Your approach is similar to repairing a hole in a dam by adding berms to direct the flooding better... The issue is the cam is wrong. The 484 sounds small, but it has big duration numbers for its size and the rest of the engine can't support it. Therefore it can't support the car. You are looking at hundreds for a gear and convertor swap, or either by itself... Why not spend a few hundred on the right cam? If it's too much for you to handle, find a reputable shop to do it for you. You'll be much happier. It's a dog down low. It's still a dog when you rev because of the manifolds and the lack of compression. So instead of making it a dog you're going to try to minimize the dogginess? So what's the real reason your fear changing the cam? Is it an engine warranty issue or something? The package is perfect for what you do except for the cam. $300 in parts, maybe $400 in labor to pay a shop, and it's fixed permanently. $700 is a little more than buying a used chuck and installing it yourself, and a lot less than buying a convertor with that rear and installing both or having them installed.