Did OP mention his elevation and is he going to pulling a lot of hills? I would be surprised if 9:1 on pump gas is useful here. Three points I would press, coatings, skirt piston, exhaust port, A Hyd roller, and wait till the EFI is part of the equation, that alone will make more difference then anything mentioned so far and be a lot easier to tune to the edge.
Reality check, that half the population is smarter then 50% of the people and it's a constantly contested fact.
