Reinventing the wheel

my first car was a 87 firebird which i slapped parts together. I ran into cooling issues and blew a head gasket, which cut the car off as i was approaching a corner. my power steering and brakes cut out and i wasnt ready for it and went straight off the road. my suspension was ripped apart and the car rolled on its side. i junked it cause it wasnt woth repairing and i still didnt know why i had cooling issues. so please unless u know what u r doing, have modest performance gains :wink: