Try clamping the rear leaf springs in the forward section. Some heavy duty flat bar, some drill bits and off you go. Buying the bolts is the most expensive part.
Then I second weight reduction. The cheapest horsepower is the horsepower you do not need. I do not know about A Bodies but the weight of a B-Body heater box is impressive, plus it cleans up the engine room getting rid of the hoses etc. not only do you eliminate the weight of the box you also eliminate the weight of the entrained water. You can always put it back in for the winter if it is a year round driver(I did not notice where you live). Remove the spare and jack when you are at the track
Take the back seat out when you go to the track. You're racing,not going on a date.
A swap meet aluminum intake manifold will probably flow better and certainly weigh less than the stock intake manifold. The small block guys will have to chime in on what to get or more importantly, what to avoid.
Keep tuning on the thing. Have you made sure the rotor is in phase? DRAM told me how to do that and the car definitely runs smoother. Really play with the timing in terms of the balance between initial and full. Confirm that the timing marks are correct, that TDC really is TDC.
After you have put the home made headers on that someone suggested, try dropping the exhaust and using collector extensions at the track. Just a piece of straight pipe (start with 24" long, it is easier to make them shorter) and some flanges. I had a shop here make me up a set for not much coin. I think the homemade header/exhaust is a great idea. You will learn welding skills and being able to route the headers exactly as you want them will be a great benefit.
Make sure the whole approach is balanced, which just requires brain power. Simple example, 2.25" headers on a 273 with a 1 bbl carb would be an example of an unbalanced combination. Thinking through what you want the engine to do will help you make decisions in terms of what to get and what to pass on.
Did I mention weight reductions?
