I will add my .02 here...
Number one, your motor could very well still be tight. A 160,000 mile motor although starting to lose compression, and burn oil, is broken in, loose and running hard. Loose is fast, anyone can tell you that. Knowing this, your bottem end may not have helped at all. The 308 compared to 302 CI is next to nothing, and unless you bumped compression with a better piston, will probably only help in the tq area. Now a good bottem end, offset ground crank, and loose, with flat tops, would have helped you out a lot, but a 308 rebuild with stock stuff, isnt going to gain much.
Number 2, although I say LTs helped my car a ton, you and I know it was just my case for some reason. I do know they make more power, but how much is more or less a toss up. Youd never know what they did without running shorties, then running the LTs.
Number 3, it sounds like an issue my dads car had. We found out it wanted to be reved. Car wanted to see 5800-6000 RPM, and with his tach (even his autometer) it was off and we were shifting it at 5400-5500. Needless to say we set the light for 6000, and the car gained a few mph (109-110 and now 110-112). Id say get a shift light and experiment.
Number 4, the numbers arent bad. I did an 8.4 @ 86 in the 1/8th which was a 12.9 @ 108 or so in the 1/4. Your cars probably hitting 12.7 @ 109 which makes for a nice street car. Id say shift it higher, and you could be in the low 8s.