yeah thanks stevo, very good advice indeed. getting the manual and learning about what i have at the moment sounds pretty good to me. cheers.

Quote: Ahhhh, the voice of sanity is clearly heard.
Good on you. I have often said that buying a service manual for the car, &/or the engine you are playing with is the best automotive investment you can make.
It should also be the first investment you make after the vehicle itself. Great wisdom, & a lot of how to's & tech specs are contained within, & all for cheap.

The second engine is always a good idea. Once it's built, it's a simple matter to slip it in, & the stocker is always there as a backup should something unforseen occur.

Good advice Stevo.

before i bought my coupe i contemplated putting a CA in my ute, i was told that a drive in drive away package would not give much change from $15 000, but that every thing!, intercooler, exhaust, brakes, diff every thing, you can do it cheaper than that if you do it yourself, but you need to have "mechanical dexterity" and some engineering skills/knowledge.
Most of us that are regulars on this website started out tweeking the trusty old A-series engine, some more than others, thats where you learn skills,While expeinece and knowledge grows as you start moving away from the A series and go do bigger and better(L-series, CA or SR)
My advice is too go and buy a service manual, that tells you every thing about the standard motor and then go buy another motor and dismantle and then rebuild it, modifying when required and when the cash flow is available.
Any questions, then post them and someone will give you advice.

Any thoughts on that!

thanks for your words. so bolt on stuff is pretty much covered :/ so i guess paying someone to put a engine, such as a ca18 or sr20 etc, would be best? can someone tell me from, start to finish, what i would expect to pay for the engine+what it needs+mechanic to put it in?

looks to me like you have a 32/36 carb and extracters already (tubular exhaust pipes off the engine). You probably already have a 1.75" or 2" exhaust as well?

so the bolt on upgrades are already covered. if you want a bit more, it starts to get more involved and expensive (if you can't do it yourself).

The next step is a bit more compression, then a mild cam - but changing cams is not easy on an A series unfortunately. The engine pretty much has to come out and be turned upside down to remove the cam because of the desing of the followers. Those followers need to be resurfaced when you have the cam ground too.

Depending on what cyl head you've got (there may be some info in the tech section to identify heads by casting number) will determine how best to increase compression. If you have the open chamber A14 head, try and track down a closed chamber head. Or have the open chamber head skimmed/machined.

Increased compression ratios may also require the use of premium fuel to avoid detonation/pinging.

If you already have a closed chamber head, the options are more awkward. And if the engine is in good nick, there's no sense having it rebuilt with higher comp pistons. Skimming the head won't net much gain. I'd maybe look at a mild port job instead.

Obviously, how much you can do yourself, and how much you want to spend will determine what to do next.


oh, I also wanted to say that twin sidedraughts on a stock motor isn't really justified for the amount of money spent. Leave that till after the cam and compression are done if you still want more.

ok cool, ill have a look.




will the IDF series fit? or do i need a 32/36 DGV Series carb?




does anyone know what carb i have at the moment?

check the tech section for carbs.. there is heaps in there. twin su's or a single webber should be a cheap upgrade for your ride as a daily driver... power also means more petrol in any ones language.

yeah i got the a14 in there already. i have been told by a mechanic that webbers will give me like 5% more power and chew 8 times more petrol. so i frowned at that a bit. is that true? do you have a photo of a webber or twin carbs? coz that just goes over my head when you say that oh and i know that the extractors have "been done" or something lol.

yeah i got the rear end all fixed and re sprayed. so im happy about that. $2,500 it set back "mr. no give way"

if youve got the a14 already, just grab some extractors and eother a webber or twin carbs for a bit of extra power on the cheap. depending on the soundness of your engine,with the new set up you could advance the timing for 98 octane fuel for maybe 5-10% more power depending if your car is stock or not engine wise.
It all depends on whats in there already and your $$$$ situation.
Did you get your back end fixed yet?

hey guys,
ok, i want to give my engine a bit more grunt, but dosh and my knowledge is fairly limited. i thought id come to all of you guys trusted wisdom before i try anywhere else. now, i know pretty much nothing about engines lol, i know where the battery is, where the water goes and where to check oil. i tried doing a search here on carbys and webbers but i dont really understand what it all goes on about.
so if someone can lay down what something does, what pros and cons it has and how much and how easy it is to install, id really appreciate it :) now, heres what i got at the moment...




i dont know whats there, so i dont wanna go and get something i already have lol. if someone can tell me what is there that would be cool!
oh and its a 1400, and what i gather, my options are either a bigger carby, webbers or a turbo.
can someone please tell me in absolute noobie language what they do, how they benifit my engine, which would be easiest to get a hold of, what i would tell a wreckers im lookin for and how much id expect to pay for it?

i know its lots to ask but, lol i really know nothing about my engine and id like to give it a bit more go. any comments will be appreciated.

cheers, evan

p.s if anyone knows a link that would help me understand my engine better, post it for me