engine busting up

First he could change the things that he is thinking about, like fuel lines, you need more psi from that fuel pump.I remember a electric fuel pump I had once that started to fail and the pressure droped off like the one you have. Those are big heads for the pipes that it has. The nocking sounds like preignition, Witch is NOT good. You need to play with the timming and fuel.
This might help a little.....
http://www.4secondsflat.com/Spark_plug_reading.html