the compression. Thats always a good start. If your engine is down on compression then fitting twin carbs Etc. will not help much. Get the tappets correctly set, replace the points & maybee even the condenser. Set the dwell angle correctly & monitor it at about 1,000k, then 5,000 & 10,000k. Set the timing correctly & make sure that the vacuum can works correctly & does not leak. Replace ALL filters & fill with the correct grade of oil for the season & the use that you have for the vehicle. Make sure that the brakes are correctly adjusted & are NOT dragging. Make sure that the carb is correctly adjusted.

Depending on just how good or bad your car is tuned & serviced, you may find that this perks it up quite nicely. This is the baseline upon which you base further improvements, & this is abiut as low cost as you can get.

If the compression is down, then rectify the CAUSE of the problem. This usually involves the good old "ring & valve" job & is recomended before adding any performance improvements to a "used" engine.
Chris