Don't put the cart before the horse....

A lot of people ask what's the 1st thing I should do to get more performance out of my musclecar? Or what one modification offers the most "bang" for the buck?  Every car line is different, so there's no one pat answer. However there are things you can do to greatly increase your car's performance without throwing major bucks and tons of parts at it. Here's the things I'd do BEFORE I pull out my Visa card and call Summit, or PAW or Jeg's!  # 1. Make sure it's running properly, even if it's bone-stock. I can't stress this enough. I see so many musclecars limping around on 6 or 7 cylinders. And I'm not talking beaters, rat rods or works in progress. I see it every Hot August Nights-cars with $5,000 paint jobs and $2,000 worth of tires and wheels that can't smoke the tires on dry pavement or pull 5,000 rpm in low gear!  These cars have bad plug wires, the vacuum advance is inoperable or not hooked up,the points are closing up, the timing is way too advanced or way too retarded, the carburator is way too lean or way too rich,the throttle linkage is sticking or not opening all the way, the automatic trans kickdown is not hooked up, the vacuum modulator is disconnected or spewing fluid. I talk to these people-and they'll have $40,000 invested in the car-and they can't tell you the last time they changed the spark plugs and wires or the points , distributor cap and rotor or the fuel filter!! Even on a stock engine bad tuning or excessive neglect can cost you as much as 50 hp. Make sure everything is right before you start spending money or changing things. # 2. Intake and exhaust. Regardless of make and model I'd say here is where you get the most "bang" for the buck. Especially if the car has a 2bbl carb and single exhaust to start with. A factory or aftermarket 4bbl carb and intake setup will really "wake up" any 2bbl motor. Besides much more power, you'll have better drivability and probably better gas mileage. Even if you don't want headers, a good, free-flowing dual exhaust system can be worth as much as 30-40 hp on a stock engine with iron exhaust manifolds. Look at the car's under side on the rack. Many factory "dual" exhaust sytems are not true duals, and are very restrictive. I hate the "crossflow" muffler used on '67-74 Camaros and Firebirds. They cost the stock engines 25-30 hp. That's why the RAIII and RAIV 400's are rated at 335 and 345 hp in a Firebird or Trans-Am and 366 and 370 hp in a GTO. The GTO's duals all the way back were worth 25-30 hp bone-stock!! If you read road tests of a 71 455HO Trans-Am and a '71 455HO GTO-the GTO is nearly 1/2 a second quicker in the 1/4, even though it's a slightly heavier car!! ( 4,070 lbs vs 3,731 ). Some other "geniuses" will tell you about GM's 10 lb per hp rule-but their full of shit. 1st off-this rule apparently didn't apply to Corvettes-a mid '60's Stingray weighs about 3,300 lbs and you could get a 427 with 390, 425 or 435 hp!!  Ditto for Chevelles. A '65 Chevelle weighs about 3,400 lbs, yet was available with a 375 hp 396. As was the supposed "3,250 lb" '67-69 Camaro!!  The 10 lb per hp rule is a guideline used to beat the insurance Nazis. Most of the engines were actually under-rated!!  A W31 Cutlass with special heads,an aluminum high-rise intake, special exhaust manifolds, a special flex-fan and a hot 308 degree cam that doesn't make enough vacuum to operate power brakes and requires a 4-speed and 3.90:1 or 4.33:1 gears only makes 325 hp when the standard "station wagon" 350 makes 310??!!!  Puhleeze. And I've never seen ANY Cutlass that weighed 3,100-3,250 lbs, not the original '64, and damn sure not the larger '68-70 models which like the GTO were pushing 4,000!!  My dad and I worked for Pontiac back in the day-and no 400 Firebird ever weighed 3,250 lbs!!! ( The standard 400 was rated at 325 hp;the same engine in a GTO or Grand Prix had 350 hp ). The Firebirds were 3,500 on up all day-especially with power steering, disc brakes, etc, which most of them had. Other geniuses will talk about a tab on the carburator restricting throttle opening to limit power. I have seen these cars come off the truck and have PDI'd them when brand-spanking new, and I have never seen one. Regardless-Ford Mustangs-even 390 and 428 models had restrictive exhausts as well. True duals all the way back will help any car regardless of brand. # 3. Mechanical