Small block help

With the setup as is, and budget limits, I would suggest the OP put a mild cam in the engine to wake it up. Nothing big at all so that the lower stock compression ratio will still work OK, something that will work with lower rear gears and stock TC, and with mild ramps on the cam, just wake it up a bit and not stress the valvetrain and require a lot of changes and will work without a lot of carb tuning. Something like:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/lun-10200260lk/overview/make/dodge
and not any bigger than:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/crn-693902/overview/make/dodge

Then work on the ignition timing and distributor curve. All easy stuff.