At that et range, and power level, it takes a lot of power increase, to go even a little faster. On a similiar deal, except it was a 496, that made 752hp with 049 oval ports, they were VERY re-worked, and not a typical port job, but, the rest of the engine was very basic, after running 1 season with the oval ports, in the 9.30-40 range, depending on air, with a best of a 9.298 et, at 143-145, again, depending on air, for the next season, I did nothing else, except change to a set of mildy ported Canfield 310's, same intake, except ported to a rectangle port, which was a Victor-O 4500, same cam, same everything, only change was the heads, the car ultimately ran 8.989 at 150, with a string of 9.0's. I didn't dyno the engine after the head swap. But, I did dyno it later, and it made about 70 more hp than the ovals.
I would expect, if you got the right head, and I would suggest the new revised Pro-1's, either the 325's, or, the 345's. At 3000lbs, I think the 345's would be a better choice, as, they offer a bunch of easier future potential. A 325 head, can be made to basicaly make just as much power as a 345, but, it takes a bunch more work. THe meat is there, it just has to be removed.
I would also get a new cam. THat is a very conervative cam for a 540. With a cam, and head swap, I could see it making an aditional 100hp.
Frank
Advanced Performance
www.get-ap.com