Make sure everything's right before you start throwing parts at it....

A lot of people ask me how to get the most performance out of a certain car for a certain budget,and they always ask-what should I buy first? Gears? Headers? A carb and intake? One thing they forget is to make sure the car is in top operating condition BEFORE you start modifying it. Here's a list of important things that many people don't check. # 1. Do a simple compression test. Even an 8:1 "smog" motor will have 120-130 psi of compression. Higher performance engines will have 150 psi or more. The main thing is the readings should be uniform for all 8 cylinders-within 5-10 psi of each other. If one or more cylinders only has 80 or 90 psi-you could have a serious problem like burned valves, bad rings or a blown head gasket. You'd be amazed at the number of cars I see limping around on 6 or 7 cylinders.  # 2. No high rpm power. I'm not talking about 7,000 or 8,000 rpm; many cars don't have the valvetrain or bottom-end for that. But a 318 Dodge with a 2bbl and 150,000 miles on it will rev to 5,000 rpm or so. If the car starts missing or popping above 3,500-4,000 rpm, you could have a flat cam or excessive timing chain slop. You'd be amazed at the number of cars I see with $5,000 paint jobs and $2,000 worth of tires and wheels that can't pull 5,000 rpm in low gear. # 3. Bad Ignition. This one is probably the most prevalant. I see cars all the time where the vacuum advance is unplugged or inoperable, the timing is way too slow or way too advanced, the points are closing up, it has one or more bad wires, a cracked distributor cap, etc. Again-you see cars with $5,000 paint jobs sputtering around and the owner can't tell you the last time-if ever-he changed the points,plugs, and cap, rotor and wires!!  # 4. Bad or improperly adjusted carb(s). I see cars all the time where the throttle linkage doesn't open fully, the kickdown cable isn't hooked up,the throttle shafts are warped, the float is sinking, their jetted way too rich or way too lean, theirs vacuum leaks everywhere. It's worse on Tri-Power Pontiacs, Six-Pack Mopars, 409 Impalas, Hemi Chryslers, and other multi-carb vehicles I may have missed. Their so afraid of blowing it up that they drive it like grandma on Prozac. It never sees the high side of 3,000 rpm, and usually is only driven on and off the trailer. Then, the second it fouls a spark plug, the owner starts screwing around with the carburators. Pretty soon it won't even start. Here's how to avoid this. Put your 50 year old, numbers-matching carb in a box in case you ever want to sell the car or re-install it for a Concours show. New Holley or Edelbrock 4bbls work pretty damn good out of the box on 99% of applications. If you have a multi-carb setup-take it to a shop that has an infrared anaylyzer and a carb synchronizer and have them re-jet or adjust the carbs properly and then leave them alone!!  If your going to drive it like grandma, then go a range or two hotter on the plugs. If you decide to take a road trip or go to the drags, changing back to the colder heat range plugs for high-speed driving is pretty easy. And like the GTO song-once in a while you need to "Turn it on, wind it up, blow it out". I'm not saying run your Hemi 'Cuda to 7 grand and risk putting a picture window in the side of the block; But running it up to say 4,500 rpm through the gears occasionally or a full-throttle blast up a freeway on-ramp once in a while will go a long way towards keeping it running properly for when you DO want to put the hammer down. # 5. Bad transmissions. You'd be amazed at the number of cars I see with slipping or chattering clutches, shift linkages that bind up, automatics that are 2 qts low on fluid, or the fluid looks like mud, the vacuum modulator is unplugged or inoperable, etc. If you have a stick make sure the linkage works properly and that the clutch isn't slipping and is adjusted properly. Hurst has a rebuild program where you can send in your factory shifter and they'll re-furbish it with new bushings, shift rods, etc. If you have an automatic-make sure the fluid is clean and full. Make sure the vacuum modulator is working properly and that the kickdown linkage is hooked up properly. A B&M or TransGo shift improver kit is pretty simple to install and will greatly improve shift quality and performance. Making sure these simple things are right can make a huge difference in preformance. A shop I worked at had a dyno and we offered performance dyno tuning. Even on a bone-stock engine, bad tuning can cost you as much as 50 hp!  So before you go plunk down your credit card for a cam kit, or headers or a carb / intake combo or a high-stall converter or whatever-make sure the car is in top running condition to begin with. A hot cam isn't going to help if you've got a blown head gasket!  Mastermind