oreoandstuff Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 just picked up a 78 b210 gx. i drove a jeep for awhile and was sick of 15 mpgs at best. this little rust bucket cost me 550 bucks and i figured, "hell a rear wheel drive 5 speed that saves on gas... why not?" so now i have one. so then i was investigating these forums thinking i had at least 80 horsepower, come to find out that i have the only car combination that offered the 60 horse a14.... not sure if this is good or bad really. my big question is how can i add a few easy ponies to the a14? i dont want a hot rod but even a hundred horsepower in that car would feel fast i would think. fast enough for me anyway, so i was wondering what there is to do to these motors if anything. new head? new carb? headers? exaust? cams? carb turbo setup even? i dont wanna do a motor swap, i don't have the money or the know how, but this is one of the simplest motors I've ever seen and would feel confident doing most modifications to it. any suggestions for a noob? thanks guys Quote Link to comment
flatcat19 Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 just picked up a 78 b210 gx. any suggestions for a noob? My first suggestion would be to post some oic's. Now, improving power... Suck, squish, bang, blow. Improving any of those will help you further along in reaching your quest for more power. Quote Link to comment
MicroMachinery Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 Well, there's a trade off. If you want to gain power, you may very well be sacrificing fuel economy. It's good to know exactly what you want before you start modifying, but it's kind of a catch 22.. I know. If you've never tried out other variations of what you're working on(performance vs economy), how do you know exactly what you're wanting? Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 66% increase in power will kill the economy and the drive ability of the A14. Swap an L20B in. Quote Link to comment
king bee66 Posted May 12, 2011 Report Share Posted May 12, 2011 try to find an a15 near you, they are cheap. Quote Link to comment
oreoandstuff Posted May 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2011 try to find an a15 near you, they are cheap. why an a15 vs the 14? i thought they were virtually the same... would this be a bolt in swap? Quote Link to comment
Skib Posted May 13, 2011 Report Share Posted May 13, 2011 66% increase in power will kill the economy and the drive ability of the A14. Swap an L20B in. this^^ Quote Link to comment
king bee66 Posted May 13, 2011 Report Share Posted May 13, 2011 why an a15 vs the 14? i thought they were virtually the same... would this be a bolt in swap? same size but longer strokes/ more displacement. redo the head, have the open combustion chamber removed, the intakes ported. and tack on better carb. 100hp is attainable. an a15 is literally a bolt-in. an l20 would be awesome but it will take alot more then just the motor to make it work. Quote Link to comment
oreoandstuff Posted May 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2011 doing these things to an a14 wouldn't result in 100 hp? Quote Link to comment
flatcat19 Posted May 14, 2011 Report Share Posted May 14, 2011 doing these things to an a14 wouldn't result in 100 hp? Doing those things to an A15 will have a larger result than doing them to the A14. Not to mention rod and stroke are different between the two. The A15 is a different kind of animal. Ya ever hear the old adage-There's no replacement for displacement. Do what you wanna do. Finding an A15 or 14 is gonna be the same difficulty level. Go for broke. Quote Link to comment
RAlly_DatoB210 Posted May 14, 2011 Report Share Posted May 14, 2011 Leave it stock I get 35mpg a four speed can get above 40 why milk a bull? Ka all day Nd that thing will scream Quote Link to comment
flatcat19 Posted May 14, 2011 Report Share Posted May 14, 2011 We're all still waiting for something... Quote Link to comment
bananahamuck Posted May 14, 2011 Report Share Posted May 14, 2011 A better cam would help a little,, i see your in South Dakota but there is a cam place in Tacoma WA. Delta camshaft that can cut anything you want, mail order and a weber carb seems to wake almost anything up not so sure about 100 hp ( doubt it very much ) but a little more power anyway.Make the best out of the power plant you got and make car look sweet.Cuz like Rally_Dato said it is what it is,, but it could get great mileage and look awesome.. example: from a Japanese car show Now show us pictures of yours!! Quote Link to comment
king bee66 Posted May 16, 2011 Report Share Posted May 16, 2011 not so sure about 100 hp ( doubt it very much ) if a adding an a12gx head with s/u carbs can bump an a12 from 68hp to 83hp, i dont see why a few mods couldnt take a a15 at least close to 100hp also, as the others have said, lets see some pictures of the car Quote Link to comment
RedBanner Posted May 16, 2011 Report Share Posted May 16, 2011 Remove the back hatch bumpers and doors, strip the inside of everything but the seat , that frees up some horses, i didnt notice much when i swapped carbs or exoust, and short of swapping a cheap light motor into it: 12a l18-20 ka, ca, a15 . Make it lighter every 20 pounds makes a difference. For instance i made my b210 handle better buy buying my gf a buss pass, it freed up about 9 horses and doesnt hit the bumpstops. Quote Link to comment
oreoandstuff Posted May 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2011 sorry guys i'll try and have pics by tonight. anyway, didn't realize how rusted out this thing was until i was doing my sway bar end links and swapping my tires around when i noticed that, unless they came with one frame rail, that my drivers side chassis support is rusted away :( since i bought it, it has looked pretty bad and dust get's in on gravel roads from various holes rusted through. Also i found someone willing to sell me a ka24de with 5 speed for 200 bucks. motor needs rebuilt but i'm not too worried about that. Now I'm wondering however, should i even bother with such a rusted out chassis? I thought about reinforcing it, but it will never look good and clean even if i did. what do you guys think? Quote Link to comment
oreoandstuff Posted May 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 sorry they're huge. didn't take the time to shrink them down ">">">">"> Quote Link to comment
king bee66 Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 i think you should let it spend the rest of its days with the A motor. if the rust is as bad as you say, you probably wouldnt get enough of a return from the effort it would take doing a ka swap Quote Link to comment
RAlly_DatoB210 Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 get a set of slot mags under it and rally the and doors off. invest in chicken wire duct tape gorrila glue and jb weld. Quote Link to comment
oreoandstuff Posted May 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 i think you should let it spend the rest of its days with the A motor. if the rust is as bad as you say, you probably wouldnt get enough of a return from the effort it would take doing a ka swap Ya that's what i was thinking. too much work for something that only has so much potential. well, i think a KA is out, junkyard has an a15 for 350$. sounded kinda high to me, what are those motors typically worth? Quote Link to comment
flatcat19 Posted May 18, 2011 Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 Ya that's what i was thinking. too much work for something that only has so much potential. well, i think a KA is out, junkyard has an a15 for 350$. sounded kinda high to me, what are those motors typically worth? Talk him down to $150. Who else is gonna buy it? Really. Quote Link to comment
king bee66 Posted May 18, 2011 Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 only if it was just rebuilt, you could buy a running driving 210 with an a15 for 350$ on the west coast- well maybe not that cheap. as flatcat said, who else is he going to sell it to? its probably been sitting around for a long time. the motor is worth about 15$ scrapped, id offer 75$ to start Quote Link to comment
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