Finally, some good news to report. Took the car to a local 1/8-mile track this afternoon (Buffalo Valley) just to see if it would go down track without any parts falling off. Although the track runs slightly uphill and the start line was less than ideal we finally caught a glimmer of the cars potential.
The first pass was with the Caltrac links in the upper holes and the carb a little lean.
Second pass with the links still in the upper holes and added richer metering rods.
Third pass we put the links in the bottom holes. We made four more laps down the track, but it was getting ugly by then with tire spin on the launch so we called it done for the day. I figure the next trip to Bowling Green will result in low 1.40's 60' times from being on a prepped surface. I be happy for now.