[greg schroeder]

Here are a few opinions and observations.

Engine mounts with minimal movement are nice or the side pipes will hit the body at the exit point.

If you're going over 500 engine HP you might want to calculate some fuel line and delivery options. Make sure the tank is vented. An upgraded fuel filter is nice. Aeromotive makes a nice 100 micron unit.

The typical 15 inch tires that come on the car are pretty dangerous for the rear if your HP is up there. Mickey Thompson ET street drag radials 275/60 15 are a light weight option to have fantastic traction, handling for cruising and they don't throw stones to speak of under normal driving conditions. Run about 22 psi.

A scatter shield bell housing and a decent clutch is nice. Light weight flywheels come with many opinions, but they do seem to make for a slightly snappier 1st and 2nd gear. Other than rotational reduced weight they also make the actual car lighter too.

The 3.4x rear end gear is a bit low in my opinion. I was very happy with the 3.73 gear for both my 17 inch wheels and 15 inch wheels. If I did it again I'd go with the .82 5th gear in the TKO 600 instead of the .64, but the .64 is a nice freeway cruiser or around town in the 1600 to 1800 rpm range. You'll need a properly dialed carb for it to pull low rpm good.

A Pro-Systems carburetor is of value if you like performance and lightning quick throttle response. My small block Roush 427R single plane intake was an absolute hammer with their 4150 that's slightly over 1000 cfm.

The Superformance headers on the small block cover exhaust ports to a certain degree. There are other exhaust options for headers and side pipes. It just depends if you're looking for more power or not and if you have a noise level preference.

The Cobra style air cleaners with a sheet metal base have a lower drop than the type with the aluminum base. You can use a taller higher quality air cleaner. The Cobra type is also a longer oval which will have more surface area while looking cool.