Chevy Bolt On Parts - Bang For Your Buck

Suspension
Your vintage Chevy's suspension system is another area where a little modernization pays big dividends. Switching to poly-urethane bushings can certainly tighten a veteran Chevy up; a system like Global West's Negative Roll setup brings hi-po geometry to the street, creating much improved handling manners. Expect to pay as much as a grand for a set of upper and lower control arms, but expect to feel the difference. Of course, even something as simple as a shock swap can improve your ride's handling characteristics. Swapping out standard gas shocks in favor of adjustable QA1 Street Stars can improve skidpad performance by .06g, and also increase slalom speeds by 2 mph-again, you'll feel this on the street. A set of four should check in around $600. But if your heart's at the track, Competition Engineering three-way adjustable drag shocks can drop your 60-foot times by .0070-.0090 second. Forty bucks apiece will do the trick.

Exhaust
Replacing a restrictive exhaust system is one of the quickest ways to pick up more horsepower, and this popular mod usually has a double payoff: Your ride ends up sounding better, too! Flowmaster's 3-inch Delta Force system for A-bodies showed increases of 14 hp and 12 lb-ft of torque on a 454-powered Chevelle, and as our own Kevin McClelland demonstrated in our June '04 issue, a well-engineered system is very efficient. While tuning a 572 crate motor wearing dyno headers, installing a 3-inch dual exhaust and Super 40 mufflers cut peak power by a mere 3 hp. And speaking of headers, Stainless Works' teamed their new '98-02 Camaro cat-back with a set of their new headers on a '00 SS, and the dyno showed gains of 24 hp and 12 lb-ft. These systems go for $500 to somewhere around $650.