timing advance will only cause a ping if you go too far. only droppin in the few degrees the factory left out will just help your performance and mileage. if you put higher octane fuels in teh car you can go even further with the timing, still no need to go nuts. a good computer chip will also take care of the timing.
aluminum drums actually decrease stoppign distances because they dissapate heat faster and the mass reduction means less inertia to try to slow down. it won't be a revolution in braking or anything, but it does help in both go and stop applications
if you take teh tranny down to do a shift kit i would suggest getting a little bit higher stall convertor. it will let the car come off the line in a little sweeter spot in the power band and will make a huge difference in launch and any other time you go from light throttle to WOT from a lower rpm. no need to do anythign crazy, jsut a little 2400-2600 stall will work nicely.
biggest thing is get a set of gears in taht thing. i am not kidding when i say 4.10's are a good starting poitn for gears. most peopel who switch actually see improvements in mileage and definately a killer improvement in ets.
later
tim