my Low dollar 318 hop-up project

It’s still a low dollar effort. Sensible use of the grey matter in calculating the approximate finish line rpm with the tires currently in use with a new gear ratio will yield good results.

Inexpensive headers into a simple home built (or even a Summit/Jegs) exhaust is also inexpensive.

A converter is a good bit to extravagant in price. Even cheap converters are a decent expense when placed on the list of cheap performance parts.