So you have a torque wrench and think you can build a motor,well luckily an A series is rather tough
But there is a lot more to building a good reliable engine that will make power and keep making it and you will not find most of the relevant information in a book or online,yes you can assemble an engine and it will work.
A engine builder who knows his stuff and knows the engine will always give you a far superior result,more so than even a decent mechanic,but in truth it takes people in the trade at least 15 years to become half decent as it takes that long to experience most of the little tricks and traps inherent in making good reliable power from any engine.
As to the statement about balance ex factory and no need for machining etc that may be valid for some low mileage engine but each engine encountered is different has had a different service history and the owner expects unique attributes for his engine,this totally negates such a blanket statement.
With close on 40 years of building Race Rally drag and MX,Roadracing and Quad bike engines real experience tells me many do not know and worse think they do.
Just finished a customers Engine rebuild,he had his mechanic rebuild a yamaha banshee quad with a stroker crank and cheetah cub top end.
Cost was comparable to buying decent parts but they got Chinese crap off an Ebay seller and it lasted about 5 hours then went bang,machine work was a joke had to throw the crankcases and new crank in the bin,at least his cylinders were saleable.
He now has a 96 HP 421cc reliable engine at a similar cost to what he first spent plus $600.00 labour
But he wasted over $5,000 dollars doing the job twice because he thought he knew enough to do it himself.
Bottom line every Engine has it's little secrets and most will never know them, as it has cost those who do know much time and effort not to mention money to find out they understandably wish to be recompensed for their knowledge.
This is why you use a good mechanic or engine builder,and there are many out there who are not good also.
Listen to those who have real experience and be guided by them and know when to call in the experts and you will both save money and get a better result in the end and that is what counts.
PS a 130~150 HP turbo will mean upgrading other parts of the driveline or you will be on a first name basis with every tow truch driver in a 500 Km radius from home.

Lucky lad.

Sorry to the A-faithful but I'm close to deciding on a G13B.

i was lucky enough to get an A14 block that had been cleaned up new pistons rings and reground cam all for $250 a H75 head for $250 and dads mate is an engine builder so itl be built for maybe a 6pack plus the price of new bearings and other little things

It's almost dollar for dollar now, by the time currency converters take their bit it's AU$ to 97c US. I think the official rate is about 98/99c but haven't looked for a week or so.

Having done a lot of research on what I can/can't achieve and what I have to do to achieve it, I've decided that a basic A15 rebuilt and fitted with a turbo and splitshaft/vacsec converted 45DCOE is the best option for power, reliability and driveability.

Anything over 100rwhp from an atmo A-series setup starts to get costly and you start to make compromises with cam & carb choice as far as driveability vs performance.

For a similar cost I can achieve a reliable 130-50rwhp from a very basic turbo setup.

$1500 USD is about what $1750 AUD? I though the exchange rate was closer now?

I dind't cut any corners & my A15 rebuild cost me about 1200 bucks including all machining & parts - no labor as I put it together.
Block was bored, crank balanced, etc...
A15
.030 over pistons (had pistons)
H72 head,
reground cam
double springs
Cannon intake, Weber DCOE & header

doesn't seem unreasonable to get a decent rebuild for less then 2K even 1500. just gotta shop right.

Yep, certainly noticeable. But that's not a rebuild, that is serious modification.

Due to capacity starting with an A15 is a no-brainer as long as there are no hidden weaknesses that would cause you to use an A14 instead.

Further, a 79mm overbore would give 1608cc rather than 1488cc. That is actually MORE than the increase from an A14 to an A15 so it would most certainly be noticeable in a small car?

Cutting post short, on my way out te door!

Quote:

Normal overbored pistons won't contribute enough HP to tell. On that note, going to A15 instead of A14 makes a noticeable difference and doesn't cost $2000.

The next step up is doing a maxiumum overbore on the A15 -- not a regular overbore -- but going from 76mm to 79 mm.

For maximum power, only reason to chose an A14 is if racing class rules or government rules prohibit using an A15. Remember that a stock A15 short block will rev to 8500 RPM, so the A14 has no real HP advantage.

Yes if I was going to the trouble of rebuilding a motor, definitely a bore & larger pistons... otherwise I don't really know why you'd bother. An A-series is not exactly a powerhouse so it really needs everything you can give it!

L-series and a CA18DE are options also.