Thank you for the feedback guys, all good food for thought.
I've mentioned elsewhere that I'm planning to replace some of my body panels with fibreglass items over the next couple of years. I worked out that if I was able to lose 300kg in body weight (estimated 3900 lbs down to around 3200 lbs) my ET's would drop from the current 12.99 to 12.10 seconds, without any other changes.
However, I think the reduction in weight would mean I have to work harder at getting traction off the line (less bodyweight means less weight transfer?), so I need to think about optimising traction, but not at the cost of reducing everyday handling.
A good rear sway bar seems to be a good start, giving me a clean straight launch, but also aiding cornering on the road. I don't want to get into using drag shocks (tempting though it is) as the valving is all wrong for road use. Maybe adjustable shocks on the front are an upgrade for the future, as they can be set nice and firm for the road, but adjusted for quick extension at the track.
My only other thought is to swap the leaf springs out for a set of coil- over shocks, but I don't know if I want to alter the car to that degree. I presume there would be a further reduction in weight, and an improvement in on- road handling? Would I see much improvement on the strip?
One of the benefits of trading up to a coil/ shock rear suspension seems to be that you can easily tailor the shock rates, spring rates and ride height to your own requirements. Is there a formula for calculating the correct spring type/ rate for individual applications?
This is all stuff I'm just toying around with at the moment, but I'd be interested to hear some more feedback.