advantage. Gears make it go. Most '70's cars have salt-flats gearing like 2.56:1 or 2.73:1. Switching to something in the 3.23:1-3.73:1 range will give you a huge boost in acceleration without hurting fuel economy or drivability too much. If you have an automatic transmission a mild torque converter upgrade can help immensely especially with small-blocks. Most stock torque converters have a stall speed of 1,200-1,700 rpm. Upgrading to one with 2,000-2,200 stall speed will give you a jackrabbit start without excessive wheelspin. Converters with 2,500-3,000 stall rpm on up are fine if you have a radical cam and 4.10:1 gears; however especially with big blocks you may blow the tires off without slicks or drag radials. Conversely, if you use a 3-grand converter with 3.23:1 gears-you may burn the transmission up! Your 65 mph cruise rpm will be less than the converter's stall speed which will create slippage and excessive heat. If your cam has less than 220-225 degrees duration ( @.050 ) you don't need a high-stall converter. And you have to remember most industry "guidelines" are based on a 350 Chevy; a cam that's "too radical" for a small-block Chevy might be a sweetheart in a 440 Mopar, 455 Pontiac or 460 Ford. See what I'm saying?  Another easy improvement is a shift improver kit for automatics. I personally like the TransGo kits the best; I have also used the B&M kits and they are excellent as well. I wouldn't use an "off brand". Use the "Street" or "Street / Strip" setting to get firm,precise shifts. If you use the "Competition" setting you will get excessively hard shifts even at part-throttle and the car will be practically undrivable.  # 4. Electronic Tuning. If you have an '80s Camaro / Firebird or Corvette or Buick Grand National or "5.0" Mustang there are things you can do to really help 0-60 and 1/4 mile times without spending big bucks. If you have a carburated LG4 / L69 305 Camaro or Firebird an Edelbrock Performer EGR intake will make a huge improvement. I'd also use some Hedman Shorty headers with 02 hookup. The electronic Q-Jet will self-adjust to these minor changes so you won't have to re-jet the carb. I'd also switch to a 160 thermostat ( and on L69 cars get the switch from Summit that turns the electric fan on at 185 instead of 220 ). If you have an L98 or LB9 Tuned-Port Injected engine, the first thing I would do is get a 160 thermostat and the fan switch that turns the fan on at 185 instead of 220. These engines at 220-are on the edge of vapor lock and often stumble under acceleration. By reducing running tempurature to 185-nearly 40 degrees-your getting a cooler, denser fuel charge. No more stumbles, and smooth acceleration all through the range. The other things you can do-Accel and Edelbrock offer ported baseplates and runners that will ad 20-25 hp and don't require any changes to the stock ECM. These simple things will give you a HUGE improvement in performance and drivability. The same goes for Regal T-Type / GN owners. By going to the 160 thermostat and changing the fan switch you'll knock 3 /10s off your 1/4 mile time. 40 degrees cooler fuel charge on a Turbocharged, Intercooled engine can make that much difference. I'd also run 91 octane Chevron or Shell gas and a can of octane booster. The ECM is programmed to detect detonation and retard the timing accordingly. You'll get way better performance with brand-name 91 and octane booster than you will with 87 octane cut-rate gas. It sounds too simple-but you'll feel it in the seat of your pants. This isn't electronic but the performance boost will be huge. Most '83-95 "5.0" Mustangs, either stick or automatic, have either 2.73:1 or 3.08:1 gears. Switching to 3.55:1 or 3.73:1 gears will give you a stunning improvement. And not just off the line-you'll feel it in 2nd, 3rd and 4th as well.  When I swapped the 3.23:1s in my Hurst / Olds for some 4.10:1s  I didn't notice any improvement in low gear. Apparently the 455 had enough torque to launch the car regardless of gearing. However, the difference in 2nd and 3rd was monumental. The gear swap is the first thing I would do to a "5.0". After that-Edelbrock and Trick Flow offer ported manifolds, larger throttle bodies,cylinder heads, cam kits etc. The Trick Flow top-end kit-( heads, intake,and cam ) claims 350 hp. Quite a bump from the stock rating of 225!  Hope this helps everyone out. Mastermind