318 temp use

Fascinating.
After reading all of this, what advantage would a bone stock teener with headers be with a 4 speed O/D?
What about a bone stock teener with a 2 barrel carb and headers?
Or would stock exhaust manifolds be as good as headers at this power/flow/stock cam combination?
The point that i'm getting at was that back in the day, i had a '71 Demon with a '69 318 that was totally stock including 2 barrel and stock exhaust manifolds, cam etc.
It had a factory 3 speed floor shift standard tranny in it and an 8 3/4 with 3:23 gears.
And man, it was fun to drive!
Was it just the right combination, or was it just luck?
Is a combination that the O.P. should consider?