stock or preformance?

[tattooinfiat]

really i have been reading this forum and i think evryone on here might be a damnd genius..i publishd a post /thread whatever about removing the brake booster it went bak and forth for a while a few weighed in..the i read the recent thread bout brakes and a couple of you have tools and technology to weld these plates that dont exist unless you make them to remove your brake booster and rods and arghhh..anyway damn geniuses..so i have a 77 124 with no motor in it anymore i took it out it died..i dont wanna talk about it anyway when i put a new back in what 1800 2000? after that stock mid performance high preformance..all i do in the car is drive around town but mostly cause i was scared to get stranded anywhere..so i would like to take it out of state on long trips..mostly i jus want it to last another 34 years i know there is no garauntee on a time limit but you get what i mean..lots of different options here and dont want to get something im alsways gonna be nervous about breakn down....so whattya got?

[So Cal Mark]

everything is a trade off. You sacrifice mileage and longevity as you make the motor more radical.

[TX82FIAT]

Mark is on the money with the trade off. Until this recent build I've always been in the keep it original camp. However, there are some mild mods that have been proven to reduce the likelyhood of a problem if you are using it for a daily driver. I'm not sure what ignition system the 77 uses. There are great improvement to be made with the ignition and an electronic distributor. Well publisized brown wire fix will eliminate some problems. A stock motor with changes to exhaust system and a different carb setup can produce some real fun. The stock engine is pretty robust.

Your right, some of the folks on this site are geniuses!! I would be lost half the time without the level of expertise herein.

[azruss]

go to a motor with an electronic dizzy. that single change alone is a major upgrade. I upgraded to a 2L with a rejetted 71 carb. big improvement in performance, much less shifting of gears, and better fuel economy. Currently upgrading to 2LFI and so far i'm liking the power. If you are looking for reliability some electric upgrades may be worth looking at. (headlight relay, brown wire upgrade, etc). also highly recommend converting to early air horn.....afterall, there are priorities.