[ReMorton]

Bill: Thanks for the input.
(more background). I'm in the process of sorting out and determining root causes of reoccuring issues with the car.

It's clear that the previous owner didnt want to get his hands dirty and maintain it; there was a sloppy original engine/trans install; and lousy service from the tech that he went to.

The guy spent a lot of money and the problems he brought it in for didnt get fixed right. So, we're working through exhaust manifold leaks, engine cutting out, backfires, electrical issues, malfunctioning tank fuel level gage, plug wires problems to resolve and fix. etc.
The poor guy spent a lot of money and didnt get a lot for it. For example, I found that the (reoccuring) exhaust manifold leak was caused by misalignment of the header flange with the cylinder head and paper thin gaskets. The tech who did the original fix should have picked up on this and adjusted the header alignment and used thicker gaskets.

To make a long story short, I'm just about 90% through with the trouble shooting now. I had it on the dyno last week as a diagnostic step, did several pulls, got the timing set properly, and got the carb adjusted so the car would run halfway decent with no carb mods (jetting etc). At that point I stopped. I got a first readout on where the A/F ratio stands and Hp.
With just the simple changes and a little carb adjustments, the rear wheel Hp went from 307 to 350Hp, torque 348 to 364 ft-lb. The A/F flat lined at about 10, so we're still pretty rich. THe engine's a crate Ford 393, 475Hp. I'd attach the dyno chart for interest, but cant figger out how to do it.

So, the next step is to do the final fine tuning (on the dyno) to get my A/F ratios up. Before I take the next step, I'm trying to find options (now looking at carb replacement or keep the existing with jetting changes) that will get the job done without spending a lot of trial and error time on the dyno.
Bob