Another quick thing is windage! There's free power and reliability to be had there by controlling the oil in your engine. Uncle Tony has a great video on it (and many, many more great videos, I suggest you go watch all of them if you have time). Oil behaves completely differently when it's being slung around at 4500 RPM, and evey time the crank has to push it out of the way, it's consuming power and putting stress on bearings. Here's a great video on simple, cheap things you can do to control your oil:
Also, if you have the time, porting the head a little bit and gasket matching your manifolds will help too. Both with power and MPG. I believe another user posted Tony's video on porting a slant head too. Best of luck! Welcome to the young hot rodder's club! We're few, but man can we kick some ***. I love your car!
