could the intake be holding my low end down?

Hysteric said
My last combo ran at 185 psi with closed chamber heads 302's and it was a monster. It was still making torque at 6k where it hit the limiter.

Wait; you ran 185psi with iron heads?
As far as I can recall you are only the third person here on FABO to run over 170 with iron,
Tell us more.