Don't forget the Italian tuneup specified by the late Marshall Booth. Full throttle to redline through at least the first few gears, to whatever legal speeds are near you. That may help a bit, and certainly doesn't hurt.
Buying a new splash shield would be $265 list, ~$200 from discount dealers. Don't forget there is a second, smaller splash shield behind that ($140 / $105), and a third one under the transmission ($360 / $270). If all 3 are missing, makes you want to find the guy who tossed them, eh?
