ive been working on the body of my 1985 datto ute and i dont have the money to bolt a new engine in, just wondering if anyone knows any good upgrades for the stock a12 motor without going fairly overboard on the costly side of things as i am on apprentice wages

cheers!

Normally going through a general service gives good results, have a look at the wiki to your left, oh and you won't find a 5spd on apprentice wages.

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Other than that, wait until you have the money as you won't really get anymore out of a stock A12 without throwing money at it.

Fill out your location so people can direct you to parts and services etc.

For about $500 you could get a running A15. To me, this would be the cheapest option as it will at least remain reliable and then when money arives you can add on from there. For the money you will tip into the A12 I think that you will be far happier with the A15.

Good info sean I second that.

I think with your Standard engine the go is to start with the bolt on stuff. Extractors and a decent exhaust system [say a 2 inch with a decent muffler] and a decent free-flowing air filter will liven your standard A12 up. If you find extra $$$ then look at a weber 32/36 carby conversion. Further down the track you can look at getting an elctronic ignition conversion.

I had a stocko A12 when i first got my 1000. I added extracters, elec ignition and a DD Weber(34 something) and it got it running better and acceleration was definatly crisper. Then I put a standard A15 with a A12 carby in and what a difference! The increase in tourque was incredable. And now I have a cam and 32/36 on it and my old exhaust it goes great. Fuel economy is still about 10km/l with a heavy foot/peak hour.

So just keep the A12 for now. Maybe start hunting around for some cheap extracters and 2" exhuast as you can swap this over when you drop a bigger A series in. But definatly save for a A14/A15.

32/36 weber,extractors,electronic dizzy and a A15 or an A15