And that is why I got out of the needle bearing business as soon as there was a possibly viable solution. Too many expensive rebuilds. Given your recent power level achievements its clear the cylinder heads and manifold are working. I think the main issue, and we share this, is track time to fully develop the combination.
I may have followed you on the conservative rear gear choice also with a 4.11 behind the 1.80 first gear glide. (sorry C2;) My best 60'ft with the new car has been 1.40 and I'd got there with +4200# convertable. Still learning the trans brake and how to adjust the suspension accordingly, its completely different than the AOD/foot brake setup.
My view has been that there is ET in the Drag Radials, but I sat and watched Kurt Johnson, Brad and you get it done with the bias ply's so I may off on that unless we can get to to 60 ft. Scott Clark helped me crutch the launch with the launch timing settings, but as usual we ran out of time and at DW '16 , tranny due to my error.
All of this tells me to spend more time at local events getting more laps and the track set up right. You'll get those additional tenth's with some further engine development, but man, look at how well Scott and Jack Miller did with the Cougar, I have much to learn.