Top 10 Easy Performance Projects

You want to modify your ride. There are tons of easy performance enhancements you can make that will take up just a small part of your time. Think about it-only two or three hours after work or a over a lazy Saturday. Installing creativity-impaired bolt-on performance is like falling out of a tree: anyone can do it and you always know where you'll wind up.

Installing creativity-impaired bolt-on performance is like falling out of a tree: anyone can do it and you always know where you'll wind up.
Here's the big question: is the hardest part of your wrenching project getting started? How often have you planned to spend the evening bolting on a new carbon-trispiffonate gear modulator only to find yourself still on the couch three hours later? Get focused. You won't be bogged down in details if there's only a few of 'em. Choose a simple project from this list and hop to it.


Systems have been designed to replace the condenser and breaker with solid-state Hall-Effect electronics. Scan through vintage-muscle magazines (particularly for Mustangs and Fords) and you'll see them. They create a stronger spark that lasts much longer (as does the product itself), and you don't need to worry about constantly tuning the system. Better yet, these ignitor systems can work with your current points-style coil. Plug and run.


Enter brake lines. Once again, factory components that get the job done just don't do it to hot-rodder standards. Factory brake lines are usually reinforced rubber from the hard line fitting in the wheel well to the caliper. When you brake hard (especially in an older car), the brake lines' circumference grows with pressure-they expand. Lost braking power, right there. What's the fix? Sheathed lines-braided brake lines. Much like the rotors, braided brake lines are available in stock-configurations for most performance-minded vehicles. You need to swap them with the factory lines, and do a lot of bleeding (of the brake lines), but the change makes a difference. Firmer pedal, more consistent braking. By the way, this is a good time to flush your brake system-once a year, mind you, always with new fluid.


Electric fans can be set up alone or in parallel, on a thermostatic switch or straight off the ignition, in front of the radiator or behind, push or pull. There is flexibility to the installation (where can you fit it—), as long as you don't remove the radiator shroud (need that to properly cool the engine at speed). You need to have room to run power to it and for a cut-off switch. Several manufacturers make vehicle-specific kits like those for Fox-chassis Mustangs or full-size Chevy trucks. Best yet, test situations have shown that an electric fan can free up 45 more horsepower on a 450 hp small block. Try this at home.