12a engines

[Ian65]

The best, easiest and cheapest diy mods to get that extra power I\'ve found are:
* headers and a full performance exhaust
* mechanical secondaries
* Cut a hole in the back of the air filter can to increase the airflow
* lose the viscous fan which acts as a big brake on your revs

After this you\'re into porting which is a  more involved / expensive then forced induction.

[re japi]

Mechanical secondaries??? Info please...? :confused:

[captainbizzaro]

There are two ways of going mechanical, the ghetto way or the posh way haha. It can be achieved by simply linking the throttle mechanism to the secondary lever on the carb with a cable tie or thin wire. This will open the seconday butterflies at the same time as the primaries but will hit fuel economy even more (if you are bothered and let\'s face it not many of us are) and will also require you to fettle the fuelling slightly as your carbs new found urgency for fuel will give you a hiccup if you suddenly hit the loud pedal. All this involves is giving the fuel bowl a little more capacity with a sandwich plate. It\'s worth it though as they sound awesome with this mod too.

[vin likes diesel]

cheers for the info, looks like the exhaust will be going then. A carb rebuild is already on the list.
I am not going for hp, just a reliable daily and rather than cut a hole in the air filter i was going to put a kn complete round filter on top of the original filter casing.
I agree with the fiscous fan but also for my engine swap this will have to come off because of the space so a rad will fit. cheers vin

[captainbizzaro]

If you\'re gonna run an open air filter I\'d heat wrap the manifold mate rotang exhausts get hellahot.

[vin likes diesel]

If you\'re gonna run an open air filter I\'d heat wrap the manifold mate rotang exhausts get hellahot.

All good advice, well worth joining the club.:Thumbs-up

[Ian65]

in hot weather, an aftermarket air filter is fine but in the colder months, the 12a rotary needs warm air from the manifold to go into the inlet until the engine gets up to temperature... lose this source of warm air and the car may run like a dog until it gets warm. The blue air filter box does this automatically.
The guys in the usa use alot of after market filters but lots of them live in warmer climes than us.