First, Thanks to everyone for the input. Much appreciated.

After reading through this thread and doing some research, I do believe there should be something to be gained by swapping to an 850. When I tried the last 850, the car sounded substantially louder. I would have sworn it would have picked up E.T. At the track it seemed to run rich even after re-jetting and general tuning. I know the carb is a good working carb. It was on my Dads Belvedere for years and worked great. It just didn't seem to work out well on my car. I will throw another one on there and see what happens.

Regarding compression, I know it's holding me back a good amount. I just hate to throw a bunch of money at it right now. By the time I buy the pistons, bore the motor, get rid of my stupid "six pack rods", balance it, buy gaskets and rings it'll be a good chunk of change. I have a 13:1 451 short block and a 10.5:1 440 long block sitting in the garage for other projects. I just assume throw one of those in there for a bit before I throw a ton of money at this motor right now.

Purchasing cylinder heads is also probably out of the question for awhile. Cutting mine down does seem tempting though as does advancing the cam. I've contemplated advancing the cam, even considered swapping rocker arms to 1.6's. Again, these are substantially cheaper projects and involve modifying or changing parts I already have so perhaps that adds appeal.

Thanks again for the input guys! I really appreciate it! If money was no object I would certainly try everything. However coming up on the holidays in this awesome economy my hands are slightly tied for now. At the same time I think part of the fun for me is the quest to see how fast I can go with this budget build. I just worry that I'm approaching the end of the budget aspect and may be expecting to much from the setup. I'll be sure to keep you all posted with what directions I go and how it works out.