Those are some very impressive results
My N/A 518 C.I. low deck pump gas stroker made 727 HP at the flywheel, a little over 500 RWHP, it weighed 3450 Lbs. with me in it and ran a best of 9.993 at 134.7 MPH through the 3.0 inch exhaust with the air cleaner on
Adding 3 to 7.0 lbs of boost on pump swill might have got it into the low tens or high nines, who knows
That was a regular non thick web 1976 400 block with four sleeves in it and ductile iron main caps and ARP main studs, no girdle Indy SR M.W. non ported heads with a Indy 400-3 intake and Holley # 9375 non HP Dominator carb.
I would NOT buy the cheapest rods I could get
On the heads as you already know they can limit how much air can be forced through them, huh
Bottom lines is how fast do you want to go and how much money and effort do you want to spend to get thier
Do it cheap and redo it later to go faster or do it once and go fast right away