Things you did/upgraded that surprised you how helpful they were

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Years ago I broke one of my 340s and had a 318 that I picked up from a friend it ran 13.20s with a 3.91 gear and a 10 inch converter, put in an 8 inch converter and starting going 12.70s.... my pickup runs low 15s with 60 fts in the 2.20s I sent my stock lockup converter to Lenny at Ultimate he redid it now it goes 2.00s in 60 ft... last year I had the car totally rewired by Mike at H.P. Motors and added a one wire alternator after years of not starting, spliced in accessories and not charging it now starts every time and charges at 14 volts constantly
 
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I always wondered how restrictive the factory air cleaner was with only about a half inch gap all around. I made a second top out of an old air cleaner and it made a big difference at the track.

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Turbos. On everything, except maybe the lawnmower. Boost turns even the mildest 8:1 smog motor into something fun.
 
B3422w5 said:
Can think of two things over the years i changed that made a lot more difference than i would have thought before doing them

1. swapping from an 8 to a 10 inch rear wheel… 10 inch slick
Couldn't believe how much more stable the car was going down the track(9 sec car). Huge difference. Drove like a Caddy compared to 8 inch wheel

2. completely removing 50 year old wire and installing all new aftermarket wiring system.
Car starts way better, battery stays topped up, never needs a battery charger, just night and day difference. And under the hood WAY cleaner look.


What are things you guys have done?
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I swapped out my girlfriend for a new one several times in my life. Makes a huge difference!
 
I just noticed this was in the race form so I'm taking it now in a raceway my first post on the subject I was just looking at recent posts and didn't notice what section it was in...
As far as when I was drag racing more regular which wasn't very regular the slicks or street drag radials was the number one. Number two was more carburetors LOL...
And finally not listening to all the internet gurus and just trying different small things...
 
When I moved the battery to the trunk on my Dart I ran a 1/0 welding cable directly from the relay to the starter. It starts better now than it ever did.
 
The stock air cleaners are restrictive. Mine, Holley hydra mat. Went from having to run 5/8’s of a tank of fuel. About 14 gallons to being able to run 3 gallons. 11 gallons of fuel weight out of the car!
 
Only two?

Car lift.
Holeeeee crap, what a huge improvement in convenience. No more squatting to do brakes, no more flat back transmission swaps, you can stand while doing everything.
Air tools.
Time saver for sure but also a great help when in tight spaces where a ratchet may only be turned 1/8 of a turn at a time.
Supportive seats.
We all have some experience with suspension improvements but for a cornering guy, stock seats are inadequate. A good seat with side bolstering makes a huge difference.
Overdrive transmissions.
Yes...This is another issue where using some later model tech helps a classic be more comfortable and livable for distance trips. My Tremec 5 speed reduced top gear rpms by a third...Fifth gear is a .64 ratio. 2000 rpms at 70 instead of 3000 is a gigantic improvement.
 
Moving away from super stock springs years ago to a real rear suspension (4 link, ladder bar, caltracks). Going from pump gas to alcohol, finding out that every time I put a higher stall converter in it I go faster, adding a RacePak to my car, being smart enough to race lighter cars, weather station an writing the info on each and every time slip, and racing safe cars because as I’ve found out crap happens and happens fast.
 
I'm a street car with aspirations of decent strip times. Im mostly having fun really. My favorite 2 surprise upgrades so far....

1) eliminating the vacuum advance and backing off my street timing a few degrees.

2) and this homemade thing has saved my *** every time I go for 3rd in the thick of it....

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like_A_pike said:
I'm a street car with aspirations of decent strip times. Im mostly having fun really. My favorite 2 surprise upgrades so far....

1) eliminating the vacuum advance and backing off my street timing a few degrees.

2) and this homemade thing has saved my *** every time I go for 3rd in the thick of it....

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Thats funny! I went second to neutral once and said nope! No more of that! I made a hook under the console that hooked onto the shifter arm. It wouldn’t let it go to neutral. The other end of the hook was under the ash tray. A little latch in the ash tray would hold the hook up until I needed it. Worked great, for a couple of years. Now RMVB.
 
furrystump said:
Thats funny! I went second to neutral once and said nope! No more of that! I made a hook under the console that hooked onto the shifter arm. It wouldn’t let it go to neutral. The other end of the hook was under the ash tray. A little latch in the ash tray would hold the hook up until I needed it. Worked great, for a couple of years. Now RMVB.
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Lol. Back in the 1980’s I had a shifter that if you didn’t take your hand off of it she would go from first to third. If I could reach out and change my 10.20 dial to a 10.30 I could have stood a chance.
 
SMS adjudtable timing module
Rear disc
Dizzy recurve
suspension upgrades. Torsion bars
gas shocks
Fat sway bar
323 to 391 gears
Cheapest horsepower ever 150 nitrous
2500 to 4000 converter
Costom griund camshaft
Dougs headers
 
Started off with a 67 Satellite b-body. Best ET was 11.85 in the quarter. Switched the engine, transmission, torque converter, rear end center section, front tires, and all four wheels to a 75 Dart Sport. Only changes on the Dart was smaller rear tires, new shorter driveshaft, and electric cooling fans to clear the water pump. With the same carb, same ignition box, same spark plug wires, and same tuneup the Dart Sport ran a best ET of 11.46 in the quarter.
I would say this is a clear example of weight difference allowing the Dart to run quicker. Not sure if the aerodynamic properties come into play much at this level, but it improved more than the two tenths or so I expected.
 
Went from 9/10" convertors to 8" and picked up like 3 tenths in the 1/4.

Went from tube/fin to plate style transmission cooler. Trans gauge is in bottom of pan and would see 220+ with tube/fin style. With plate style never been over 190.

Went from Comp Engineering 90/10 shocks to QA1 stocker. The adjustabilty on how to make the car leave/react was surprising and another helpful tuning tool.
 
I reckon tomorrow afternoon I'll know how much of a difference this 3.90 sure grip rear end makes with Vixen. Should be pretty dramatic going from a 2.93 open.
 
I went from 2.73 to 3.73’s in my 1972 cutlass that I towed with and it was like crazy nice.
 
going to stock mufflers...sound great when accelerating hard, quiet for normal driving
white interior..so nice when it's hot.
short duration cam...smooth idle and tons of lo end torque on the street

OOPS...just realized this is in the race forum
 
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