I thought I would follow up with this thread.
I've put well over 500 miles on the car driving it everywhere and even taking it on some trips 50+miles one way out of town.
Runs on cheap pump gas, never gets over 190°, and is an absolute blast to drive!
I told a friend I was planning on upgrading to a stroker this winter as he saw me buying parts. He said "WHY?! It runs great the way it is!"
"High score" on the Speedview app on my phone so far is 128mph.
The only problem I have now is excessive rear tire wear...