Making power out of the 318

i am looking for a light to light car but i still need to daily drive it on the freeway and stuff i will look more into tire size when it gets closer to putting new rims and tires on
Good thing is A bodies are light, the later ones like yours are a little heavier, which you can get rid of some of that, point being the don't need much power to be fast, look at 318willruns youtube channel and builds on here he loves doing low dollar performance https://www.youtube.com/@318willrun out of 318/360 etc..

You don't have to get all the way there on first try, an honest well setup 300-350 hp 318/360 is gonna be a fun car and you have your whole life to go faster.