Speed costs. How fast do you want to go? The saying has been around for as long as the automobile, but it still holds true today. We all want to go fast, but the funds for the fun are hard to come by.

I started learning to work on cars in the late 1970s by helping my stepdad turn salvaged mid-1960s Chevy Chevelles into street-stock-class race cars. Throughout that period, I had my hands on a number ...