Best Performance Upgrades for Little Money - Here's My Vote

I still occasionally buy carburetors by the pound. If you have a local scrap yard when they pull the engines on crush cars the also pull carbs and alternators etc and put them in the "dirty die cast" bins. Ask if you can scrounge their dirty die cast and if so you can buy sometimes very nice complete carbs or banged up parts carbs that can supply metering blocks, rods, float bowls linkages etc for $6-$12! I've found complete 500 and 650 CFM two barrels, AFBs and all kinds of Holleys from the 600 vacuum secondary to 800 double pumpers....