Budget tune 318 la

...factory 318 cam is .399/.400 lift (depending on what source you use.

A $100 summit cam with .421 lift or the comp "256" cam or lunati equivalent, a "cheap" edelbrock performer 318 intake, and an also "cheap" 500-625 CFM AFB/AVS clone carb would be a crazy noticeable improvement, and not mess up any of the balance of the rest of the package (gear, converter, etc).

MPG might not suffer either.