i have a 1200 coupe with a mildly worked a12. i am just not happy with the standard carby. does anyone have any sugestions as to a good carby for the little bugger

twin webers
or if you cant afford to spend $800+
a down draught weber is popular, you can get one (32-36) off a 2ltr ford escort or cortina at the wreckers, you will probably require an adaptor plate to fit it to the 1200 (upto $45) (also upto $45 for carbie at wreckers)
and a bit of time to make things fit, i havent done it to an a-series so hopefully someone else will give you more detail. oh and if you get the carb fully rebuilt (i think its a good idea but not nesecary i guess) it will cost upto $200 including rejetting and tunning for the 1200

i have a downdraft webber that came off a fiat i think it is a 35/35 i aint sure would this be too big?

I have used the Fiat Weber on a stock A-12. It ran pretty well too. I wish I had a picture of it, I used a hot pink Frisbee flying disc as the air filter cover. My boss hated that! He was glad when that car became the Chickenhawk.
I'm not sure of the size but I thought it was smaller, like a 26/32 or something like that. Of course it is pooible that Fiat used several different sizes. The other thing to take into account is the primary and secondary are reversed in that carb so the thing works backward from a stock carb or a 32/36 Weber.

I paid $385 for my new weber DGV. sounds like alot but that also included dyno tuning of the complete engine. I recommend having your carby at least jetted properly as it makes a huge difference. stops it from running like a pig when cold and gets rid of the flatspots on sudden acceleration. also benefits the fuel economy by and large. you can do it backyard by repeatedly going down a size in jets and taking the car for a drive, as soon as it starts 'pulling' go back up a size in jets.. if there was no noticeable decrease in power on the second last setting then it is probably okay to go back two sizes.
if you are getting the cortina carbies remember they are jetted for a 2ltr engine and also try and get the manual choke ones because alot of the time the old electric choke ones stick closed because the solenoid is farked. and then you rip it off and then the thing is not as good to drive when cold.