m8 ive got an 82 ute and the a12 in it was buggered soo ive just bought myself an a14 with twin side draught webers fitted it in last night and took for a spin down the street and it is bucket loads of fun soo i sugest thats the way to go and if you put a bit of money into the engine itll hoon!!!

hey mate. congrats on the ute. i got a 79ute too. im going the ca tho. i heard the h165 can handle the torque without too much drama so im going that way. this is my first datsun/nissin so its all new to me. but its great fun to learn.

goodluck mate.

Im from QLD and im still waiting to get my learners so my ute is a long term project. I am thinking of rebuilding the a12 and maybe getting it bored out aswell.

If you are from NSW and assuming you are a P plater as it is your first, your only real choice is the A14/15 for the moment anyway. You will have plenty of fun with a decent A15 in a ute. I know I did...

Mat

Being a late model ute it should all bolt up!

I have found that with a late model ute crossmember that you may need to change to dizzy side bracket on the A14/15 to a 120Y one....waiting to confirm this with an attempted engine fitment tonight.

I am going to clean out the a12 and tune some things and see if i can get the smoke to go away. If that wont work I think i am leaning towards the a14/15 because yeah a ca18 would be too powerful and would cost too much $$$. But i have a few questions first. If i got an a14/15 would it directly fit into my car without modifiying anything and would my a12 4speed gearbox fit onto it.

mate i've got an A15 in my ute, my second, car and there is nothing that i enjoy driving more. Sure a CA18 gives you heaps of power and what not, but if its your first car a powerful rwd ute can be really dangerous.........not mention your gonna get pulled over by the 5-0(police)ha ha, and being young myself, i know how much of a pain in bum that can be.

good luck whichever way you go.
ty

I Have a 120y engine under the garage in storage, Let me know If your in the Wollongong area I could be persuaded to let it go for a case of beer or 2 cases for the gear box as well. Engine was running when It came out of the 120y. although the car had big front end damage I drove it off the trailer ond into the Garage for dimantiling
Offer goes for every one else as well

a rebuild kit for an a series is around $400 you could get a second hand a14/15 for around the same price
maby you should give the origonal motor a compresion test to see if all cylinders are even.
Did you get all the water out of your engine when you replaced the head gasket

you could get an A series engine quite chaply or rebuild your current A12 for e few hundred dollars. Your 79 ute will have a H165 diff which would handle an A15 easily so lucky strike there!