opinions, commentss or suggestions

x3, yummmy looking ride.

LOL, don't be sorry about a long post. You'll never know if you never ask.

340'srule makes a good point. The RPM intake will provided a little more torque. Not much, but a little here and there helps. The high end HP will be there.
More torque the merry. 1st, not only off the line but to 100 mph wins the race. Torque gets that job done. High HP finishs the job.

Ethier way, I would not use the Victor at this stage of the game with the current set up you have and/or gunning for. The Victor can out horse power the M-1, but at the expense of torque. The Victor is a higher operating RPM intake. It is really a very very good intake. But I do seldom see a need for it with most combo's I read here.

(Excuse the term) A Bitchin converter pays for itself in E.T. and long reliable life of constant repeatable runs.

The carb upgrade would also be a good one. Tis is the type of arena where I would do a mech. secondary carb. I recomend a vacuum secondary carb often. But with the high gear ratio, converter stall and power band your looking to do, I myself would more likely double pump this engine.
If your on the street often, a vacuum secondary carb will work as well.

On heads, you mention allready that you have 10.5-1 slugs. These are positive/domed pistons? If so, Edelbrock heads are out.
For about the same price, you can fully port out the iron heads with excellent results. DO NOT get caught up in total or AKA, max cfm airflow from a head. While that is a nice thing to achieve, it's not the end all. Also, if your cam isn't lifting over .600, why port and flow the head to those numbers if your not useing it. That would be a waste of porting, time and money.