I tend to hate the phrase, “built, not bought”. I know what the actual intent of the wording is, and I agree with that part. What I don’t agree with is the actual phrasing, because no matter your walk in life, no matter your skill level, you pay for everything that goes into that cash-sink that is parked in the garage. Everything costs money…from the wax to keep it shiny, to the fuel that you burn, to the tires that you abuse with reckless abandon. It all hits the pocketbook in the end. But the question that is being asked of you today is this: what has been your best improvement for the dollar spent?
Here’s where this started: you see those Gabriel Red Ryder shocks…the ones that look to have seen a rough twenty or so years’ worth of work? Those came off of the Great Pumpkin Mustang earlier tonight. You see, as much as I love driving our little Halloween-themed Fox, there’s been a problem: it’s overall ride. On a straight and level highway, it’s a cruiser. In the corners, it sucks, and on any kind of rough road, it redefines “sucks”. And without a doubt, these long-dead shocks were partly to blame, so after returning some rented tools to the local parts shop, I decided that instead of just taking my refund back, I’d invest in a simple set of brand-new shocks for the Mustang. Nothing wild, just a well-known name’s basic shock. Fifty bucks and about an hour of wrenching later, and the Mustang’s problems are half-solved: the rear end doesn’t sag enough to scrape the mufflers against the driveshaft, the car doesn’t shake it’s back end like the bridesmaid when a Ying Yang Twins song is played, and you can feel an improvement in cornering. The front struts have become a priority after this improvement.
So, what’s your story? Did the $1,000 supercharger kit solve every last problem you ever had, or did that $10.00 air freshener remove that permament “#3 with extra onions” smell from your beater, making it that much more livable? Best bang for the buck wins!
Fuel injection and disc brakes
Worn out bushings in the seat tracks. $3 for nylon washers from the hardware store, and a piece of emery cloth. No more seat slop.
Hawk blue brake pads on a road race car, we couldn’t keep brakes on the car for a full race, we tried more air ducting, different fluid, driving less aggressively etc…
nothing worked, the brake pad upgrade solved the problem and the car stopped like we had taken 1000 lbs off of it.
Converted from drum to disc brakes on the 68 Javelin.
Power steering on my 67 C10. That thing was a bear to drive or turn around with manual steering!
Three way tie…
1 – Caltracs
2 – Santhuff Shocks
3 – M/T Pro Bracket Radials
Added power disc brakes in front, sway bars front and rear at same time on my 72 Maverick. Its like driving a totally different car. Big improvement over stock.
Put a Yank SS3600 converter in my LS1 Z28. Night and day difference.
Divorce
OUCH, TOO REAL.
P71 swaybars on my P74 Vic. Got them both for 40 bucks out of the yard. Makes the beast feel like it lost 500lbs.
Decent tires.
Going from 2.73 to 3.73 in my 1993 mustang GT convertible.
5 lug 4 wheel disc brakes on the Mustang, dramatically changed the way I can drive it.
when nothing was available off the shelf , upgrading front torsion bar springs on valiant charger from 3/4″ to 1 ” . turned by local engineering firm from chrome moly and sent for heat treating just in case .
For one cheap mod that made a huge difference, the winner has to be the Addco sway bar I put on my Dodge Dart. The mounting brackets left something to be desired, but it made a huge difference in how the car handled.
That can of Freon in my Yukon.
Switching from points to Pertronix in our Cleveland powered Mach 1, best $60 ever spent!!!!