So here's the skinny.

The car I picked up is almost the twin to a car I bought 14 years ago that also had a slant 6 in it when I got it. A year after I got it I swapped in a freshly warmed up 318 I already. So as far as the V8 swap, been there, done that.

This "new" car is in very good shape for being unrestored. It's also a car that shouldn't have been able to have a slant 6 in it, but according to the VIN, fender tag, and the 2 broadcast sheets I found in it, it came from the factory with the slanty in it. So, since I already did the V8 swap in another car, and the fact that it's odd that it has a slant 6, I kind of want to leave the slant 6 in it. Also, I bought it with the intention of parting it out to restore my other one accept it's in too good of shape to part. I have other reasons, but I won't go into detail here. Anyway, I want to leave the slant 6 in this one, at least for now.

So back to the OP.

My challenge is to make this car a nice driver with a minimal amount of money, so I'm primarily interested in upgrades I can scavenge from a junkyard. It doesn't need to be a drag car, but the more power I can squeeze out of it the better.

Since I bought it I've already added electronic ignition from a junkyard for $25. I also advanced the timing 5 degrees. I picked up a pair of manifolds for a 2 barrel conversion but the aluminum intake ended up being cracked. I did some research and found out some years of intakes are prone to cracking. So now I need to do some more research to find out which intakes are better so I can search for one. I also read that the valve lash can be increased by .01 to improve compression. Anything else I'm missing?