Of course if the pump is making noise, and you found a filter/feed problem, need to fix that.
However, many liquid filled gauges lose the ability to proper show pressure with heat. It surprises me that your car would even run with that low of fuel pressure, so if the gauge is liquid filled and it's getting warm, you may have more pressure than you think. Might want to put another gauge on it and see if you have really have a pressure problem or only a noisy pump/crappy supply problem
Also, if you are running a vacuum reference to the regulator, which you will need for boost later, make sure the regulator is adjusted properly for idle. Vacuum will reduce pressure just like boost will tell the regulator to add more
Likely preaching to the choir here, but be careful if you have low fuel pressure and running it hard, EFI can go lean, injectors can't flow without pressure and especially when you start pushing air into that engine, requiring the regulator to tighten up a little, it can hurt things quickly.