Welcome to the site Alex.
You're getting some decent advice here, first and foremost, go through the braking system and make sure it's up to snuff. Go through the steering and make sure it's good to go.
THEN, move on to power mods. As said, a 4v carb and intake, headers and a cam will wake it up a bit, couple with a good tune. With that, then you will want other than stock gearing in the rear.