This year is kind of trashed for making my car faster. I have an 87 and I need to buy wheels and tires, and want a new radio. So, beyond that, if I keep it running I'm in pretty good shape.
However, there's the small improvement possiblity. In the past, having owned cars that weren't Corvettes, pretty much anything you touch, you can make it better. On a Corvette, a lot of the stuff is pretty good out of the box. One of the things I will do this year is a tune up, plugs, wires, cap and rotor. Is it possible to sneak up on making my car better by putting in better components for everything I touch?
I've read over and over where people recommend AC Delco plugs, and wires, etc. Now, if I buy better wires, better plugs, maybe even a new coil, can I slowly make the car more solid, and slightly faster? And even if it doesn't make it faster, position it so that when I do something a bit bigger, (intake, headers), the components I've replaced are good enough. Or is that just not reasonable, and I should stick with direct replacements?

Thanks.

There's nothing wrong with a little upgrading while you're replacing parts anyway. For instance, stock wires are fine for most folks but I still like my MSDs better. Stay with proven quality components and in some cases, as you say, you'll benefit from them even more later when more serious mods are done.