There are many of us out there who dig old muscle cars and enjoy wrenching, but who don't necessarily want to be "hood up" every other weekend tending to their ride's sometimes fickle ways. Guys or gals who'd rather be burning rubber than burning daylight. One of our writers, JDP, fondly recalls his '69 Chevelle SS396, stating it was the only car he's ever driven that he was a little afraid off, so brutal was its acceleration, rightfully accompanied by the heavy metal chorus of its exhaust bellowing through headers and a pair of Cherry Bomb glasspacks.
But being able to enjoy the thrill of that built-up monster was not without its price, and we're not just talking about the 8-10 mpg appetite. Fitted with a dual point distributor and a Holley 750 Double Pumper carb, his SS wasn't exactly easy to keep in a perfect state of tune. If JDP still owned it today, he says a few modern updates would have probably been done to it by now. The trio of suggestions we present here would be nothing that would affect your muscle car's loveable character mind you, just things that would improve its reliability, overall performance and safety.
Pertronix electronic ignition
All Fired Up
Plenty of shade tree mechanics who've grown tired of fiddling with ignition points have made the switch to an electronic ignition. With their "plug and play" convenience, an electronic ignition means one less thing to worry about, and deal with come tune-up time. A perfectly timed, hot spark delivered to your beast's cylinders efficiently takes the worry out of one aspect of the holy trinity of internal combustion requirements (the other two being air and fuel).
Top choices for making this upgrade include systems by Mallory (who recently merged with MSD) and Pertronix. Indeed, the latter company offers a system that fits within the distributor, thus preserving the original appearance of the engine compartment.
Bye Bye Four Barrel
Whether it’s a scorching summer day or a crisp fall morning, and whether you're driving along the coast or up high in the mountains, there's no denying that fuel injection has the advantage over a carburetor in terms of delivering a precisely metered air/fuel mixture regardless of changing driving conditions.
We actually covered this very topic not long ago in our Carburetors versus Fuel Injection article. As we stated there, these “self-tuning” systems offered by Edelbrock, FAST, Holley and MSD will have your ride always operating at peak efficiency without you needing to deal with re-jetting and making other adjustments you'd face with a carb. And no worries about having that classic engine compartment ruined with something that looks like a Flux Capacitor, as some of these systems mimic the iconic look of a big four-barrel carb.
Stop it, will ya?
Crazy as it sounds, some of the most potent muscle cars made came standard with drum brakes all around, with front discs being optional rather than standard on certain models. It's pretty much common knowledge that discs do a much better job of swiftly hauling a car down from speed than the old drums. That's why a brake swap -- be it just from front drums to factory-spec discs or a considerably more powerful setup sporting massive discs and calipers all around -- serves as a very worthwhile performance and safety upgrade.
For your next automotive project, head to Advance Auto Parts for all the auto parts, tools and accessories you'll need for the job!
