Welcome aboard,

A couple of things to share. First the clutch master and slave might total all of $50- 75 to replace. As for the lack of oil pressure, it could be as simple as the gauge as suggested. These engines will rattle like mad with no oil pressure. Grab a book if need be but check to make sure it is functioning.

As for the engine swap, if you weld and fab then it could be done very cheaply if not then not. One of the big attractions of the 1200 is they are very light. For not to many dollars you could get swap in a A14 or A15, which bolt right in, which would mean 85-95 HP depending of state of tune. Look at the motor swaps on tech-wiki and you'll see that many of them way much more than the A series engine, the car will be faster but that snappy turn in that makes these fun cars will be gone. A KA is almost 200lbs heavier, it weighs as much as the VG30 V6. Now even if the A series needs a rebuild if nothing is damaged the rings, bearing and gaskets can be had for $200-300 if not less. 1200's are cheap to fix.

Now with all that said there is absolutely nothing wrong taking a cheap to be had KA24 and sticking it in the car. Bone stock to 7 second drag cars to 150 mph track cars are all appreciated here.

Tom